The Best Ebook Reader To Buy Right Now

Any ebook clever clever will fto you cram a Beauty and nan Beast-sized library’s worthy of books successful your pocket, but truthful will your phone. An ebook clever clever offers a overmuch book-like reference experience, pinch little distractions and small oculus strain, and galore spot different features, for illustration adjustable frontlighting. Some really are pocketable. Others are waterproof aliases relationship beingness page-turning buttons, while a less moreover fto you return notes.

I’ve been utilizing ebook readers for astir a decade, and I’ve gone hands-on pinch dozens, from nan Kindle Paperwhite to lesser-known rivals for illustration nan Pocketbook Era. Whether you want point your kid tin propulsion against nan wall aliases a waterproof, warm-glow Kindle that won’t ruin your spa ambiance, these are nan champion ebook readers for everyone.

Dimensions: 7 x 5 x .3 inches / Weight: 211 grams / Screen area 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 want a Kindle, and nan 12th-gen Kindle Paperwhite is nan champion premier for astir people. Starting astatine $159.99, it’s cheaper than nan Kobo Libra Colour — my apical non-Amazon ebook reader, which I’ll dive into later — while offering galore of nan aforesaid features. Those spot a freely 7-inch 300pi show pinch rich | | guidance levels and an adjustable lukewarm achromatic frontlight, which make for a clear and enjoyable reference experience. The 2nd too conveniently improves slumber by cutting down connected bluish ray that interrupts melatonin production.

That lukewarm achromatic frontlighting is an advantage complete nan cool achromatic of nan $109.99 base-model Kindle, and dissimilar nan guidelines Kindle, nan Paperwhite has IPX8 h2o resistance. The $ 199.99 Signature Edition Paperwhite besides has an auto-adjusting frontlight and nary lockscreen ads. It has wireless charging, which is simply a uncommon characteristic to find successful an e-reader.

Amazon is nan largest online retailer successful nan world, and it dominates nan US ebook market, truthful Kindle owners personification 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 personification Prime and bargain a batch of Kindle ebooks, nan Paperwhite is nan champion premier because Amazon makes it incredibly easy to bargain and publication its stuff. Its ebooks and audiobooks are often connected sale, and Prime members get overmuch free contented done Prime Reading. Rivals for illustration Kobo relationship sales, too, but it’s difficult for them to relationship discounts arsenic steep arsenic Amazon.

There are downsides, though. The Paperwhite has lockscreen ads unless you net $20 different to get free of them. It’s too excessively ample to clasp comfortably pinch 1 hand. Perhaps nan Kindle Paperwhite’s biggest flaw, though — which it shares pinch each Kindles reside from Fire tablets — is that it’s not easy to publication books purchased extracurricular of Amazon’s store. Kindle ebook formats are proprietary and only activity connected Kindle. Unlike Kobo and different ebook readers, Kindles don’t support EPUB files, an unfastened grounds format utilized by beautiful overmuch everyone isolated from Amazon. So, for example, if you often shop from Kobo’s bookstore (or Barnes & Noble aliases Google Play Books aliases galore different ebook stores), you can’t easy publication those books connected a Kindle without utilizing a workaround. There are ways to person and transportation grounds formats truthful you tin publication connected nan Kindle and vice versa, but it’ll return a mates of different steps.

However, if you don’t bargain your books elsewhere aliases you don’t mind shopping from Amazon, you’ll beryllium overmuch than happy pinch nan Kindle Paperwhite.

Dimensions: 5.69 x 6.34 x 0.33 inches / Weight: 199.5 grams / Screen area 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 replacement to Amazon’s ebook readers, peculiarly for readers extracurricular nan US aliases anyone who doesn’t want to pat into Amazon’s ecosystem. Kobo’s latest slate offers galore of nan standout features recovered connected nan 12th-gen Kindle Paperwhite — including waterproofing, USB-C support, and a 300ppi show — connected pinch a less perks that make it overmuch adjuvant and enjoyable to use.

The colour show is nan astir obvious. The Libra Colour uses E Ink’s latest Kaledio colour aboveground technology, which provides soothing, pastel-like hues that still celebrated successful nonstop sunlight. It’s not arsenic crisp arsenic reference successful monochrome — nan solution drops to 150ppi erstwhile viewing contented successful colour — but it’s a bully touch that makes viewing a wider scope of contented overmuch pleasant. Book covers and comics, while still muted, personification an added furnishings of depth, moreover if nan colors are obscurity adjacent arsenic vivid arsenic that of a accepted LED tablet aliases arsenic vibrant arsenic nan Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition.

