Jailbreak: Kindle

I picked up a cheap Kindle; after reviewing this matrix, I opted for a 16GB Kindle Paperwhite 5 (11th generation, from 2021: 6.8" E Ink Carta 1200 display, USB-C, IPX8 water resistance, etc.). I got it on eBay, on the assumption that such a unit would be less likely to have been updated to a later firmware for which a jailbreak wasn’t (yet?) available; I also added a $7 origami-style cover (which some don’t recommend, since the cover is weaker along the fold lines, but for my use case it was a good compromise). Used a jailbreak and installed KOReader to use it to natively read ePubs (etc), that can just be dragged-and-dropped into the 'books' directory when mounting it as a mass storage device over USB.

So far, I like it, and I can leave my slightly bulkier, more expensive Kobo Libra 2 and huge Kobo Elipsa 2E at home. Spent a little more than the $79 I had originally planned to spend on a refurbished Kobo Nia (or $89 for a refurb’d Clara HD), but both were sold out before I finally decided to pull the trigger (and I think I’ll be happier with the newer, slightly bigger (6.8" vs. 6"), display...). So it goes.

(The Nia has a 212 ppi screen, the Clara HD has a 300 ppi screen just as the Kindle does, albeit, dating from 2018, an older “E Ink Carta” (non-1200, -1300) panel.)

The Kindle propped up on the “origami” cover