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The best Kindles you can buy: Expert tested

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What to Consider

Tablets serve different purposes for different users, so the purpose of your soon-to-be tablet is worth considering when choosing the right one. Kids may use one to play and stream, while adults may use one for reading or graphic design. If you’re looking for an entertainment tablet, it’s worth considering one with a high-resolution display and good speakers. If you need one for productivity or work, you’re better off with a strong processor and the ability to use it with a keyboard or stylus.

Performance

A tablet is only as good as it performs, so if a fast processor and good responsiveness are essential to you, look for tablets with a powerful processor. Storage is equally important; larger RAM translates into better multitasking capabilities. Also consider internal storage and if there are options for expandable storage.

Operating system and compatibility

iPhone users may prefer an iPad with seamless integration with more Apple products, like AirPods being able to switch between the iPhone and iPad without intervention. The same can be true for Samsung fans. Android tablets feature various brands and models, have more customization power, and are available in wider price ranges. Windows tablets are good for productivity, especially if you need compatibility across desktop apps.

The price range will narrow down the list of tablets considerably. These devices are already expensive to start, but budget and premium options are available. It’s worth considering if high-end features justify the cost for your needs.

Battery life

Look for long battery life, especially if you plan to use your tablet on the go. You’ll need it to last for the duration of your task.

Extra features

Some extra features may be exclusive to only some tablets, so consider whether these are important. These features include camera quality, headphone jack, USB-C charging port, weight, compatibility with accessories, and size.

Book lovers know the feeling of curating a book collection but running out of space for it. Thanks to e-readers and, more famously, Kindles, reading has become more convenient for leisure readers, giving them a digital library to hold all of their favorite reads. Kindles offer a way to access all of your content in one small tablet, each with different options and features like no backlights to mimic pages on a book or note-taking capabilities. 

Also:  The best iPad models you can buy

While most Kindle tablets have a fixed amount of internal storage, many support Amazon Cloud backup or microSD cards for expanded onboard storage. Plus, many Kindle readers are waterproof up to 2 meters, so you can take your e-reader to the beach or pool and not have to worry about splashes ruining your e-reader. With anti-glare screens and auto-adjusting backlights, it's easier than ever to read your favorite books indoors under mood lighting or outdoors in direct sunlight. 

What is the best Kindle right now? 

We tested the best Kindle readers available to buy right now, with the best Kindle reader overall being Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite for its excellent battery life, easy readability, and mainstream appeal. We broke down their features and price points to help you decide which is the best fit for your reading needs and budget. Keep reading below to find the perfect Kindle for you.

The best Kindle readers of 2024

• Post-consumer materials
• Excellent battery life
• Waterproof up to 2 meters
• Easy to use
• Audible requires a separate app
• No headphone jack
• No microSD card support

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

Best kindle reader overall.

Spend any time on Reddit threads, and you will quickly realize that there is one Kindle that reigns supreme among the rest: the Kindle Paperwhite. 

I use my Kindle Paperwhite to read on the subway because of how pocketable and light it is to carry in my bag and because I can download tons of library books onto it and read them at my leisure. The battery life blows me away. I've only had to charge it two or three times since using it for around three to four months. Compared to the Kindle Oasis, the refresh rate on the Paperwhite is as smooth as butter, and reading is as enjoyable as can be with adjustable lighting, page sizing, and more. 

Review:  Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

The Kindle Paperwhite is a simple, no-fuss e-reader that allows you to download and store thousands of comics, novels, and audiobooks to enjoy at home or on the go. The 6.8-inch display provides 300 points per inch for crystal-clear text, and the glare-free coating makes reading more manageable by a direct lamp or in sunlight. The integrated battery can last up to ten weeks on a full charge, letting you read for almost two months before needing to plug in. It uses a USB-C cable when you need to recharge, so you don't have to worry about keeping a special charging cable handy.

Furthermore, the Kindle Paperwhite is waterproof up to 2 meters for 1 hour in freshwater or .25 meters for three minutes in saltwater. This means you won't have to worry about spills and splashes while reading at the beach, pool, or dinner table. Additionally, the Kindle Unlimited app lets you browse hundreds of thousands of titles, including Kindle exclusives. 

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite specs: S creen size:  6.8 inches |  Storage:  8GB, 16GB, Amazon Cloud |  Battery life:  Up to six weeks at 30 minutes per day |  Lock screen ads:  Yes, removable with fee |  microSD card support:  No

• You're able to sign documents, take notes, and draw
• Robust 10.2-inch screen
• Battery life for literal days
• It's expensive
• Limited note-taking capabilities

Kindle Scribe

Best kindle for note-taking.

The Kindle Scribe combines a digital library with a digital notebook. You can use the basic pen to create notes either through an app or on the book you're reading, making it convenient if you're studying for a test and want to organize what you're reading and your notes in one place. Additionally, you can upgrade to the Kindle Scribe Premium Pen to easily erase notes.

The display is remarkable, with a high-resolution 10.2-inch screen. You'll also have access to ample storage options, and the battery life will let you read the next bestseller without worrying about finding the nearest plug for charging. 

Review:  Amazon Kindle Scribe

When Matthew Miller reviewed the Scribe last year, he called it his on-the-go note-taking tablet of choice. "My desire to find something that doesn't waste paper and also provides the ability to preserve and share my notes has been met with the Amazon Kindle Scribe," Miller said. He adds that the writing and erasing capabilities are top-tier, too, especially with the add-on Premium Pen. 

One Scribe owner on Reddit said that the wider screen is "a joy to read on," while other Redditors reported that the writing software is "half-baked" with minimal note-taking capabilities. So, if you're looking for a Kindle with a great screen and some beginner note-taking options, this one is for you. 

There is certainly room for improvement. Currently, you can export notes to a PDF and email them. However, sending notes to other programs like Microsoft Word would be ideal, as it will be part of a future software update. Additionally, we found that organizing your notes on the Kindle Scribe is impossible. Overall, it's an excellent foray into the digital note-taking market, and with future software updates, it should become one of the more popular models in the Kindle lineup.

Kindle Scribe specs:  Screen size:  10.2 inches |  Storage:  16, 32, or 64GB |  Battery life:  Up to 6 weeks at 30 minutes per day |  Lock screen ads:  Yes, removable with fee |  microSD card support:  No

• Wireless charging capable
• Water resistant
• Cloud storage backup
• Accessibility options
• A bit on the heavy side
• Some owners on Reddit say that the extra storage is unnecessary

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

Best kindle reader for travel.

The best part of having an e-reader is taking dozens, if not hundreds, of books with you while you travel for work, errands, family gatherings, or vacations. Ayman from @aymansbooks on TikTok is one of BookTok's most successful accounts, with over 900,000 followers. She creates content and memes about novels and recommends the books she reads on the platform. 

Ayman told ZDNET that the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is her Kindle of choice. Whether she's at the DMV, sitting at a cafe, or waiting in a line, she always takes along her Paperwhite Signature Edition and pulls it out when she has a spare second to read. "I love how I can easily highlight and make annotations as I'm reading; it feels just as though I'm reading a physical book," Ayman said. 

Review:  Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is built with travel in mind. It supports USB-C and Qi wireless charging, so you don't have to keep a special charging cable for a single device. The internal battery can also last up to 10 weeks on a full charge, allowing you to enjoy your beach reading even if you forget your charging cable.

The screen features an anti-glare coating for better visibility in direct lamplight or sunlight and an auto-adjusting backlight to suit dim rooms. With 32GB of internal storage, you can store tens of thousands of titles on the tablet. However, some Reddit owners say extra storage is unnecessary, given how many books the Kindle Paperwhite already holds. The water-resistant tablet is excellent for reading by the pool, on the beach, or anywhere accidental spills may happen. Additionally, it has a screen reader function for blind and visually impaired users and supports Bluetooth headsets for audiobooks.

When former ZDNET contributor Jason Cipriani reviewed the Signature Edition, he said: "If you opt to spend a little bit more for the signature edition, you're gaining some notable features in wireless charging and a light sensor, improving even more on an already reliable experience." 

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition specs:  Screen size:  6.8 inches |  Storage:  32GB, Amazon Cloud |  Battery life:  Up to 10 weeks at 30 minutes per day |  Lock screen ads:  Yes, removable with fee |  microSD card support:  No

• Up to 1TB microSD card support
• Good battery life
• Alexa built-in
• On the heavy side

Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus

Best non-kindle e-reader.

Since an e-reader like the Kindle is usually a single-purpose device, spending a ton of money on one may not always make sense. Fortunately, the Amazon Fire 8 Plus is an exceptionally affordable Kindle-capable tablet. For just $120, you can get an 8-inch tablet with 32GB of internal storage, which you can expand with up to a 1TB microSD card. The internal battery lasts up to 13 hours, allowing you to listen to audiobooks or read all day before needing to plug in. Moreover, since the Fire 8 Plus is closer to a typical tablet, you can download apps like YouTube to turn it into an entertainment hub for kids and adults.

Also:  Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus

With Alexa built-in, you can use voice commands to launch apps, play music, and even make video calls to friends and family. This is an excellent way to keep in touch with your book club or reading circle in a post-COVID world. Alternatively, you can switch Alexa off to prevent misuse of your Fire 8 Plus camera and microphones to gather information about you and your family. Most Reddit users prefer the Fire 8 Plus over the Fire 8, given its negligible price difference. 

This tablet is for casual browsing, streaming, mobile entertainment, or even for your little one. "At $120, the latest model is not the cheapest of the Fire tablet bunch, but it's certainly a compelling option for its sharp visuals, enduring build quality, and exceptional battery life," Kerry Wan writes in his review of the tablet. 

Amazon Fire HD 8  Plus specs: S creen size:  8 inches |  Storage:  32GB or 64GB |  Battery life:  12 hours |  Lock screen ads:  Yes, removable with fee |  microSD card support:  Up to 1TB

What is the best Kindle?

The best Kindle e-reader is the Kindle Paperwhite. You can choose between 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB of internal storage to download thousands of comics, novels, and audiobooks. Additionally, you can opt for cloud storage syncing for near-infinite storage space for your digital library. The screen features an anti-glare coating for better visibility in sunlight and flush bezels for better handling. Plus, the integrated battery can last up to six weeks on a full charge, allowing you to read as much as you want worry-free.

*Lowest price at the time of writing. Please note that prices may vary based on retailer and available promotions, sales, or discounts.

Which is the right Kindle for you?

When shopping for a new Kindle reader, aside from price, you should also consider how much storage space you'll want or need for your digital bookshelf. The Kindle Paperwhite has 8GB of storage, which is enough for hundreds of books, audiobooks, PDF files, and graphic novels. On the other hand, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has 32GB of storage, which allows your digital bookshelf to store almost 14,000 titles. Furthermore, no matter which model of Kindle reader you use, many support either microSD cards up to 1TB or cloud syncing for near-infinite storage.

Below is a table that outlines which Kindle corresponds to specific needs:

Factors to consider when choosing a Kindle

• Price: The Kindles and Kindle alternatives on this list range from $120 to $340. With more features, like drawing capabilities, strong battery life, and large storage, you will pay a higher price. 
• Storage capacity: The point of a device like a Kindle is to store as many books in one compact device as possible. We looked at Kindles with wide storage capacities that can hold thousands of titles. 
• Extra features: Some Kindles are kid-friendly or offer customizable displays and more. Lots of models offer water resistance and have anti-glare features so you can read in whatever environment you're in -- whether that's on the sandy beach or in a bathtub. 
• Battery life : The e-readers on this list should last you a few days, and ideally a few weeks, before recharging. 

Also: How to buy books on Kindle

How did we choose these Kindle readers?

ZDNET only recommends products we have used and can speak to. We do this by spending a few weeks constantly using the products we write about and evaluating them for performance, battery life, usability, special features, and more. Then we write a product spotlight or review of the product and add it to one of these best lists. Each month we evaluate which products still deserve a spot on this list, and switch out older models with newer models. 

What's the point of a Kindle?

If you have only ever read books through physical copies, not digital e-readers, you might think buying a Kindle is a waste of money. There's the argument that you don't even need the Kindle e-reader when you can download the app on your phone and read digital books and magazines from there. Sure, that's a good point. But many readers see having the Kindle app on a phone more distracting, while a Kindle whose sole purpose is to function as an e-reader is distraction-free. 

Then there's the fact that carrying paperbacks while you travel, commute to work, or lug around in that small bag of yours can get heavy, and sometimes we don't have the space for every book we'd like to read. A Kindle is slim, lightweight, and easy to plop into a purse or even put in your coat pocket. 

Holding a physical book is not the same as holding an e-reader, but for certain use cases, like portability and space optimization, a Kindle e-reader reigns supreme. 

Can I bring my Kindle to the beach?

Yes, you certainly can. Many readers enjoy taking a Kindle to the beach instead of a paperback book, thanks to select Kindle models' waterproof build and glare-free display. If your beach bag is too heavy for a thick book, a thin Kindle could be a splendid alternative. Plus, you don't have to choose between two or three books to read -- you can bring them all on your Kindle. 

How many books will 32GB hold?

It all depends on what kinds of books you want to download, as different media files have different sizes. For example, a single comic book issue file can be as small as 650MB, while a graphic novel can be up to 1.5GB. On the other hand, plain-text files like novels, nonfiction titles, and even school textbooks have fairly small sizes, allowing you to have up to 13,500 books in your digital library with 32GB of storage space.

However, longer titles like War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy will have a larger file size than something like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. If you like longer reads, you'll probably store fewer books, though you should still be able to download and store thousands of titles.

You can even download audiobooks from the Kindle app, though the audio files are quite large. This means that a 32GB Kindle will only hold about 150 audiobooks, depending on the length of the recording.

What's the difference between the Kindle Paperwhite and a regular Kindle?

The Kindle Paperwhite boasts a bigger display, warm light adjustment feature, longer battery life, waterproof build, and higher price tag.

Do Kindles offer audiobooks?

All Kindles offer text-to-voice narration through Alexa. But if you want to buy an audiobook specifically, you'll have to use Amazon's Audible. Audible is integrated into all newer Kindle models. 

