Hello everyone.
I want to get back into healthy habits. This includes reading books before bed and no screen before bed.
The thing is that (for now) my partner and our child all sleep in the same bedroom. I tend to get to bed after they are already asleep and don’t want to disturb them.
What’s the best option to read in the dark that doesn’t involve blue light screen (smartphone) or high luminosity?
Are there e-readers with very very dim light that still allow comfortable reading?
Thanks for your input.
Braille
Book of Eli
I’ve had kindle devices for over a decade, and my latest (kindle paperwhite) is perfect to read in bed at night while my wife is sleeping, adjust the brightness down to 2-3 and it’s easy on the eyes to read in the dark, and dim enough that you can’t even use it to find your way to the bathroom.
I second this. It also has a dark mode setting with white text and black background. One of the best purchases I’ve made. I use it every night and the charge lasts weeks.
inb4 you get ads according to the books you read
My ads right now are all for shit I bought my wife for Christmas, so maybe this would be an improvement.
Are there e-readers with very very dim light that still allow comfortable reading?
I have not used any myself, but I have heard that both Kindle e-reader and Kobo support this.
Seconding Kobo! I have the Clara and it is very comfortable in the dark. Plus, it’s very easy to load books from many sources onto a Kobo, unlike Amazon’s walled garden approach with Kindle.
Any e-ink display eReader will work for you, but I personally recommend Kobo. They have a more open approach to loading files compared to Kindle, and they tend to be very affordable for a high quality device.
Agree. Also the new Kobo Libra 2 has a dark mode option (white text on black background).
Upvote for Kobo - I have a kobo Clara. The backlight can change colour with time of day and brightness can be changed.
Or what about listening to audiobooks or podcasts?
Yes, the Kindle Paperwhite and Oasis have good low level backlights. I’ve had both and currently use and recommend the latter for clarity, touch sensitivity and size.
Aren’t at least all Paperwhites front lit? No backlighting
You might be right, I just auto-typed backlight. I guess the Oasis is backlit judging from how mine appears.
I think they’re almost all front lit. It doesn’t necessarily look like it, but I think there’s three layers in the screen with e-ink being the bottom one and the one the lights light up is on top, so the e-ink part is being front lit even though it looks like the light might be coming behind the screen.
I love my Oasis.
I really want to upgrade to an oasis but I haven’t been able to justify the cost. My paper white works so well but the touch swipe is finicky fairly frequently which makes me miss page turn buttons a lot.
I got mine secondhand for around £90, so keep your eyes peeled perhaps. The touchscreen is definitely better than the Paperwhite.
Oh damn.
I’ll def keep an eye out at that price.
Well you could read a book and use a red light.
Ereaders like kobo / kindle have gentle backlight, just make sure you get one with adjustable warm /cool white backlight, so you can make it warm and not blue. I also use a little clip on booklight with adjustable brightness and color. If it’s dim and red/orange you’re not disturbing anyone but it illuminates the page perfectly.
I read every night with a kobo e-reader (next to my partner who generally sleep before me). I use night mode and a very dim brightness (2-3 %, the max I use is 4 %). It’s sufficient in my opinion.
I have a Kobo, and it allows for a very dim backlight and warm backlight temperature. I find it super comfortable for reading in the dark
Use a headlamp with red light 🔦🔴. They are specifically made for not waking other people up while camping. The red light also is not a problem before sleep, unlike blue light.
That’s not why the light is red lol
Red light doesn’t mess up your night vision. With a red light you can turn it off and still see as long as there’s some ambient light such as moonlight. With white light you need to wait for 10 to 15 minutes for your eyes to get accustomed to the darkness.
With white light you need to wait for 10 to 15 minutes for your eyes to get accustomed to the darkness.
Not when using the eyepatch method though 😉🏴☠️
But in all seriousness, mine stated the above on the package. Maybe they didn’t know any better or it was a translation error. There are multiple benefits of having red light instead of bright white. Not irritating your eyes is basically the same as not irritating someone else’s eyes.
