The emergence of phablets like the iphone 6+, Nexus 6 and Samsung Galaxy Note killed small tablets by squeezing them out of the market.
Small Tablets are fantastic consumption devices at an affordable price
E-reading is efficient on a small tablet, line width is optimal for quick reading. My general rule of thumb is 35-60ems (the width of an m for a font times 35 to 60). In short this usually means 6-14 words per line, Ideal for one handed reading of an ebook or magazine. Google Play Magazines and Books are fantastic in small tablets.
Flank that with a Nexus 5 and things feel pretty cramped. A phablet may fix this problem but they’re often more expensive and perhaps too large as a phone.
Sadly reading magazines and ebooks in browser just plain suck. Partly due to Google not offering the more robust features of Android’s apps in Chrome or Chromium.
Google Play Magazines, Newstand and Books really are nerfed in Chrome and Chromium making them less user friendly.
Here’s to hoping Google refreshes the Nexus 7 or 9 for Android N so I don’t have to shelve out $500 bucks or more for a Pixel C just to read a few magazines.
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Reading Google Play Magazines in the browser is a joke and far from ideal, there is no text only version.
Smaller phones just don't work well as e-readers and I'm not a fan of phablets... my pockets are just not that big.
My Nexus 7 is often the ideal size for reading and consumption but it's over 4 years old now and frustratingly slow.
Nexus 7 (2012) resting on my System76 Lemur Ultra (2012)
Google Play Books is very lackluster compared to it's android version.
Google Play Books on Android is fantastic and comes with more features as well as the ability to download epubs to my Nexus 7,