Does a Kindle need Wi-Fi?

For certain things, like downloading new books and accessing the internet, yes. But if you have already downloaded the book you'd like to read on your Kindle you can read it without a Wi-Fi connection. I take my Kindle on the subway, where there's no Wi-Fi connection, and have no problem reading my favorite titles. 

Do I need a Kindle to read Kindle books?

Nope! Whether you have an iOS or an Android, you can download the Kindle app from the App Store or Google Play store and start reading on it. This allows you to buy and download digital books to your phone or tablet.

Also: The best tablets you can buy: Apple, Samsung, and Amazon compared

Can I get Kindle books for free?

You can get Kindle books for free. Whether you're looking to fill out your library or to finally get around to reading those classics that were assigned back in your high school English class, it's pretty easy to find free Kindle books. Lots of classic literature is in the public domain, which just means that they are no longer protected by copyright laws and can be provided for free. If you're looking for new titles, you don't have to spend a fortune. And many free Kindle books can be found on none other than Amazon itself. All you have to do is go to Amazon and search "free Kindle books." 

Also: How to get (great) free books on Kindle

You also can find thousands of titles for very low prices, sometimes as low as 99 cents. However, these are often self-published works. And while self-publishing is a great way for writers to get their work in the hands of readers without going through literary agents and publishing houses, it also means that sometimes the work isn't entirely up to snuff. So if you're tempted to buy that ultra-low-priced title, make sure you read reviews first so you don't end up buying something you won't like.

Are there alternatives to the Kindle worth considering?

If you don't like the idea of a single-purpose tablet taking up space in your home but still want the ease and portability of a digital library, you're able to download the Kindle app to just about any tablet on the market. Here is a short list of Kindle alternatives that I thought were great:

Meet the experts

ZDNET sourced external industry experts for this article. Here is more information about them:

Ayman Chaudhary : Digital creator ( @aymansbooks ) on TikTok with over 900,000 followers. She creates content and memes about novels and recommends the books she reads on the platform. 

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The Best Kindles to Take Your Library Anywhere

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Best for Most Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021, 11th Generation) Read more

The Smallest and Least Expensive Amazon Kindle (2022, 11th Generation) Read more

For Note-Taking Amazon Kindle Scribe Read more

For Easy Reading Kindle Accessories

We love Kindles here at WIRED. They're simple, reliable, and perfect at what they do—in one palm-sized device, you can bring thousands of books with you to the park or mountain, and they typically get a month of battery life per charge. You can subscribe to get unlimited books from Amazon or get free books from your local library (more on those below). But what's the best Kindle? Our guide will help you decode the differences.

Be sure to check our many other buying guides , including the Best E-Readers , Best Fire Tablets , and Best Alexa Speakers .

Updated July 2024: We've added Amazon's Kindle for kids and updated links and prices throughout.

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Is It a Good Time to Buy a Kindle?

It's been a few years since a new Kindle was released, but it seems unlikely that one is coming in 2024. There's no saying for sure, though, and since Kobo just released a color e-reader, we might see one from Amazon next. Thankfully these devices last a long time and don't need frequent upgrades. If you're in the market for one now, you should be happy with it for a while—I've been using the Paperwhite since it was released in 2021 with no issues. The base Kindle and supersize Kindle Scribe were released in 2022, if you want the latest device. You may be able to get a good discount if you wait for Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday.

Best for Most

We think most people will like the Paperwhites the best. The step-up, waterproof e-reader went from one to three models. We tried the Signature Edition ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ), but all three have bigger, 6.8-inch screens with smaller bezels. The screens are brighter overall at their max and have adjustable warm lighting, but only the Signature can auto-adjust that brightness to your surroundings—we think that should be standard across all models. Its faster page-turn rate means there's no delay while you read.

The Signature has 32 gigabytes of storage and the Standard has 16 gigs (there's no longer an 8-gig Kindle). If you mostly listen to audiobooks, you may want to go for the Signature, since those tend to take up more room. But both storage options equals thousands of books and you can always just clean out your backlog; you can remove a book from your device without deleting it entirely from your Amazon account. The 2021 Paperwhites all have USB-C charging, and the Signature supports wireless charging.

The Smallest and Least Expensive

The difference between Kindle models is not as stark anymore, so you'll probably be happy with whatever price point you prefer. This base Kindle was finally updated in 2022 and is the cheapest one at $100. It's the smallest of the lot at 6.2 inches tall and 4.3 inches wide, with a 6-inch screen (the same screen size as the Kindle Kids). If you find tablets too cumbersome to hold with one hand, consider this one.

The price increased by $10 from the last version, but it doubled the storage from 8 gigabytes to 16, and the screen is a 300-pixel-per-inch (PPI) resolution versus the old one's 197 PPI. It gets the same USB-C port for charging as the Paperwhite models, and it charges quickly. However, it's not waterproof, and it doesn't get warm lighting or auto-adjusting light.

For Note-Taking

Thanks to the included pen, you can now write on your Kindle ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends )! There's no lag, and the outcome looks very similar to your handwriting. It's already pricey at $340, but you can spend an additional $30 for the premium pen that includes an eraser on the opposite end. You can't write directly on most books like you can with certain Kobos , which is frustrating—you have to instead use sticky notes. There are now some options available with that functionality, but it's mostly crosswords and guided journals.

The enormous 10.2-inch screen is ideal for taking notes, marking up PDFs, or drawing , and there are numerous paper formats you can choose, like college-ruled or dotted. The screen size does make reading easy too, especially if you need to increase the font size, but it takes away some of its portability if you prefer to keep an e-reader in your pocket or small purse. There are 16-, 32-, and 64-gigabyte options. Since it was released, Amazon has updated it with additional brush types, a convert-to-text in the export tool, and better page navigation and subfolders. Weirdly, it's not waterproof like the other pricier Kindles.

For Easy Reading

If you've ever had a long reading session give you hand cramps, these two accessories might help.

• Strapsicle E-Reader Hand Straps for $21 : Attach one or both of these to the back of your Kindle—one is angled for your right hand and the other for your left—and slide your hand in. Your hands won't cramp, you won't accidentally hit the screen and flip pages, and the reader won't slip out of your hands. There are three sizes meant to hold different types of e-readers. You should see exactly which models they work with on the Amazon pages, as well as on this page on the Strapsicle website . If you use a case, these might not work, but the brand sells its own thin clear option for $14.
• Lamicall Gooseneck Tablet Holder for $28 : WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell tested this and said that while it’s not completely hands-free, it’s a super convenient and comfortable experience, particularly if you have any sources of chronic pain in your wrists and hands. She likes the Lamicall Gooseneck Tablet Holder because the clamp is easy to attach to bed frames and side tables, though there’s also a floor stand version for $70 if your furniture has a delicate finish to it. It’s lightweight enough to easily use anywhere, but has enough resistance to the neck that it doesn’t fall forward or out of the position you place it in. It does, however, wobble a bit when touched to turn the page (or bumped by a curious cat), so she tended to rest a hand on it to keep it steady from both herself and her feline roommate. If you want to go totally hands-free, add a page turner so you can really read without lifting a finger.

Best for Kids

Amazon’s latest Kindle for kids is 2022’s base Kids Kindle, which comes with a cover, a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+, the kid-friendly content library with parental controls, and a two-year warranty, which is a necessity if your kid uses theirr Kindle as much as my 9-year-old daughter does. Some caveats—it’s less than an inch smaller than 2021’s Kindle Paperwhite Kids , it doesn’t have a warm display, and it’s not waterproof, which has been a bit of an issue since my daughter has been using it to read during her brother’s swim lessons.

However, the Kindle Paperwhite Kids is about $50 more expensive, and this one has all my daughter and I require. It can switch between light/dark modes for when she’s reading in bed before going to sleep. The display is the same high-resolution 300-ppi display, and the small size is actually better for her small hands and for travel. You can check on their activity via Amazon’s parent dashboard. Only two factors are annoying, and both have to do with Amazon’s enclosed garden. Sometimes Kids+ includes only the first three or four books in a series, and then you have to white-list the rest. It’s extremely irksome, especially considering how easy it is to buy ebooks from Amazon or borrow them through your local library. However, these are small considerations given that I just checked and my child has read for 15-1/2 hours in the past seven days. If you have an elementary-aged child who can read, this is a pretty necessary summer purchase. —Adrienne So

Do You Need a Cover?

Kindles are, thankfully, not as fragile as our pricey smartphones, but you may still want to add a cover to protect the screen if you're frequently toting it around in a bag. These are meant mostly to add some protection from minor bumps, but they're not padded for serious drops. If you get a Kids Edition, those come with a case already.

• Fabric Covers for Base Kindle for $30 and Paperwhite ($35) : These open like a book and come in some variation of black, blue, pink, or green. They're made from post-consumer recycled fabric.
• Fabric Cover for Scribe for $60 : This one flips up and over like a notepad, and you can position it into a stand too. There's also a slot for the pen if you don't want it to be attached magnetically all the time. It's also made with recycled materials.
• The Quirky Cup Collective E-Reader Sleeve for $27-$29 : I prefer these gorgeous sleeves, particularly the Sun and Moon version . They're beautiful and will protect your device when you aren't using it, so you can throw it in your bag without worry. The outside is velvet and the inside satin, with some padding in between and a zip closure. On the back is a small zip pocket. On each page, you'll see which devices fit, but if you use a bulky case, consult the measurements. There are also separate, and larger, book and iPad sleeves .

Do You Have an Older Kindle Model?

Have an old Kindle lying around—or are looking at a used one for sale—and aren’t sure which one it is? This Amazon page includes photos, specs, and release years for the entire lineup. Once you know which one you have, you may be able to trade it in for credit toward a newer model.

Most old models probably still work, just with fewer bells and whistles. We think it's best to avoid Kindles with keyboards or any other physical buttons other than page-turn buttons.

Some older Kindles lost the ability to browse, purchase, or borrow new books directly from the device. However, you'll still be able to do so on Amazon.com on your computer or phone and have it sent to your Kindle, which is a better experience anyway. According to the company, the models affected are the Kindle 2nd Generation (International), Kindle DX International, Kindle DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4th Generation, and Kindle 5th Generation.

Start Reading

If you buy every single book you want to read at Kindle, it can add up! But there are ways to save some money while reading as much as your heart desires.

You may want to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for $12 a month. You can only choose from the Unlimited catalog, but there are millions of titles there, including audiobooks and magazines. Start out with the 30-day free trial. Since I got into romance thanks to #BookTok, this has been incredibly rewarding and I typically hate paying a membership for anything.

If you already pay for a Prime account, you're eligible for some free ebooks through Prime Reading . There are not as many options as with Kindle Unlimited, and in a lot of cases you'll see both Unlimited and Prime options lumped together, so you'll have to look closely to find the free ones. But it's still something, and there are even some magazines included.

But if you don't want another monthly subscription and don't want to continue giving your money to Amazon, take advantage of ebooks available with your library card . Browsing a digital catalog is not as magical as spending an afternoon looking over every shelf in a library, but such is the ebook life (no one says you can't read both!). We have a detailed how-to on this that you should check out, but here are some of the takeaways:

• Get a library card for your local branch
• Check your branch's website for its ebook offerings. Many use the website OverDrive .
• Download directly to your Kindle library. They'll automatically be removed when they're due back.

If you know someone else with a Kindle, you can lend books between your libraries, just as you would with a physical copy. Follow these instructions from Amazon to do so, and keep in mind not all books can be loaned.

What Else Can a Kindle Do?

Kindles have helpful features that you may want to take advantage of it. Long-press a word or phrase to see its definition , highlight it, or take notes . You can also search the entire book for that particular word or phrase or translate it to or from other languages.

Word Wise shows short definitions in small text within the lines. Unfortunately, it's not available for all books, but when it is, you can turn it on or off and choose more and fewer hints. Clicking the short definition opens a longer one from Word Wise and the New Oxford American Dictionary or Oxford Dictionary of English (you can switch between the two), plus translations, and a Wikipedia page, if applicable.

While reading, tap the top of the screen and click “Aa” to change font size or type —there's even a font called OpenDyslexic that helps make reading easier for people with dyslexia. You can control margin sizes and line spacing from that menu too.

When a Kindle is connected to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones, VoiceView Screen Reader (accessed through Settings > Accessibility ) allows you to use gestures to navigate your device and reads aloud what you've pressed. It will also read a book aloud, though it doesn't sound nearly as nice as an audiobook does.

Amazon owns Goodreads , so it syncs seamlessly to Kindles (press the three-dot menu > Goodreads ). If you have a Goodreads account, you can review the Kindle books you've read or browse your bookshelf and recommendations. Long-pressing a word or phrase, in addition to what is mentioned above, opens up an option to share quotes directly to Goodreads.

There's a web browser too if you're connected to the internet ( three-dot menu > Web Browser ). It's not the best, so I'd reserve it for emergency searches.

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• Electronics

The Kindle Paperwhite E-Reader Converted Me. I May Never Read a Paper Book Again.

By Elissa Sanci

Elissa Sanci is a writer on the discovery team. She has found that clear ice makes carbonated drinks taste better, and citronella candles don’t work.

As a kid, I used to bring books out to the playground to read during recess while my classmates ran circles around me.

As a teenager, I used to go to school exhausted after pulling all-nighters to read, and whenever I was bratty, my mom would get her revenge by hiding my half-finished books, a particularly cruel punishment for a dork with a bad attitude.

And as an adult, I spent hundreds of dollars to ship at least 75 pounds of hardcovers and paperbacks across the country when I moved from New York to Denver.

So please believe me when I say it pains me to admit that I’m a recent Kindle convert—and I love reading on it so much, I worry that I may never pick up another physical book again.

The case for Kindles

I formed my voracious-reading habits in elementary school nearly 20 years ago, before ebooks were an option. By the time Kindles became ubiquitous, I was too enamored with the bookish world I’d created for myself to switch to digital. Holding a book in my hands, flipping through its pages and breathing in its musty scent, creasing the spine and leaving fingerprints on the glossy cover—these details were all, to my mind, almost as enjoyable as the act of reading itself. As a person who packed at least three hardcovers for every weekend trip , I knew that an e-reader would be the more practical choice for me, but even thinking about making the switch made me feel guilty, as if I were betraying a good friend.

