Finest book readers for 2024

Any book reader will allow you to cram a Magnificence and the Beast-sized library’s value of books in your pocket, however so will your cellphone. An book reader gives a extra book-like studying expertise, with fewer distractions and fewer eye pressure, and lots of embrace additional options, like adjustable frontlighting. Some actually are pocketable. Others are waterproof or provide bodily page-turning buttons, whereas a number of even allow you to take notes.

I’ve been utilizing book readers for almost a decade, and I’ve gone hands-on with dozens, from the Kindle Paperwhite to lesser-known rivals just like the Pocketbook Period. Whether or not you need one thing your child can throw towards the wall or a water-resistant, warm-glow Kindle that received’t damage your spa ambiance, these are the most effective book readers for everybody. 

Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.9 x .32 inches / Weight: 205 grams / Display space and determination: 6.8-inch display, 300ppi decision / Storage: 16GB / Different options: IPX8 waterproofing, Bluetooth audio assist 

In the event you principally purchase ebooks from Amazon, you’ll desire a Kindle, and the Eleventh-gen Kindle Paperwhite is the only option for most individuals. Beginning at $139.99, it’s cheaper than the Kobo Libra Color — my prime non-Amazon book reader, which I’ll dive into later — for lots of the similar options. These embrace a big 300pi show and an adjustable heat white frontlight, which make for a transparent and pleasant studying expertise. The latter additionally conveniently improves sleep by slicing down on blue mild that interrupts melatonin manufacturing. 

That heat white frontlighting is a bonus over the cool white of the $99.99 base-model Kindle, and in contrast to the bottom Kindle, the Paperwhite has IPX8 water resistance. The $189.99 Signature Version Paperwhite additionally has an auto-adjusting frontlight and no lockscreen adverts. It additionally has wi-fi charging, which is a uncommon characteristic to search out in an e-reader.

Amazon is the biggest on-line retailer on the earth, and it dominates the US book market, so Kindle homeowners have entry to benefits homeowners of different book readers don’t. A lot of Amazon’s {hardware} technique will depend on providing cut-rate reductions to drag you into its content material ecosystem. When you’ve got Prime and purchase a number of Kindle ebooks, the Paperwhite is the only option as a result of Amazon makes it extremely simple to purchase and skim its stuff. Its ebooks and audiobooks are sometimes on sale, and Prime members get extra free content material by means of Prime Studying. Rivals like Kobo provide gross sales, too, however it’s exhausting for them to supply reductions as steep as Amazon does.

There are downsides, although. The Paperwhite has lockscreen adverts until you pay $20 additional to eliminate them. It’s additionally too huge to carry comfortably with one hand. Maybe the Kindle Paperwhite’s largest flaw, although — which it shares with all Kindles except for Fireplace tablets — is that it’s not simple to learn books bought exterior of Amazon’s retailer. Kindle book codecs are proprietary and solely work on Kindle. In contrast to Kobo and different book readers, Kindles don’t assist EPUB recordsdata, an open file format utilized by just about everybody besides Amazon. So, for instance, if you happen to typically store from Kobo’s bookstore (or Barnes & Noble or Google Play Books or many different book shops), you possibly can’t simply learn these books on a Kindle with out utilizing a workaround. There are methods to transform and switch file codecs so you possibly can learn on the Kindle and vice versa, however it’ll take a few additional steps.

Nevertheless, if you happen to don’t purchase your books elsewhere otherwise you don’t thoughts buying from Amazon, you’ll be very happy with the Kindle Paperwhite.

Learn our full evaluate of the Kindle Paperwhite.

Dimensions: 5.69 x 6.34 x 0.33 inches / Weight: 199.5 grams / Display space and determination: 7-inch display, 300ppi (black-and-white), 150ppi (colour) / Storage: 32GB / Different options: Bodily page-turning buttons, waterproofing, Kobo Stylus 2 assist, Bluetooth audio assist 

The Kobo Libra Color is a superb different to Amazon’s book readers, particularly for readers exterior the US or anybody who doesn’t need to faucet into Amazon’s ecosystem. Kobo’s newest slate gives lots of the standout options discovered on the Eleventh-gen Kindle Paperwhite — together with waterproofing, USB-C assist, and a 300ppi show — together with a number of perks that make it extra useful and pleasant to make use of.

