The very best e-readers of 2024: Professional examined 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 gentle). Amazon simply up to date the Kindle Paperwhite this fall, and its greatest draw is quicker efficiency: Amazon mentioned it options 25% quicker web page turns and 20% general quicker efficiency. 

Except for pace, 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. 

Assessment: Among the finest E Ink readers I’ve examined is not 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 effectively, 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 gentle 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 quicker web page turns, a better distinction ratio, and a entrance gentle that’s 25% brighter on the max setting—as vibrant as the brand new Kindle Paperwhite. The worth elevated barely from the earlier technology, from $100 to $110, however it’s nonetheless the most cost effective e-reader you should purchase. 

Affiliate editor Nina Raemont spent a weekend studying the brand new Kindle and mentioned it is probably the most value-packed machine. “Whereas I used to be studying, I seen that the page-turning and book-loading speeds have 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.”

Assessment: I spent the weekend studying on Amazon’s latest Kindle – and it is extra helpful than ever

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

Its 300 ppi stays the identical, and the anti-glare show makes it straightforward to learn in any gentle, and darkish mode is a heat welcome if you’re attempting to learn at evening with out letting blue gentle 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 colour 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 helpful. Whether or not you are a pupil taking notes, a desk job worker making an hourly plan in your day, a musician crafting a chunk of sheet music, or a historian drafting a timeline, the Tab Mini C provides a template for that. 

With adjustable heat and funky lights, you possibly can customise your required blue gentle 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 machine, that means it will probably entry the Kindle retailer or Libby (to borrow and skim library books). 

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

The sturdy battery life lasts many days to every week or two, and the e-reader comes with a magnetically hooked up stylus with stress detection for drawing. The pill’s modern design has a minimalist really feel and cautious use of popping colours. Nonetheless, Reddit customers word 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 colour 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 colour photographs, together with as much as 120 nits of brightness to essentially make your pages and colour photographs pop.  Relying in your colour preferences, you possibly can customise the colour settings to plain or vivid. 

The Colorsoft’s colour options do not cease there: you can too spotlight passages in your books in several colours and set up them into classes (i.e., quotes in yellow, information 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 colour did not drown out when in direct daylight. I even paired it subsequent to a Boox e-reader and seen a extra apparent pixelization on the Boox’s colour show, versus the graceful colour that the Kindle gives.

Assessment: Kindle Colorsoft: Among the finest E Ink tablets I’ve examined

This colour Kindle can 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 creator meant for every panel. As well as, a pinch-and-zoom function lets you actually see the colour photographs intimately.

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

Kindle Colorsoft tech specs: Show: 7-inch, glare-free colour 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, they usually have change 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 gentle, which might alter brightness and colour temperature particularly for blue gentle discount so your eyes pressure much less whereas studying at evening. 

Kobo provides greater than 5 million e-book titles to select from, together with audiobooks. You can even 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 tub or by the pool. It additionally comes with 13 completely different fonts and over 50 font types, so you possibly can customise your studying expertise to your liking. 

Reddit customers additionally word that the Clara BW has a extremely 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 possibility. The Nook first debuted in 2009 to compete with Kindle, however it’s since been upgraded to function extra trendy options. The GlowLight 4 Plus has a water-resistant design (IPX7), a 300 ppi display with GlowLight know-how that is straightforward on the eyes, and audiobook entry by way of Bluetooth or a headphone jack. 

The Nook can be the one possibility 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 units. 

It is also the one e-reader on this listing with a 3.5mm headphone jack, which implies you’ll hearken to audiobooks by way of wired headphones with out having to hook up with Bluetooth–another plus level for many who are much less tech-inclined. 

Reddit customers word that that is by far the most effective design Nook has had to date, saying, “This Nook mannequin has most likely the most effective 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 respect 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