What is e-ink, and how is an e-reader different from a tablet?
E-ink (electrophoretic display) is a fundamentally different display technology from the LCD or OLED in a tablet, and that difference explains every characteristic of an e-reader.
How e-ink works. Microscopic capsules contain positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in fluid. Applying an electric field moves them to the top or bottom of each capsule, showing white or black at that point.
The crucial property: it is bistable. Once the particles move, they stay with no power applied. A page of text consumes electricity only when the page changes — displaying it costs nothing.
What follows from that:
Battery life measured in weeks, because power is used for page turns rather than for display.
Readable in direct sunlight. E-ink is reflective — it works by reflecting ambient light exactly as paper does — whereas a backlit screen competes with the sun and loses. This is the difference most noticeable in practice.
No flicker and no emitted light, since front-lights on modern e-readers illuminate the surface from the edge rather than shining at your eyes.
Wide viewing angles and no glare.
The limitations:
Slow refresh. Moving all those particles takes time, which is why page turns show a brief flash and why e-ink cannot show video. Newer panels are faster and it remains far below an LCD.
Limited colour. Colour e-ink exists and is muted and lower resolution compared with an LCD, because it adds a filter layer that reduces reflectance.
Ghosting — faint remnants of the previous page, which full-page refreshes clear.
Poor for anything but reading, which is the point.
Why choose one over a tablet: far better for extended reading, both for eye comfort in sunlight and because it does not do anything else. The absence of notifications and apps is a feature — a tablet competes for attention continuously.
A tablet is better for illustrated books, magazines, PDFs with complex layout, colour, and anything interactive.