The colour show is the obvious. The Libra Color makes use of E Ink’s newest Kaledio colour display know-how, which gives soothing, pastel-like hues that also pop in direct daylight. It’s not as sharp as studying in monochrome — the decision drops to 150ppi when viewing content material in colour — however it’s a pleasant contact that makes viewing a wider vary of content material extra nice. E-book covers and comics, whereas nonetheless muted, have an added layer of depth, even when the colours are nowhere close to as vivid as that of a conventional LED pill.

Moreover, the Libra Color works with the Kobo Stylus 2 (offered individually), which suggests you possibly can spotlight textual content with numerous colours or take notes utilizing Kobo’s built-in notebooks. It’s also possible to make the most of among the extra superior capabilities discovered within the Kobo Elipsa 2E, permitting you to unravel math equations, convert handwriting into typed textual content, and insert diagrams. This lets the Libra Color perform as a mini pocket book of kinds, although I wouldn’t use it as a major note-taking gadget for the reason that seven-inch show can really feel cramped to put in writing on.

The colour show is just a part of the attraction, although. The Libra Color additionally lacks lockscreen adverts — in contrast to the bottom Paperwhite — and packs bodily page-turning buttons, which really feel extra intuitive to make use of than tapping both aspect of the show. The speedy e-reader additionally helps extra file codecs, together with EPUB recordsdata, and makes it a lot simpler to borrow books from the Overdrive library system. Native assist for Pocket, in the meantime, means you possibly can learn your articles offline if you happen to’re somebody who makes use of the long-standing bookmarking app.

Nevertheless, at $219.99, the Libra Color prices $70 greater than the entry-level Paperwhite — and that’s with out Kobo’s $69.99 stylus, which is required for performing sure duties. That hole widens additional when the Paperwhite is on sale, which it recurrently is. There’s additionally the truth that the Kobo can’t simply faucet into Amazon’s huge library of ebooks, which may be irritating if you happen to’ve amassed a set of Kindle titles over time. It may be accomplished, however it’s important to convert file codecs utilizing third-party apps, which is hard and might take time.

But when these issues don’t matter or apply to you, the Kobo Libra Color gives you the most effective digital studying expertise of all of the e-readers on our checklist. It’s my private favourite, if nothing else.

Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.3 x 0.32 inches / Weight: 158 grams / Display space and determination: 6-inch display, 300ppi decision / Storage: 16GB / Different options: USB-C assist, Bluetooth audio assist 

The base-model Kindle ($99.99 with adverts) is the most effective low cost book reader. Its 300ppi decision makes textual content clearer and simpler to learn than the lower-resolution screens on different book readers in its value vary. Plus, it even has USB-C for comparatively quick charging. 

Studying on its six-inch display feels a little bit extra cramped than it does on the bigger shows of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Libra Color. Nevertheless, the flip aspect is that its small dimension makes it pocketable, mild, and simple for small palms to carry. Mixed with its comparatively inexpensive value, the Kindle can also be the most effective book reader for teenagers — particularly within the youngsters model Amazon sells for $20 extra. It shares the identical actual specs however is ad-free with parental controls, a two-year prolonged substitute assure, and a case. It additionally comes with one 12 months of Amazon Children Plus, which grants youngsters entry to 1000’s of youngsters books and audiobooks at no cost. After that, although, you’ll should pay $79 per 12 months.

The bottom Kindle doesn’t have additional conveniences just like the bodily page-turning buttons discovered on Barnes & Noble’s entry-level e-reader, the Nook GlowLight 4e. Nevertheless, you do get one thing extra essential: snappier responses. On many of the different entry-level book readers I examined, together with the GlowLight 4e, I needed to wait a number of seconds after tapping the display for the web page to show. The Kindle, as compared, supplied no perceptive lag.

There are different tradeoffs. There’s no water resistance, in contrast to the Paperwhite, and battery life is nice, however it’ll final you three weeks tops — not months, just like the Paperwhite. And since it’s an Amazon book reader, you’re additionally locked into the Amazon ecosystem and should pay additional to eliminate adverts. But when you are able to do with out all of that, the Kindle delivers the necessities for beneath $100.

Learn my full evaluate of the Kindle.

Dimensions: 7.6 x 8.94 x 0.30 inches / Weight: 390 grams / Display space and determination: 10.3-inches, 227ppi decision / Storage: 32GB / Different options: Handwriting to textual content conversion, magnetic stylus, Bluetooth audio assist 

Of all the massive book readers I examined, the Kobo Elipsa 2E stood out probably the most due to its wonderful note-taking talents. You’ll be able to straight write on pages, and the notes is not going to disappear, which makes for a extra intuitive note-taking expertise than the Kindle Scribe, which solely helps on-page notes on choose Kindle titles. In any other case, you’re restricted to creating annotations on playing cards which can be like disappearing sticky notes. 

