An e-reader does one thing better than a phone or tablet: it shows text on an E Ink screen that looks like printed paper, reads easily in direct sunlight, doesn’t glow into your eyes at night, and runs for weeks on a charge. There are no notifications and no apps fighting for your attention, which is why so many people find they read more once they own one.
The biggest decision isn’t the hardware. It’s the bookstore. A Kindle reads books from Amazon’s Kindle Store, a Kobo from Rakuten Kobo’s store, and a Nook from Barnes & Noble. Books you buy generally stay with that store, so if you already have a Kindle library, buy a Kindle.
Our top pick is the 2026 Kindle Paperwhite ($199.99). It has a sharp 7-inch screen, an adjustable warm light, waterproofing, and up to 12 weeks of battery life, and it’s the easiest way into the largest e-book store. If you’d rather not be tied to Amazon, or you borrow a lot of library books, the Kobo Clara BW ($159.99) adds warm light and waterproofing to a smaller, cheaper e-reader with no ads.
Our Picks at a Glance
| E-reader | Best for | Screen | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindle Paperwhite (2026) | Most readers | 7-inch, black and white, warm light | $199.99 ($219.99 without ads) |
| Kobo Clara BW | Library books, no Amazon | 6-inch, black and white, warm light | $159.99 |
| Kobo Libra Colour | Page-turn buttons, color, notes | 7-inch, color, warm light | $259.99 |
| Kindle Scribe | Writing notes, PDFs, big text | 11-inch, black and white, with pen | $499.99 |
| Boox Go 7 | Running Kindle, Kobo, and Libby apps | 7-inch, black and white, Android | $269.99 |
Best Overall: Kindle Paperwhite (2026)
Best overall
Kindle Paperwhite (2026)
A 7-inch, 300 ppi glare-free screen with warm light, IPX8 waterproofing, and up to 12 weeks of battery.
The Kindle Paperwhite is the e-reader we’d recommend to almost anyone. Its 7-inch, 300 ppi screen is sharp enough to look like print and large enough to show close to a paperback page. The front light adjusts from cool white to a warm amber for reading in bed, it’s waterproof to IPX8, so it survives a drop in the bath or the pool, and the battery is rated at up to 12 weeks of reading.
The 2026 model, announced in October and shipping October 28, is thinner and lighter than the 2024 version and adds a replaceable battery: the back panel comes off for a battery swap, so the Kindle can outlast its first battery. It has 16 GB of storage, enough for thousands of books.
The Kindle Store is the largest e-book store, with many self-published books you won’t find anywhere else, and Kindle+, Amazon’s new name for Kindle Unlimited, lets you borrow from millions of titles for $11.99 a month. You can also borrow free library e-books through the Libby app and send them to your Kindle, and listen to Audible audiobooks over Bluetooth headphones.
It costs $199.99 with lockscreen ads or $219.99 without. The ads are sponsored screensavers that show only when the Kindle is asleep, never inside books. The Signature Edition ($249.99) adds an aluminum back, 32 GB, a light that adjusts itself, and no ads.
Buy it if you want the best all-around e-reader, or you already own Kindle books.
Choosing between Kindles? See Kindle vs. Kindle Paperwhite. The basic $149.99 Kindle is smaller and lighter, but it has no warm light and isn’t waterproof, so the Paperwhite is worth the extra $50 for most people.
Best Budget: Kobo Clara BW
Best budget
Kobo Clara BW
A 6-inch, 300 ppi e-reader with warm light, waterproofing, built-in library borrowing, and no ads.
The Kobo Clara BW is the best e-reader you can buy for under $200, and it beats the basic Kindle on features. For $159.99, about the same as the cheapest Kindle, it has a 6-inch, 300 ppi screen with an adjustable warm light, IPX8 waterproofing, 16 GB of storage, and no ads.
