Greatest e book readers for 2023

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 lots of embrace further 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 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-proof, warm-glow Kindle that received’t wreck your spa atmosphere, these are the perfect e book readers for everybody. 

Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.9 x .32 inches / Weight: 205 grams / Display screen space and determination: 6.8-inch display screen, 300ppi decision / Storage: 8GB or 16GB / Different options: IPX8 waterproofing, Bluetooth audio help 

For those who principally purchase ebooks from Amazon, you’ll desire 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 2 — my high non-Amazon e book reader, which I’ll dive into later — for lots of the identical options. These embrace a big 300pi show and an adjustable heat white frontlight, which make for a transparent and pleasing 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 seek out in an e-reader.

Amazon is the biggest on-line retailer on the earth, and it 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 depends upon providing cut-rate reductions to tug you into its content material ecosystem. In case you have Prime and purchase a number of Kindle ebooks, the Paperwhite is your best option as a result of Amazon makes it extremely straightforward to purchase and browse 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, but it surely’s arduous for them to supply reductions as steep as Amazon does.

There are downsides, although. The Paperwhite has lockscreen adverts except you pay $20 further to do away with 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 apart from Hearth tablets — is that it’s not straightforward to learn books bought outdoors 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 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 methods to transform and switch file codecs so you may learn on the Kindle and vice versa, but it surely’ll take a few further steps and generally is a problem.

Nevertheless, 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 full overview of the Kindle Paperwhite.

Dimensions: 5.69 x 6.36 x 0.35 inches / Weight: 215 grams / Display screen space and determination: 7-inch display screen, 300ppi / Storage: As much as 32GB / Different options: Bodily page-turning buttons, waterproofing, Bluetooth audio help 

The Kobo Libra 2 is a superb different to an Amazon e book reader, particularly for readers outdoors the US. It’s simply as good because the Paperwhite, with lots of the Paperwhite’s standout options, like waterproofing, USB-C help, and a 300ppi show. It doesn’t work as effectively with Amazon’s ecosystem, after all, but it surely affords a number of further perks that make the e-reader, in some methods, much more pleasing to make use of.

For one factor, it helps extra file codecs, together with EPUB. It’s additionally a lot simpler to straight borrow books from the Overdrive library system, whereas native help for Pocket means you may learn your saved articles offline. The Libra 2 additionally comes with easy-to-use bodily buttons and begins at 16GB of storage, double the capability of the bottom Paperwhite. There are not any annoying lockscreen adverts to take care of, both. Plus, as a substitute of a flat-front display screen, the show is barely recessed into the body. I cherished that because it meant I didn’t unintentionally faucet the display screen and skip a web page, as I typically did with the Paperwhite. It additionally stored the display screen cleaner and — mixed with the broad facet bezel — made the Libra 2 extra snug to carry.

The Kobo Libra 2 is my favourite e book reader to make use of. I stored having to restrain myself from utilizing it on a regular basis to provide the opposite e-readers on this checklist a good probability.

Nevertheless, at $189, it prices $50 greater than the ad-supported Paperwhite, although it’s solely $20 greater than the ad-free Paperwhite. That hole widens much more when the Paperwhite is on sale, which it repeatedly is. Plus, as any person whose digital library consists primarily of Amazon ebooks, I discovered the truth that I couldn’t simply and shortly learn my huge assortment of Kindle books irritating. You are able to do it, however you’ll should convert file codecs utilizing third-party apps, which may take time, particularly when you’ve got a big library. But when these issues don’t matter or apply to you, the Kobo Libra 2 provides you with the perfect digital studying expertise of all of the e-readers on this checklist.

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

The base-model Kindle ($99.99 with adverts) is the perfect 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, and its 16GB of storage is double even that of the Paperwhite. It even has USB-C for comparatively quick charging. 

Studying on its six-inch display screen feels a bit of extra cramped than it does on the bigger shows of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Libra 2. Nevertheless, the flip facet is that its small dimension makes it pocketable, mild, and simple for small arms to carry. Mixed with its comparatively reasonably priced worth, the Kindle can be the perfect 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 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 free of charge. After that, although, you’ll should pay $79 per 12 months.

The bottom Kindle doesn’t have further 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 necessary: 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, 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, 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 should pay further to do away with adverts. But when you are able to do with out all of that, the Kindle delivers the necessities for beneath $100.

Learn my full overview of the Kindle.

Dimensions: 7.6 x 8.94 x 0.30 inches / Weight: 390 grams / Display screen space and determination: 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 glorious note-taking talents. You possibly can straight 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 can be like disappearing sticky notes. 

You may also sync your notes with Dropbox or view them on-line, and Kobo may even convert handwriting to typed textual content. Amazon not too long ago rolled out an analogous functionality for the Kindle Scribe, however it may possibly solely convert handwriting to typed textual content if you export notebooks and never as precisely. Against this, Kobo allows 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. It’s even succesful, for instance, of fixing math equations for you. You may also insert diagrams and drawings, and it’ll routinely snap it into one thing that appears cleaner and nicer. There’s additionally a terrific choice of pen sorts 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 basically the identical worth because the Kobo. I like to recommend simply forking out the cash on the Elipsa 2E as a substitute.

I additionally advocate the Elipsa 2E over the Onyx Boox Be aware Air 2 Plus, though it, too, affords 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 Be aware 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 may 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 Be aware Air 2 Plus — and you may’t annotate their books wherever as simply as you may on their respective units.

Be aware-taking capabilities apart, the Kobo Elipsa 2E can be a great 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 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 2. Nevertheless, 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 disadvantage.

There are another e book readers I examined that I didn’t characteristic above however are nonetheless price highlighting. Certainly one of these is the Kobo Clara 2E e-reader. For those who’re in search of a non-Amazon different that’s extra reasonably priced than the Kobo Libra 2, the Kobo Clara 2E is price a glance. It sells for $139 and likewise affords waterproofing in addition to a pointy, 300ppi show, but it surely lacks buttons. As I discussed in my overview earlier this 12 months, I additionally favored that it doesn’t include adverts however discovered it’s not as quick because the Kindle Paperwhite. Nevertheless, now that I’ve used the e-reader for fairly a while, I discover it’s snappy sufficient, and the occasional lag isn’t as distracting as I imagined it’d change into. The Libra 2 remains to be quicker, although.

I additionally didn’t point out the Kindle Oasis, which additionally has bodily page-turning buttons and which many take into account a high-end system. At this level, although, it’s previous and lacks some options even the bottom Kindle affords, like USB-C help. That makes it much less interesting at $249. In case you are prepared to pay that a lot for a high-end reader, I’d check out the Kobo Libra 2 or the Kobo Sage as a substitute. The latter is $269, but not solely does it include buttons and USB-C, however you too can use it to take notes. The eight-inch display screen feels very cramped to put in writing on, although, so I wouldn’t advocate it as a major note-taking system.