It’s also possible to sync your notes with Dropbox or view them on-line, and Kobo may even convert handwriting to typed textual content. Amazon rolled out an analogous functionality for the Kindle Scribe, however it may well solely convert handwriting to typed textual content once you export notebooks and never as precisely. Against this, Kobo permits you to convert your handwriting not simply whereas exporting but in addition from inside a pocket book itself.

The Elipsa 2E additionally gives different useful note-taking instruments. Just like the Kobo Libra Color, it’s succesful, for instance, of fixing math equations for you. It’s also possible to insert diagrams and drawings, and it’ll robotically snap them into one thing that appears cleaner and nicer. There’s additionally an incredible number of pen varieties and ink shades. 

True, the Kindle Scribe begins at $60 much less, however the Kobo Elipsa 2E comes with twice the storage. You can step as much as the 32GB Kindle Scribe if you’d like the identical storage capability, however that places it at primarily the identical value because the Kobo. I like to recommend simply forking out the cash on the Elipsa 2E as an alternative.

I additionally advocate the Elipsa 2E over the Onyx Boox Observe Air 2 Plus, though it, too, gives a lot better writing instruments than the Kindle Scribe. That’s as a result of it prices a whopping $449 and likewise isn’t as available within the US market. The Onyx Boox Observe Air 2 Plus additionally comes with too many distracting extras, like an easy-to-access music participant and the Google Play app retailer preinstalled so you possibly can obtain a number of studying apps, together with each the Kindle and Kobo apps. Nevertheless, Kindle and Kobo notes didn’t present up on the Onyx Boox Observe Air 2 Plus — and you may’t annotate their books anyplace as simply as you possibly can on their respective units.

Observe-taking capabilities apart, the Kobo Elipsa 2E can also be a very good e-reader, however it comes with the identical strengths and weaknesses as different Kobo e-readers. There’s assist for a variety of file codecs, however you possibly can’t simply learn Kindle books with out changing them first. Its 227ppi show can also be barely much less sharp than the 300ppi display discovered on the Kindle Scribe and the Kobo Libra Color. Nevertheless, the ten.3-inch display does steadiness issues out a bit and makes textual content simpler to learn, so it’s not likely a noticeable downside.

There are another book readers I examined that I didn’t characteristic above however are nonetheless value highlighting. Listed below are probably the most notable:

In the event you’re searching for a non-Amazon different that’s extra inexpensive than the Kobo Libra Color, the brand new Kobo Clara Color — the successor to the Kobo Clara 2E — is value a glance. At $149.99, the ad-free e-reader prices greater than the Kobo Clara 2E (which you’ll be able to nonetheless purchase), however I feel it’s value the additional $10. It continues to supply the identical six-inch show and IPX8 waterproof design, however the e-reader now gives colour. Plus, it’s noticeably sooner — one thing I used to be joyful to see, contemplating the occasional lag on the Clara 2E typically received on my nerves. You don’t get the Clara Color’s bodily buttons or stylus assist, however that’s a good tradeoff at this value level.

In 2023, Barnes and Noble launched the brand new Nook Glowlight 4 Plus. In the event you personal a number of digital books from Barnes and Noble, this could possibly be a very good Kindle different. In any other case, I’d nonetheless advocate the Kobo Libra Color to all people else. The $199.99 Nook Glowlight 4 Plus is an efficient e-reader with loads to supply, together with a stunning 300ppi display, waterproofing, bodily page-turning buttons, and even a headphone jack. Nevertheless, it’s simply not as snappy, which makes setting it up, shopping for books from the gadget itself, and navigating the interface a gradual ordeal. It didn’t assist that the display typically froze, too, which meant I needed to restart the gadget whereas in the course of a e book.

Lastly, I didn’t point out the Kindle Oasis, which has bodily page-turning buttons, a bigger display, and was thought of a high-end gadget when it launched in 2019. Amazon not lists the growing old e-reader in its official Kindle lineup, nonetheless, and it lacks some options even the bottom mannequin gives, together with USB-C. That makes it much less interesting at $249.99 — that’s, assuming you possibly can even discover it in inventory. In the event you’re prepared to pay that a lot for a high-end reader, I’d check out the Kobo Libra Color as an alternative.

Replace, June twenty eighth: Up to date to incorporate the Kobo Libra Color and Kobo Clara Color, in addition to to take away the Kobo Sage.