But then the pandemic closed library doors, cutting off my endless supply of books. I couldn’t afford to buy every new release that intrigued me, so I reluctantly started borrowing ebooks from my library through the Libby app instead. At first I read books on a tablet I already owned. Then I finally managed to snag a Prime Day deal on the Kindle Paperwhite Kids , our former top pick.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids (11th generation)

A former kindle favorite.

The Kids version of the Kindle Paperwhite, which you can switch out of kids mode, has a great display, adjustable color temperature, even lighting, and waterproofing. It costs $20 more than the standard Paperwhite but comes with a cover, a longer warranty, and no ads, any of which would be worth at least $20 alone.

Buying Options

Despite my lifelong love of physical books, the more I use my Kindle, the happier I am with it. And even though I miss the idea of leafing through the pages of paperbacks and feeling the satisfying heft of a particularly long hardcover in my hands, I don’t actually miss the physical task of reading them. A cozy bookshelf stuffed with titles will always make my heart flutter—but waking my Kindle from its slumber has started to bring me that same surge of joy.

Here are all the reasons why.

The Kindle is lightweight and especially portable

Much like Rory Gilmore , I like to have a book on me at all times in the event of unexpected downtime. Before I owned a Kindle, this often posed a logistical challenge: Books can be heavy and cumbersome, taking up precious space in a backpack or an over-the-shoulder tote. If I was carrying a fanny pack, I’d have to forgo a book entirely since I’d have no place to put it.

An e-reader, on the other hand, can hold an entire library of books in a device smaller and slimmer than the shortest paperback. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids—which, once you’ve turned off the parental controls, is essentially the same e-reader as our current upgrade pick in our guide to e-readers , the Kindle Paperwhite —measures about 7 by 5 inches (smaller and thinner than a standard-size Moleskine notebook) and weighs just over 11 ounces (not much heavier than that same notebook). It’s small enough to fit in my Baggu fanny pack, and it’s light enough that I often forget it’s there. Our top pick is even smaller, with a narrower, 6-inch screen.

The physical act of reading a book is a lot easier on a Kindle, too. Hardcover books, especially lengthy ones, can leave my wrists sore and achy. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids is light enough for me to hold for hours-long reading sessions, and its diminutive size makes it easy to hold in one hand. With a cover that folds out into a stand, it even works well hands-free, which makes snacking while reading so much more enjoyable.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)

Larger screen and waterproof.

The waterproof Kindle Paperwhite is worth the investment over the standard Kindle if you want a bigger screen for reading more text at a time, if you want to adjust the color temperature as well as the lighting, and if you do a lot of reading at the beach, by a pool, or in the tub.

Amazon Kindle (2022)

Our current top-pick e-reader.

Amazon’s most affordable Kindle is also its most portable, with a 6-inch screen that has finally been upgraded with a higher pixel density for sharper text and support for USB-C charging. Those features bring it in line with far more expensive e-readers, but it isn’t waterproof, and it displays ads on the lock screen unless you pay extra.

You have access to tons of titles on the fly

Previously, if I was almost but not quite finished with a book before heading off on a weekend trip, I couldn’t just leave it at home, its ending unknown. Of course, I also needed to bring my next book with me so that I’d have something to do when I inevitably finished the first while waiting to board my flight. Not only did this add weight to my bags, but it also meant that I had to squeeze more into an already overstuffed bag . But with a Kindle, I can bring the second book with me while leaving the heft of an additional hardcover back at home.

All Kindles allow you to use OverDrive to borrow free ebooks from your local library, but if you’re waiting on a long hold list and want something to read in the meantime, you also have immediate access to a huge collection of books for purchase. This is especially helpful when the book you just finished ends on a cliff-hanger and the next in the series is already on shelves. You can buy titles à la carte, but if you find yourself itching for the latest and greatest faster than you can get them from the library, you can save by subscribing to Kindle Unlimited . This service gives you on-demand access to an unlimited number of books for a flat rate every month. And the Kindle Paperwhite Kids comes with a free, one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ , which provides access to kids books, movies, and TV shows.

No light? No problem

The backlit Kindle Paperwhite eliminates the need for separate book lights , so you can read at any time in any environment without hassle. Although the Paperwhite’s backlight is brighter than that of the entry-level Kindle, both types of Kindles provide enough illumination for reading comfortably in the dark. I can easily read in bed at night without disturbing my partner, on an airplane without subjecting my seatmates to overhead dome lights, and as a passenger in a dark car without distracting the driver.

The Kindle Paperwhite also has an adjustable screen color temperature, which allows you to change how much blue light the screen emits; you can toggle this manually or set it on an automatic schedule tied to sunset and sunrise. The standard Kindle doesn’t have this feature, but if you’re not sensitive to warm or cool light, you’ll probably be fine without it.

The Kindle Paperwhite is waterproof

I’ve dropped my fair share of books in the bath, and once they’ve dried out, their crinkled pages never lie flat again. The waterproof Kindle Paperwhite (and the Paperwhite Kids), however, can survive a dunk in water up to 6 feet deep and emerge unscathed. This makes reading in the bath more relaxing, and I especially love that I can float around a pool with my Paperwhite in hand without a single worry. Just keep in mind that the standard Kindle isn’t waterproof, so if you have big plans to read near a body of water, the Paperwhite is worth the upgrade.

The Kindle has useful built-in features

The Kindle is chock-full of helpful features that make reading, and understanding what you’ve read, easier. I particularly like the X-Ray feature, which allows you to learn more about notable people or terms mentioned in your books. I use this feature so often to look up the definition of unfamiliar words that I’ve actually found myself unconsciously pressing down on the pages of a paper book from time to time before realizing what I’m doing.

I’m the kind of bookworm who likes to read with a highlighter in hand. Once I’m done with a book, I’ll transcribe the lines of prose I’ve highlighted into an ongoing Google Doc so that memorable quotes are easier for me to look back on. (The process had a few extra steps when I was reading physical library books I couldn’t mark up—I would take a picture and then draw a crude circle in edit mode around the chunk of text I wanted to remember.) The Kindle makes my archival process so much easier: It collects every bit of writing you highlight into one condensed, easy-to-reference file and saves that information even after you’ve returned a library book.

With very limited access to the internet, Kindles are nearly distraction-free. This is helpful for kids and adults alike—no one is above the temptation of online access. And for readers intimidated or discouraged by long books, e-readers remove the constant visual reminder of how much you still haven’t read. Instead, your progress is tracked on a percentage bar that stays hidden from view unless you call it up, and chapters are broken down into digestible nuggets with estimated reading times.

The Kindle Paperwhite can also stream audiobooks

Whether you have an Audible subscription, buy audiobooks à la carte, or borrow them from the library, you can access the audio from a Kindle Paperwhite or Paperwhite Kids (but not the standard Kindle). However, you have to use Bluetooth headphones or earbuds to listen because the Paperwhite doesn’t have a headphone jack or speaker. If you have both the ebook and audiobook version of a title, you can switch between reading and listening wherever you left off. You can also use the Bluetooth streaming for VoiceView, Amazon’s accessibility program that helps people with low vision navigate the screen.

It offers stellar battery life

Obviously, physical books have a leg up on e-readers in this regard since they don’t require a charge to be functional. But the Kindle has such a long battery life, I sometimes forget that it needs to be plugged in occasionally. It can go weeks between charges, and when it does need juicing up, you can use the same USB-C charging cable that charges laptops, Android phones, and the newest generation of iPhones .

What the Kindle can’t replace

I may love my Kindle (and the accessories that can make reading on it even cozier ), but it will never give me the same satisfaction that turning to the last page of a novel and snapping the book shut for a final time does. Though the Kindle’s progress bar is handy, I personally miss the visual representation of how much I’ve read and how much I have left to go. Finishing a particularly long book felt like more of an accomplishment when I had its full weight in my hands. And when your favorite author leaves you dangling at the end, it’s much more satisfying to fling a book across the room than it is to potentially break your pricey reading gadget. I also miss admiring all the stunning cover artwork on paperbacks and hardcovers—brightly colored covers with vivid illustrations pop in person but feel flat on the Kindle’s black-and-white screen.

There are also some books that I simply need to own in their physical form. My bookshelf is teeming with books from my favorite authors, some with super-creased spines and worn pages from years and years of rereads. There’s something special about being able to walk over to your bookshelf and pick up the very copy of the book that got you into reading in the first place. ( Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , third grade, bought with a crisp $5 bill in the grade-school gym at the annual Scholastic book fair.) That kind of nostalgia can’t be replaced, nor should it—and if a story I’ve read on my Kindle really resonates with me, owning its digital file will never feel like enough. I’ll have to buy a physical copy of the book, flip through the pages and huff that new-book smell, and add it to my shelves with the rest of my favorites to reread for years to come.

This article was edited by Alexander Aciman and Catherine Kast.

Meet your guide

Elissa Sanci

Senior Staff Writer

Elissa Sanci is a senior staff writer for Wirecutter’s discovery team based in Denver. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Marie Claire, and Good Housekeeping. When she’s not testing TikTok-famous products or writing about car garbage cans, you can find her hiking somewhere in the Rockies or lying on the couch with a bowl of chips balanced on her chest. There is no in-between.

Further reading

The Best E-Reader

Amazon’s cheapest Kindle is the best way to read ebooks—whether you buy them from Amazon’s well-stocked store or check them out from the library.

How I Customized My Kindle for the Coziest Reading Sessions of My Life

Picture your Kindle hovering just where you want it. You’re wrapped up in a blanket, and you don’t have to move a muscle to turn a page.

The Best Kindle Cases

If you want a case for your Kindle , we have options that are colorful, tactile, or simply practical.

This Little Reading Light Helped Me Ditch My Phone and Get Back to Real Books

If you want to get back into reading paper books and escape internet distractions, this handy reading light might help.

Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

Best Kindle 2024: Our pick of the best Amazon e-readers tested and reviewed

If you’re in the market for an e-reader, Amazon’s Kindle range is likely your top choice. Our team of reviewers has consistently been impressed with each new generation of Kindle since we first reviewed the original many years ago

However, with Amazon now offering a variety of different Kindle models, choosing the right one for your budget and needs can be a bit more challenging. In the past, you could simply buy the latest Kindle, but now there are multiple variations, each with different features.

All the Kindle models reviewed below have the same basic features. They all use Amazon’s excellent Kindle Book store, run on some well-designed software and all have a screen that has a number of LEDs around the edge to allow for night reading. This wasn’t always the case with Kindles, but you don’t need to worry about buying a new Kindle without a light now. The differences are noticeable though and range from the size of the screen, how resistant each model is to water and extras like stylus support, USB-C charging and wireless charging.

Unlike iPads and other tablets, Kindle readers generally have a very long shelf life and models are often sold for around three years without getting updated. We wouldn’t expect the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite to be updated until 2024 or 2025, although we could finally see a new Kindle Oasis this year.

To help you find the right Kindle for your budget and specific needs, we have created this guide that details the best options that we have reviewed and are still available for purchase. 

Each Kindle included in the list below has been thoroughly reviewed and used by one of Trusted Reviews’ product experts for at least a week, although often a lot more. During that time, we check all the most important aspects of an e-reader, including ease of use, portability, build quality, battery life, and display clarity and brightness, to ensure our advice is as accurate as possible.

But before you scroll down, keep in mind the Kindle app is available on most tablets and offers access to the same library of content. So if you only sporadically read books and don’t need a Kindle’s lengthy battery life it may be worth checking out our best tablet list as well.

Best Kindle: At a glance

• Best for most people – Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) – check price
• Best premium option – Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition – check price
• Best for travellers – Kindle Oasis – check price
• Best for kids – Amazon Kindle Kids Edition (2022) – check price
• Best affordable option – Amazon Kindle (2022) -check price
• Best for writing – Amazon Kindle Scribe – check price

How we test

We use any Kindle we review as our main e-reader for at least a week when reviewing it. During this time we will check its battery life with regular use and how much it discharges on average after an hour with the screen on. On top of this we will check battery recharge times, max brightness levels and how easy it is to read in a variety of different conditions, including outdoor sunlight. We check performance, ease of use and build quality to ensure it is pleasant to use and rugged enough to survive use on the go, or with small children.

• Excellent screen
• Durable design
• Not much support for content that isn’t from Amazon
• Physical buttons for flipping pages would be welcome

• Great screen
• Wireless charging is a handy extra
• Switch to USB-C
• The cheaper model is the better buy for most people

• Big and sharp display
• Page-turning buttons are great
• New “warmth” display setting is nice on the eyes
• With the Paperwhite being so good, the oasis is a hard sell
• Lack of USB-C is annoying
• Minimal updates from the previous model

• Excellent value
• Two-year guarantee including accidental damage
• Easy-to-read front-lit screen
• Only available in blue and pink
• Lots of big books aren’t free

• Compact size sets it apart from the larger Paperwhite and Oasis
• Very sharp display makes reading a pleasure
• The switch to USB-C is welcome
• Access to Amazon Prime’s ebook and audiobook ecosystem
• Slight price increase
• Misses out on a waterproof body
• Feels a bit cheap

• Great to write on
• Pen included
• Sharp display
• The software is lacking
• No handwriting recognition
• Sharing notes is tricky and limited

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)

The best option for most people.

With a durable design, easy to read display and an impressively long battery life, the Kindle Paperwhite (2021) is Amazon’s current flagship e-reader and a fantastic option for most avid readers.

A hefty upgrade from its predecessor, the Paperwhite now features a larger screen, a 20% faster user interface and a much welcome USB-C port. Now 6.8-inches and paired with slimmer bezels, this larger screen offers a more comfortable reading experience and looks better to the eye too. 

What does remain the same as its predecessor is the monochrome E-Ink screen, which isn’t surprising as it’s much kinder on your eyes and feels closer to reading actual paper than a typical LCD or OLED screen. With that said, its lack of colour means the Kindle isn’t ideal for comics or cookery books. 

