The perfect e-reader for 2025

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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 telephone. An e book reader affords a extra book-like studying expertise, with fewer distractions and fewer eye pressure, and plenty of embrace additional options, like adjustable frontlighting. Some actually are pocketable. Others are waterproof or supply bodily page-turning buttons, whereas just a few even allow you to take notes.

I’ve been utilizing e 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 in opposition to the wall or a water-resistant, warm-glow Kindle that received’t spoil your spa ambiance, these are the most effective e book readers for everybody.

Dimensions: 7 x 5 x .3 inches / Weight: 211 grams / Display screen space and backbone: 7-inch display screen, 300ppi decision / Storage: 16GB / Different options: IPX8 waterproofing, Bluetooth audio assist

Should you principally purchase ebooks from Amazon, you’ll need a Kindle, and the Twelfth-gen Kindle Paperwhite is the only option for most individuals. Beginning at $159.99, it’s cheaper than the Kobo Libra Color — my high non-Amazon e book reader, which I’ll dive into later — whereas providing lots of the identical options. These embrace a spacious 7-inch 300pi show with wealthy distinction ranges and an adjustable heat white frontlight, which make for a transparent and pleasurable studying expertise. The latter additionally conveniently improves sleep by chopping down on blue gentle that interrupts melatonin manufacturing.

That heat white frontlighting is a bonus over the cool white of the $109.99 base-model Kindle, and in contrast to the bottom Kindle, the Paperwhite has IPX8 water resistance. The $199.99 Signature Edition Paperwhite additionally has an auto-adjusting frontlight and no lockscreen adverts. It has wi-fi charging, which is a uncommon function to seek out in an e-reader.

Amazon dominates the US e book market, so Kindle house owners have entry to benefits house owners of different e book readers don’t. A lot of Amazon’s {hardware} technique is dependent upon 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 its ebooks and audiobooks are sometimes on sale at Amazon, and Prime members get extra free content material by Prime Studying. Rivals like Kobo supply gross sales, too, however it’s onerous for them to supply reductions as steep as Amazon.

There are downsides, although. The Paperwhite has lockscreen adverts except you pay $20 additional to do away with them. It’s additionally too large 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 e book codecs are proprietary and solely work on Kindle. In contrast to Kobo and different e book readers, Kindles don’t assist EPUB recordsdata, an open file format utilized by just about everybody besides Amazon. So, for instance, when you typically store from Kobo’s bookstore (or Barnes & Noble or Google Play Books or many different e book shops), you may’t simply learn these books on a Kindle with out utilizing a workaround. There are ways to convert and transfer file formats so you may learn on the Kindle and vice versa, however it’ll take a few additional steps.

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

The perfect non-Amazon e book reader

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

The Kobo Libra Colour is a superb various to Amazon’s e book readers, particularly for readers exterior the US or anybody who doesn’t wish to faucet into Amazon’s ecosystem. Kobo’s newest slate affords lots of the standout options discovered on the Twelfth-gen Kindle Paperwhite — together with waterproofing, USB-C assist, and a 300ppi show — together with just a few perks that make it extra useful and pleasurable to make use of.

The colour show is the obvious. The Libra Color makes use of E Ink’s newest Kaledio coloration display screen expertise, which supplies 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 coloration — however it’s a pleasant contact that makes viewing a wider vary of content material extra nice. Ebook 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 or as vibrant because the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition.

Nonetheless, not like the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Version, the Libra Color works with a digital pen — the Kobo Stylus 2 (sold separately) — which helps you to spotlight textual content in numerous colours or take notes utilizing Kobo’s built-in notebooks. You can even benefit from 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 system because the seven-inch show can really feel cramped to put in writing on.

The colour show is barely a part of the enchantment, although. The Libra Color doesn’t have the lockscreen adverts on 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 as it’s important to do on Amazon’s trendy e-readers. 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. Till not too long ago, Kobo offered support for the bookmarking app Pocket, which was one other large promoting level because it allow you to learn saved articles offline. Whereas the app is now not out there, Kobo recently changed Pocket with Instapaper, which you’ll obtain in a free replace.

Nonetheless, at $229.99, 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 occurs extra typically than the Libra Color. The Kobo can’t simply faucet into Amazon’s huge library of ebooks, which might be irritating when you’ve amassed a set of Kindle titles over time. It may be finished, however it’s important 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 offers you the most effective digital studying expertise of all of the e-readers on our checklist. It’s my private favourite.

The perfect low-cost e book reader

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

The base-model Kindle ($109.99 with adverts) is the most effective 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 value vary. Plus, it has USB-C for comparatively quick charging.

