The best e-readers of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

The Kindle Paperwhite is a top-notch e-reader. It has all of the acquainted options of a Kindle (300 ppi e-ink display, lengthy battery life, and adjustable heat mild). Amazon simply up to date the Kindle Paperwhite this fall, and its largest draw is quicker efficiency: Amazon stated it options 25% sooner web page turns and 20% total sooner efficiency. 

Other than velocity, the Paperwhite will get as much as 12 weeks of battery life (in comparison with 10 weeks from the earlier Paperwhite technology. Workers author Maria Diaz examined the Kindle for 2 weeks and by no means needed to cost it. “After two weeks of every day studying on a single cost, some days for as much as three hours a day, my Kindle Paperwhite’s battery remains to be at 32%,” she wrote in her overview. 

Overview: One of the best E Ink readers I’ve tested isn’t made by Boox or Kobo

The brand new Paperwhite additionally has a bigger, 7-inch show (the earlier technology was 6.8 inches), and it is thinner as nicely, making it much more comfy to carry whereas studying for hours. It additionally is available in two new colours: raspberry and jade. 

There’s nonetheless a Signature Version to the Paperwhite as earlier than, and for $40 extra, you get wi-fi charging, 32GB of storage as an alternative of 16GB, and an auto-adjusting entrance mild sensor. 

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite tech specs: Show: 7-inch 300 ppi e-ink display | Storage: 16 GB | Colours: Black, raspberry, jade | Weight: 7.4 ounces | Dimensions: 7 x 5 x .30 inches | Connections: USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Battery life: As much as 12 weeks 

Amazon additionally up to date the base-model Kindle this fall. The upgraded twelfth technology Kindle options sooner web page turns, a better distinction ratio, and a entrance mild that’s 25% brighter on the max setting—as brilliant as the brand new Kindle Paperwhite. The worth elevated barely from the earlier technology, from $100 to $110, but it surely’s nonetheless the most affordable e-reader you should purchase. 

Affiliate editor Nina Raemont spent a weekend studying the brand new Kindle and stated it is probably the most value-packed gadget. “Whereas I used to be studying, I observed that the page-turning and book-loading speeds had been considerably faster than on my Kindle Oasis or Kindle Paperwhite from 2022,” she wrote. “I examined my previous Paperwhite and my new Kindle and located that the brand new Kindle turned pages a smidgen faster than the Paperwhite.”

Overview: I spent the weekend reading on Amazon’s newest Kindle – and it’s more useful than ever

Raemont additionally commented on the Kindle’s extra vivid show and brightness. Talking of shade, it additionally is available in a brand new exterior shade: matcha inexperienced. 

Its 300 ppi stays the identical, and the anti-glare show makes it straightforward to learn in any mild, and darkish mode is a heat welcome if you’re attempting to learn at night time with out letting blue mild interrupt your sleep cycle. 

Amazon Kindle tech specs: Show: 6-inch, 300ppi glare-free | Storage: 16GB | Colours: Black or matcha | Weight: 5.56 ounces | Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.3 x 0.32 inches | Connections: USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Battery: As much as 6 weeks

Boox is an e-reader and drawing pill with a vivid shade show, so your e-book’s illustrations will pop as you learn, and so will your color-coordinated notes. Talking of which, the note-taking templates on the Tab Mini C are useful. Whether or not you are a pupil taking notes, a desk job worker making an hourly plan in your day, a musician crafting a bit of sheet music, or a historian drafting a timeline, the Tab Mini C presents a template for that. 

With adjustable heat and funky lights, you possibly can customise your required blue mild stage to tone the show earlier than bedtime for an easier-on-the-eyes studying expertise. Whereas Boox itself doesn’t have an e-book library, you possibly can obtain apps to your Boox gadget, that means it may well entry the Kindle retailer or Libby (to borrow and browse library books). 

ZDNET editor Nina Raemont, has been utilizing the pill to handle her work-life calendar, construct lists for grocery buying, assembly agendas, and extra. It is turn into Raemont’s deskside companion and staple note-taking gadget. Due to its light-weight and easy portability, it has changed the trusty Moleskin pocket book she avidly used to plan her day. 

The strong battery life lasts many days to per week or two, and the e-reader comes with a magnetically hooked up stylus with strain detection for drawing. The pill’s smooth design has a minimalist really feel and cautious use of popping colours. Nonetheless, Reddit users note that you’ll have to tinker with the pill’s settings to maximise your expertise. 

