The best ebook reader to buy right now

Any ebook scholar volition fto you cram a Beauty and the Beast-sized library’s worthy of books successful your pocket, but truthful volition your phone. An ebook scholar offers a much book-like speechmaking experience, with less distractions and little oculus strain, and galore see other features, similar adjustable frontlighting. Some truly are pocketable. Others are waterproof oregon connection carnal page-turning buttons, portion a fewer adjacent fto you instrumentality notes.

I’ve been utilizing ebook readers for astir a decade, and I’ve gone hands-on with dozens, from the Kindle Paperwhite to lesser-known rivals similar the Pocketbook Era. Whether you privation thing your kid tin propulsion against the partition oregon a waterproof, warm-glow Kindle that won’t ruin your spa ambiance, these are the champion ebook readers for everyone. 

The champion Kindle

Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.9 x .32 inches / Weight: 205 grams / Screen country and resolution: 6.8-inch screen, 300ppi solution / Storage: 16GB / Other features: IPX8 waterproofing, Bluetooth audio support 

If you mostly bargain ebooks from Amazon, you’ll privation a Kindle, and the 11th-gen Kindle Paperwhite is the champion prime for astir people. Starting astatine $139.99, it’s cheaper than the Kobo Libra Colour — my apical non-Amazon ebook reader, which I’ll dive into aboriginal — for galore of the aforesaid features. Those see a ample 300pi show and an adjustable lukewarm achromatic frontlight, which marque for a wide and enjoyable speechmaking experience. The second besides conveniently improves slumber by cutting down connected bluish airy that interrupts melatonin production. 

That lukewarm achromatic frontlighting is an vantage implicit the chill achromatic of the $99.99 base-model Kindle, and dissimilar the basal Kindle, the Paperwhite has IPX8 h2o resistance. The $189.99 Signature Edition Paperwhite besides has an auto-adjusting frontlight and nary lockscreen ads. It besides has wireless charging, which is simply a uncommon diagnostic to find successful an e-reader.

Amazon is the largest online retailer successful the world, and it dominates the US ebook market, truthful Kindle owners person entree to advantages owners of different ebook readers don’t. Much of Amazon’s hardware strategy depends connected offering cut-rate discounts to propulsion you into its contented ecosystem. If you person Prime and bargain a batch of Kindle ebooks, the Paperwhite is the champion prime due to the fact that Amazon makes it incredibly casual to bargain and work its stuff. Its ebooks and audiobooks are often connected sale, and Prime members get much escaped contented done Prime Reading. Rivals similar Kobo connection sales, too, but it’s hard for them to connection discounts arsenic steep arsenic Amazon does.

There are downsides, though. The Paperwhite has lockscreen ads unless you wage $20 other to get escaped of them. It’s besides excessively large to clasp comfortably with 1 hand. Perhaps the Kindle Paperwhite’s biggest flaw, though — which it shares with each Kindles speech from Fire tablets — is that it’s not casual to work books purchased extracurricular of Amazon’s store. Kindle ebook formats are proprietary and lone enactment connected Kindle. Unlike Kobo and different ebook readers, Kindles don’t enactment EPUB files, an unfastened record format utilized by beauteous overmuch everyone except Amazon. So, for example, if you often store from Kobo’s bookstore (or Barnes & Noble oregon Google Play Books oregon galore different ebook stores), you can’t easy work those books connected a Kindle without utilizing a workaround. There are ways to convert and transfer record formats truthful you tin work connected the Kindle and vice versa, but it’ll instrumentality a mates of other steps.

However, if you don’t bargain your books elsewhere oregon you don’t caput buying from Amazon, you’ll beryllium much than blessed with the Kindle Paperwhite.

The champion non-Amazon ebook reader

Dimensions: 5.69 x 6.34 x 0.33 inches / Weight: 199.5 grams / Screen country and resolution: 7-inch screen, 300ppi (black-and-white), 150ppi (color) / Storage: 32GB / Other features: Physical page-turning buttons, waterproofing, Kobo Stylus 2 support, Bluetooth audio support 

The Kobo Libra Colour is an fantabulous alternate to Amazon’s ebook readers, particularly for readers extracurricular the US oregon anyone who doesn’t privation to pat into Amazon’s ecosystem. Kobo’s latest slate offers galore of the standout features recovered connected the 11th-gen Kindle Paperwhite — including waterproofing, USB-C support, and a 300ppi show — on with a fewer perks that marque it much adjuvant and enjoyable to use.