Studying on its six-inch display screen feels somewhat 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 straightforward for small arms to carry. Mixed with its comparatively reasonably priced value, the Kindle can be the most effective e book reader for teenagers — particularly the Amazon Kindle Kids Edition which prices $20 extra. The child-friendly model shares the identical specs however is ad-free with parental controls, a two-year prolonged alternative assure, and a case. It additionally comes with six months of Amazon Kids Plus, which grants children entry to hundreds of kids’s books and audiobooks totally free. After that, although, you’ll need to $79 per 12 months (or $48 with Amazon Prime).

The bottom Kindle doesn’t have additional conveniences just like the waterproofing you’ll discover in the entry-level Kobo Clara BW and Paperwhite. You additionally don’t get the bodily page-turning buttons discovered on Barnes & Noble’s entry-level e-reader, the Nook GlowLight 4e (although the Kindle is rather a lot snappier than the Nook). And since it’s an Amazon e book reader, you’re additionally locked into the Amazon ecosystem and need to pay additional to take away adverts. But when you are able to do with out that, the Kindle delivers the necessities for below $110.

The perfect e book reader for taking notes

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

Of all the massive e book readers I examined, the Kobo Elipsa 2E stood out probably the most as a result of it’s a very good e-reader with stable note-taking talents. You’ll be able to write instantly on pages simply as on a bodily e-book. The Kindle Scribe permits you to annotate e-book pages as effectively, however it’s difficult involving resizable textual content bins that mess up the web page formatting and forestall you from doing staple items like circling phrases. In distinction, taking notes on the Elipsa 2E feels much more intuitive and pure.

The Elipsa 2E affords different useful note-taking instruments and capabilities. Just like the Kobo Libra Color, it’s succesful, for instance, of fixing math equations for you. You can even insert diagrams and drawings, and it’ll robotically snap them into one thing that appears cleaner and nicer. You can even sync your notes with Dropbox or view them on-line and convert handwriting to typed textual content. The Kindle Scribe affords the latter functionality, too, however once more, Kobo does it sooner and higher inside the authentic pocket book doc versus on a separate web page. The one factor lacking from the Elipsa 2E is the Scribe’s note-summarization function, however that’s a trade-off I’m okay with given how a lot simpler it’s to take notes.

Lastly, the Kobo Elipsa 2E comes with twice the storage (32GB) for a similar value as the bottom Kindle Scribe. You can step as much as the 32GB Kindle Scribe for $20 extra or improve to 64GB for $40 additional. But given the Scribe’s limitations, I nonetheless suggest saving the cash and shopping for the Kobo Elipsa 2E as a substitute.

Word-taking capabilities apart, the Kobo Elipsa 2E can be a very good e-reader with the identical strengths and weaknesses as different Kobo units. There’s assist for a variety of file codecs, however you may’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 balances issues out a bit and makes textual content simpler to learn, so it’s not a noticeable disadvantage. Plus, the Elipsa 2E comes with an adjustable heat gentle for nighttime studying. That’s a function rival e-readers with extra superior note-taking capabilities — together with the $409.99 Onyx Boox Go 10.3, which helps you to insert hyperlinks to notes — lacks.

Different e book readers we examined

There are another e book readers my colleagues and I’ve examined that I didn’t function above, however are nonetheless price highlighting. Listed here are probably the most notable:

The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is the primary Kindle to function E Ink’s coloration display screen expertise and it stands out from different coloration e-paper units with customizations. It affords improved distinction, extra vibrant colours, and sooner display screen refreshes. With a $279.99 price ticket, it’s the costliest Kindle mannequin at the moment out there that doesn’t assist a stylus for note-taking, and it consists of premium options like wi-fi charging which can be handy however probably not essential for a tool with months of battery life. If you need a coloration display screen and wish to persist with Amazon, the Colorsoft Signature is your best choice. – Andrew Liszewski, Senior Reporter

Amazon recently introduced a extra reasonably priced various to the $279.99 Kindle Colorsoft Signature Version above referred to as the Kindle Colorsoft. It’s $30 cheaper and delivers a virtually equivalent studying expertise. As anticipated, Amazon excluded some options to hit the cheaper price level. Let’s run by them. There’s no wi-fi charging, which I can reside with out. Storage is halved to 16GB, which is sufficient for me as I primarily learn ebooks. However when you’re shopping for a coloration e-reader, chances are high excessive that you simply’ll need extra space for storing for graphic novels, and 16GB might not lower it.

