Finest e book readers for 2024

Any e book reader will allow you to cram a Magnificence and the Beast-sized library’s price of books in your pocket, however so will your cellphone. An e book reader affords a extra book-like studying expertise, with fewer distractions and fewer eye pressure, and lots of embody 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 e book readers for practically 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 in opposition to the wall or a water-proof, warm-glow Kindle that gained’t destroy your spa ambiance, these are one of the best e book readers for everybody. 

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

For those who principally purchase ebooks from Amazon, you’ll need a Kindle, and the Eleventh-gen Kindle Paperwhite is your best option for most individuals. Beginning at $139.99, it’s cheaper than the Kobo Libra Color — my prime non-Amazon e book reader, which I’ll dive into later — for most of the similar options. These embody 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 gentle 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 advertisements. It additionally has wi-fi charging, which is a uncommon characteristic to search out in an e-reader.

Amazon is the most important on-line retailer on the earth, and it dominates the US e book market, so Kindle homeowners have entry to benefits homeowners of different e book readers don’t. A lot of Amazon’s {hardware} technique is determined by providing cut-rate reductions to tug you into its content material ecosystem. When you have Prime and purchase lots of Kindle ebooks, the Paperwhite is your best option as a result of Amazon makes it extremely straightforward to purchase and skim its stuff. Its ebooks and audiobooks are sometimes on sale, and Prime members get extra free content material by Prime Studying. Rivals like Kobo provide gross sales, too, but it surely’s laborious for them to supply reductions as steep as Amazon does.

There are downsides, although. The Paperwhite has lockscreen advertisements except you pay $20 additional to eliminate them. It’s additionally too massive to carry comfortably with one hand. Maybe the Kindle Paperwhite’s greatest flaw, although — which it shares with all Kindles apart from Hearth tablets — is that it’s not straightforward to learn books bought exterior of Amazon’s retailer. Kindle e book codecs are proprietary and solely work on Kindle. In contrast to Kobo and different e book readers, Kindles don’t help EPUB information, an open file format utilized by just about everybody besides Amazon. So, for instance, for those who usually store from Kobo’s bookstore (or Barnes & Noble or Google Play Books or many different e 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, but it surely’ll take a few additional steps.

Nonetheless, for those who don’t purchase your books elsewhere otherwise you don’t thoughts procuring from Amazon, you’ll be very happy with the Kindle Paperwhite.

Learn our Kindle Paperwhite evaluation.

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

The Kobo Libra Color is a superb different to Amazon’s e book readers, particularly for readers exterior the US or anybody who doesn’t need to faucet into Amazon’s ecosystem. Kobo’s newest slate affords most of the standout options discovered on the Eleventh-gen Kindle Paperwhite — together with waterproofing, USB-C help, 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 screen expertise, 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 — but it surely’s a pleasant contact that makes viewing a wider vary of content material extra nice. Guide 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 standard LED pill.

Moreover, the Libra Color works with the Kobo Stylus 2 (bought individually), which implies you possibly can spotlight textual content with numerous colours or take notes utilizing Kobo’s built-in notebooks. It’s also possible to benefit from a number of the extra superior capabilities discovered within the Kobo Elipsa 2E, permitting you to resolve math equations, convert handwriting into typed textual content, and insert diagrams. This lets the Libra Color operate as a mini pocket book of kinds, although I wouldn’t use it as a main note-taking gadget because the seven-inch show can really feel cramped to write down on.

The colour show is barely a part of the enchantment, although. The Libra Color additionally lacks lockscreen advertisements — not like 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 information, and makes it a lot simpler to borrow books from the Overdrive library system. Native help for Pocket, in the meantime, means you possibly can learn your articles offline for those who’re somebody who makes use of the long-standing bookmarking app.

Nonetheless, 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 commonly is. There’s additionally the truth that the Kobo can’t simply faucet into Amazon’s huge library of ebooks, which may be irritating for those who’ve amassed a set of Kindle titles through the years. It may be achieved, however it’s a must to convert file codecs utilizing third-party apps, which is hard and may take time.

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

Learn our Kobo Libra Color evaluation.

