The perfect ereaders for 2025

Display measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white and shade E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi shade | Capability: 16GB| Battery life: As much as 42 days (30 min. each day, 30% brightness, Wi-Fi/BT off) | Waterproof score: IPX8 (submergible to six toes for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display advertisements: No | Textual content codecs: EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR

Learn our full Kobo Clara Colour review

Our earlier choose for this class, the Kobo Clara 2E was a wonderful ereader with a crisp show, a heat glow and responsive, intuitive contact controls all housed in a water-resistant design that felt premium. When Rakuten introduced the Clara can be up to date, I apprehensive we’d see Kobo system with superfluous revamping to justify an inflated worth. Fortunately, that’s not the case. The Kobo Clara Colour not solely provides shade and a quicker processor, it’s simply $10 greater than the earlier technology.

Because the title suggests, this ereader provides shade to the web page, lending just a little vibrance to e book covers, tables and graphs, and even the panels of graphic novels. The expertise comes from E Ink, within the type of the Kaleido 3 module that includes a shade filter layer on prime of the usual black and white microcapsule layer. That ends in two completely different resolutions on one display: 150 dpi for shade and 300 dpi for textual content.

Full-color pages remind me of comedian e book artwork from the ‘60s, muted however saturated. Shade makes e book covers extra engaging and provides just a little selection to headings, and tables in some non-fiction books. It’s actually not a needed characteristic, nevertheless it provides vibrance and it’s enjoyable. 

There’s a slight distinction in readability between the colour and non-color model of the Clara. In case you look carefully, you may see a little bit of noise on the white components of the web page. That is because of the added shade filter layer. It is not distracting and solely one thing I seen when evaluating the 2 generations side-by-side. but when absolute readability is your main objective, you might be higher off with a non-color ereader.

In all probability the extra helpful improve right here is the twin 2GHz processor, a bump from the Clara 2E’s 1GHz CPU. There’s a noticeable enchancment within the velocity of the web page turns and navigating from the menu to the web page and again once more is almost instantaneous. As with the 2E, the Color hardly ever errors a swipe for a faucet or a web page flip gesture for a menu request.

The adjustable heat entrance gentle remains to be right here (it’s really just a little hotter on the Color) and makes studying at night time straightforward on the eyes. The working system is similar, with intuitive entry to the Kobo retailer, your private books and titles out of your native library through Overdrive. You possibly can customise your studying expertise with choices for font, font measurement, line spacing, margins and so forth. Kobos don’t have a method to save a gaggle of show settings just like the Kindle does, so I’d like to see that added with future OS upgrades. However for now, the customizations are simply sufficient to get your e book the way you need it to look.

The Color is almost similar in form and measurement, and has the identical premium really feel because the 2E, although the plastic has a grainier end. The bezels are noticeably much less flush with the display now, although that didn’t alter my studying enjoyment.

Now that it prices $150, the Kobo Clara Color is $40 greater than the bottom mannequin Kindle. However the waterproof construct, heat entrance gentle, responsive controls and lack of advertisements (which value $20 to eliminate on Amazon’s system) make it price it. And, in nice information for the right to repair crowd, it’s even designed to be user-repaired as soon as it falls outdoors of guarantee by way of a partnership with iFixit. 

Rakuten nonetheless makes the Kobo Clara BW, which is almost similar to our earlier “greatest total” choose. It would not endure from the slight readability loss that the colour overlay presents, nevertheless it additionally nonetheless has the older processor.   

In fact, when you already personal a mountain of Kindle books, you might need to keep on with Amazon’s system. In that case, one of the best Kindle is Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite. It prices $160 and was just lately up to date with a extra highly effective processor and new E Ink tech that makes it exceptionally speedy whereas displaying high-contrast textual content. The nice and cozy gentle is nice and the flush entrance display feels premium.

Yet another consideration, now that Amazon now has its personal shade mannequin too, is the . The unique prices $280, which is considerably costlier than the Clara Color and even the . In July, Amazon launched a shade mannequin for $230. It has much less storage, no wi-fi charging and no auto-adjusting front-lights, however prices $30 lower than the unique.

Display measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white E Ink | Decision: 300dpi | Capability: 16GB | Battery life: 6 weeks | Waterproof score: None | Heat gentle: No | Lock display advertisements: Sure | Textual content codecs: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP by way of conversion

In case you simply need to learn books, and haven’t any want for the perks that the fancier ereaders deliver (shade, waterproof score, heat gentle, and so forth), then the bottom mannequin Kindle is for you. The six-inch, non-flush show is housed in a textured plastic that feels much less premium than, say, the Paperwhite and even the 2 Kobos on our listing, however nonetheless feels lots sturdy. And it’s sufficiently small to slot in a coat or again pocket making it very travel-friendly.