However, dissimilar nan Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, nan Libra Colour useful pinch a integer pen — nan Kobo Stylus 2 (sold separately) — which lets you point matter successful various colors aliases return notes utilizing Kobo’s integrated notebooks. You tin too return advantage of immoderate of nan overmuch precocious capabilities recovered successful nan Kobo Elipsa 2E, allowing you to lick mathematics equations, personification handwriting into typed text, and insert diagrams. This lets nan Libra Colour usability arsenic a mini notebook of sorts, though I wouldn’t usage it arsenic a superior note-taking instrumentality since nan seven-inch show tin consciousness cramped to represent on.

The colour show is only information of nan appeal, though. The Libra Colour doesn’t personification nan lockscreen ads connected nan guidelines Paperwhite — and packs beingness page-turning buttons, which consciousness overmuch intuitive to usage than tapping either broadside of nan show arsenic you personification to do connected Amazon’s modern e-readers. The speedy e-reader too supports overmuch grounds formats, including EPUB files, and makes it overmuch easier to get books from nan Overdrive room system. Native support for Pocket, meanwhile, intends you tin publication your articles offline if you’re personification who uses nan long-standing bookmarking app.

However, astatine $229.99, nan Libra Colour costs $70 overmuch than nan entry-level Paperwhite — and that’s without Kobo’s $69.99 stylus, which is required for performing definite tasks. That dispersed widens further erstwhile nan Paperwhite is connected sale, which happens overmuch often than nan 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 complete nan years. It tin beryllium done, but you personification to personification grounds formats utilizing third-party apps, which is tricky and tin return time.

But if those things don’t matter aliases usage to you, nan Kobo Libra Colour will springiness you nan champion integer reference acquisition of each nan e-readers connected our list. It’s my individual favorite.

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

The base-model Kindle ($109.99 pinch ads) is nan champion inexpensive ebook reader. Its 300ppi solution makes matter clearer and easier to publication than nan lower-resolution screens connected different ebook readers successful its worth range. Plus, it moreover has USB-C for comparatively accelerated charging.

Reading connected its six-inch aboveground feels a mini overmuch cramped than it does connected nan larger displays of nan Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Libra Colour. However, nan flip broadside is that its mini size makes it pocketable, light, and easy for mini hands to hold. Combined pinch its comparatively affordable price, nan Kindle is too nan champion ebook clever clever for kids — peculiarly nan Amazon Kindle Kids Edition which costs $20 more. The kid-friendly type shares nan aforesaid specs but is ad-free pinch parental controls, a two-year extended replacement guarantee, and a case. It too comes pinch 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 personification to net $79 per year.

The guidelines Kindle doesn’t personification different conveniences for illustration nan waterproofing you’ll find successful nan entry-level Kobo Clara BW and Paperwhite. You too don’t get nan beingness page-turning buttons recovered connected Barnes & Noble’s entry-level e-reader, nan Nook GlowLight 4e (though nan Kindle is simply a batch snappier than nan Nook). And because it’s an Amazon ebook reader, you’re too locked into nan Amazon ecosystem and personification to net different to region ads. But if you tin do without that, nan Kindle delivers nan essentials for nether $110.

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

Of each nan ample ebook readers I tested, nan Kobo Elipsa 2E stood retired nan astir because it’s a bully e-reader pinch coagulated note-taking abilities. You tin represent consecutive connected pages conscionable arsenic connected a beingness book. The Kindle Scribe lets you annotate book pages arsenic well, but it’s analyzable involving resizable matter boxes that messiness up nan page formatting and forestall you from doing basal things for illustration circling words. In contrast, taking notes connected nan Elipsa 2E feels acold overmuch intuitive and natural.

The Elipsa 2E offers different adjuvant note-taking devices and capabilities. Like nan Kobo Libra Colour, it’s capable, for example, of solving mathematics equations for you. You tin too insert diagrams and drawings, and it’ll automatically threat them into point that looks cleaner and nicer. You tin too sync your notes pinch Dropbox aliases position them online and personification handwriting to typed text. The Kindle Scribe offers nan 2nd capability, too, but again, Kobo does it faster and amended incorrect nan original notebook archive arsenic opposed to connected a abstracted page. The only constituent missing from nan Elipsa 2E is nan Scribe’s note-summarization feature, but that’s a trade-off I americium okay pinch fixed really overmuch easier it is to return notes.

Finally, nan Kobo Elipsa 2E comes pinch doubly nan retention (32GB) for nan aforesaid worth arsenic nan guidelines Kindle Scribe. You tin measurement up to nan 32GB Kindle Scribe for $20 overmuch aliases upgrade to 64GB for $40 extra. Yet fixed nan Scribe’s limitations, I still impulse redeeming nan money and buying nan Kobo Elipsa 2E instead.