Constructed from smooth, matte plastic, the Paperwhite is lightweight and easy to hold in one hand, making it comfortable for extended reading sessions. Despite its portability, it still feels durable, and thanks to the IPX8 water-resistant rating it should survive an accidental drop in the bath or pool too. 

Like all of its hardware, you really do need to be part of the Amazon ecosystem to make the most of the Paperwhite. If you don’t plan on ever using the Amazon Kindle Store or Audible’s audiobook service, or you prefer to borrow books from local library apps then you’d be much better off with an e-reader from a brand like Kobo. 

Amazon states that the Paperwhite can last for up to a whopping 10 weeks, with 30-minutes of reading each day but with the wireless features disabled. We found that after a week’s use with over an hour of reading each day, the battery only dropped 25%. 

If you’re happy to utilise the Amazon ecosystem then you really couldn’t do much better than the Kindle Paperwhite (2021).

Reviewer: Max Parker Full review: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

The best premium option.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature is, at its core, a slightly more beefed up Paperwhite. While the extra features are nice, they won’t be for everyone and that’s the reason this isn’t our number one pick.

All the features of the regular Paperwhite are present here, plus the additions of wireless Qi charging , more onboard storage and a light that automatically changes depending on your surroundings.

Wireless charging is a neat addition, and as it uses the same Qi standard as many of the best phones around, you won’t need to invest in another charger if you’ve already got one. Qi charger is a bit slow here but it’s handy for small top ups.

The additional onboard is another feature we like – although it’s far from vital. The regular Paperwhite has 8GB, while this version has 32GB. eBooks are generally very small in size, so 8GB is plenty of space for hundreds of reads, however 32GB is much better is plan on downloading long audiobooks from Audible. There are no speakers here though, so both the Paperwhite and Paperwhite Signature Edition need to be connected to Bluetooth earphones to make use of the audio features.

The automatic brightness is the least interesting addition, as it doesn’t really work that well. We tend to prefer just altering it manually. If those three features appeal, you should choose the Signature Edition.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full review: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review

Amazon Kindle (2022)

The best affordable option.

The cheapest Kindle is, as you can probably guess, is the most basic option in this list. If you want a device purely for reading and aren’t fussed about design flourishes then this a great choice for the price.

Compared to the Paperwhite above and the Oasis below, the Kindle is missing a few features. There’s no waterproofing, meaning this isn’t a great choice for poolside or beach reading nor does it have the warm light you’ll find elsewhere.

What it does have is a light behind the display, a feature that used to be kept for the pricier Kindle models. The amount of LEDs is only 4 (as opposed to 17 on the Paperwhite and 25 on the Oasis) so the light isn’t as bright, but it still works well enough in regular daylight based on our tests.

A big upgrade this time around is the sharper, 300PPI display which actually matches the pricier models for resolution. It looks great, and is a pleasure to read on. There’s a USB-C port for charging too – you won’t even find that on the Oasis.

For many people the Kindle is a great choice. It has access to the same books as the other models and the smaller form-factor might be a benefit to some.

Reviewer: Max Parker Full review: Amazon Kindle (2022) review

Kindle Oasis

The best for travellers.

The Kindle Oasis is a good e-reader, however it is starting to age slightly and could do with a healthy refresh, hence its place this far down on the list. Still, it remains the best looking Kindle model thanks to a metal body and is the only one to have physical buttons for flipping through pages.

It’s also the only model to offer 4G connectivity for downloading books away from Wi-Fi and it has the brightest, most accurate display light. The 4G connectivity is particularly important as, with a sim installed, it makes it the only option there that can download content without relying on a WiFi connection.

However, its use of the older micro USB port along with the high price make it hard to recommend to anyone other than those who really want wider connectivity options and a premium build. For most the high price that make this feel like an e-reader for a very specific users.

Reviewer: Max Parker Full review: Amazon Kindle Oasis review

Kindle Kids (2022)

The best for kids.

• Excellent, sharp display
• Two-year guarantree
• Free access to Kids+
• It’s literally an Amazon Kindle (2022) with a jacket
• Kindle Kids+ not a comprehensive library
• Not waterproof

While all Kindle devices can be locked down with parental controls, the Amazon Kindle Kids Edition is well worth it. Undr

It comes with Amazon’s excellent two-year worry-free guarantee (a staple of all Amazon’s Kids edition products): if the device is broken, accidentally or otherwise, Amazon will simply replace it.

Secondly, it comes with a year’s subscription of Kids+, which gives you thousands of books thrown in for free, ranging from comic books, educational titles and bigger books. That said, there are still plenty of big children’s authors whose books aren’t included, so expect to splash out on some titles to keep your kids amused.

Parental controls are built-in as standard, controllable through the web interface. For each child in your house, you can set up a profile, locking down content to titles that are suitable for their age only. Crucially, the controls also prevent children from buying books through your account. Parental controls work brilliantly and, combined with Kids+, it means you can leave children to explore and find a range of books, without the worry that they’ll download something inappropriate.

Otherwise, this is a standard Kindle 2022 you’ll find higher up in this list. It’s got a 6-inch screen and a light making reading at night or in the car easy. We found the screen to be sharp and detailed and a big improvement over the previous model. There’s a healthy 16GB storage and USB-C for charging, although no waterproofing.

Reviewer: Jon Mundy Full review: Amazon Kindle Kids Edition (2022) review

Amazon Kindle Scribe

The best for writing.

The Amazon Kindle Scribe is very different to the other readers on this list. For one, the 10.2-inch screen makes this the largest option and a good choice for those who find the smaller screens above tough to read.

It’s also the priciest model on this list and hard to recommend to anyone on a budget. But, most importantly, it’s the only Kindle you can write on. The Scribe comes with a pen and a few software tweaks to turn it from a pure e-reader to a smart, modern notebook.

The writing experience is great – the low latency ensures your scribbles are mirrored quickly on screen and the slightly textured display gives a good feeling of paper. There’s even a Premium pen option that includes an eraser and a shortcut button.

The Scribe is let down by its raft of missing features though. Notes can quickly become jumbled up in the messy software, sharing with other devices is tricky and the hardware is missing some basics like an IP rating, physical page turning buttons and a cellular option.

Reviewer: Max Parker Full review: Amazon Kindle Scribe review

We also considered…

A large tablet for kids with excellent parental controls

A good fit for a general-use family tablet

We’ve reviewed

There currently isn’t any version of a Kindle with 5G. Outside of the Oasis, which has LTE connectivity, to download books and magazines you need an active WiFi connection. The content is stored locally, however, so you can read it offline

Kindle’s all use black and white e-ink screens. Amazon doesn’t currently sell a colour screen Kindle.

Numerous companies have and do make e-readers including Kobo, Sony, Huawei and many more. We generally recommend Kindles over rivals due to the wealth of content available on the store.

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Comparison specs.

You can see a detailed breakdown of the all the devices mentioned in this guide’s specs in the table below.

Max is the Editor of Trusted Reviews, and has been a mobile phone and technology specialist for over nine years. Max started his career at T3 straight after graduating from Kingston University. Max ha…

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Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

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• E-Reader Reviews /

The new entry-level Kindle is the one to buy

Amazon’s new kindle shares many of the features that make the kindle paperwhite terrific, including a sharp screen and usb-c support, but for $40 less.

By Sheena Vasani , a writer covering commerce, e-readers, and tech news. She previously wrote about everything from web development to AI at Inside.

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I almost feel tempted to call Amazon’s latest base-model Kindle “the mini Paperwhite” — that’s how much of a major upgrade it represents over its predecessor. After all, it has a screen as sharp as the Paperwhite’s, USB-C charging, a dark mode, and even a fully adjustable front light. At 16GB, the base model even offers more storage than the Kindle Paperwhite, which starts at 8GB. And yet, starting at $99.99 for the ad-supported model and $119.99 for the ad-free version , it’s about $40 less. While it doesn’t boast all the features that make the Kindle Paperwhite so great — like waterproofing or an adjustable color temperature for its front light — it’s an otherwise terrific entry-level e-reader. 

It’s the screen that first caught my eye. Whereas on the previous base-model Kindle, the display was so disappointing our complaints took up half of the review , this time, it is one of its best features. At 300dpi, the new Kindle’s display offers nearly twice the pixel density as its predecessor’s 167ppi resolution. For somebody who dons glasses, that sharper display made reading for longer periods of time easier. It helped, as well, that you can adjust the layout so you can, say, increase space between lines or margins in addition to text size, font, and more. 

You can also quite comfortably read the new Kindle in all kinds of lighting. Amazon claims the Kindle is glare-free, and for the most part, the display is clear enough to read even while directly under the sun. While there was some reduction in contrast and sharpness levels, it doesn’t significantly interfere with the reading experience. Unfortunately, the Kindle lacks the Kindle Paperwhite’s adjustable warm light, which makes pages look a little more like real paper, and is front-lit with only four LEDs as opposed to 17. Nevertheless, that was bright enough for my needs, and while it would have been nice to adjust the screen’s warmth at night, the dark mode was still helpful in reducing the strain on my eye.

A big part of an e-reader’s magic lies in the fact that it’s a small, thin, and lightweight device that allows you to carry an entire library of books in your purse. The new Kindle does a fantastic job of performing that magic and even outshines the Kindle Paperwhite in this respect. At just 6.2 inches tall, it’s easy to slide the Kindle into your purse or pocket, whereas it’s more challenging to do that with the 6.8-inch Kindle Paperwhite. Weighing just 5.6 ounces (159 grams), it’s also light enough to forget it’s there and easy to hold with just one hand, which was something we found hard to do with the Kindle Paperwhite. It’s even lighter than some of the latest smartphones, like the iPhone 14 (6.07 ounces or 172 grams) and Google’s Pixel 7 (6.95 ounces or 197 grams), making it easy to hold for long reading sessions.

Strangely, the Kindle also starts at 16GB of storage, which is double what the base Kindle Paperwhite offers — in fact, you’d have to pay $10 extra for that amount of storage. Given ebooks barely take up much space, that gives you room for a ton of audiobooks and other content as well, so you can truly carry around an entire library of content.

You probably won’t need to worry too much about scratching the screen while carrying it about, either. So far, I have found no scratches on the display, even when I accidentally dropped the Kindle onto the tiled kitchen floor. Unfortunately, though, the bezels framing the screen have not remained free of scratches and fingerprints. It’s not something that directly interferes with the reading experience, but you’ll likely want a case to protect the Kindle. That’s especially true given it’s not waterproof like the Kindle Paperwhite, nor does it offer the $249.99 Kindle Oasis’ physical page turn buttons you can turn to in the event the screen gets damaged.

• Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing

Battery life and USB-C support are other areas where the new Kindle outperforms its predecessor. The new Kindle’s USB-C makes it easy to charge faster than its predecessor, which only offered micro USB support. Amazon claims you should be able to charge it in four hours from your computer with the USB capable or within two hours if you use a 9-watt USB power adapter. I was able to charge the Kindle from my laptop from 55 percent to 100 percent within slightly less than two hours, which is actually slightly better than Amazon’s estimates.

According to Amazon, the Kindle’s battery life is better and should last up to six weeks based on 30 minutes of reading an ebook a day, Wi-Fi off, and the light setting at 13. That’s not as long as the Kindle Paperwhite’s, but it’s still good. I haven’t used the Kindle for six weeks, but I did notice the battery dropped roughly by about 5 percent after every 30-minute reading session with Wi-Fi on the light setting at about 18 (which was the setting I found the easiest to read at night or in low-light areas). When I turned the Wi-Fi off and lowered the light setting to 14, it dropped by about 2 percent. By that calculation, I estimate the battery would last close to three weeks at half brightness with Wi-Fi on and a higher brightness level and around six weeks with Wi-Fi off and a lower light setting. 

Often, navigating an e-reader’s interface is a frustrating endeavor that takes more patience than I have. The Kindle isn’t exactly fast, but I didn’t feel like pulling out my hair while downloading books and turning pages, as the touchscreen was relatively quick to respond. Software updates from last year also mean the new Kindle is easy to quickly set up, which is a definite perk. Typing up credentials on an E-ink display typically takes a while, but Amazon lets you quickly share your login information from your smartphone’s Kindle app so you don’t have to. Combined with the high-resolution display, all of this made for a quick and easy setup and a better reading experience. 

However, there is one downside I must remind you of when you buy a Kindle: only the ad-supported model starts at $99.99. I used the ad-free version, which costs $20 more, so I didn’t have to deal with ads on the lock screen. However, I imagine I would find constantly being bombarded by Amazon ads annoying and wonder if it would make the device more sluggish, so this is something to consider before making a purchase. After all, the Kindle exists in a market where there’s also the ad-free $99.99 Kobo Nia — though it lacks support for both Bluetooth and audiobooks and offers a lower 212dpi resolution.

Even without ads on the lockscreen, though, keep in mind Amazon will still try to sell you ebooks and audiobooks — and not discretely. The interface is fairly intuitive to navigate, and your library is easy to access from the homescreen as it’s right up at the top. Having said that, so are a bunch of other books, magazines, and other content Amazon’s constantly recommending you buy. In fact, most of the screen was cluttered with books I didn’t own, something that was confusing and made scrolling down take a little longer than I’d like. Some of these were Kindle Unlimited books, which both new and existing subscribers get four months free of when purchasing the Kindle — which admittedly is a very nice perk. But others are books you’ll have to buy from Amazon.

Amazon has finally made it easier to read books purchased from outside its store on the Kindle

Thankfully, at least, it’s much easier to read books outside of Amazon’s bookstore if you don’t want to. While purchasing Amazon books is still much faster and more intuitive, accessing ePub and a host of other files is simpler now, thanks to the new Send-to-Kindle email feature. After emailing my ePub files to the supplied Kindle email address, Amazon converted it into an Amazon-specific digital book film format the Kindle could read that quickly popped up on my device. I did have to wait about three minutes before the ebook showed up, but it’s still an incredibly welcome change, given you previously had to endure a long, complicated process involving the Calibre desktop app to read ePub files on the Kindle.

