Which is the better subscription for audio books?
In recent years, one type of “reading” has become increasingly popular: audio books! No wonder, since we can have the contents of a book brought closer to us in a simple and uncomplicated manner almost anywhere. Whether you are driving, in the supermarket or before going to sleep: an audio book can be used in many situations. In addition, even those who don’t read can enjoy reading.
It is therefore not exactly surprising that the availability of audio book flat rates has increased significantly in recent years. Audible has always been a pioneer here, after the takeover by Amazon you could look forward to more resources and advertising budget. If you don’t want to support the American company, you will find an alternative in Tolino, for example. But which subscription is actually better?
Before you start: The Tolino subscription is booked through the bookseller Thalia and is then available in the Tolino app. For the sake of simplicity, I call this subscription the Tolino subscription.
Only in small details. The general concept works the same for both services. For just under 10 euros per month, you can buy a token that you can redeem for (almost) any audio book. If a title is available in stores for less than 10 euros, only half a token is used and you can buy another audio book (<10 euros). One thing is important: to use up the tokens. If you have not made a purchase, the token can expire after the current month. So there is no winner here.
Basically, an audio book subscription can only be as good as the available titles. After all, there is no point in investing just under 10 euros per month in order not to find your favorite title. In both the non-fiction books and the novels, I noticed that Audible is slightly ahead. Sometimes it can also happen that Audible has the full audiobook version of a release, while only an abridged version is available in the Tolino library. So the point goes to Audible!
Of course, this is a subjective feeling, but in my opinion the Tolino app is a bit better because it offers significantly more functions. In addition to the audio books I have bought, I can also directly access and read the eBooks I have bought from Thalia, Hugendubel or Weltbild. At Audible, I would still need the Kindle app for this, which takes up additional storage space and forces me to buy my books directly from Amazon. So if you already read eBooks on a Tolino, you get twice the functionality with an app. Victory for Tolino!
Another very important aspect. Sometimes it can finally happen that we start the next chapter on a tablet and then switch back to our smartphone. And here the winner is clear: Audible! Unfortunately, with the Tolino app I repeatedly have problems with the fact that the current playback status is not synchronized across devices. So when I change devices, I have to fast forward to the last chapter I heard. If you only listen to one device, then this problem does not affect you, but Audible wins in this category.
In my personal test, Audible was a little more convincing than Tolino. The reason is the slightly better selection of audio books and the significantly better synchronization between different end devices. Amazon even goes so far that you can purchase eBook and audio book versions and switch between the two formats fluently. Tolino, on the other hand, has an app with a significantly better range of functions and can certainly score points for many because the investment does not end up in the United States. It’s best to try both subscriptions yourself. The first month is completely free for both services.
