You might think that Amazon’s Kindle and Google Play Books are the only places an Android user need to turn to get their fix of eBooks and eReaders. Well, Prestigio wants to change all that with the latest version of their eReader, complete with their own store for purchasing eBooks. The latest version of Prestigio’s eReader now features a revamped rendering engine, support for every eBook format, the ability to turn text to speech and double-duty as an Audiobook player. Put short, Prestigio’s eReader wants to turn your Android smartphone or tablet into an eBook reader of its own, and with this latest version, they might have done just that. So, let’s take a closer look, shall we?
First things first, you’ll need to download eReader Prestigio from the Play Store. It’s a free download, regardless of whether or not you want to use their store or your own books downloaded elsewhere. To make use of that store however, you will need to either login or create an account.
Creating an account is nice and simple, and this will allow you to purchase books from the Prestigio book store.
There’s a lot of free, public domain books available in the store as well as paid copies of the latest books. A nice touch here, is that it’s not just English catered for, as those looking for books from all across Europe can find something in their native tongue.
Once you’ve found a book, you can get to reading it, and as you’ll see, the new rendering engine is pretty good at making use of my smartphone’s display. One thing I liked about this was that the time and battery left on your device is neatly displayed without getting in your way or anything like that.
The above is how I like to read with Prestigio’s eReader, but there’s a lot of different options you can change here.
This is a free book that I downloaded from the Prestigio store, but this eReader app doesn’t care where you got it from and you can scan your device for any eBooks you might have on your smartphone or tablet.
Prestigio supports a wide, wide range of formats as well:
There’s even a built-in file manager to navigate to ePub or PDF books you might have on your device.
Prestigio have said that this latest version of the app includes some realistic page turning and well, it’s certainly quick and slick when in use.
While Prestigio’s eReader does a great job of turning your Android device into an eBook Reader, it can also be used to play Audiobooks, which is a neat way of keeping the two close cousins together in one app.
It’s not just with audiobooks that Prestigio can bring books alive with, it can also transform text-to-speech on any book you have in your library. This is good for those times when you have your hands full or just want to turn the screen off for a bit.
Prestigio’s app can also offer up multimedia within books found in their store as well, making this neat little app suitable for everything you throw at it.
All-in-all, Prestigio have done an excellent job of making an app that can be used for all kinds of reading and it’s definitely a good option. It can’t match the breadth of books that Amazon has in the Kindle store, but this easily and effortlessly allows you to import books that you might have bought elsewhere, and it works with any and every format under the sun. It’s an Audiobook player, too which is a nice inclusion. Prestigio’s eReader is a great way of making the most of smartphones or tablets that have Quad HD displays, using an LG G4 instead of my Kindle has made my Amazon eBook Reader jealous and the new rendering engine is super-quick and fluid. Text is sharp, you can adjust the margins however you want and the whole experience is smooth and good-looking.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Prestigio have created one of the faster eReader apps that I’ve spent time with and it works really well.
- Theme (5/5) – The new rendering engine here works wonders and it’s so easy on the eyes that you’ll think a Kindle is old tech. Fonts look sharp, the reading view is easy to navigate and there are a lot of different options available as well.
- Features (4/5) – If you’re looking an eBook Reader that doesn’t care where or how you got your eBooks, then this is a good option. It works with every format and it’ll even work with Audiobooks as well.
- Overall (4/5) – Prestigio can’t match the Kindle store, but it’s a better app in terms of overall features and rendering engine. It’s much quicker and it makes the most of high-resolution smartphone and tablet displays.
Pros
- Works with the majority of formats available for eBooks all over the world.
- Rendering engine looks good and works really well, it’s smooth, fluid and easy on the eyes.
- Store does offer up a lot of free books as well as more premium titles with small price tags.
- Features a beautiful way of keeping your books organised thanks to the bookshelf feature.
Cons
- More font options would be nice.
- A way to sync with Google Play Books would drastically improve the amount of books that users can choose from.
Overall, Prestigio have put together an excellent eBook Reader that looks good, has a lot to offer and doesn’t make the user work too hard. It’s a shame the store can’t compete with Amazon’s, but if you get your books from elsewhere, then Prestigio have one of the best ways to help make those books shine.