Credit:
Reviewed / Séamus Bellamy
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Credit:
Reviewed / Séamus Bellamy
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The Kindle Paperwhite is an outstanding e-reader in every way, but one: Amazon's use of advertising on the lowest-priced iteration of the device. Read More
Amazon’s entry-level Kindle offers the features that most people need to lose themselves in a great reading experience, at a reasonable price. Read More
The Kindle Scribe is Amazon’s first foray into digital note-taking—but it needs software updates to become an indispensable reading and writing companion. Read More
The Kobo Libra 2 offers a great alternative to Amazon's fleet of e-readers. We wish its user interface were a little more user-friendly, however. Read More
An Amazon Kindle lets readers carry thousands of books, magazines, and comics with them wherever they go.
The best Kindle models are easy to hold, can be read in any lighting condition, and have outstanding battery life. The ability to quickly purchase and download books on the go is the icing on the cake.
The bookworms at Reviewed have been testing Kindles for years. Right now, the best Kindle is the Kindle Paperwhite (available at Amazon for $149.99) . Redesigned in 2021, the 11th-generation version of the device is waterproof and offers a bright, crisp display, and loads of storage. It can be used to read books downloaded from the Amazon Kindle Store or to listen to one via Amazon’s Audible audiobooks service via Bluetooth headphones or a wireless speaker.
That said, not everyone needs the best of the best. For most people, we recommend the latest version of the Kindle. It still offers a great reading experience but at a lower cost than the Paperwhite.
If you want to take your library on the go but aren't sure whether an Amazon device is right for you, we suggest the Ratuken Kobo Libra 2. Beyond this, be sure to take a peek at our guide to the best e-readers to help you make an informed buying decision.
Our favorite Kindle, the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite, features a larger display, lighting temperature controls and, fast USB-C charging
The 11th-generation Kindle comes with so many desirable features, you'll forget that it's a base model device.
Kindle Scribe users have two options available to them: the Premium Pen and the Basic. We recommend the former, as the Scribe's display registers the Premium Pen as an eraser, streamlining your writing workflow.
Boasting an incredible range of features, the Kobo Libra H2O is the best e-reader, for most people.
The 2019 Kindle Oasis has been discontinued, but can still be found as a used or refurbished device, online.
An Amazon Kindle is an e-reader, an electronic device designed to display the pages of a book on a compact monochrome display. The Kindle is arguably the Kleenex of e-readers. It's such a well-known brand name that, when someone thinks about e-readers, a Kindle, with its relatively low price and massive amount of available content, has been the most popular line of e-reading devices in North America for years.
Tablets are great for productivity tasks and they’re versatile, allowing you to stream shows, watch videos, browse the web, and play games. By installing Amazon’s free Kindle and Audible apps, you can also download e-books and audiobooks to your tablet just like you would on a Kindle.
A Kindle, on the other hand, is designed to focus exclusively on one task—letting you read or listen to a good book. Even the lock screen will show e-book recommendations when not in use.
Because Kindles don’t come packing dozens of apps, you’ll find that using one allows you to become immersed in the reading experience in a way that tablets can’t. A tablet’s beautiful high-resolution display might be gorgeous—provided you’re indoors. If you want to take the show outside, you’ll discover that your display is hard to enjoy in direct sunlight. Not so on a Kindle with its E-Ink display.
While investing in a one-trick pony like a Kindle might feel like a waste of money, we’d argue that it’s a sound investment for bookworms.
Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service offered by Amazon that is sort of like the Apple Music of reading material. For a subscription fee, users receive instantaneous access to a huge, ever-expanding library of books, audiobooks, and magazines.
Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited both function in the same basic way: as subscription-based services that offer users access to books. That said, it's worth understanding their differences.
Prime Reading is available to anyone with an active Amazon Prime subscription. It's not limited to Amazon Kindles and can be accessed on any device that supports Amazon’s Kindle app. This includes iPhones, Android phones, iPads, and Android tablets. Reading materials can be "checked out" of the Prime Reading Library.
Kindle Unlimited is a little different. It requires a monthly subscription. So, if you have an Amazon Prime account and want to access Kindle Unlimited, you’ll have to fork over an additional monthly fee for the privilege. For voracious readers, it could be a smart investment.
Because Kindles are designed for e-reading, you’ll be able to consume media without difficulty in all lighting conditions—from a sunny day at the beach to the darkness of your bedroom before going to sleep.
The Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Scribe feature adjustable warm lighting. This allows you to change the color temperature of a device’s lighting between cool and warm, which can help reduce eye strain and diminish the amount of blue light you’re exposed to.
Depending on your reading habits, a Kindle may be able to go for weeks at a time between charges, which was the case with the Kindles we tested. We prefer USB-C charging ports over MicroUSB. They recharge your Kindle faster, and you’ll also be able to use the same power cable likely used with your laptop, smartphone, and headphones.
Most Amazon Kindles are small and light, so they're easy to hold during hours-long reading sessions.
The Kindle Scribe? Not so much: it's currently the largest Kindle that Amazon makes. Holding it feels as if you're wrangling a full-sized hardcover book. The Scribe is best used flat on a tabletop, especially since it is not only designed to be used for reading but also for writing.
Right now, the only Kindle that is waterproof is the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite. It has an IPX8 water resistance rating, meaning it can be submerged in up to two meters (about 6.5 feet) of freshwater for an hour at a time. We tested the waterproof claims by submerging it in hot tubs, pools, and, for the sake of consistency, a sink full of water, for 45 minutes.
Until recently, Amazon offered a second waterproof Kindle: the Kindle Oasis. It was a premium iteration of the Kindle with an aluminum body and page turn buttons. Unfortunately, after years without an update, Amazon removed it from its lineup in early 2024. It's still possible to find the Oasis used or as a refurbished device online. However, we don't feel it's worth it. Even the least expensive Kindle in Amazon's current hardware lineup has a display that can rival the one employed by the Oasis. And as the Oasis charges via MicroUSB, we feel that purchasing one is a step backward. No one wants to carry an extra cable just to charge one additional device.
It's important to note that being waterproof doesn’t make your Kindle corrosion-proof. If you plan on using your Paperwhite in a saltwater pool or at the beach, try to avoid getting it wet as the salt can eat away at the charging port and, in the case of the Oasis, its aluminum body. If your device is exposed to saltwater, don’t panic: rinse it off as soon as you can with fresh water and you’re good to go.
The only way to test a Kindle is to use one—a lot.
To test the best Kindles at Amazon, we read a lot of e-books, taking note of a number of factors, including battery life. We use the Kindles for hours at a time in various reading conditions—in direct sunlight, with the lights out in bed, and during the day in well-lit rooms—to ensure that e-books are legible.
We also pay close attention to how easy they are to use, what content is available to read on them, and whether or not they're well designed for use for long reading sessions.
Séamus Bellamy is a senior editor on Reviewed's Electronics Team. Before coming to Reviewed, his work was featured in The New York Times, The Globe & Mail, BBC World, Macworld and Maximum PC.
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