The colour show is the astir obvious. The Libra Colour uses E Ink’s latest Kaledio colour surface technology, which provides soothing, pastel-like hues that inactive popular successful nonstop sunlight. It’s not arsenic crisp arsenic speechmaking successful monochrome — the solution drops to 150ppi erstwhile viewing contented successful colour — but it’s a bully interaction that makes viewing a wider scope of contented much pleasant. Book covers and comics, portion inactive muted, person an added furniture of depth, adjacent if the colors are obscurity adjacent arsenic vivid arsenic that of a accepted LED tablet.

Additionally, the Libra Colour works with the Kobo Stylus 2 (sold separately), which means you tin item substance with assorted colors oregon instrumentality notes utilizing Kobo’s integrated notebooks. You tin besides instrumentality vantage of immoderate of the much precocious capabilities recovered successful the Kobo Elipsa 2E, allowing you to lick mathematics equations, person handwriting into typed text, and insert diagrams. This lets the Libra Colour relation arsenic a mini notebook of sorts, though I wouldn’t usage it arsenic a superior note-taking instrumentality since the seven-inch show tin consciousness cramped to constitute on.

The colour show is lone portion of the appeal, though. The Libra Colour besides lacks lockscreen ads — dissimilar the basal Paperwhite — and packs carnal page-turning buttons, which consciousness much intuitive to usage than tapping either broadside of the display. The speedy e-reader besides supports much record formats, including EPUB files, and makes it overmuch easier to get books from the Overdrive room system. Native enactment for Pocket, meanwhile, means you tin work your articles offline if you’re idiosyncratic who uses the long-standing bookmarking app.

However, astatine $219.99, the Libra Colour costs $70 much than the entry-level Paperwhite — and that’s without Kobo’s $69.99 stylus, which is required for performing definite tasks. That spread widens further erstwhile the Paperwhite is connected sale, which it regularly is. There’s besides the information that the Kobo can’t easy pat into Amazon’s immense room of ebooks, which tin beryllium frustrating if you’ve amassed a postulation of Kindle titles implicit the years. It tin beryllium done, but you person to person record formats utilizing third-party apps, which is tricky and tin instrumentality time.

But if those things don’t substance oregon use to you, the Kobo Libra Colour volition springiness you the champion integer speechmaking acquisition of each the e-readers connected our list. It’s my idiosyncratic favorite, if thing else.

The champion inexpensive ebook reader

Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.3 x 0.32 inches / Weight: 158 grams / Screen country and resolution: 6-inch screen, 300ppi solution / Storage: 16GB / Other features: USB-C support, Bluetooth audio support 

The base-model Kindle ($99.99 with ads) is the champion inexpensive ebook reader. Its 300ppi solution makes substance clearer and easier to work than the lower-resolution screens connected different ebook readers successful its terms range. Plus, it adjacent has USB-C for comparatively accelerated charging. 

Reading connected its six-inch surface feels a small much cramped than it does connected the larger displays of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Libra Colour. However, the flip broadside is that its tiny size makes it pocketable, light, and casual for tiny hands to hold. Combined with its comparatively affordable price, the Kindle is besides the champion ebook scholar for kids — particularly successful the kids version Amazon sells for $20 more. It shares the aforesaid nonstop specs but is ad-free with parental controls, a two-year extended replacement guarantee, and a case. It besides comes with 1 twelvemonth of Amazon Kids Plus, which grants kids entree to thousands of kids books and audiobooks for free. After that, though, you’ll person to wage $79 per year.

The basal Kindle doesn’t person other conveniences similar the carnal page-turning buttons recovered connected Barnes & Noble’s entry-level e-reader, the Nook GlowLight 4e. However, you bash get thing much important: snappier responses. On astir of the different entry-level ebook readers I tested, including the GlowLight 4e, I had to hold a fewer seconds aft tapping the surface for the leafage to turn. The Kindle, successful comparison, offered nary perceptive lag.

There are different tradeoffs. There’s nary h2o resistance, dissimilar the Paperwhite, and artillery beingness is good, but it’ll past you 3 weeks tops — not months, similar the Paperwhite. And due to the fact that it’s an Amazon ebook reader, you’re besides locked into the Amazon ecosystem and person to wage other to get escaped of ads. But if you tin bash without each of that, the Kindle delivers the essentials for nether $100.

The champion ebook scholar for taking notes

Dimensions: 7.6 x 8.94 x 0.30 inches / Weight: 390 grams / Screen country and resolution: 10.3-inches, 227ppi solution / Storage: 32GB / Other features: Handwriting to substance conversion, magnetic stylus, Bluetooth audio support 

Of each the ample ebook readers I tested, the Kobo Elipsa 2E stood retired the astir due to the fact that of its fantabulous note-taking abilities. You tin straight constitute connected pages, and the notes volition not disappear, which makes for a much intuitive note-taking acquisition than the Kindle Scribe, which lone supports on-page notes connected prime Kindle titles. Otherwise, you’re constricted to making annotations connected cards that are similar disappearing sticky notes. 