Kobo’s other big advantage is library books. In the US and many other countries, you can browse and borrow e-books from your public library right on the Clara, through built-in OverDrive, without a phone or computer. Kobo also reads EPUB files natively, the standard format most other e-book stores and free-book sites use, along with 15 file formats in all.
The Kobo Store is smaller than Amazon’s and doesn’t have Kindle-exclusive self-published titles. Kobo Plus, its subscription, costs $7.99 a month for e-books or $9.99 with audiobooks.
Buy it if you borrow a lot of library books, buy e-books from different stores, or simply want warm light and waterproofing for less.
For a deeper look at the two ecosystems, see Kindle vs. Kobo.
Best Color: Kobo Libra Colour
Best color E-Reader
Kobo Libra Colour
A 7-inch color E Ink e-reader with physical page-turn buttons, stylus support, 32 GB, and waterproofing.
The Kobo Libra Colour has the two features many readers miss most on a Kindle: physical page-turn buttons and a color screen. The buttons sit on a wider grip on one side, so you can hold it in one hand and turn pages with your thumb. The screen rotates so the grip works in either hand.
Its 7-inch screen uses E Ink’s Kaleido 3 color layer, which shows black-and-white text at 300 ppi and color at 150 ppi. Color E Ink is muted, like a newspaper photo rather than a tablet, but it makes book covers, comics, children’s books, and colored highlights far more pleasant. It also works with the Kobo Stylus 2, sold separately, for writing in margins and notebooks.
It has warm light, IPX8 waterproofing, 32 GB of storage, and the same built-in library borrowing as the Clara. At $259.99, it costs $60 more than the Paperwhite. The color layer makes the screen slightly darker and less crisp than a black-and-white one, and its battery doesn’t last as long.
If you’re committed to Amazon, the Kindle Colorsoft ($289.99, newly updated for 2026) is the Kindle equivalent, with the same 150 ppi color and up to eight weeks of battery, but without buttons or stylus support.
Buy it if you want page-turn buttons, read comics or illustrated books, or want to annotate as you read.
Best for Notes: Kindle Scribe
Best for notes and PDFs
Kindle Scribe (32 GB)
An 11-inch Kindle with a front light, warm light, and an included pen for notebooks, books, and PDFs.
The Kindle Scribe is a Kindle and a paper notebook in one. Its 11-inch screen is about the size of a sheet of printer paper, which makes it the best e-reader for PDFs, textbooks, sheet music, and anyone who wants very large text. The included pen never needs charging and has an eraser on the end.
You can write in notebooks, mark up documents imported from Google Drive or OneDrive and export them as PDFs, and jot notes on the pages of Kindle books, where text shifts to make room for your handwriting. Built-in AI tools can search and summarize your notes, tidy up your handwriting, or convert it to text. The current model is just 5.4 millimeters thin and weighs 400 grams, and its front light adjusts warmth and brightness automatically.
It’s expensive at $499.99, and it’s too big to hold comfortably in one hand for long novels. A Scribe Colorsoft with a color screen costs $629.99.
Buy it if you take handwritten notes, read lots of PDFs, or want the biggest screen for large print.
Best Android E-Reader: Boox Go 7
Best android E-Reader
Boox Go 7
A 7-inch Android E Ink reader with page-turn buttons, warm light, 64 GB, and a microSD slot.
Boox e-readers run Android with the Google Play Store, so you’re not locked into one bookstore. You can install the Kindle, Kobo, Libby, and Nook apps side by side, along with apps for news, read-later services, and comics. The Boox Go 7 puts that on a 7-inch, 300 ppi E Ink screen with page-turn buttons, a warm and cool front light, 64 GB of storage, and a microSD slot. It weighs about 195 grams.
The flexibility comes with trade-offs. Store apps built for phones are less smooth on E Ink than Amazon’s and Kobo’s own software, and you’ll spend time adjusting refresh modes to reduce ghosting. Battery life is measured in days to a couple of weeks rather than weeks. It isn’t waterproof, and an optional stylus is sold separately.