Amazon’s done a great job of improving on all of the base Kindle’s weaknesses while adding extra perks that make it even easier to read books outside of the Amazon ecosystem. As long as you don’t need a waterproof e-reader you can enjoy in the bath or a larger screen, the entry-level model offers good value for your money. For $40 less, you’ll get most of the features that made the Kindle Paperwhite terrific, like a sharp screen, USB-C support, and double the storage. Having said that, I would recommend forking over $20 for the ad-free model. It’ll still be cheaper than the Paperwhite, and given Amazon often offers discounts on its devices, it’s very possible you may be able to get it for a little less.

Photography by Sheena Vasani / The Verge

Agree to Continue: Amazon Kindle (2022)

Like many e-readers, Amazon’s Kindle requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

When you first use your Kindle, you’ll be asked to connect or create an Amazon account. When you set up or connect your Amazon account, Amazon will receive your email and billing address as well as your credit card number so you can buy and download content. You must also agree to the following terms :

• Amazon’s Kindle Store Terms of Use
• Amazon’s Amazon.com Conditions of Use
• Amazon’s Amazon.com Privacy Notice
• Amazon’s Amazon Device Terms of Use
• Amazon’s Amazon Photos Terms of Use
• Amazon’s Audible Conditions of Use
• Amazon’s Kindle Personal Documents Distributor Terms of Use
• Amazon’s Alexa Terms of Use
• Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited Terms of Use (if you purchase Kindle Unlimited)
• Amazon Prime Terms & Conditions
• Amazon Kids+ Terms & Conditions
• Kindle Unlimited Terms of Use

In total, there are 11 mandatory agreements to use the Kindle.

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Best overall

Best premium pick, best on a budget, best for notetakers, how we test kindles, what to look for in a kindle, kindle faqs, we tested every amazon kindle to find the best models for different budgets and needs.

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In terms of design, performance, and convenience, Amazon's Kindle e-readers are nearly unrivaled by other brands. Right now, buyers can choose between four main Kindle models, and I tested them all to find the best Kindle for most readers.

My top pick, the Kindle Paperwhite , presents the ideal balance between performance and price. It has a larger screen than the base Kindle and is one of the cheapest waterproof e-readers you can get. If you're on a tighter budget and want something a bit more affordable, the standard Kindle is also a great buy. It isn't waterproof but delivers the same core features that Kindles are known for without breaking the bank. 

After dozens of hours of reading, page-flipping, and book browsing, here's how the best Kindles compare and why certain ones are better for specific buyers.

Our top picks for the best Kindles

Best overall: Kindle Paperwhite - See at Amazon

Best premium pick: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition - See at Amazon

Best on a budget: Kindle - See at Amazon

Best for notetakers: Kindle Scribe - See at Amazon

Waterproof, full of features, and sleekly designed, the Kindle Paperwhite is the top e-reader for most buyers.

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Waterproof
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Fast performance
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Adjustable light temperature
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No automatic page orientation
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No auto-adjusting light
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No page turn buttons

The Kindle Paperwhite has everything a reader could want from a book replacement, balancing simplicity with an excellent set of features, speedy performance, and a reasonable price. More than just the best Kindle, it's also our pick for the best e-reader you can buy. 

The Paperwhite is designed with all the Kindle essentials, including a beautiful paper-like display with adjustable lighting, font size settings, and a dark mode. It's also got a sharp screen with 300 pixels per inch (PPI) and Bluetooth support for Audible listening. But you can expect as much from any Kindle. 

What sets the Paperwhite apart from the rest of the Kindle lineup is its perfect set of features for the money. Unlike the standard model, the Paperwhite is waterproof and has a modern flush-front design. After unlocking the device, you'll find the snappiest performance of all the Kindles with little to no ghosting (after-images left on the screen). Its lighting temperature is also adjustable, and it has a larger 6.8-inch screen versus the standard Kindle's six-inch display. 

Starting at $150, it's the cheapest waterproof Kindle available. Even better, it's sometimes on sale for as low as $100, which is the regular starting price of our budget pick. Whether discounted or not, the Paperwhite delivers the best Kindle value for most people. 

Note: Though Amazon previously sold an 8GB version of the Kindle Paperwhite for $140, that model is no longer available. As of April 2024, only the 16GB Paperwhite is listed for purchase on Amazon's site.

Check out our Kindle Paperwhite review .

Get everything included with the Kindle Paperwhite, plus more, like wireless charging and an auto-adjusting front light with a battery that lasts up to 10 weeks.

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Wireless charging
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Auto-adjusting front light
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Flush-front, waterproof design
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No automatic page orientation rotation
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Lacks ergonomic design

Designed as a premium version of the Kindle Paperwhite, the Paperwhite Signature Edition offers a few extra features to buyers willing to pay a little more. It's a convenient size with a beautiful display and snappy performance that helps you stay immersed in your books. 

Like the regular Paperwhite, the Signature Edition has a 300 pixels-per-inch (PPI) resolution with a 17-LED backlight. That translates to crisp page fonts that are easy on the eyes, and great brightness performance for reading in dark environments. It's also waterproof and powered by a speedy processor for quick page turns with little to no ghosting (after images on the screen). 

It gets its premium title by being the only Kindle to charge wirelessly and the only model with support for automatic light adjustment aside from the $340 Kindle Scribe. And where the normal Paperwhite has 16GB of storage, the Signature Edition comes with a whopping 32GB for building a massive library of titles and storing tons of audiobooks. 

Our former pick in this category, the Kindle Oasis , offered even more cool features but had an outdated design and was more expensive. However, the Oasis has been phased out of the Kindle lineup and is no longer available to buy. I wish the Paperwhite Signature Edition had the Oasis' page turn buttons and automatic page orientation flipping, but for $60 less, missing these features isn't a dealbreaker. 

Whether you're trying to save money or just steer clear of extra bells and whistles, Amazon's base Kindle won't disappoint.

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. The latest Kindle UI
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Affordable
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Palm-sized
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Not waterproof
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No automatic light or page orientation features
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Slightly slower performance than pricier Kindles

Amazon's base Kindle got an upgrade in 2022, making this model one of the newest of the bunch. That means, despite being the cheapest option, the 11th-generation Kindle now has the benefit of a modern user interface with a 300-PPI resolution. 

This model forgoes many extra features in exchange for a lower price point, but it still comes with a glare-free display, adjustable backlight, and customizable settings. With a six-inch screen, it's the smallest Kindle in the lineup, but it feels great in hand. In my review, I found it ideal for users who just want to read and don't want to pay for all of the bells and whistles of its pricier siblings. 

However, if a waterproof design is important to you, you'll have to get the more expensive Paperwhite. You can't read in the rain or the tub with a regular Kindle, and that's its main drawback. It also lacks extra features you might want to pay more for on another model, like lighting temperature settings, automatic adjustments, and a writeable screen. 

In the end, my advice is this: if the Paperwhite is on sale for the same price, opt for that, but when the regular Kindle costs less money, it's an excellent budget e-reader. 

Check out our Kindle review .

The Scribe is Amazon's first Kindle to support handwritten notes using the included pen. The 10.2-inch screen makes it the largest Kindle yet, but its big and thin build can make it awkward to use as an e-reader.

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Smooth and responsive stylus
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Large, sharp screen for writing
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Incredible battery life
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Well-organized notebooks with intuitive settings and tools
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. High price point that may be better spent on a smarter device
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Awkwardly big to use as an e-reader
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Thin form factor is delicate and requires a case
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Can only annotate directly on a small selection of e-books

Most readers don't need the Kindle Scribe, an e-reader you can write on, but it is a nice device. Starting at $340, it offers an incredible sketching and note-taking experience, as well as all the essential e-reader features you could want. 

The Scribe comes with the usual Kindle glare-free display, adjustable brightness, and customizable settings, with the added bonus of automatic page orientation flips and lighting adjustments. With its paper-like feel and responsive e-ink display, writing on this device is a joy that feels leaps and bounds better than writing on an iPad with an Apple Pencil. It's also well organized with digital notebooks you can format and file away into folders.

For an extra $30, you can upgrade the included stylus to the Premium Pen. After testing, I found the Premium Pen to be a nice improvement over the basic option. It adds a dedicated eraser and a shortcut button to the base design. Both can attach magnetically to the Scribe. 

But despite just how fun it is to use, it's tough to justify the Scribe's high price. As noted in my full review, it's uncomfortably thin, making a case a necessary investment for commuters and students to prevent any potential bending. One of the Scribe's main selling points is its annotation functionality, but most Kindle ebooks don't actually allow you to write directly on their pages. Instead, you need to use a clunky sticky note feature. You also can't use the highlighter directly on text. Did I mention it isn't waterproof?

If you have $340 to spare, the Scribe is a fun device, but if you fall into the category of "most readers," I recommend opting for a cheaper Kindle model.

Check out our Kindle Scribe review .

I used several key evaluation points to test each of Amazon's Kindles, including display quality , responsiveness/speed , price , and lighting customization . Here's how those aspects were considered during testing for our reviews. 

Display : Though all Kindles share the same 300 PPI resolution, every model has a different size that makes a big difference when used. In testing, I found the Kindle (11th Generation) could be too small for some readers and the Scribe too large for others. Luckily, the sharp resolution is easy on the eyes across all of the models, even during long reading sessions. 

Responsiveness/speed : You don't need to be a speed reader to notice when an e-reader is slow. Page turns will take a second to stutter into view, previous screens will leave an after-image, and graphics will load in slowly. I evaluated this by loading each device with 100 titles from my ebook library before testing. The fastest model is the Kindle Paperwhite, and the Oasis is the slowest, but this difference is small. 

Price : Of course, price plays a big part in judging a Kindle's value, and that's part of what brings the Paperwhite above the rest. I compared pricing between Kindle models and comparable e-readers from Kobo and Nook to see what the industry is like overall. None of the Kindles are a waste of money, but the Scribe is definitely the least cost-efficient.

Lighting customization : You won't always be reading in the same room, under the same conditions, every time, and that's where lighting customization comes in. The ability to toggle the brightness based on your current environment is a godsend for eye comfort, especially for long reads. All of the Kindles offer adjustable brightness, but the base Kindle doesn't offer temperature adjustment, and only the Paperwhite Signature Edition and Scribe offer automatic lighting changes.

Every reader is different, but there are a handful of features that all buyers should consider when shopping for a Kindle. 

If you ever plan to read in the bathtub or the rain, waterproofing is a must — that eliminates the 11th-generation Kindle and the Scribe from the running. Readers who like to get in a few chapters before bed can also benefit from lighting temperature adjustment to warm the screen and ease your eyes into bedtime, which is something the base Kindle doesn't offer. And if you're looking for a digital notebook that you can write on, the Scribe is the only Kindle to offer such a feature.

Ultimately, the best Kindle for you is whichever one covers your needs the most without breaking the bank. That's why I recommend the Kindle Paperwhite as our top pick because it manages to offer the best balance between price and features for most people.

Are Kindle books free?

Ebooks typically cost money, just like physical books, but you can score titles for free in several ways.

• Join Kindle Unlimited : This Kindle Subscription service comes with over four million digital titles when you sign up for $12 a month.
• Become an Amazon Prime member : If you're a Prime member, you have unlimited access to thousands of Prime Reading titles as an included benefit of your subscription.
• Check out a book from your Public Library : E-reader users can still take advantage of borrowing books for free from their local public library's website.

What is Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited is Amazon's e-reading subscription service. For $12 a month, it includes access to over four million books, thousands of audiobooks, magazine subscriptions, and Kindle Books you can borrow. 

Can the Kindle read to me?

Your Kindle can read most content to you using Text-to-Speech, an option available in your Kindle's menu. If you prefer a human voice reading to you, you can also buy and download Audible Audiobooks of your favorite titles to have a narrator read to you from your e-reader.

Do I need a case for my Kindle?

While the best Kindles are designed with a solid build, a case is still a good idea for protecting your device from drops or scratches. The Kindle Scribe, in particular, has a very thin design, which makes it feel flimsy without a case. You should also consider buying a case if you bring your Kindle with you outside your home during trips and commutes.

Cases can also help by providing a better grip on these otherwise flat devices. For less bulk, you may even want to consider attaching an adhesive phone grip, like a PopSocket, to your e-reader.

For top recommendations, check out our picks for the best Kindle Paperwhite cases .

When is the best time to buy a Kindle?

Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are the best times of year to buy just about anything, including Kindles. During these major sales events, Kindles drop to their all-time lowest prices, making it easier than ever to buy one. 

Historically, we've seen the Kindle Paperwhite on sale for as low as $95 and the Kindle (11th Generation) on sale for as low as $65. Deals can be short-lived and low in stock, so we recommend acting fast if you come across a great deal.

Is Amazon releasing new Kindle models?

Amazon has not officially announced any plans to release new Kindle models. The newest Kindle is the Kindle Scribe, which launched in 2022. However, Amazon recently discontinued the Kindle Oasis, which could point to a new high-end Kindle replacement on the horizon.

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here . Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected] .

• Main content

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review

Once again the best ereading experience for most people.

TechRadar Verdict

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite remains the must-have ereader for those who don’t want to spend a lot of money on a gadget but also don’t want the most basic option out there. The introduction of USB-C and a larger battery are exciting, but it may not be worth upgrading if you own a relatively recent Amazon ereader.

Large and clear display

Switched to USB-C

Comfortable reading experience

More expensive than previous models

Lacks wireless charging

Limited to Amazon’s store

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Editor's Note

• Two-minute review
• Price and release date
• Design and display
• Battery life
• Should you buy it?

• Original review date: February 2022 • Newer 16GB version available as of 2022 • Launch price: $129 / £129 / AU$199 • Official price for 2022 model: $149 / £149 / AU$269

Updated: January 2024. Despite being a little old in Kindle terms, the 2021 Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is still a fine ereader. It’s got a great display, has USB-C connectivity and makes for a very good digital reading experience. However, you should note that the version reviewed here is no longer on sale, replaced instead by a 16GB version introduced in 2022. We've not reviewed it, but other than coming in a couple of extra colors (Agave Green and Denim) and having the extra storage space, it's unchanged from the model we reviewed below. Price is the only other difference – it's a little more expensive than the 8GB model we tested. However, we believe this offers the sweet spot in terms of price vs space – particularly if you can score a great deal on it during sales events like Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day. We wouldn't be surprised if Amazon updated the Kindle Paperwhite again in 2024, but right now this remains the best Kindle you can buy. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: Two-minute review

The Kindle Paperwhite remains the best ereader for those who are looking for a simple gadget that lets you read for hours on end. It isn’t the top of Amazon’s range and the new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition means some features aren’t included here.