You tin besides sync your notes with Dropbox oregon presumption them online, and Kobo tin adjacent person handwriting to typed text. Amazon rolled out a akin capableness for the Kindle Scribe, but it tin lone person handwriting to typed substance erstwhile you export notebooks and not arsenic accurately. By contrast, Kobo lets you person your handwriting not conscionable portion exporting but also from wrong a notebook itself.

The Elipsa 2E besides offers different adjuvant note-taking tools. Like the Kobo Libra Colour, it’s capable, for example, of solving mathematics equations for you. You tin besides insert diagrams and drawings, and it’ll automatically drawback them into thing that looks cleaner and nicer. There’s besides a large enactment of pen types and ink shades. 

True, the Kindle Scribe starts astatine $60 less, but the Kobo Elipsa 2E comes with doubly the storage. You can measurement up to the 32GB Kindle Scribe if you privation the aforesaid retention capacity, but that puts it astatine fundamentally the aforesaid terms arsenic the Kobo. I urge conscionable forking retired the wealth connected the Elipsa 2E instead.

I besides urge the Elipsa 2E implicit the Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus, adjacent though it, too, offers overmuch amended penning tools than the Kindle Scribe. That’s due to the fact that it costs a whopping $449 and besides isn’t arsenic readily disposable successful the US market. The Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus besides comes with excessively galore distracting extras, similar an easy-to-access euphony subordinate and the Google Play app store preinstalled truthful you tin download aggregate speechmaking apps, including some the Kindle and Kobo apps. However, Kindle and Kobo notes didn’t amusement up connected the Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus — and you can’t annotate their books anyplace arsenic easy arsenic you tin connected their respective devices.

Note-taking capabilities aside, the Kobo Elipsa 2E is besides a bully e-reader, but it comes with the aforesaid strengths and weaknesses arsenic different Kobo e-readers. There’s enactment for a wide scope of record formats, but you can’t easy work Kindle books without converting them first. Its 227ppi show is besides somewhat little crisp than the 300ppi surface recovered connected the Kindle Scribe and the Kobo Libra Colour. However, the 10.3-inch surface does equilibrium things retired a spot and makes substance easier to read, truthful it’s not truly a noticeable drawback.

Other ebook readers that didn’t marque the cut

There are immoderate different ebook readers I tested that I didn’t diagnostic supra but are inactive worthy highlighting. Here are the astir notable:

If you’re looking for a non-Amazon alternate that’s much affordable than the Kobo Libra Colour, the caller Kobo Clara Colour — the successor to the Kobo Clara 2E — is worthy a look. At $149.99, the ad-free e-reader costs much than the Kobo Clara 2E (which you tin inactive buy), but I deliberation it’s worthy the other $10. It continues to connection the aforesaid six-inch show and IPX8 waterproof design, but the e-reader present offers color. Plus, it’s noticeably faster — thing I was blessed to see, considering the occasional lag connected the Clara 2E sometimes got connected my nerves. You don’t get the Clara Colour’s carnal buttons oregon stylus support, but that’s a just tradeoff astatine this terms point.

In 2023, Barnes and Noble released the caller Nook Glowlight 4 Plus. If you ain a batch of integer books from Barnes and Noble, this could beryllium a bully Kindle alternative. Otherwise, I’d inactive urge the Kobo Libra Colour to everybody else. The $199.99 Nook Glowlight 4 Plus is simply a bully e-reader with a batch to offer, including a beauteous 300ppi screen, waterproofing, carnal page-turning buttons, and adjacent a headphone jack. However, it’s conscionable not arsenic snappy, which makes mounting it up, buying books from the instrumentality itself, and navigating the interface a dilatory ordeal. It didn’t assistance that the surface sometimes froze, too, which meant I had to restart the instrumentality portion successful the mediate of a book.

Finally, I didn’t notation the Kindle Oasis, which has carnal page-turning buttons, a larger screen, and was considered a high-end instrumentality erstwhile it launched successful 2019. Amazon nary longer lists the aging e-reader successful its authoritative Kindle lineup, however, and it lacks immoderate features adjacent the basal exemplary offers, including USB-C. That makes it little appealing at $249.99 — that is, assuming you tin adjacent find it successful stock. If you’re consenting to wage that overmuch for a high-end reader, I’d instrumentality a look astatine the Kobo Libra Colour instead.

Update, June 28th: Updated to see the Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara Colour, arsenic good arsenic to region the Kobo Sage.