What is Blinkist and How Does it Work?
Blinkist is an app that provides condensed summaries of popular nonfiction books, distilling them down to their key takeaways. The summaries, called "blinks," are available in both text and audio formats and take about 15 minutes each to read or listen to.
The Blinkist library contains over 5,000 titles spanning categories like productivity, technology, money, science, health, and more. New blinks are added each week based on bestseller lists and user demand. You can access the entire library by paying a monthly or yearly subscription fee after a 7-day free trial.
The app aims to help busy readers get to the core insights from great books without having to read cover-to-cover. Basically, it‘s like CliffNotes meets Audible – the key highlights packaged up conveniently so you can build knowledge efficiently.
Pros of Using Blinkist
Helps determine which books are worth your time: The blinks let you preview books quickly so you can decide if the full book is worth a read. This helps avoid wasting time on mediocre books.
Saves time for busy people: 15 minutes per summary saves hours compared to reading full 300+ page books. The text and audio options gives flexibility to fit learning around life.
Surfaces only the critical insights: Removing all the filler from nonfiction books ensures you extract only the most useful concepts and ideas to apply in your life.
Inexpensive source for learning: Unlimited book access for under $10/month compares very favorably to buying books individually. Great for personal development and continued learning with minimal time and money.
Audio option enables learning on the go: You can listen to blinks during your commute or workout, turning small pockets of time into productive learning moments.
Cons of Using Blinkist
Summaries lack depth and full context: With only key points presented, you miss the complete picture, diverse perspectives, and full analysis you would get from a full-length book.
Doesn‘t suit visual learners: Since blinks are almost all text and audio, diagrams, exercises, and other visual elements from the full books are excluded. This limits retention potential.
Promotes surface-level learning: Jumping from blink to blink across various books leads to shallow learning rather than deep mastery of a single topic. Synthesizing concepts suffers.
Discourages actual reading: Why struggles through whole books when you can get pre-packaged takeaways instantly? This can erode patience, interpretation skills, and appreciation of nuance.
Puts full control over which ideas spread: Blinkist‘s editorial slant determines which books get featured and what gets cut or kept in each summary. This centralizes influence over ideas.
Who is Blinkist Best For?
For pre-screening books: Blinkist excels for getting the general idea before deciding if you should buy a book. Bibliophiles can avoid wasting money on duds.
For supplementing, not replacing reading: If time is limited, use blinks to sample titles you wouldn‘t otherwise get to, not as substitution for deeper reading.
For committed self-developers: If building your skills and knowledge is a high priority despite a packed schedule, Blinkist fits nicely into small windows of time.
For audio learners and commuters: Consistent listeners who retain well from podcasts and audiobooks get abundant accessible material for productive commutes.
For aspiring polymaths: Those aiming to amass wide-ranging surface knowledge across disciplines to boost conversation repertoire find a cost-efficient reservoir of content.
Comparing Blinkist to Other Learning Platforms
vs. Audiobooks: Blinkist gives you key insights quickly at low cost. Audiobooks offer the full richness of a book but require ample time to finish. Short and long-form learning respectively.
vs CliffsNotes: The concept is similar but Blinkist covers far more contemporary titles. However, CliffsNotes still rules for literary classics as supplements to reading assignments.
vs. Podcasts: Podcasts offer amazing free content but usually focus deep on one niche. Blinkist provides breadth across topics and books but is a paid platform. Both make great audio learning.
vs. Online Courses: Courses like Udemy supply much more robust education from experts but only in select skill domains. Blinkist spreads wider from books but with less depth.
vs. MasterClass: Celebrity-led MasterClass provides beautifully filmed instruction but on far fewer topics than Blinkist covers through book analysis. Production quality vs. quantity of content.
Blinkist Pricing Breakdown
Blinkist offers access to over 5,000 book summaries through web and mobile apps. You can try it free for 7 days. After the trial, here are the payment options:
Monthly: $15.99 per month, cancel anytime
- Best for short-term use
- Total annual cost = $191.88
Yearly: $99.99 per year, auto-renews
- Best for long-term use
- Only $8.33 per month
- Total annual cost = $99.99
- Save $91.88 vs paying monthly
Blinkist also partners with productivity platforms like Evernote to offer discounted bundled memberships. Occasional seasonal sales may also discount standard pricing up to 20-30% temporarily around gift-giving holidays.
Compared to buying individual print, ebook or audiobook formats, Blinkist provides very affordable access to thousands of titles. But cancelling subscription means losing access until resubscribed.
Inside the Blinkist User Experience
The Blinkist app and website interface is clean, intuitive and very easy to use. Here are the key elements:
Browse Tab: Displays curated selections of new, trending and recommended blinks personalized to your tastes. Bite-sized previews help choose what to read.