Boox Tab Mini C specs: Show: 7.9-inch display, digital ink | Storage: 64GB | Colours: Black | Weight: 11 ounces | Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.33 inches | Connections: USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Battery: 5,000mAh Li-ion Polymer

New this yr to the Kindle lineup is its first shade e-reader: the Kindle Colorsoft. It options the identical 300 ppi show that is normal for e-readers, besides it additionally has a 150 ppi show for shade pictures, together with as much as 120 nits of brightness to actually make your pages and shade pictures pop.  Relying in your shade preferences, you possibly can customise the colour settings to plain or vivid. 

The Colorsoft’s shade options do not cease there: you can too spotlight passages in your books in numerous colours and arrange them into classes (i.e., quotes in yellow, info in blue, characters to recollect in purple, and so forth.).  

I used to be in a position to go hands-on with the brand new Kindle Colorsoft, and was impressed by how its shade did not drown out when in direct daylight. I even paired it subsequent to a Boox e-reader and observed a extra apparent pixelization on the Boox’s shade show, versus the graceful shade that the Kindle gives.

Overview: Kindle Colorsoft: One of the best E Ink tablets I’ve tested

This shade Kindle could be nice for many who usually learn comics or Manga, and it even gives panel-by-panel studying for comics, making it straightforward to see the weather the writer meant for every panel. As well as, a pinch-and-zoom characteristic means that you can actually see the colour pictures intimately.

Nonetheless, if the books you learn are largely black and white, I do not suppose the colour is well worth the virtually $300 price ticket. 

Kindle Colorsoft tech specs: Show: 7-inch, glare-free shade display | Storage: 32GB | Colours: Black | Weight: 7.07 ounces | Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.30 inches | Connections: USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Battery: As much as 8 weeks

Kobo has been making e-readers since 2016, and so they have turn into extra aggressive with Kindle. This Kobo e-reader has a 6-inch glare-free E Ink Carta 1300 HD touchscreen show with 1448 x 1072 decision with Darkish Mode. It additionally has ComfortLight PRO as its entrance mild, which might regulate brightness and shade temperature particularly for blue mild discount so your eyes pressure much less whereas studying at night time. 

Kobo presents greater than 5 million e-book titles to select from, together with audiobooks. You too can borrow books out of your native library. With 16GB of storage, Kobo says you possibly can obtain as much as 12,000 eBooks or 75 Kobo Audiobooks. 

Just like the Kindle Paperwhite, the Kobo Clara has a water-resistant ranking of IPX8, so you possibly can learn within the bathtub or by the pool. It additionally comes with 13 totally different fonts and over 50 font kinds, so you possibly can customise your studying expertise to your liking. 

Reddit users also note that the Clara BW has a very sturdy black and white show that “takes studying to a different stage.”

Kobo Clara BW tech specs: Show: 6-inch glare-free E Ink Carta 1300 HD touchscreen | Storage: 16 GB | Colours: Black | Weight: 6.14 ounces | Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.4 x .36 inches | Connections: USB-C and Bluetooth | Battery life: As much as 7 weeks

For these tried and true Barnes and Noble followers, the Nook is one other e-reader choice. The Nook first debuted in 2009 to compete with Kindle, but it surely’s since been upgraded to characteristic extra fashionable options. The GlowLight 4 Plus has a water-resistant design (IPX7), a 300 ppi display with GlowLight expertise that is straightforward on the eyes, and audiobook entry through Bluetooth or a headphone jack. 

The Nook can also be the one choice on our listing that has bodily buttons to show pages and return to the house display, which is nice for many who are much less tech-savvy with touchscreen gadgets. 

It is also the one e-reader on this listing with a 3.5mm headphone jack, which implies you can take heed to audiobooks through wired headphones with out having to connect with Bluetooth–another plus level for many who are much less tech-inclined. 

Reddit users note that that is by far one of the best design Nook has had to this point, saying, “This Nook mannequin has most likely one of the best construct high quality I’ve ever seen on a Nook. It has that premium really feel and a really good step up from the extra plastic-y [Glowlight 4]. I additionally recognize the symmetric design.”

Nook GlowLight 4 Plus tech specs: Show: 7.8-inch  high-resolution 300-ppi | Storage: 32GB | Colours: Black | Weight: 10.05 ounces | Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x .31 inches | Connections: USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack | Battery: As much as 3 weeks