Do you enjoy reading books but find it difficult to find the time? Do you find reading books appealing, but you need help to devote all of your attention to one task at a time? If so, audiobooks may be the appropriate format for you, and where better to turn than one of the most well-known audiobook platforms, audible? Is it worthwhile, though? Find out by reading on!
Most individuals recognize that written novels and audiobooks are almost two unique forms of entertainment after listening to just one, and neither is superior to the other. With audiobooks, you also develop a bond with the narrator, who, in the case of Audible, is always a trained voice actor, in addition to the book’s characters and plot. It’s hard to explain, but when you find an audiobook you like, the narrator gives you the impression of an old friend who never passes judgment and always accepts you for who you are.
Although there are some significant distinctions between Audible and Netflix, both are subscription services for audiobooks. All Audible paid subscription plans get you access to Plus Catalogue, an unlimited library of 10,000 audiobooks. The Plus Catalogue offers completely free audiobooks for download and listening. Ten thousand audiobooks may seem large, but Audible has more than 500,000 audiobook titles in its collection, most of which are not accessible through the Plus Catalogue.
But are audiobooks that good? Are they worth the money you spend on them? We will discuss that here, so keep reading to figure it out!
Reasons Why Audible is Worth it.
1. Over 500,000 audiobooks are available on Audible.
The largest library of audiobooks available is that of Audible, which has more than 500,000 titles in its collection. About half of all titles are fiction, including works about mysteries, science fiction, romance, adult & mature topics, and fantasy. The remaining 50% consists of non-fiction, such as audiobooks on science, business and careers, history, health, and biographies.
Finally, Audible offers a collection of more than 100,000 podcasts, all of which include episodes that may be downloaded.
2. Plus Catalogue and exclusive Audible Originals
All Audible subscribers get access to the 10,000 audiobooks in the all-you-can-eat Plus Catalogue library. You can download as many audiobooks from the Plus Catalogue as you’d like without paying any credits or money. Audible Originals are also included in Catalogue.
These are Audible Studios’ internal creations, with the best audio quality and, occasionally, some unique sound effects. Hollywood celebrities like Collin Farrell or Bryan Cranston frequently narrate these works. These Originals are all free to download from the Plus Catalog and are only available on Audible (no other audiobook service offers them).
3. Refunding Audiobooks and Recovering Credit Wasted is Quite Simple
With Audible’s no-questions-asked return policy, you can return an audiobook and receive the credit you used to purchase it. Because of the comprehensive return policy, even audiobooks you have finished listening to can be refunded. You can do this about 5–6 times over two months.
The refund button will, after that, become inactive and greyed out. Even in this situation, a refund is still available; all you have to do is get in touch with Audible customer service.
4. Self-Narrated Books by Authors and Top-Notch Audio Quality
For audiobooks to be published on Audible, there are incredibly high audio quality requirements. The narrator is the only exception to the rule that audiobooks must remain silent: no unintentional pops, clicks, or other annoying noises.
Professional voice actors must also perform as narrators. The “professional voice actors” criterion does not apply to audiobooks read by the writers of the books.
5. Numerous Reviews, a Sleep Timer, Bookmarks, and an Adjustable Narration Speed
The user interface for the audiobook player is excellent and has tons of helpful features, including:
- Changing the narration’s speed (from 0.5x to 3.5x rate).
- Bookmarks and the capacity to annotate specific sections of the audiobook
- Chapters.
- Snooze alarm (meaning the audiobook player stops running after X amount of time).
In particular, the narration speed option is quite well done. It’s good that narrators still seem genuine and credible at slower playback rates (0.8x to 1.4x). With someone pointing it out, you could tell if the audiobook was speeding up or down.
6. There are No Ads on Audible
There is no advertising of any kind on Audible. You will never have to fear that an advertisement will occupy valuable app space or that a 2-for-1 burger deal at your neighborhood eatery will ruin your listening experience. There are no outside distractions; it’s just you, the audiobook, and the narrator.
7. Stats, Badges, and Listening Time
A valuable feature of Audible is the ability to keep track of how much time you’ve spent listening to audiobooks overall, as well as a breakdown by day and month. Another feature is the “badges” you can acquire while using the app. You will receive one of these badges when you finish a specific task.
Completing challenges and earning badges have no valuable advantages. It’s merely a stupid, entertaining function that makes you smile when you see how ridiculously some challenges are phrased.
Reasons Why Audible is Not Worth it
1. The Mobile Application’s User Interface is Bothersome
The Audible user interface is difficult to use, except for the audio player, which is excellent. A portion of the software has a dark theme while the other has a light theme, useful features are hidden behind multiple levels of menus, and so forth.
Finding even crucial settings, such as Wishlist, Payment Options, Purchase History, etc., is particularly frustrating. The user interface is generally pretty decent, but it is bad enough to be a hassle.
2. Finding New Audiobooks is Time-Consuming
A suggestion system on Audible suggests new audiobooks based on what you’ve previously listened to. At first, it functions reasonably well. However, it frequently ends up recommending the same 15 books repeatedly.
In addition to offering repeating suggestions, Audible’s search engine could be better for discovering new audiobooks. Even if the search tool does work for you, switching back and forth between several audiobook listings only to find the next book to read will be quite time-consuming.
In general, using Audible to search for new books entails a lot of options, repetitive clicking and scrolling, slow loading times, etc. They all work together to make browsing incredibly tedious. In reality, I liked finding new books on Goodreads or Google, then buying them straight on Audible in my day-to-day usage.
3. The Audiobooks Aren’t Truly Yours to Keep
You don’t actually “own” any digital media, even if you paid for it, including digital versions of movies, the music you purchase from iTunes, ebooks from Amazon, and audiobooks from Audible. You are purchasing a license to utilize the file.
As a result, even if you paid for it, if a publisher or author removes their audiobook from Audible, it no longer displays in your account’s cloud library and cannot be accessed again. The only exception is if the audiobook was downloaded to your device before removal.
The audiobooks you’ve previously downloaded from Audible are safe because they won’t be affected (until you run out of storage space). However, to Audible’s credit, its customer service will always issue a credit refund if this occurs.
To be clear, Audible is one of many companies experiencing a lack of control over digital goods. It’s a characteristic of the digital economy, and you’ll experience the same issue with every other platform, including Google Play, Apple iTunes, and Steam (a platform for video games).
4. Audible is Not a Free Benefit of Amazon Prime
Unfortunately, unlike Amazon Prime Video, Audible is not a free service for Amazon Plus members. This is nitpicking, but it would have been wonderful if Amazon had given you the option to add Audible as a Prime add-on at a reduced price (say, an additional $6-7 to your monthly Prime subscription).
Currently, the only advantage that Amazon Prime members have from Audible is that during their free trial time, they receive two credits rather than one; that’s it. Perhaps Amazon will combine the two subscriptions in the future, but for now, separate subscriptions are the only option.
Conclusion| Audible Review: Reasons Why it’s Worth it and Why it’s Not
Because audiobooks sound private and personal, narrators have the familiarity of old friends, and Audible offers the largest library, the best rates, and fantastic return policies, it is definitely worth your money if you love books but lack time to read or prefer listening to content.
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