Library Tab: Stores blinks you have saved so you can easily continue reading. Download for offline access. Organize with tags and highlights.
Search Function: Lets you search by book title, author name or topic tags. Advanced filters make delving into the catalog precise.
Reading Views: Text view looks like an ebook chapter. Audio player has variable speed and seamless switching between reading and listening.
Highlighting: Save key quotes and passages you want to remember with digital highlights and offline export to platforms like Evernote.
Overall, Blinkist strikes an outstanding balance between simplicity and powerful features – easy to pick up but customize it deeper over time.
Assessing the Breadth and Depth of Book Selection
With over 5,000 titles from a wide cross-section of categories, Blinkist wins big on breadth. From biography to money to philosophy and beyond, most nonfiction niches have strong representation. However, breadth sacrifices depth in some areas. While self-improvement, business and money get lots of titles regularly added, narrower fields get less attention.
Popular bestsellers tend to get selected but underrepresented authors have lower chances of making the cut. Controversial or difficult works usually don‘t show up either since they require more complex analysis than a short summary permits. So Blinkist generally opts for mass appeal over intellectual rigor or obscure titles. This keeps quality consistent butpredictable for some veteran readers.
Categories like technology and health science likely offer the best balance of depth and reliable curation of important new releases. Less mainstream niches provide glimpses into new terrain but should be supplemented with fuller reading elsewhere.
Key Blinkist Features Reviewed
Text + Audio Options: Almost every book has text and audio so you can seamlessly switch between reading and listening on any device on or offline.
Downloading: Syncs across devices when you download blinks for offline reading or listening so your learning queue stays up to date.
Highlighting: Like an ebook, highlight memorable passages. Export all highlights so they are searchable in apps like Evernote.
Listening Speed Control: Audio player allows you to speed up narration up to 3x speed so you can optimize for comprehension and time.
Following Feature: Subscribe to authors, topics or outlets. Get notified when they publish new blinks aligned with your interests. Great for staying in the loop.
Assessing Blinkist’s Legitimacy and Customer Service
As a company founded in 2012 that has raised over $28 million in funding and boasts millions of users, Blinkist has solidified itself as a legitimate and reputable platform. They have successfully expanded across European and US markets through word-of-mouth and strong customer retention.
Analysis of external review sites shows mostly 4 and 5 star app store ratings from several ten thousand global user reviews. On TrustPilot, 230 reviews yield a score of 3.5 out of 5. Google Play ratings sit at about 4 out of 5 stars. The most happy customers report steady discovery of books aligned with their reading goals. Critics mainly cite the lack of depth compared to full books or occasional technology glitches.
For customer service, Blinkist users confirm responsive and courteous support experiences predominantly via email exchanges. Concerns get reasonably resolved around cancellation procedures, billing questions and rectifying account issues. This earns admiration even from customers otherwise underwhelmed by the app itself.
So while minor imperfections exist, genuine dedication to pleasing subscribers with both Apple and Google showcasing Blinkist’s quality, legitimacy and satisfaction levels remain admirably robust.
Top Customer Review Highlights
Positive:
- “Blinkist leads me books I would never have otherwise come across but end up loving.”
- “I retain so much more from the audio blinks listened to during my runs compared to music.”
- “This app is like my internet rabbit hole exit strategy – satiates curiosity and flitting interests with getting stuck."
- "So many actionable ideas and perfectly concise wisdom collected all in one app. Feels almost unfair to have it at my fingertips 24/7!"
Constructive Criticism:
- "Summaries seem a bit disjointed or abrupt since lots of context gets stripped out."
- "My interests are quite eclectic so I wish niche areas got some more titles and updates."
- "Curation seems focused on pumping out lots of bite-sized content over deeper works."
- "Can‘t shake the feeling I‘m cheating myself out of fuller learning – but love the convenience."
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Are there other ways to try Blinkist besides the free trial?
Yes. Occasionally they offer special extended 45-day trials around the December gift season rather than just 7 days. Discounts also happen around November for Black Friday sales.
Can I access Blinkist content offline?
Yes. The offline function lets you download blinks to your mobile device so you can read or listen without an internet connection. Syncing makes them accessible across all your devices too.
What happens after my free trial ends?
Your subscription automatically starts on a monthly recurring basis once the free trial expires. So remember to cancel in advance if you decide it’s not for you before you get billed.
What is Blinkist’s cancellation and refund policy?
You can cancel and get a full refund within 14 days of signing up if you are unsatisfied for any reason. After that window closes, payment is non-refundable to cover content licensing costs.
