The best ereader 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. 

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The champion Kindle

Dimensions: 7 x 5 x .3 inches / Weight: 211 grams / Screen country and resolution: 7-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 12th-gen Kindle Paperwhite is the champion prime for astir people. Starting astatine $159.99, it’s cheaper than the Kobo Libra Colour — my apical non-Amazon ebook reader, which I’ll dive into aboriginal — portion offering galore of the aforesaid features. Those see a spacious 7-inch 300pi show with affluent opposition levels 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 $109.99 base-model Kindle, and dissimilar the basal Kindle, the Paperwhite has IPX8 h2o resistance. The $ 199.99 Signature Edition Paperwhite also has an auto-adjusting frontlight and nary lockscreen ads. It 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.

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.

Read our Kindle Paperwhite review.

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 12th-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 oregon arsenic vibrant arsenic the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition.

However, dissimilar the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, the Libra Colour works with a integer pen — the Kobo Stylus 2 (sold separately) — which lets you item substance successful 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 doesn’t person the lockscreen ads connected the basal Paperwhite — and packs carnal page-turning buttons, which consciousness much intuitive to usage than tapping either broadside of the show arsenic you person to bash connected Amazon’s modern e-readers. 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 $229.99, 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 happens much often than the Libra Colour. 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.

Read our Kobo Libra Colour review.

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 ($109.99 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 the Amazon Kindle Kids Edition which costs $20 more. The kid-friendly mentation shares the aforesaid specs but is ad-free with parental controls, a two-year extended replacement guarantee, and a case. It besides comes with six months of Amazon Kids Plus, which grants kids entree to thousands of children’s 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 waterproofing you’ll find successful the entry-level Kobo Clara BW and Paperwhite. You besides don’t get the carnal page-turning buttons recovered connected Barnes & Noble’s entry-level e-reader, the Nook GlowLight 4e (though the Kindle is simply a batch snappier than the Nook). 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 region ads. But if you tin bash without that, the Kindle delivers the essentials for nether $110.

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 it’s a bully e-reader with coagulated note-taking abilities. You tin constitute straight connected pages conscionable arsenic connected a carnal book. The Kindle Scribe lets you annotate publication pages arsenic well, but it’s analyzable involving resizable substance boxes that messiness up the leafage formatting and forestall you from doing basal things similar circling words. In contrast, taking notes connected the Elipsa 2E feels acold much intuitive and natural.

The Elipsa 2E offers different adjuvant note-taking tools and capabilities. 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. You tin besides sync your notes with Dropbox oregon presumption them online and person handwriting to typed text. The Kindle Scribe offers the second capability, too, but again, Kobo does it faster and amended wrong the archetypal notebook papers arsenic opposed to connected a abstracted page. The lone happening missing from the Elipsa 2E is the Scribe’s note-summarization feature, but that’s a trade-off I americium good with fixed however overmuch easier it is to instrumentality notes.

Finally, the Kobo Elipsa 2E comes with doubly the retention (32GB) for the aforesaid terms arsenic the basal Kindle Scribe. You can step up to the 32GB Kindle Scribe for $20 much oregon upgrade to 64GB for $40 extra. Yet fixed the Scribe’s limitations, I inactive urge redeeming the wealth and buying the Kobo Elipsa 2E instead.

Note-taking capabilities aside, the Kobo Elipsa 2E is besides a bully e-reader with the aforesaid strengths and weaknesses arsenic different Kobo devices. 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 balances things retired a spot and makes substance easier to read, truthful it’s not a noticeable drawback. Plus, the Elipsa 2E comes with an adjustable lukewarm airy for nighttime reading. That’s a diagnostic rivals with much precocious note-taking capabilities — similar the $379.99 Onyx Boox Go 10.3 which lets you bash everything the Scribe does and more, similar insert links to notes — lacks.

Other ebook readers that didn’t marque the cut

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

Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition

The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is the first Kindle to diagnostic E Ink’s colour surface exertion and it stands retired from different colour e-paper devices with customizations. It offers improved contrast, much vibrant colors, and faster surface refreshes. With a $279.99 terms tag, it’s the astir expensive Kindle model presently disposable that doesn’t enactment a stylus for note-taking, and it includes premium features similar wireless charging that are convenient but not truly indispensable for a instrumentality with months of artillery life. Amazon doesn’t connection a cheaper mentation of the Colorsoft similar it does with the Paperwhite, which is disposable successful modular and Signature Edition versions, but if you privation a colour surface and privation to instrumentality with Amazon, the Colorsoft is your champion option. – Andrew Liszewski, Senior Reporter 

Kobo Clara Colour

If you’re looking for a non-Amazon alternate that’s much affordable than the Kobo Libra Colour, the Kobo Clara Colour — the successor to the Kobo Clara 2E — is worthy a look. At $159.99, the ad-free e-reader costs much than the Kobo Clara 2E, 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.

Boox Palma 2

Despite each the advantages of E Ink show technology, your smartphone is astir apt inactive a much convenient instrumentality for speechmaking fixed however pocket-friendly it is. The Boox Palma 2 is simply a smartphone-sized E Ink instrumentality that’s conscionable arsenic casual to gaffe into a pocket, but with much capabilities than an e-reader. Its 6.3-inch E Ink show is large for speechmaking books, but the $279.99 Palma 2 besides runs Android 13 truthful you tin instal productivity apps similar email and messaging — assuming you’ve got entree to Wi-Fi, of course, due to the fact that the compact e-reader lacks cellular connectivity. If you already person the archetypal Palma, the sequel isn’t worthy the upgrade. But if you’re looking for a smaller alternate to Kindles and Kobos, the Palma 2 could beryllium worthy the splurge. – Andrew Liszewski, Senior Reporter 

Boox Go 10.3

The $379 Onyx Boox Go 10.3 is different ad-free ebook scholar you tin usage to instrumentality notes. It’s fantabulous arsenic a note-taking device, and it offers an impressively wide scope of penning tools and much prebuilt notebook templates than Kobo’s Elipsa 2E. Jotting down notes utilizing the built-in notebook felt much akin to penning connected insubstantial arsenic well, and its slim plan makes the instrumentality consciousness much similar a accepted notebook. Like each Boox devices, it besides provides speedy entree to the Google Play Store, truthful you tin download aggregate speechmaking apps — including some Kindle and Kobo apps. The slate’s crisp 300ppi show is sharper than that of the Kobo Elipsa 2E, too, which is simply a plus.

However, successful examination to the easy-to-use Elipsa 2E, the Go 10.3 lacks a beforehand airy and comes with a steeper learning curve. Notes you instrumentality connected a Kindle oregon Kobo instrumentality won’t transportation implicit (and vice versa), and you can’t annotate books successful either app utilizing the Boox. I besides felt similar entree to Google Play tin beryllium a double-edged sword arsenic it grants casual entree to distracting apps, including games, streaming services, and TikTok. It’s excessively dilatory to usage the latter, but it’s accelerated and comfy capable that I recovered myself playing astir with the Word Search app acold excessively often. For maine personally, I request my e-reader to beryllium devoid of specified distractions — it’s 1 of the biggest things that distinguishes it from a tablet, aft all. But if you’ve got much self-control than I do, the Go 10.3 could beryllium worthy a look.

Nook Glowlight 4 Plus

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.

Update, April 2nd: Adjusted prices and availability. Andrew Liszewski contributed to this post.