Instead, the Kindle Paperwhite is built for those who want a comfortable reading experience with top-end tech but don’t need the extra features of an all-metal design or wireless charging.

The design of the Kindle Paperwhite is largely unchanged from what we’ve seen before. There’s still a clear 6.8-inch E Ink display with 300 pixels per inch resolution at the core of the device that makes for enjoyable reading.

Its plastic rear isn’t a premium touch, but it’s easy to grip and the lightweight design means you can read this device without cramping your wrist. 

Battery life remains strong on the Kindle Paperwhite with it lasting for around five weeks from a single charge. It’s not as long-lasting if you’re reading for long periods, but it’s still enough for most people’s library habits.

A big upgrade is the introduction of a USB-C port for the first time. Amazon stubbornly stuck to the micro USB method for recharging its readers in recent years, but now you can use the more modern charging standard on this device.

That isn’t a reason to upgrade your recent Kindle, but it is a useful quality of life improvement that makes for a more well-rounded product.

If you own a Kindle Paperwhite from 2018 onward, you’re unlikely to see a big improvement on this device. If you’ve never owned an ereader, you want to upgrade from the standard Kindle, or you have an aging Paperwhite, this is the ereader to get right now.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review: Price and release date

This edition of the Kindle Paperwhite was launched in September 2021, and it went on sale soon after. It was unveiled alongside two new editions: the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and the Kindle Paperwhite for Kids.

This standard Paperwhite version is available directly from Amazon and a variety of other retailers. Its launch price was $129.99 / £129.99 / AU$199.99 (around £100 / AU$190) with ads included or $139.99 / £139.99 (about AU$260) without ads. 

That’s the price for an 8GB model, which should be enough storage for hundreds of ebooks and some audiobooks too.

That Signature Edition comes with some premium features, including 32GB of storage, an auto-adjusting front light and support for wireless charging. This is a new addition to this series of Kindles, and it costs far more at $189.99 / £179.99 / AU$289.

( Update – September 20, 2022: Amazon quietly added a 16GB configuration of the standard Paperwhite , priced at $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$259)

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review: Design and display

The form factor and design of previous Kindles is relatively unchanged on this new model, but it’s a look that didn’t need changing.

The defining feature is its 6.8-inch display which means the device has a footprint similar to the average paperback book. It’s easy to hold as it only weighs 205 grams, which is just a touch more than the average smartphone.

That’s particularly helpful if you’re reading a hefty tome as it makes for a more comfortable reading experience.

Its overall dimensions are 174.2 x 124.6 x 8.1 mm. The rear of the device is a plastic material that doesn’t feel particularly premium but after some use you’ll find it allows for a stronger grip than the metal rear of the Kindle Oasis.

The Amazon “smile” logo is emblazoned on the rear of the device, but otherwise it’s particularly limited in its design. This is only available in black, so you’ll have to buy a new case for your Kindle Paperwhite if you want a more vibrant look.

The left, top and right edges are all clear from buttons with the power button, LED light and USB-C port all sitting at the bottom edge of the device. That means you won’t accidentally hit any buttons during long reading sessions.

And this device is built for long reading sessions with bezels along the edges of the screen where you can rest your thumbs so you can grip the device without pressing on the screen to turn the page.

The screen is the most premium we’ve seen on a Kindle Paperwhite yet, with a 300 pixels per inch resolution and strong brightness levels. These are easily changed in the software, but you won’t get an auto-adjusting display.

That’s one of the biggest draws of the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which makes that process much smoother. For example, if you’re reading outside but then you next open up your book when reading in bed the Signature Edition will realize you’re in a darker location and dim the screen.

The borders around the side of the display sit flush with the screen, which is something the company’s standard Kindle model doesn’t have. If you’re looking to upgrade from that device, you’ll notice this as a big difference.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review: Reading

The Kindle Paperwhite offers a very comfortable reading experience with a clear display that is easy to look at for hours at a time. 

The E Ink technology means the screen is easier on the eyes for long periods than the one on your smartphone or TV.

You can easily edit the display options to find your optimum reading experience. For example, you can change the font style, the font size, the brightness of the screen, the dark mode setting, and much more.

Other features include a dictionary, so you can quickly look up words that you haven’t come across before, and Whispersync, which means it’ll sync pages across your ereader and any other Kindle apps you have (such as on your smartphone).

To navigate through the pages, you swipe on either side of the screen to go through to other parts of the book. This is useful, but some may miss the buttons that other ereaders provide if you prefer something more tactile.

You’re unlikely to fill the Kindle Paperwhite with ease. It comes with 8GB of space, but ebooks generally take up around 1MB of space each. Amazon claims this device will hold 1000s of books, and it’s right about that.

You can upload audiobooks (through Audible) onto the Kindle Paperwhite so you can listen to them through Bluetooth headphones. That will start to take up a lot more space though. If you’re worried about that you’ll want to opt for the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition as it comes with 32GB of space as standard.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review: Battery life

Amazon claims the Kindle Paperwhite will last for 10 weeks from a single charge, and we got similar results in our testing. If you’re reading every day, you may find the battery will run out quicker but it still lasts a long time.

Extra battery is a helpful element with an ereader as it allows you to have this in your bag without worrying about whether it has enough charge. It’s much more pick-up-and-go than your phone or a traditional tablet.

It’s charged with a USB-C cable (which is provided in the box) and this is the first time we’ve seen a Kindle move away from micro USB. That’s a big deal as it means most people can use their modern smartphone charger to recharge the ereader.

If you own an iPhone, it’ll mean you have to have a different charge for your Kindle but it’s still a much more common standard than micro USB that we’ve seen on previous ereaders.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has wireless charging built-in, which is unlikely to be a must-have for your Kindle but you may want to spend more on your ereader if you want that.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review: Software

Amazon’s Kindle platform has become more mature in recent years, and it’s some of the best software you’ll find in an ereader. In addition, you’ll find a huge selection of books on the brand’s bustling estore to download directly to your Kindle.

If you buy books directly from the store they’ll appear on your ereader within a matter of seconds (if you’re on a solid internet connection).

Navigating around the Kindle Paperwhite is smooth for an ereader, and it’s always easy to find the different options you’re looking for.

Simply press on books in your library to download them, and then press on the right-hand side of the screen to cycle through the pages. If you want to go back, you’ll press on the right.

As with most ereaders, this can be slow but Amazon claims it’s 20% faster than previous editions. It isn’t noticeably faster on this edition, but it does feel smooth and it’s unlikely to be something you find frustrating.

Should I buy the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2021?

Buy it if… 

You’re looking for a comfortable reading experience

The Kindle Paperwhite has an ergonomic design that makes it comfortable to hold for long periods. The screen is clear and bright and the display settings are easily adjusted, so you’ll find this a pleasant reading experience overall.

You want your Kindle to work on USB-C chargers

This is a minor thing, and it isn’t a valid enough reason to upgrade your Kindle, but we’d recommend opting for this if you want it to work with a better charging standard than micro USB.

You’ve got an older Kindle model

The upgrades over recent generations of Kindle Paperwhite are minimal, but if you’re running a much older ereader it may be the time to upgrade to this version. It’s also a great stepping stone if you’ve previously used less feature-rich ereaders.

Don’t buy it if… 

You’re looking for the cheapest ereader

If you just want the cheapest option, you should look to the standard Kindle or an alternative from a brand like Kobo. The standard Kindle is a suitable product for most people, especially if you’re looking for the lowest price possible.

You want wireless charging

Wireless charging is far from a must-have feature on an ereader, but it’s one of the standout features of the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. If you’re keen to drop all the wires from your gadgets, look to that ereader instead.

You don’t want an Amazon product

You can download other books and upload them to your Kindle, but it’s far more complicated than buying books directly from the Amazon store. If you’re looking for a product that isn’t reliant on Amazon’s store, this isn’t the ereader for you.

First published: February 2022

James is the Editor-in-Chief at Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.

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Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: The best e-reader gets better

The kindle paperwhite (2021) is slightly larger and still great.

Tom's Guide Verdict

Now that it's waterproof, the Kindle Paperwhite is the only e-reader you need to know about.

USB-C charging

Larger display

Perfectly even backlighting

No cellular option

Another $10 price bump

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 looks a lot like the previous one, at least from a distance. Amazon isn't trying to re-invent the wheel here: it's already figured out how to make a Kindle that passes the Goldilocks challenge. And this model, despite being a little pricier, is still just right for most out there.

Amazon breathed new life into this Kindle Paperwhite ($139) by giving it a larger display, a screen feature previously exclusive to the high-end Kindle Oasis and a new charging port. 

This keeps in Amazon's patterns with Kindles. Most of its updates haven't been huge enough to push people to run out and buy one the second they're available, but the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is just like its dad: sitting atop our best Kindle list.

Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Specs

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Price and configurations

While I'm not happy to see that the Paperwhite costs more than it used to, the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 starts at $139 .

As happened with the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite, the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is $10 more than it was before.

The Kindle Paperwhite shipped on October 27, 2021.

The default Paperwhite comes with 8GB of storage (same as the 2018 model), and  Amazon is still charging $20 to upgrade to an ad-free experience (which bumps you up to $159. Thankfully, Amazon is no longer calling these ads "special offers." I'd take this upgrade 10 times out of 10, but I just hate ads (I even pay for YouTube Premium ).

What has changed, though, is that Amazon's no longer offering a model with a cellular modem, the other feature it once offered for an upgrade price. For an extra $50, you can upgrade to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition , which bumps your storage to 32GB, adds automatically-adjusting backlighting and wireless charging. Check out our Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review for more details .

Really miss cellular connectivity? You can find it in the Kindle Oasis, which starts at $249 .

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Design

The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 looks just like most other Kindles, a matte-black shell encasing an e-ink display. But this year we've got some key differences. Its bezels are smaller, and its screen is larger, going from a 6-inch panel to a 6.8-inch panel. 

While the bezel-shrinking helps enable a larger screen, the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 (6.9 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches) is also slightly larger than the 6.6 x 4.6 x 0.3-inch 2018 Paperwhite. It's not much heavier, though, going from 6.4 ounces in the previous model to 7.2 ounces in the new edition.

The 6-inch entry-level Amazon Kindle (6.3 x 4.5 x 0.3 inches, 6.1 ounces) is smaller and lighter, and the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (6.9 x 4.9 x .3 inches, 7.3 ounces) is nearly identical. The 7-inch aluminum Kindle Oasis (6.3 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches, 6.6 ounces) is shorter and wider

Also, there's the matter of the USB-C port in the 2021 Paperwhite, a moment that could have you saying "finally!" (as I did) or "what?" (as one of my relatives did). The move to this reversible port is a bit of catch-up if you think about the Kindle in context of laptops and tablets (save the regular iPad), most of which have adopted this port. 

Its arrival is important for primarily one reason: reversible ports mean no fumbling to figure out the "right side up." Amazon isn't touting any fast-charging, with claims that it can gain a full charge in under 2.5 hours with a 9W USB power adapter (the Paperwhite 2018 was rated for a full charge in 3 hours with a 5W adapter). Oh, and if you want wireless charging? That's exclusive to the $189 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.

We want to compare Kindles to other e-readers, but the Nook lineup hasn't been refreshed since the GlowLight 3 in 2018. We will update this review if B&N or Rakuten (who makes the Kobo e-readers) field a comparable e-reader.

I almost wonder if the bezels on the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 are too small. When I used it, I found myself always having to hold it from the bottom. Gripping it from the now-slimmer side bezel, I found myself accidentally actuating the touch screen controls too often, and unintentionally highlighting text. That said, my mom (the biggest Kindle user I know) didn't find the change to be difficult to get around, as she keeps her Kindle Paperwhite in a case, which gives her more to hold onto.

This is why I prefer the asymmetrical Amazon Kindle Oasis ' design, which has a spot to grip on the side, with page turning buttons. This is highly subjective and personal, though, so your mileage will likely vary. 

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Durability

Just like the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite the new Kindle Paperwhite (2021) has a waterproof resistance rating of IPX8. And while I could have assumed it will work (the 2018 model survived a bath in a bucket of water unscathed), I decided to put it to the test by dropping the Paperwhite in about 5 inches of tap water in my NYC apartment sink and letting it sit for 20 minutes.

And when I took it out? The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 worked as if nothing had happened. 

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Display

The Paperwhite's 6.8-inch, 300 ppi display isn't just larger than before, it's also more well-lit than its predecessor. The 2018 Paperwhite had a mere five LED backlights, while the 2021 model has 17. So, if you ever thought the Paperwhite wasn't evenly lit (the 2015 model had only four backlights), you should check out our photos of the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 in the dark. The entry-level Kindle only has four LEDs, the Oasis has 25 and the Paperwhite Signature Edition also has 17.

Text is, of course, still super-crisp, something the Paperwhite hasn't had an issue with for a very long time (the first 300ppi Paperwhite was the 2015 Kindle Paperwhite ). The entry-level Amazon Kindle has a 167 ppi screen, and the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and Kindle Oasis are also at 300ppi.

As you can see above, the lighting is pretty perfectly even. I tested this out at lower settings, at around 5 ticks on the Brightness meter, and saw that evenly-lit light continue. 

The Kindle Paperwhite 2021's biggest new screen feature (not counting the increased size) is for Display Warmth. Not to be confused with a blue light filter, this setting lets you change the color of the LED light to an amber hue. This feature (seen in the pricier Kindle Oasis), isn't meant to help you fall asleep faster or anything like that (though you can schedule when it turns on), but just as an aesthetic option. 