It’s unlucky that the 2024 mannequin is $10 greater than the 2022 mannequin when not a lot has modified, nevertheless it’s nonetheless the most cost effective ereader from any of the main producers. And if we all know one factor about Amazon, it’s that the corporate loves a great sale, so that you’ll possible discover it on low cost when you can maintain out for Prime Day or Black Friday offers.

The reader is a no-frills gateway to one of the best of what the Kindle ecosystem has to supply, together with Kindle Exclusive titles, with books by established authors in addition to newer, self-published writers; Kindle Unlimited provides the widest number of any subscription-based studying service on the market; and Audible Originals is made up of narrated titles and podcasts you may solely hear by way of a Kindle system or Amazon-owned app.

In case you like to change between audiobooks and ebooks, Kindle is the way in which to go. Whenever you purchase each iterations of a title, you not solely get a reduction, however the Whispersync characteristic traces up the place you might be within the e-printed model with the narration, too. Say you pay attention for an hour after which need to learn – the synchronization enables you to choose up on-screen the place you left off audibly. (Although we must always level out which you can’t pay attention and skim concurrently on the identical system.) In assessments, the characteristic was pretty correct, getting me shut sufficient on the web page or within the audio to determine my spot.

Web page turns are faster on the brand new mannequin however I’m disillusioned that there’s nonetheless no method to alter the zones and responses to touchscreen gestures, like there’s on each Kobo and Boox gadgets. Kindles all have a really slim strip on the left for going again a web page and I’m continuously lacking it and going ahead as a substitute. Although swipes usually work effectively.

In all probability probably the most noticeable lacking characteristic is the 6-inch display’s lack of heat gentle. In comparison with any ereader with that choice, the display on the usual Kindle seems harsh and bluish, nevertheless it’s nonetheless far simpler in your eyes than a cellphone or pill display. There’s loads of customization for the font, measurement and margins, too. You possibly can even save your settings as a “theme,” one thing not provided by different gadgets. I created one with bigger textual content and wider line spacing known as “drained eyes.”

Some folks received’t be bothered by the lock display advertisements that come commonplace on this Kindle (until you pay $20 to take away them). They’re pretty innocuous, principally selling Kindle e book offers or particular titles (it’s not such as you’ll see promos for TVs or robotic pool cleaners). Personally, I like having the ability to set the sleep display to the e book cowl of what I’m at the moment studying, nevertheless it’s straightforward to recover from that if all you need is a extra handy method to devour books on the lowest worth.

Display measurement: 7” | Show sort: Black/white and shade E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi shade | Capability: 32GB | Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof score: IPX8 (submergible to six toes for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display advertisements: No | Textual content codecs: EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR

When Kobo got here out with the brand new Clara Color, it additionally debuted the new Libra Colour, which is likely to be the extra thrilling of the 2 gadgets. Along with shade expertise from the E Ink Kaleido panel and an upgraded processor, the Libra now has stylus help. It’s the one ereader on this listing with that characteristic, making it lots like a small E Ink tablet — however all of its new options really make it a greater ereader.

After I wrote concerning the earlier technology ereader, the Libra 2, I used to be impressed by how snug it was for studying. None of that has modified; the buttons and auto-rotating display adapt the system to only about any studying place you selected and the skinny design, textured again and soft-touch plastic give it a premium really feel. 

Kobo’s interface is almost the identical right here as with different fashions, properly organized to allow you to simply discover your present reads or browse and search new titles from Kobo’s retailer or your native library within the Overdrive tab. The customizations for gentle and textual content allow you to get the web page trying simply the way you prefer it, however there aren’t so many choices that it feels such as you’re writing code.

The brand new options add to the expertise. In shade, e book covers all look extra engaging — although, in case your TBR listing is already three toes lengthy, this received’t not assist issues. The brand new processor makes waking from sleep, turning pages, navigating the menu and altering orientation zippy quick.

Then there’s the standing compatibility. Attempt as they may, some new applied sciences don’t yet beat their real-world counterparts. That’s principally how I really feel about styluses — I’m only a massive fan of pen on paper. However Kobo’s stylus makes it so enjoyable to spotlight textual content and scribble notes within the margins of a e book that I’m beginning to come round. Plus, it neatly and magnetically attaches to the facet so it doesn’t get misplaced.