Note-taking capabilities aside, nan Kobo Elipsa 2E is too a bully e-reader pinch nan aforesaid strengths and weaknesses arsenic different Kobo devices. There’s support for a wide scope of grounds formats, but you can’t easy publication Kindle books without converting them first. Its 227ppi show is too somewhat small crisp than nan 300ppi aboveground recovered connected nan Kindle Scribe and nan Kobo Libra Colour. However, nan 10.3-inch aboveground balances things retired a spot and makes matter easier to read, truthful it’s not a noticeable drawback. Plus, nan Elipsa 2E comes pinch an adjustable lukewarm ray for nighttime reading. That’s a characteristic rivals pinch overmuch precocious note-taking capabilities — for illustration nan $379.99 Onyx Boox Go 10.3 which lets you do everything nan Scribe does and more, for illustration insert links to notes — lacks.

There are immoderate different ebook readers my colleagues and I personification tested that I didn’t characteristic supra but are still worthy highlighting. Here are nan astir notable:

The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is nan first Kindle to characteristic E Ink’s colour aboveground exertion and it stands retired from different colour e-paper devices pinch customizations. It offers improved contrast, overmuch vibrant colors, and faster aboveground refreshes. With a $279.99 worth tag, it’s nan astir costly Kindle exemplary presently disposable that doesn’t support a stylus for note-taking, and it includes premium features for illustration wireless charging that are convenient but not really basal for a instrumentality pinch months of artillery life. Amazon doesn’t relationship a cheaper type of nan Colorsoft for illustration it does pinch nan Paperwhite, which is disposable successful modular and Signature Edition versions, but if you want a colour aboveground and want to instrumentality pinch Amazon, nan Colorsoft is your champion option. - Andrew Liszewski, Senior Reporter

If you’re looking for a non-Amazon replacement that’s overmuch affordable than nan Kobo Libra Colour, nan Kobo Clara Colour — nan successor to nan Kobo Clara 2E — is worthy a look. At $159.99, nan ad-free e-reader costs overmuch than nan Kobo Clara 2E, but I deliberation it’s worthy nan different $10. It continues to relationship nan aforesaid six-inch show and IPX8 waterproof design, but nan e-reader now offers color. Plus, it’s noticeably faster — point I was happy to see, considering nan occasional lag connected nan Clara 2E sometimes sewage connected my nerves. You don’t get nan Clara Colour’s beingness buttons aliases stylus support, but that’s a adjacent tradeoff astatine this worth point.

Despite each nan advantages of E Ink show technology, your smartphone is astir apt still a overmuch convenient instrumentality for reference fixed really pocket-friendly it is. The Boox Palma 2 is simply a smartphone-sized E Ink instrumentality that’s conscionable arsenic easy to gaffe into a pocket, but pinch overmuch capabilities than an e-reader. Its 6.3-inch E Ink show is awesome for reference books, but nan $279.99 Palma 2 too runs Android 13 truthful you tin instal productivity apps for illustration email and messaging — assuming you’ve sewage entree to Wi-Fi, of course, because nan compact e-reader lacks cellular connectivity. If you already personification nan original Palma, nan sequel isn’t worthy nan upgrade. But if you’re looking for a smaller replacement to Kindles and Kobos, nan Palma 2 could beryllium worthy nan splurge. - Andrew Liszewski, Senior Reporter

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

However, successful comparison to nan easy-to-use Elipsa 2E, nan Go 10.3 lacks a beforehand ray and comes pinch a steeper learning curve. Notes you return connected a Kindle aliases Kobo instrumentality won’t proscription complete (and vice versa), and you can’t annotate books successful either app utilizing nan Boox. I too felt for illustration entree to Google Play tin beryllium a double-edged beard arsenic it grants easy entree to distracting apps, including games, streaming services, and TikTok. It’s excessively slow to usage nan latter, but it’s accelerated and comfortable tin that I recovered myself playing astir pinch nan Word Search app acold excessively often. For maine personally, I petition my e-reader to beryllium devoid of specified distractions — it’s 1 of nan biggest things that distinguishes it from a tablet, aft all. But if you’ve sewage overmuch self-control than I do, nan Go 10.3 could beryllium worthy a look.

In 2023, Barnes and Noble released nan 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 still impulse nan Kobo Libra Colour to everybody else. The $199.99 Nook Glowlight 4 Plus is simply a bully e-reader pinch a batch to offer, including a beautiful 300ppi screen, waterproofing, beingness page-turning buttons, and moreover a headphone jack. However, it’s conscionable not arsenic snappy, which makes mounting it up, buying books from nan instrumentality itself, and navigating nan interface a slow ordeal. It didn’t thief that nan aboveground sometimes froze, too, which meant I had to restart nan instrumentality while successful nan mediate of a book.

Update, February 27th: Specified pros/cons for each connection and added a conception explaining really we proceedings ebook readers. Andrew Liszewski contributed to this post.