The one off thing that nit-pickers may notice is that there's a small gap between the screen and the bezel, showing that the display is inset. It's not a huge deal, though I'll note that the reMarkable 2 has a much smaller gap.

Reading a section of the emotionally taxing The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk while outside, I noticed that the Paperwhite's display is still suitable for reading in direct sunlight. 

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: User experience and bonus features

Amazon's made small changes to the Kindle OS interface, and they feel like they're for the better (some change-averse users will likely pop up to say otherwise). The home screen is now split between "Home" and "Library" sections, with the former showing a sample of the latter, along with your reading lists and content that Amazon's algorithms deem worthy of recommending to you. 

The Search bar now takes up much more of the top of the screen, but it's no longer in the menu that appears while reading a book. A new menu "drawer" here contains settings for Airplane mode, Sync, Bluetooth and Dark Mode (introduced in 2020).

One of our long-term issues with the Kindle has been how much it pushes its social extras on you. So, while setting up the Kindle Paperwhite 2021, I was happy to see that Amazon places an option to disable Goodreads (its social network for readers that isn't well-liked ) up front. At this window, I just tapped "No Thanks" and got to experience the rest of the Kindle without using it. 

I don't think I'm alone in that I want my Kindle for reading and nothing else. There's also that page of "about this book" text that pops up and gets in the way. You can get rid of this by opening an ebook, tapping the Font option at the top of the screen, tapping More and turning off About This Book. I also disable Popular Highlights, because it feels weird to have a shared reading experience.

Amazon's still letting you listen to audio books via Bluetooth on your Kindle (though this seems more like a thing people would use their smart phones for), and it's also including its "experimental" web browser, which has never really worked right, and still does not.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Battery Life

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2021 has battery life to spare. Amazon claims it should last up to 10 weeks, but that's based on 30 minutes of reading per day, with Wi-Fi off and brightness set to 13 out of 24. 

Based on my testing, I think they're not far off. I knocked out about 1.5% of battery life per 30 minutes of testing, with Brightness set at multiple levels and Wi-Fi on. Doing the math, I'd probably hit empty a few days earlier than that 70-day estimate. But we don't all read in the same conditions, or for the same amounts of time, so this is a big case for the phrase "your mileage may vary."

Either way, even if it ran out of a charge in 9 weeks and not 10 weeks, the Kindle Paperwhite has impressive endurance.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Content

If you're looking for a book, the odds say that Amazon has it. And we're not surprised. Since it's one of the biggest online retailers, most would probably want the chance to be in front of that audience. 

And while Amazon doesn't publish numbers, estimates suggest it's at around 9 million titles.

Kobo boasts that it offers "6 million eBooks and audiobooks," while Barnes and Noble, on the other hand, claims it has "millions of eBooks." 

Amazon's also got Kindle Unlimited , a $9.99 Netflix-for-books with "over 2 million titles and thousands of audiobooks." They even throw in three magazine subscriptions. 

In case you're not made of money, the Kindle Paperwhite still supports borrowing books from public libraries for free, using the Overdrive service.

Prime members can take advantage of First Reads (formerly Kindle First), which grants early access to editor's picks. Members also can access two free Kindle books per month, and get access to discounted print editions.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Verdict

Small updates are interesting, especially when they come with a price bump. This Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review shows that this is such an update, with a slightly larger screen, USB-C charging and display warmth in a model that costs $10 more than its predecessor. The previous Kindle wasn't accused of being too small, having the wrong port or not having enough display options.

So, we're guessing that the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 may be more of a thing people buy to replace a Kindle that's hit the end of its life than one people rush out to buy now. Oddly, though, Amazon isn't offering it with cellular connectivity, something older models are losing . 

Don't want to spend so much money? The $89 Kindle is your best alternative, though you're trading away text crispness with its 167ppi display. And if you want a display that takes away the fiddling with brightness settings, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition packs that and wireless charging, but it costs an extra $50, at $189.

Lastly, if you're like me and think the slimmer bezels make for awkward handling, there's always the $249 Kindle Oasis. That extra $110 is a lot when most of its other once-exclusive features (such as auto-brightness and display warmth) are found in the 2021 Kindles.

This all adds up to the king keeping the throne: the Kindle Paperwhite (2021) is still the best Kindle for most people — just with a little more screen to love. 

Henry is a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.

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Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: The best e-reader. Period.

A bigger screen with smaller bezels makes the paperwhite better than ever..

One thing you can definitely say about Amazon’s Kindle: It’s not the kind of device you need to upgrade often, even if you’re an avid reader. I’ve been using the same one since late 2015, and it’s still going strong. But Amazon caught my attention with the 5th-generation Paperwhite . For the first time since the original came out, Amazon increased the display size to 6.8 inches from 6 inches, and it has narrower bezels than before. It also now uses 17 LED backlights (up from only five) and an adjustable “warm light” to reduce eye strain at night. Amazon has also finally switched to USB-C for charging.

Those are some notable new features, but Amazon is also offering a “Signature Edition” (SE) this year, which has 32GB of storage (the standard model only has 8GB), an automatically adjusting backlight, wireless charging and no ads on the lock screen. And it's still waterproof, can play Audible audiobooks over Bluetooth and has tremendous battery life. At $190, it’s not cheap; nor, at $140, is the standard Paperwhite. But, if you’ve been using yours for as long than me (or longer), there’s a lot to like here. It doesn’t radically change the Kindle experience, but does make it a lot nicer.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

The 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is a nice upgrade from its predecessor thanks to a larger and more responsive display. The Signature Edition adds wireless charging and storage space, but the standard version is enough for most.

• A bigger and more responsive screen
• Tiny bezels
• USB-C charging and wireless charging
• Plenty of storage
• Automatic brightness and warm light options make the display better than ever
• Signature Edition is expensive

If you’ve used a Kindle at all in the last decade, you’ll be familiar with the new Paperwhite’s design. Like other e-readers, the Paperwhite is dominated by an E Ink touchscreen that has gentle backlights you can turn on or off and adjust to fit your reading conditions. Like earlier Kindles, the rest of the device is soft-touch plastic that picks up fingerprint grease a little too easily.

Also like the 2018 Paperwhite , the screen here is flush with the front of the device, rather than being slightly recessed like it was on previous models. Coming from an older device, I loved this change. It makes swiping the touchscreen to turn pages much more pleasant, and having the display a little closer to your eyes feels better, too. It’s simply a higher-quality experience – but if you have a 2018 Paperwhite, or the more expensive Kindle Oasis, you know this already.

More significant is the larger screen size. Amazon kept the same 300 pixel-per-inch density here, so the display looks as nice as ever. There’s just more room for your books and navigating the Kindle UI. Between the extra screen space and some changes to the interface, using the device is much more comfortable than it used to be. It is worth knowing that the new Paperwhite is ever so slightly wider and taller — so if you have small hands or already found the Kindle to be a little too large, this might be an issue. But, for me, the larger screen is a massive improvement, and it isn’t diminished in the least by the slightly bigger body.

The screen bezels are also significantly smaller as well. The bottom bezel is on the large side, presumably so you can rest your thumb on it while reading, but the ones on the top, left and right are all very thin. The smaller bezels, larger display and lack of a recessed screen all combine to make this hardware feel more premium than previous Kindle Paperwhite models.

A less impactful change is the new LED front lighting system. There are 17 individual LEDs that give the Paperwhite its gentle glow that lets you read in poor light, up from five that were in the previous model. That sounds like a big improvement, but I can’t say I notice a major difference. The Old Paperwhite already had a very smooth front lighting system, and it looks great on the new model, too, just not dramatically better.

These LEDs do have a new trick, though: “adjustable warm lighting.” It’s similar to the Night Shift feature Apple added to its products a few years ago; it adjusts the color temperature of the display lighting to a more amber hue. The Kindle’s blighting system never felt too blue to me, and since we’re not dealing with a glowing LCD, they’ve always been less likely to disrupt sleep. But being able to adjust the screen’s color temperature is still handy.

As with other devices, you can set two different color temperatures, one for during the day and a warmer setting for after the sun has gone down. There’s also an automatic schedule that uses location services to automatically and gradually change the color temperature based on sunrise and sunset in your current location.

I appreciate the multiple ways you can customize the warmth of the Paperwhite’s screen, but it’s also a little confusing. When you pull down the settings shade, you’ll see sliders for both brightness and screen warmth. Then, when you dive into the section where you can set a schedule, there’s another slider to set the warmth for the scheduled time. It took me a bit to realize that one slider covered the warmth outside of the scheduled time and another was only in effect during the schedule.I eventually I got everything sorted out, though. And if you don’t care about scheduling the screen’s color temperature, you can just pick a setting that looks best to you and forget about it.

You’ve been able to set different brightness levels on the Kindle for years now, but the Paperwhite Signature Edition can automatically adjust to the ambient light. Smartphones have had this feature for years, and the more expensive Kindle Oasis has had it for a while, too. Here, it works pretty quickly and reliably. I first manually set the brightness to a comfortable level for the room I was reading in, and then put my trust in the auto brightness feature. I could definitely notice it kicking on in brighter rooms and turning things down in my dimly lit bedroom when I was getting ready to crash for the night. It’s not an essential feature, but it is nice to have.

Come to think of it, “nice to have” describes most of the difference between the standard Kindle Paperwhite and the Signature Edition. The standard version comes with 8GB of storage, versus 32GB in the SE. The SE also has wireless charging, which works quite well – I dropped the Paperwhite on a few Anker chargers I have around the house, and it charged up quickly and reliably. But given how long the device’s battery lasts, most people will be fine charging it with any old USB-C cable once a month or so. (I haven’t mentioned it yet, but the Paperwhite has a battery that lasts weeks, just like all the other Kindles.)

The SE also has an ad-free lock screen. The fact that Amazon has long charged a premium to get a device without ads on it that try to sell you more stuff from Amazon is about the most Amazon thing ever. And my desire to not have ads shoved in my face makes the Signature Edition pretty appealing. A $50 price difference is significant – but given the fact that I generally use a Kindle for five years or more, why not get rid of those ads and get a few extra features while I’m at it? Given that the standard Paperwhite without ads is only $30 cheaper than the Signature Edition, this is an upsell that I’d probably go for.

Things like storage capacity, the number of LEDs, wireless charging and so on only really matter in service of one thing: reading. Fortunately, the new Kindle Paperwhite is the best e-reader I’ve ever used. I’ve never had a big issue with how E Ink screens need to refresh when you turn the page, but the Paperwhite refreshes so quickly and smoothly that this device feels more pleasant to use than my 2015 model.

Beyond the refresh rate, the touchscreen is extremely responsive; I rarely had my taps or swipes go unrecognized. When I use the keyboard to search for books, I just plow ahead and don’t get caught up waiting for a key press to register. There are still times where you need to wait for the screen to catch up, though. That’s mostly when you’re navigating more complex layouts, like the Kindle Store.

In some regards, the new Kindle Paperwhite changes nothing; Amazon has had a stranglehold on the e-reader market for years, and the previous Paperwhite was the device to get. The new Paperwhite is still Amazon’s best e-reader. It’s not as expensive and fancy as the Kindle Oasis, but it offers a far better experience than the basic $90 Kindle. The bigger screen and higher resolution are reasons enough to choose the Paperwhite if you’re anything more than the most casual of readers.

The other question is whether the $190 “Signature Edition” is worth the $50 premium over the standard model. For most people, the answer is probably no. The two devices are essentially the same in every significant way. Wireless charging is a bonus, but given how infrequently the Paperwhite needs to be charged, it’s not a huge upgrade in convenience. More storage is never a bad thing, but 8GB can still hold literally thousands of books. The extra space is really only important if you use Audible on the Kindle, because audiobooks can quickly eat through your storage.

The auto-adjusting light is probably my favorite of these Signature Edition features. Almost every other display in your life can do that, And having it here makes sense, especially if you power up your Paperwhite in the middle of the night. Plus, it’s hard to overstate what a relief it is to not have to see an ad every time you pick up the device.

Ultimately, if I were buying the Kindle Paperwhite for someone as a gift, I’d probably get the standard edition. If I was buying for myself, I’d get the Signature. But either way, I’d be buying a Kindle Paperwhite. It remains the best e-reader on the market.

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The best Kindle: Reviews and buying advice

The Kindle is the reigning leader among e-readers. But Amazon makes several models—knowing which Kindle to buy depends on your budget and your reading preferences. That’s where this guide comes in. With our help, you’ll find just the right Kindle for you or your lucky loved one.

Amazon’s E Ink slabs were first introduced to the world in 2007, and currently there are four models with different feature sets—plus a variant designed for kids. A few scrappy competitors may nip at the Kindle’s heels, but none can hold a candle to the sheer volume of books, comics, and periodicals available for easy download and consumption on a Kindle.

Purchasing one of Amazon’s less expensive Kindles could mean missing out on features that could make your reading time more pleasurable. But that doesn’t mean the most expensive Kindle is the always right choice—don’t pay for features you won’t use. Let’s break it down.

The current Kindle lineup.

Latest news

• September 2022: A revamped entry-level Kindle with an upgraded screen and more storage has been announced. With its souped-up specs, it may be a fierce challenger for the “Best Kindle” title when it arrives on October 12th.

Should you choose the ‘Ad-Supported’ discount?

With all models, you can buy an ‘Ad-Supported’ model, which has advertisements that appear on the Kindle’s lock screen, or pay an additional $15 to $20 for a version ‘Without Ads,’ which should be self-explanatory. We show the price for the ‘Ad-Supported’ model in our reviews. Click the Without Ads button on any Kindle’s product page to get the version free of marketing campaigns. 

If you’ve already chosen Ad-Supported and now have regrets, you can still ditch the ads. You just have to pay the fee you would’ve at checkout for an ad-free Kindle. Our guide to removing ads from your Kindle explains how to do it.

The best Kindle for most readers

Kindle paperwhite (2021).

Though the price of the Kindle Paperwhite drifted upward with its 2021 refresh, its upgraded features justify the extra cost. With its bigger screen, improved front light, higher resolution, and waterproofing, it’s an easy pick over the basic Kindle. Read our full review .

