If you want a cheap rooted eReader I think you're better off getting a Kobo instead, they don't officially support rooting but AFAICT they make basically no effort to prevent it.

▲

enthdegree 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The latest Kobos use MediaTek SoCs with locked bootloaders. The Kobo Clara BW's MT8113, for example. As far as I know, one of the early bootloaders it, BL1, refuses to execute the next bootloader (BL2) unless its signature is valid. We can get the device into a mode where BL1 waits for upload of a BL2 via USB using an exploit called Kamakiri, but in public there is neither an exploit to get BL1 to boot an arbitrary BL2, nor an authorized BL2 image to upload. See here: https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient/issues/1332

Kobo devices have root exposed but don't let users boot their own kernels (and the kernel they ship was not compiled with kexec either).

I really don't know the reason so many devices these days don't have an unlock method. It seems predatory. Who knows where in the chain this happens... maybe it's Kobo, or maybe MediaTek won't sell you their SoCs for mass-market devices unless you lock them.

▲

zozbot234 13 hours ago | parent | next [-]

According to the github issue it seems to be a simple checksum step, not a true signature verification? If so there is no locked bootloader in any real sense.

If the real impediment is lack of demand or low-level development effort for any given device, that's in principle a solvable issue once projects like pmOS and Mobian choose to focus on some reasonably-available hackable hardware and bring it up to true daily driver state.

	▲	enthdegree 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		mtkclient does not seem to correctly interpret the usb output of the device past some part of the early boot process. Really, any of those messages formatted by mtkclient are unfaithful to the intended meaning. So yes maybe it is "just a checksum step" or maybe something else entirely. Last year I collected some UART logs on the device during bootup in a zip here: https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient/issues/1289

▲

monerozcash 16 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Can you just access /dev/mem or load a kernel module? Is there a SELinux policy stopping that?

If you can do either of those, it should be trivial to get kexec working by just loading it as a module.

	▲	enthdegree 16 hours ago \| parent [-]
		As far as I know, yes, it's possible. No SELinux. Kernel is a branch from 4.9.something pretty far off mainline with a few proprietary binary blob modules. As far as I know the real impediment here is lack of demand.

▲

j45 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Older Kobos sound ok though?

▲

tfsh 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

+1 to a Kobo, they cheaper and better than Kindles, with full Calibre support (https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibre - OSS which has been in development for ~20 years!).

The way you install additional software is literally just moving files into folders whilst its plugged into your computer. I'm sure it could handle Tailscale.

▲

finalarbiter 18 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I agree with your sentiment that the Kobo is better than the Kindle from an... ethical standpoint, if you have the money for one. However, it is worth noting that Kindles will always be cheaper than Kobo devices [0] due to economies of scale and lockscreen advertisements (removable with jailbreaking). From a pure cost perspective, and assuming the user is technically-minded enough to accomplish the jailbreak, the Kindle is likely always [1] a better deal.

[0] as of today, 12/8/25, the "base model" Kindle 11th Generation is priced at $109.99 USD, and the respective Kobo Clara BW is $139.99 USD.

[1] I say "likely always" to cover my bases. To my knowledge Calibre supports Kindle, just not as well as Kobo. That said I have found that the KOreader app is more than powerful enough for my use case (reading my own epubs, using dictionaries, etc.)

▲

jsheard 18 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That doesn't always hold, if you want color e-ink then Kobo is currently the cheaper option.

Kindle Colorsoft (7" 16GB) - $250

Kindle Colorsoft (7" 32GB) - $280

Kobo Clara Color (6" 16GB) - $160

Kobo Libra Color (7" 32GB) - $230

The Libra also supports a stylus (sold separately) while the Colorsoft doesn't, that's reserved for the much bigger and pricier Kindle Scribe.

▲

ekropotin 18 hours ago | parent [-]

How is situation with latency on these readers?

I’ve just acquired the latest gen Kindle and I’m absolutely blown away by how fast it is.

▲

gcr 15 hours ago | parent [-]

do you mean latency on a color screen? (my experience with color eInk is that it adds quite a lot of latency)

	▲	wkat4242 9 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The current colour kindles and kobos don't use real eink colour. It's just a bw screen with lcd colour overlay (eink kaleido) The real colour screens are used on the remarkable (eink gallery) and they are indeed slow for full page updates though remarkable seems to have done a lot of smarts for local updates while drawing.
	▲	15 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		[deleted]
	▲	ekropotin 14 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Ah, sorry for confusion. I meant to ask about non-color version of Kobo.
	▲	dotancohen 15 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		And colour E-Ink devices also have horrible contrast.

▲

haritha-j 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Plus the kindles will get decent discounts on prime day, black friday and such.

▲

abnry 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Where do I get DRM-free ebooks to put on a Kobo? I don't support breaking DRM. So I'm using a Kindle because it has the best access to and integration with almost any book I want.

▲

jrm4 18 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Also consider koreader instead of the stock reader app.

▲

cyberpunk 18 hours ago | parent [-]

I kinda love that buried in the koreader menu somewhere is an option that drops me at a linux shell. I have no use really for this feature, but i like it. Good for those times you absolutely have to crank out some awk on the plane or whatever. :)

	▲	dotancohen 7 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Thank you, I did not know about this! But what I'd really like is an option not to hide the navigation bar while KOReader is open. I work with technical PDFs and need to jump between applications very often. One of which is often Termux!

▲

rr808 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Most (?) Kobos can run libby so you can get ebooks from your library.

▲

graemep 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I use the Calibre support, but did not know you could install additional software that easily!

▲

dotancohen 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Same with the Barnes and Noble Nooks. I've never rooted one, but via ADB one can install a launcher and most Android applications run. I've used four generations of Nooks to run AnkiDroid.

Just beware to check what version of Android the Nook is using before you buy, and what your app needs.

	▲	ewoodrich 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Android on an e-reader unlocks so much potential. I've owned four or five Kindles over the years but recently switched to an Onyx Boox page 7" as my main e-reader. Expensive (relative to Kindles) but runs full Android 11 and has physical page turn buttons. I use an app called BookFusion to sync my library including reading position across all platforms. Battery life isn't Kindle grade but I can get by charging once a week which is a good enough tradeoff for the convenience of being able to run Android apps.

▲

kaladin-jasnah 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Kobo is great. I use Plato and KOReader on mine. They worked better than the original reader software for reading manga.

▲

maximilianburke 16 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I used to like my Kobo a lot but recently it's got some pretty severe unreliability issues, usually around reading non-Kobo epubs and PDFs. Like, if I open of those files, the device usually crashes and when it recovers after a reboot, the file disappears.

▲

whoisburbansky 18 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The only (tiny) issue I've had with Tailscale on Kobo has been that the tailscale daemon prevents me from using the Kobo in Mass Storage Mode while it's active, so I have to disable/quit KOReader to be able to plug it in again, which is admittedly not frequently warranted anyways.

▲

Havoc 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I was more after a eink display in a shape that is cheaper than new boards for a DIY project