The most important disadvantage for me, as a bedtime bookworm, is the dearth of an auto-adjusting entrance gentle that may make nighttime studying a lot simpler (nevertheless, its brightness and coloration temperature might be manually adjusted). At this value, I anticipate it, particularly since Kobo’s $159.99 Clara Coloration consists of one. And, on condition that the Colorsoft Signature Version prices simply $30 extra, full with a entrance gentle that adjusts when the room will get dim, 32GB of storage, and wi-fi charging, I’d go for that as a substitute when you’re in Amazon’s ecosystem. Except the usual Colorsoft goes on sale for much less, it’s not an awesome worth at its common value.

Should you’re searching for a non-Amazon various that’s extra reasonably priced than the Kobo Libra Color, the Kobo Clara Colour — the successor to the Kobo Clara 2E — is price a glance. At $159.99, the ad-free e-reader prices greater than the Kobo Clara 2E, however I feel 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 coloration. It’s additionally noticeably sooner — one thing I used to be pleased to see, contemplating the occasional lag on the Clara 2E generally obtained 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. The corporate recently announced a white version with a barely bigger 1,900mAh battery in comparison with the black mannequin’s 1,500mAh (notably, and not using a value improve), which Kobo says can final over a month on a single cost.

In 2023, Barnes and Noble launched the Nook Glowlight 4 Plus. Should you personal a number of digital books from Barnes and Noble, this may very well be a very good Kindle various. 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 effective e-reader with rather a lot 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 system 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 system whereas in the course of a e-book.

Regardless of all some great benefits of E Ink show expertise, your smartphone might be nonetheless a extra handy system for studying given how pocket-friendly it’s. The Boox Palma 2 is a smartphone-sized E Ink system that’s simply as simple to slide right into a pocket, however with extra capabilities than an e-reader. Its 6.3-inch E Ink show is nice for studying books, however the $275.98 $329 Palma 2 additionally runs Android 13 so you may set up productiveness apps like e mail and messaging — assuming you’ve obtained entry to Wi-Fi, after all, as a result of the compact e-reader lacks mobile connectivity. If you have already got the unique Palma, the sequel isn’t well worth the improve. However when you’re searching for a smaller various to Kindles and Kobos, the Palma 2 may very well be well worth the splurge. – Andrew Liszewski, Senior Reporter

The $409.99 Onyx Boox Go 10.3 is one other ad-free e book reader you should utilize to take notes. It’s glorious as a note-taking system, and it affords an impressively wide selection of writing instruments and extra prebuilt pocket book templates than Kobo’s Elipsa 2E. Jotting down notes utilizing the built-in pocket book felt extra akin to writing on paper as effectively, and its slim design makes the system really feel extra like a standard pocket book. Like all Boox units, it additionally supplies fast entry to the Google Play Retailer, so you may obtain a number of studying apps — together with each Kindle and Kobo apps. The slate’s crisp 300ppi show is sharper than that of the Kobo Elipsa 2E, too, which is a plus.

Nonetheless, compared to the easy-to-use Elipsa 2E, the Go 10.3 lacks a entrance gentle and comes with a steeper studying curve. Notes you tackle a Kindle or Kobo system received’t switch over (and vice versa), and you’ll’t annotate books in both app utilizing the Boox. I additionally felt like entry to Google Play could be a double-edged sword because it grants easy accessibility to distracting apps, together with video games, streaming companies, and TikTok. It’s too sluggish to make use of the latter, however it’s quick and comfy sufficient that I discovered myself taking part in round with the Phrase Search app far too typically. For me personally, I want my e-reader to be devoid of such distractions — it’s one of many largest issues that distinguishes it from a pill, in any case. However when you’ve obtained extra self-control than I do, the Go 10.3 may very well be price a glance.

In April, Boox introduced the Go Coloration 7 Gen II, which retails for $279.99. This water resistant e-reader affords a 300ppi show that drops to 150ppi when displaying coloration content material, very like its Kobo and Kindle rivals. Nonetheless, just like the Kobo Libra Color, this ad-free mannequin affords physical-page turning buttons and helps note-taking. A stylus isn’t included, so that you’ll must spend an additional $45.99 for Boox’s pressure-sensitive InkSense pen if you wish to take notes. And, like different Boox units, it runs on Android, supplying you with entry to a variety of apps and on-line bookstores by the Google Play Retailer.

Whereas I appreciated not having to sideload my Kindle and Kobo library, together with larger flexibility to fine-tune coloration settings, I finally desire the Kobo Libra Color. In my testing, the Go Coloration 7 Gen II felt frustratingly sluggish by comparability to the Libra Color, which is disappointing given the Boox prices $50 extra. Responsiveness is a core a part of the studying expertise for me, so I’d solely suggest Boox’s mannequin to readers who worth having Android app flexibility over efficiency.

Replace, November seventeenth: Adjusted pricing / availability and added new particulars relating to the Boox Palma 2 Professional. Andrew Liszewski additionally contributed to this put up.