Buy it if you buy books from several stores, want specific Android apps, or like to tinker.
Kindle, Kobo, or Nook?
| Kindle | Kobo | Nook | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store | Kindle Store, the largest, with Kindle exclusives | Kobo Store | Barnes & Noble |
| Subscription | Kindle+, $11.99/mo | Kobo Plus, $7.99–$9.99/mo | None |
| Library books (US) | Borrow in Libby, send to Kindle | Borrow on the device | Not built in |
| EPUB files | Converted through Send to Kindle | Read natively | Read natively |
| Audiobooks | Audible | Kobo audiobooks | Not on e-readers |
| Ads | Unless you pay $20 more | None | None |
Nook e-readers are a fine choice if you buy books from Barnes & Noble, and the GlowLight 4 Plus has page-turn buttons, but the lineup hasn’t been updated since 2023. See Kindle vs. Nook for the details.
What to Look For
- Warm light. An adjustable warm, amber front light is much more comfortable for reading in bed. The basic Kindle lacks it; nearly everything else here has it.
- Screen size. Six inches is pocketable and light. Seven inches shows more text per page and is the sweet spot for most readers. Ten inches and up suits PDFs and note-taking.
- Sharpness. Look for 300 ppi for black-and-white text. Color E Ink shows color at 150 ppi, which is fine for covers and comics but softer than black and white.
- Waterproofing. IPX8 means it survives the bath or the pool. Worth having if you read in either place.
- Page-turn buttons. Great for one-handed reading. Kobo’s Libra Colour and Boox readers have them; Kindles need an accessory, like Amazon’s new Kindle Click remote, sold separately.
- Ads. Amazon charges $20 more to remove lockscreen ads. Kobo, Nook, and Boox don’t show ads.
E-Readers as Gifts
An e-reader is one of the best holiday gifts for a reader. The Paperwhite is the safest choice for someone who shops on Amazon, and the Kobo Clara BW for someone who uses their library. If you’re buying for a child, Amazon’s Kids Kindle ($179.99) is the basic Kindle with no ads and a year of Kids+, Amazon’s subscription of thousands of books and Audible audiobooks for ages 6 to 12, plus parental controls. For an adult’s Kindle, consider the ad-free version, though the recipient can also pay to remove ads later.
For an iPad or Android tablet instead, see our guide to the best tablets.
How We Chose
We compared current e-readers from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Boox on screen size, sharpness and lighting, waterproofing, battery life, storage, page-turn buttons and stylus support, bookstore and library access, ads, and price. We favored models that make reading easy over feature lists, and included one pick each for color, note-taking, and Android, since those needs push buyers away from the default choice.
E-Reader FAQ
What is the best e-reader to buy?
The 2026 Kindle Paperwhite for most people. It has a sharp 7-inch screen, warm light, waterproofing, and long battery life. Choose a Kobo if you borrow library books or don’t want to buy from Amazon.
Is a Kindle or a Kobo better?
A Kindle if you buy from Amazon or use Kindle+; a Kobo if you borrow library books, buy e-books from other stores, or want features like warm light and waterproofing for less money.
Can you borrow library books on an e-reader?
Yes, if your library uses OverDrive. Kobo e-readers borrow directly on the device. With a Kindle, you borrow in the Libby app and send the book to your Kindle (US only). Nook e-readers don’t have built-in library borrowing.
Are color e-readers worth it?
For comics, children’s books, magazines, and colored highlights, yes. For plain novels, a black-and-white screen is sharper, brighter, and lasts longer per charge.
Is an e-reader better than a tablet for reading?
For books, yes. E Ink screens are easier on the eyes over long sessions, readable in sunlight, free of notifications, and last weeks instead of hours on a charge.
How long do e-readers last?
Often five years or more. The 2026 Kindles also have replaceable batteries, so a worn-out battery doesn’t mean replacing the whole device.