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

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

Studying on its six-inch display screen feels a little bit extra cramped than it does on the bigger shows of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Libra Color. Nonetheless, the flip aspect is that its small measurement makes it pocketable, gentle, and simple for small palms to carry. Mixed with its comparatively inexpensive worth, the Kindle can be one of the best e book reader for youths — 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 alternative assure, and a case. It additionally comes with one 12 months of Amazon Children Plus, which grants youngsters entry to hundreds of youngsters books and audiobooks totally free. After that, although, you’ll need to 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. Nonetheless, you do get one thing extra vital: snappier responses. On many of the different entry-level e book readers I examined, together with the GlowLight 4e, I needed to wait a number of seconds after tapping the display screen for the web page to show. The Kindle, compared, supplied no perceptive lag.

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

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

Of all the massive e book readers I examined, the Kobo Elipsa 2E stood out probably the most due to its wonderful note-taking talents. You may immediately write on pages, and the notes won’t 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 might 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 identical functionality for the Kindle Scribe, however it may 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 additionally from inside a pocket book itself.

The Elipsa 2E additionally affords 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 routinely snap them into one thing that appears cleaner and nicer. There’s additionally an awesome choice 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 need the identical storage capability, however that places it at primarily the identical worth because the Kobo. I like to recommend simply forking out the cash on the Elipsa 2E as a substitute.

I additionally suggest the Elipsa 2E over the Onyx Boox Observe Air 2 Plus, regardless that it, too, affords significantly 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. Nonetheless, Kindle and Kobo notes didn’t present up on the Onyx Boox Observe Air 2 Plus — and you may’t annotate their books wherever as simply as you possibly can on their respective units.

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

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

For those who’re on the lookout 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 price a glance. At $149.99, the ad-free e-reader prices greater than the Kobo Clara 2E (which you’ll nonetheless purchase), however I believe it’s price the additional $10. It continues to supply the identical six-inch show and IPX8 waterproof design, however the e-reader now affords colour. Plus, it’s noticeably sooner — one thing I used to be completely satisfied to see, contemplating the occasional lag on the Clara 2E generally bought on my nerves. You don’t get the Clara Color’s bodily buttons or stylus help, however that’s a good tradeoff at this worth level.

In 2023, Barnes and Noble launched the brand new Nook Glowlight 4 Plus. For those who personal lots of digital books from Barnes and Noble, this could possibly be a superb Kindle different. In any other case, I’d nonetheless suggest the Kobo Libra Color to all people else. The $199.99 Nook Glowlight 4 Plus is an efficient e-reader with quite a bit to supply, together with a beautiful 300ppi display screen, waterproofing, bodily page-turning buttons, and even a headphone jack. Nonetheless, it’s simply not as snappy, which makes setting it up, shopping for books from the gadget itself, and navigating the interface a sluggish ordeal. It didn’t assist that the display screen generally froze, too, which meant I needed to restart the gadget whereas in the midst of a e book.

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

I’ve simply gotten my palms on the next e-readers from Boox: the note-taking Go 10.3, the Go Shade 7, and the pint-sized Palma. I’ve solely simply began testing the Go 10.3, however to date, I’ve loved utilizing it. I’m a fan of the slate’s crisp, 300ppi show, which is even sharper than that of the Kobo Elipsa 2E. Writing on it feels extra akin to writing on paper, whereas its slim design makes the e-reader really feel extra like a standard pocket book.

I’ve but to check the latter two, although my colleague David Pierce is a giant fan of the $280 Boox Palma after spending a while with it. The smartphone-sized, 6.1-inch e book reader runs on Android and may entry the Google Play Retailer, that means you possibly can obtain a wider choice of apps, from Amazon’s personal Kindle app to numerous note-taking apps. That mentioned, it’s too sluggish to essentially use apps that could possibly be distracting, like TikTok or Instagram, so that you in all probability don’t want to fret about dropping focus or distractions in the identical you’d with a pill or a extra succesful gadget. I’m curious to see the way it holds up in opposition to different e-readers I’ve used, even when I haven’t examined many small-screen fashions.

Replace, August thirtieth: Up to date to say my preliminary impressions of the Boox Go 10.3, Go Shade 7, and Boox Palma, in addition to to accommodate numerous worth adjustments.