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A magazine flat rate for mobile phones, tablets and PCs

Readly is a flat rate for magazines and newspapers that is functionally comparable to the streaming service Netflix: a monthly fee gives users online access to thousands of magazines in which they can read as much and for as long as they want . GIGA editor Stefan shares his experience with the online service and says whether the Readly subscription is worthwhile.

Magazine flat rate Readly: GIGA test result

“Why buy a magazine? All information is available on the Internet for free! ”- Anyone who believes that is wrong. Readly is a good proof that some information and entertainment is not just easy to find on the net. The depth and diversity of the content is always impressive: tattoos, dogs, Italian cuisine, in-ear headphones, tanks – a magazine can be found for almost everything. Depending on the title, you will be extremely well informed about the respective topic here.

“But aren’t magazines already dead?” No, not that – but printed magazines have to adapt to change and continue to reach readers who have long been spending most of their time on mobile phones and tablets. Despite all the difficulties magazines continue to be popular, especially in Germany.

Readly on the iPad mini (Image: GIGA)

I also appreciate the magazine format and back then I regularly bought audio and video game magazines at the kiosk. For a few months now, I’ve been using the Readly online kiosk (costs: 9.99 euros / month) both professionally and privately. The two key points from my experience are as follows:

1. At Readly you can find a lot, but far from everything.
2. If you want to get the most out of Readly, use a tablet.

Don’t get your hopes up: Readly is not comprehensive in terms of selection. While music streaming services like Spotify seem to cover the majority of all titles ever published, the readly flat rate only offers a selection of the total range. Many interests are covered, but you will still find gaps here and there. Operation in the desktop browser (go.readly.com) is useful, but a bit sluggish – the mobile app, which shows all its strengths on tablets, is much better. I use Readly on an iPad mini and am extremely satisfied: The most important gestures are learned quickly, and after a short time it feels natural to digitally “leaf through” a magazine.

Readly: The operation of the mobile app is successful (Image: GIGA)

Conclusion: Whether Readly is worthwhile logically depends on how much you actually read. When I look back on the last few months, my assessment is clear: I can easily get the 9.99 euro monthly fee back on two weekends. It’s not just the magazines that you absolutely want to read – but also the many titles that you discover while browsing and that you look into for a few pages. It’s fun and a nice change from the endless streams on Twitter and Instagram, which are tiresome in the long run. Reading magazines for two hours is a completely different and beneficial experience that I have now rediscovered for myself. By the way: 5 user profiles are included, so Readly can also be used well as a family.

Advantages:

  • Easy to use without complicated special rules: Everything you find in Readly can be read. There are no additional costs besides the regular monthly fee
  • Very good mobile apps for reading on tablets (Android, iOS)
  • International magazines (e.g. English, Turkish) available, which enhances the offer if you speak the language

Disadvantage:

  • The selection is okay, but not outstanding: Over 1,000 magazines in German, but there are still no well-known names (Spiegel, Focus) and most of the daily newspapers
  • You should refrain from using it on a mobile phone: the screen on the smartphone is simply too small

Readly magazine flat rate: test evaluation 2021

  • Selection: 7.5
  • Operation desktop: 7.0
  • Cell phone operation: 6.0
  • Operation tablet: 8.5

GIGA rating: 7.3 out of 10 (Sub-grade “Selection” forms 50 percent of the overall grade)

An offer that you should look at carefully before booking

“Frau mit Herz”, “AutoBild” or would you prefer the “Gamestar”? Readly offers interested parties a discounted entry (first month 99 cents). Nevertheless, it is advisable to take a closer look at the entire offer beforehand and to compare it with your own interests. There is also an overview page of all magazines at Readly, which is also accessible without a subscription. Here you can search for specific titles and filter the selection by country.

Important to know: Readly currently lists over 5,300 magazines in total (25 countries) – but if you narrow it down to Germany, there are “only” 1,117 titles. Together with Austria and Switzerland then 1,324 titles. What I miss are the daily newspapers: Neither the FAZ nor the Süddeutsche Zeitung can be found – only a few titles, mainly from Axel Springer:

Readly: The selection of newspapers could be better (Image: GIGA)
Readly - Magazines & Newspapers

Readly – Magazines & Newspapers

Developer: Readly

In return, I think the selection of UK and US magazines is great, because for the most part I don’t know them and I rarely stumble across them in the kiosk. The prerequisite for this additional benefit from “foreign magazines” is, however, that one has mastered the respective languages ​​- a translation function is not available.

In general, it is advisable to look at the FAQ on the Readly website read through. Here it says, for example, that you can pay the monthly fee via PayPal, SEPA direct debit or credit card (VISA, MasterCard) and that the subscription can be canceled at any time.

Readly operation: only half as good without a tablet

As already mentioned: Readly is best when you use the app on a tablet. Magazines can be opened in reading mode, where a practical text zoom is available – but the perfect experience does not want to be set on a smartphone. The magazines are designed for a larger format. My iPad mini is almost a bit too small, and I occasionally have to zoom in to read more comfortably.

Magazines can be displayed in Readly with text zoom if necessary (reading mode), so that older users can do without reading glasses (Image: GIGA)
iPad mini (2019) WiFi 64 GB

iPad mini (2019) WiFi 64 GB

Reading on the laptop or PC monitor is useful for brief research. The user interface in the browser and the input via mouse / touchpad are learned quickly – but in my opinion that doesn’t feel as natural as reading readly on a tablet.

Marking or copying text is not possible. For this you can take screenshots (Readly Version 5.3.1, tried out in iOS) and individual pages can be shared as readable previews, for example via iMessage. Practical: You can set favorites and download complete magazines for later offline reading. The search function works quickly and forgives small typing errors (“loudspeaker” instead of “loudspeaker”).

Overall well implemented and suitable for everyday use, at least after a few minutes of getting used to it. What is missing, of course, is the haptic impression: the way the stylish architecture magazine in silk matt is raised on the glass table in the living room cannot be reproduced digitally. Then the only thing that helps is going to the kiosk.

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