Urgent and holding the button on the facet of the stylus highlights textual content whereas flipping it round erases. I by chance pressed the button just a few occasions after I was making an attempt to write down, however I bought used to the position after a couple of minutes of utilizing it. You possibly can choose from 4 completely different highlighter colours and examine your written notes and spotlighted textual content within the notes part of any title — which I might see being fairly helpful for e book membership reads, college assignments or simply refreshing your self on a previous learn earlier than you dive into the sequel.

Observe-taking within the margins or instantly on the textual content labored on each e book I attempted. Although I ought to level out that when you change the font measurement in a e book, your handwritten notes might be transformed to a sticky note-type field. Going again to the unique font restores your unique annotations.

The Kobo Libra Color is $30 costlier than the Libra 2, however you get lots for $220. If it have been simply an ereader, the beautiful colours, responsive studying expertise, quick web page turns and simple highlights would make it well worth the worth. However you additionally get options that make it extra than simply an ereader, like Dropbox and Google Drive integration, a beta internet browser and free-writing and text-converting notebooks.

In fact, the stylus prices further and also you received’t get options like notebooks and writing within the margins with out it. Collectively, the set prices $290, which is a substantial $110 cheaper than the just lately updated (and hottest) stylus-enabled ereader the Amazon Kindle Scribe. It is also cheaper than Kobo’s personal 10-inch mannequin, the Elipsa 2E. The Scribe has a, 10.2-inch display and the Elipsa 2E has a ten.3-inch display. That is a pleasant measurement for writing however, for me, is just a little massive for an ereader. The Libra Color however has simply the correct options on the proper measurement, plus some extras that stretch its usefulness. Amazon used to have an ereader with buttons within the Kindle Oasis, however that mannequin has been discontinued. 

Display measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white E Ink | Decision: 300dpi | Capability: 32GB | Battery life: 12 weeks | Waterproof score: IPX8 | Heat gentle: Sure, auto adjustable | Lock display advertisements: No| Textual content codecs: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP by way of conversion

Learn our full Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review

After I reviewed the brand new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, I used to be struck by the elevated studying expertise it offered. It’s remarkably quick, the textual content is splendidly crisp and it has a premium design that feels nice to carry. Amazon was capable of enhance web page flip and scrolling speeds for each the usual Paperwhite and the Signature Version by giving them new processors and utilizing an oxide thin-film transistor layer to allow quicker modifications on the web page. The layer additionally permits for higher show readability than different transistor layers.

Each the usual and Signature fashions have heat entrance lights that forged a stunning glow throughout a display that’s just a little bigger now at 7-inches (up from 6.8 final time). The battery life is longer, promising as much as 12 weeks (as a substitute of 10), which means you’ll hardly ever have to cost your ereader. Regardless of that, the Paperwhite fashions are literally three millimeters thinner than the earlier technology (and only a contact heavier).

With the Signature Version, you additionally get auto-adjusting entrance lights that dim or brighten as daylight fades otherwise you transfer from room to room. The storage capability goes up from 16GB to 32GB, so even when you obtain an entire bunch of audiobooks, you aren’t prone to run out of area too shortly. And eventually, you get a wi-fi charging choice for the periodic events when it’s time for a refill. All of these options are good to have, although not needed — however for anybody who needs to learn ebooks in probably the most luxe method doable, the Signature mannequin is the one to go for.

If you’d like an expertise that’s almost as deluxe, however don’t want the wi-fi charging, auto-adjusting lights and further capability specs, the non-Signature Paperwhite remains to be noticeably extra premium than the usual Kindle, with a bigger display, ultra-crisp textual content and an expensive construct. Plus you continue to get entry to all of the perks that solely Kindles supply, like Goodreads integration, Kindle Unique titles, Kindle Limitless subscription books and Whispersync tech that traces up your audio and e-book reads so you may swap between the 2 codecs. 

There’s additionally the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids, which is similar gadget, however comes with a canopy, an extended guarantee and a six-month subscription to Amazon Children+. 

Display measurement: 7” | Show sort: Black/white and shade E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi shade | Capability: 64GB | Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof score: splash-resistant | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display advertisements: No | Textual content codecs: PDF, CAJ, DJVU, CBR, CBZ, EPUB, EPUB3, AZW3, MOBI, TXT, DOC, DOCX, FB2, CHM, RTF, HTML, ZIP, PRC, PPT, PPTX, PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF

Shade E Ink screens are the “new” factor in ereaders — despite the fact that the tech has been commercially obtainable since around 2010. E Ink introduced its Kaleido 3 show in 2022, and with the correct mixture of shade saturation and readability, it’s now interesting sufficient for common consumption. Now Boox, Kobo and, at last, Amazon all have fashions with shade screens.

