I turned my 7-year-old Android tablet into the ultimate Kindle killer, and you can too

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I love the idea of the Amazon Kindle, or just e-book readers in general. A simple, single-use device that condenses thousands of books into one product has understandable appeal. However, with Amazon effectively bricking devices released before 2013 , tying myself to a product that could become a paperweight in the future doesn’t seem like a great way to spend my cash.

So, I went shopping at my local device repo — also known as the decrepit device drawer in my office — and pulled out a 2019 Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0. It certainly wasn’t a high-end product even in its day, but the budget slate is small, lightweight, portable, and a potential book reader with a far higher ceiling than Amazon’s restrictive experience.

And, as it turns out, I needed just a few hours to transform this device into the ultimate Kindle killer.

Repurposing devices that are effectively obsolete is a great way to save cash and keep landfills tech-free. Given that opening book files doesn’t require a pacey modern processor or loads of RAM, my Galaxy Tab just made sense in this context.

While Android tablets and e-book readers share a similar form factor, they’re vastly different products. I’ll admit that reading on an E-Ink display is much kinder on the eyes and more book-like, but a tablet is far more versatile and customizable, and through it, I can consume more than just novels.

Using Android’s built-in customization and a few tricks, I can trim the fat and install apps to enhance my reading experience. Then there are the tertiary benefits of a tablet: the color screen, which makes it perfect for cookbooks, and the option to repurpose it again if reading no longer fits its purpose.

To be frank, one of the core reasons I saw the Galaxy Tab as a viable Kindle alternative was that I already owned it. The best e-book reader is the one you have in your hand, right? Nevertheless, with 32GB of storage with a microSD card slot, an 8-inch display, and a 5,100mAh battery that still takes ages to drain seven years later, this Samsung tablet still has plenty to give and has become a reading companion I take almost everywhere.