I have a Kobo Clara 2E for pretty much this reason. The lit screen has multiple levels of luminosity and adjustable yellow tone. I keep mine at a cool stone white but it can go really yellow if that’s what you want. On top of that, Kobo is much more user friendly for loading ebooks, it’s compatible with a whole range of ebook formats unlike Kindle.
Seconding the Kobo Clara for its dim, warm light.
Also want to mention using the KOReader software instead of the stock software for it’s fantastic feature set
I’m also Kobo Clara for a couple of years now and very happy with it.
Could you maybe elaborate on your experience with KOReader? It’s the first I hear about this. Maybe the only downside to Kobo is its unresponsive software. It’s just so slow. Does this KOReader improve on that?
Its much more responsive in my experience. It supports a wide range of options, has gestures for controlling certain settings (i.e. brightness and warmness) allows position syncing with other KOReader devices (Another reader,Android App for example), browsing and downloading from OPDS catalogs and Calibre instances, Downloading saved articles from Wallabag instances.
Honestly the only thing I use the stock Kobo software for is to launch KOReader. It does everything the stock software does but better.
I should mention, you install KOReader and its dependencies on top of the regular firmware, not over it. You can use them side by side
I use a fucking goddamn clampy lamp that clamps onto the fucking goddamn headboard of the bed and holy shit it’s fucked
E-reader is screen time. Wear a headlamp and read a printed book. Or possibly, listen to music or an audiobook through earbuds in the dark. Or even just sit quietly and relax your mind.
In the same sense that books are screen time (in that books, e-readers, phones, tablets, etc., all cause eye strain because you’re looking at something close to you), sure, but from a blue light perspective and from a psychological perspective, not so much.
Music listening and audiobooks involve screen time, to set up and control. Namely bright screens made of blue light emitting LEDs. An e-ink reader doesn’t involve any of this, it’s kind of the whole point of an e-reader.
I thought blue light wasn’t considered such an issue any more. Certainly a few seconds to operate an audio player isn’t much. And maybe the player app (if you use an app) can be themed to not give off blue light.
Depends. Blue light does affect sleep and eye strain. Avoiding it is not the cure for all eye and sleep issues as has been marketed by many products. But it is advisable to avoid it during night time as a habit for long term well being. Whether there’s a strong physiologically effect or if it’s merely a psychological relief is still being debated. But either way it does make people feel and sleep better when they have a habit of avoiding it during night time. So why not try it.
At the same time, reading on e-ink is a million times preferable to even the best amoled night mode screens. And no amount of nostalgia will make me return to paper books. They’re cool and mystic but they are a technological compromise in terms of ergonomics. Any ereader is a massive improvement in the experience of reading.
Then there’s the distraction factor. Avoiding screens is also about avoiding over stimulation of the brain when seeking sleep. And phones, where most people have music now, are the center of modern life distraction. A dedicated ereader does one thing and one thing only, with no internet browser connection it’s easier to avoid the distraction and dopamine traps of internet social media.
People tend to stick to the old rumor even though blue light as a problem is mostly a myth peddled by companies who only care about selling a product.
I use a red light. I put a red light bulb on my nightstand lamp.
🎵 MaaaaaaaaaataVatnik 🎵
🎵 You got to put on the red light 🎵
🎵 The day is all gone, You’ve got to read your book into the the night. 🎵
I love u
Everyone is saying e-ink, but if everyone is asleep, a very dim light is something most people easily sleep thu. Give your eyes a minute to adjust and you’ll be able to read tho.
There’s a shit ton of reading lamps with dimmers these days.
And it’s better than moving from physical books to kindle if you already have a bunch of books and re-read often.
I use a $15 book light with adjustable brightness. It has a flexible arm so it only shines light on the page, versus an electronic device which shines light on your face.