The Boox Go Color 7 (obtainable from Amazon and Boox) is a pure option to supplant our earlier winner on this class, the Boox Web page. The Go Shade 7 not solely provides shade, it additionally comes with double the storage capability, an additional gig of RAM and ships with Android 12. The again is now textured as a substitute of slick, an improve my accident-prone fingers are grateful for, and the processor is quicker too, going from a 2.0Ghz octa core CPU to a 2.4Ghz chip. This all comes on the similar $250 listing worth because the Web page. The battery has the identical 2,300mAh capability, however ereader batteries final the order of some weeks, so an improve in that division wasn’t actually needed.

For the reason that Go Shade 7 runs on a fork of Android 12, it acts extra like a pill than a traditional ereader. Like all Boox gadgets, this method is greatest fitted to the tech-savvy. Not like a Kindle or Kobo, which come preconfigured with a retailer to purchase books, in addition to straightforward borrowing out of your native library system, Boox ereaders supply little hand-holding in setup and utilization. Whereas there’s a retailer, it’s made up of public area titles — most individuals will learn books by importing ePubs manually. Or, extra possible, you’ll learn on a third-party ereader app like Kobo, Kindle, Libby and others, which you’ll obtain from the built-in Google Play retailer.

Boox’s built-in ereader app, NeoReader, is properly featured with a great quantity of management over the look of the textual content. But it surely solely handles DRM-free ePub information from websites like Undertaking Gutenberg or publishers like Tor. If you wish to learn ePubs with digital rights administration, which make up the overwhelming majority of present ebooks, you’ll want to make use of a distinct app. Paradoxically, I’ve been utilizing the ereader app from PocketBook (a rival firm) to learn the DRM ePubs I buy from third events.

The Go Collection readers are impressively customizable, with programmable buttons and fine-tunable settings. Boox users have created APK information to tweak and enhance the expertise additional. The system even has a microphone and audio system, and may run apps like Spotify. Briefly, the Go Shade 7 can do excess of a typical ereader can, when you’re prepared to experiment.

The expertise is enhanced with a tender, adjustable entrance gentle with temperature management that makes for nice low-light studying and the flush, glare-free, display is lush and detailed. Like all shade ereaders, you do quit a modicum of readability to accommodate the colour array, and the heat is noticeably extra yellow. I solely seen the distinction after I set comparable ereaders side-by-side and, actually, it’s the distinction between a tremendous duper crisp display and solely an excellent crisp display.

The tender and muted colours have a saturated appear like watercolors or outdated comedian e book illustrations. Evaluating the identical e book cowl on the Kobo Clara Color and this, the Boox hues do look a contact grainier and fewer wealthy. However that’s a small sacrifice when you want an ereader that may do excess of simply carry your books round.

Display measurement: 6.13” | Decision: 300 dpi | Capability: 128GB | Water-resistant: Sure, splashes and spills | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display advertisements: No | Textual content codecs: PDF, CAJ, DJVU, CBR, CBZ, EPUB, EPUB3, AZW3, MOBI, TXT, DOC, DOCX, FB2, CHM, RTF, HTML, ZIP, PRC, PPT, PPTX

Boox has the widest vary of codecs of any ereader firm I’ve examined — and the Boox Palma is probably the most enjoyable. It’s the identical measurement and form as a smartphone and, in a whole lot of methods, it acts like one, too. The house display is a muted black-and-white model of what you may discover on an ordinary Android cellphone — you may even add widgets. Like most Boox gadgets, it may well obtain and run apps from the Google Play Retailer and has audio system to play music and movies. The E Ink display (a Carta 1200) renders textual content crisply, however photos, significantly shifting ones, look grainier and rougher than they’d on an actual cellphone’s LCD or OLED display. That stated, the video high quality is one of the best I’ve seen on an E Ink display, because of a software program enchancment Boox calls Tremendous Refresh Expertise.

The newest technology of the Palma provides an upgraded processor, a fingerprint unlock button and ships with Android 13, all of which ought to make it much more succesful. However make no mistake, it’s not going to exchange your cellphone. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are the one connectivity and the 16MP digital camera is only for making doc scans you may convert to PDFs. However the phone-like construct is comfortingly acquainted and the E Ink display is gorgeous to learn. At $280, it’s costlier than an ordinary ereader — and even some E Ink tablets — nevertheless it’s a extremely moveable method to learn Kindle, Kobo, Google Books and different ePubs, whereas additionally dealing with easy video games and apps like a smartphone. In case you’re sick of the glow of your handset, the Boox Palma is a captivating different.