The best waterproof Kindle

If you enjoy reading by the pool, in the bathtub, or lead a lifestyle that places your expensive electronic devices in liquid peril on a regular basis, you’ll be happy to know that the best waterproof Kindle is also our pick for the best Kindle for most people: The Kindle Paperwhite. 

With its IPX8 rating, it can survive in two meters of fresh water for up to an hour at a time. Want to read in the bathtub or by the pool? Not a problem, especially since the Kindle Paperwhite also allows you to disable taps as touch input, in order to avoid the touchscreen mistaking a splash of water for user input. Read our full review .

The luxury Kindle

All-new kindle oasis.

The very name of Amazon’s “All-new Kindle Oasis” would seem to herald a radical overhaul. But the changes to Amazon’s top-shelf e-reader are far less dramatic. Beyond the introduction of a new color-adjustable front light that can warm or cool the screen’s illumination, the All-new Kindle Oasis remains strikingly similar to its predecessor. And that’s good news. It’s still the best e-reading experience you can buy—and your only option if you want a Kindle with cellular connectivity included. Read our full review . 

All our latest Kindle reviews

• Larger screen (6.8-inch)
• Long battery life (up to 10 weeks+)
• Front lighting is more even and supports cool and warm tones
• USB-C charging port
• Waterproof (IPX8 rating)
• Automatic screen brightness & wireless charging support (Signature Edition)
• Higher price
• Noticeably heavier than previous model
• Limited navigation options

• New color-adjustable front light lets you cool or warm the lighting
• Light weight and sharp text makes it comfortable to read for hours
• Can only play audiobooks from Audible

All-new Kindle (10th generation, 2019), Ad-Supported

• Frontlighting for comfortable reading in all environments
• Can play audiobooks over Bluetooth speaker
• Improved E-Ink and touchscreen technology
• Audiobooks will deplete 4GB of storage quickly

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Amazon Kindle Oasis review: The best e-reader ever, but the sky-high price hurts its appeal

A luxury e-reader if there ever was one, the new top-of-the-line Kindle weighs a mere 131 grams and includes a swanky battery cover that delivers months of battery life.

• Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer

Every couple of years Amazon introduces a new Kindle e-ink e-reader that's smaller, lighter and faster. But with the arrival of the Kindle Oasis, Amazon's thinnest and lightest e-reader ever, the e-book pioneer needs to add a new adjective to the list: pricier.

Amazon Kindle Oasis

The bottom line.

The Oasis, the first Kindle to include a protective cover -- a swanky leather one that integrates a backup battery no less -- costs a whopping $290 in the US, £270 in the UK or AU$449 in Australia. Meanwhile, the Wi-Fi+3G version, which bundles in free 3G data for the life of the product, takes you up to $359 or £330.

Geez, who does Amazon think it is? Apple? That's an awful lot to pay for a monochrome e-reader. In fact, for a bit less than the price as the Wi-Fi Oasis, you can snag an iPad Mini 2 . Or five entry-level Amazon Fire tablets . And they do a lot more than just display black and white text.

The Kindle Voyage (left) and Kindle Oasis (right) actually have the same size 6-inch screen.

That said, the Oasis is the first Kindle in a while that looks and feels like a brand new Kindle. It's been completely redesigned: the device is more square in shape than previous Kindles, weighs a mere 131 grams (4.6 ounces) and measures 3.4 mm (0.13 inches) at its slimmest point.

That makes it 20 percent lighter and 30 percent thinner on average than the Kindle Voyage ($200, £170, AU$299), which remains in the line along with the Paperwhite ($120, £110, AU$179) and entry-level Kindle ($80, £60, AU$109). (Those prices, at least for the Paperwhite and entry-level Kindles, are frequently discounted by Amazon. And with all Kindles, you'll need to pay a bit more -- at time of purchase or anytime thereafter -- if you want to remove Amazon's mostly subtle advertisements from the lock screen and the main menu.)

Thanks to the new shape, a lot of people initially think the screen is smaller than the screen found on other Kindles. But it's an optical illusion; the screen in fact is the same 6-inch size but simply has a smaller bezel around it.

The Oasis is 3.4 mm at its thinnest point.

To get lighter, Amazon's engineers equipped the new e-reader with a "featherweight" polymer frame plated with metal structural electroplating that adds rigidity. Also, the internal battery and electronics have been scrunched into an ergonomic hump on the backside of the device that allows you to hold the e-reader comfortably in your hand. The hump shifts the weight of the device so it's better balanced and feels more like you're holding a book with a spine.

It does feel really light. And while 20 percent doesn't sound like a huge weight reduction, when you're reading in bed at night and holding your e-reader in front of your face, that 20 percent does make a difference. You can read longer without taking a break.

The other significant change is to the lighting scheme. The built-in front light has 60 percent more LEDs (10 LEDs vs. 6 on the Voyage and 4 on the Paperwhite) and they're embedded in the side of the display, not the bottom. The result is the light does appear a little brighter -- and whiter -- and splays across the screen a touch more uniformly. It really isn't much of an upgrade, but it is an upgrade nonetheless.

Amazon Kindle Oasis (pictures)

Amazon says the Oasis' new 6-inch Paperwhite display is the first in a Kindle to use a 200-micron backplane that is "as thin as a single sheet of aluminum foil." It's been combined with a custom cover glass engineered from "chemically reinforced" glass for added toughness.

The text on the touchscreen e-ink display looks very close to what you get with the Kindle Paperwhite and Voyage. There's the same sharp 300 ppi resolution and similar contrast. You can turn pages by touching the screen or press the physical page turn buttons on the side of the device.

You can choose between three case color options.

It's also worth noting that you can hold the device in your left or right hand while reading. Thanks to a built-in accelerometer, the screen automatically rotates the page and page turn buttons to match the hand you have the device in. Alas, the case isn't waterproof, which isn't a major issue, but with a name like Oasis and its high price, some people may expect to include waterproofing -- especially those who like to read in the bathtub or by the pool.

The battery cover, which comes in three color options, is pretty slim but obviously adds some weight to the device. It adheres magnetically and is easy to remove and slip back on, so you can easily take it off when you don't need the extra protection. Amazon says the Oasis gets over two weeks of battery life on its own, and over nine weeks when combined with the cover. That's with the Wi-Fi or 3G off (Wi-Fi is a huge battery suck).

Performance plateau

From a design standpoint the Oasis is clearly the nicest e-ink e-reader that Amazon's ever produced, and it's easy to be impressed by how light and slim it is. I also like its new shape and the design of the case.

Where I think some people may be a little disappointed is that while the design is a clear step forward, performance has plateaued. E-ink is inherently a sluggish technology compared to LCD, so while Apple, Samsung and other smartphone and tablets makers, including Amazon, have been able to improve the performance of their LCD-based devices, e-ink e-readers haven't become any zippier over the years. Even having a faster processor would not speed it up (this one runs on a 1GHz processor that's presumably similar to the one found in the Voyage). Also, e-ink remains a monochrome platform. There is no color.

For most people, today's Kindles are fast enough, but you'd hope that a superpremium model such as the Oasis would offer lightning-quick performance or even a modest speed bump. However, aside from the slightly improved lighting scheme, performance is similar to what you get from the Voyage or even the Paperwhite.

Like all Kindle devices, this e-reader is meant for books.

But let's face facts. This device is for folks who prefer the nighttime-friendly, self-illuminated black-and-white matte screen over that of a smartphone or tablet. And reading sessions that are free from from the distractions of email, social media and news alerts on those other devices. Amazon's e-book ecosystem remains the best out there, and the few competitors in the e-reader space -- Barnes & Noble (in the U.S.) and Kobo -- have nothing that competes with the Oasis. The Oasis is for longtime Amazon customers who are die-hard readers.

It's that crowd who may well pay for the superior, best-in-class design of the Oasis. For most people the extra cost won't seem worth it, but I guarantee that if you're a Kindle devotee you'll want an Oasis when you see and hold it. It may be out of your price range today, but perhaps someday Amazon will run one of its flash sales and the price will seem right.

Kindle Oasis' key specs:

• 4.6 ounces and 3.4 mm at its thinnest point
• Latest-generation high-resolution 300 ppi Paperwhite 6-inch touch-screen display
• Redesigned front light features 60 percent more LEDs and better uniformity
• 4GB of built-in storage (stores thousands of e-books)
• Included leather charging cover sticks magnetically to Kindle
• 1GHz processor
• Two weeks of battery life on its own, over nine weeks when combined with cover
• Read with either hand
• Battery cover comes in three color options
• 3G + Wi-Fi option is more expensive at $360, £330 or AU$500

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Best Kindle 2022: Which Amazon e-reader should you buy?

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The Kindle might look like a regular tablet, but like all e-readers it uses a completely different type of display technology. Rather than showing text on a self-illuminating screen, the Kindle uses a special e-ink display illuminated by surrounding light, giving it the appearance of ordinary, physical paper.

This means the Kindle is as comfortable to read as any book or magazine, while still retaining all of the most useful features of reading on a tablet. They store tens of thousands of books, you can buy and download new ones almost instantly, they have battery life measured in weeks, and they let you do things like highlight passages, adjust the font size and look up word definitions as you read.

Amazon ’s range includes four Kindles at four price points, each designed with different kinds of readers in mind. With the two cheapest Kindles you can pay £10 less and have product advertisements appear on the lock screen (or pay £10 more to remove them, if you want to think of it that way). There are also kids’ versions of two of these Kindles, which are identical to the basic versions but come with an added children’s book subscription and a kid-friendly cover.

Remember, with any Kindle it’s still possible to download ebooks from places besides Amazon’s own store, or even borrow them from your local library. And while Kindle might have the market cornered, it’s not the only pony at the rodeo – check out our round-up of the best ereaders if you’re a Bezos-averse bookworm.

So which Kindle is best? That depends how much you want to spend, how often you’ll use it, how big your hands are, whether you usually read in bed, and if you’re about to fall into a swimming pool. Read on for a full run-down of the differences between each Kindle, how they measure up, and which you should buy.

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How we tested:

We’ve been using all four Amazon Kindle devices since they launched, with most of our reading taking place on the new Kindle paperwhite and the Kindle oasis. We took these ereaders on planes, trains and automobiles, and we’ve used them in broad, direct sunlight as well as in the middle of the night. We also tested the built-in Audible functionality, which lets you switch between reading and listening to a book, on the devices which have this feature.

The best Kindle in 2022 is:

• Best budget Kindle – all-new Kindle (2022): £84.99, Amazon.co.uk
• Best all-rounder – Kindle paperwhite: Was £129.99, now £104.99, Amazon.co.uk
• Best for bedtime reading – Kindle paperwhite signature edition: £154.99, Amazon.co.uk
• Best premium Kindle – Kindle oasis: Was £229.99, now £194.99, Amazon.co.uk

All-new Kindle (2022)

• Best : Budget Kindle
• Screen size : 6in
• Resolution : 300dpi
• Storage : 16GB
• Front light : 4 LEDs
• Adjustable warm light : No
• Auto-adjusting light : No
• Wireless charging : No
• Waterproof : No
• New 300dpi display
• Front lighting
• No waterproofing

The all-new Kindle is the cheapest Kindle ebook reader you can get, and launched 12 October for £84.99.

The basic Kindle’s first update in three years gives it a nice dusting off and brings the ereader’s specifications in line with the more premium Kindle paperwhite (£104.99, Amazon.co.uk ).

That means it’s got the same 6in display but a sharper 300dpi resolution, plus extra storage, bigger battery life and, at long last, an industry-standard USB-C connection (the type used in most Android phones and modern gadgets). That means you’re way less likely to be caught short if you forget to pack your charging cable on a beach holiday.

Kindle paperwhite

• Best : All-rounder
• Screen size : 6.8in
• Storage : 8GB
• Front light : 17 LEDs
• Adjustable warm light : Yes
• Waterproof : Yes
• Adjustable warm light
• Sharp display
• No auto-adjusting light

The Kindle paperwhite is a more premium version of the basic Kindle (£69.99, Amazon.co.uk ), and as such it’s got a few more useful features included. It’s also the most recently updated member of the Kindle crew. Amazon regularly refreshes the range with design tweaks and upgrades, and the Kindle Paperwhite received a small makeover in 2021.

Among other improvements it has a larger 6.8in screen and a higher-resolution display. In practical terms that means letters appear sharper and more detailed, so you can read more comfortably at your usual text size or with the Kindle held further away, or reduce the text size to fit more words on each page.

The Kindle paperwhite uses more LED lights surrounding the display so that illumination is brighter and smoother across the page. It can also adjust from a cold, blue daylight to a warmer amber colour – like the night-mode feature on a smartphone – for more comfortable reading in low-light. This model is also waterproof, so if you’re a clumsy clown who likes to read by the swimming pool or at the beach, the Kindle Paperwhite is the way to go.

Kindle paperwhite signature edition

• Best : For bedtime reading
• Storage : 32GB
• Auto-adjusting light : Yes
• Wireless charging : Yes
• Waterpoof : Yes
• Large, flush display
• Smooth, automatic lighting

The decadent sounding signature edition of the Kindle paperwhite (£104.99, Amazon.co.uk ) is almost identical to the standard edition, but with a few luxury elements added.

For your extra £50 you get an ad-free lock screen, wireless charging, 32GB of storage for holding extra books and a light that adjusts itself automatically to suit your surroundings. These are interesting upgrades, but the signature edition is a tough sell for most shoppers.

The basic Kindle paperwhite doesn’t need charging very often, so plugging in isn’t a hassle, and if you rarely stray from a wi-fi network and don’t plan on using the Kindle as an audiobook player, the extra storage isn’t needed. Unlike TV shows, music and movies, books just don’t take up much space. The introduction of a light sensor for automatic brightness adjustment is the biggest improvement here, but if you’re planning on dropping £180 on a Kindle, you might want to consider shelling out a little more for the best Kindle in the range.

Kindle oasis

• Best : Premium Kindle
• Screen size : 7in
• Storage : 8GB / 32GB
• Front light : 25 LEDs
• Physical page turn buttons
• Ergonomic design
• Best display of any Kindle

The Lamborghini of ereaders, the Kindle oasis is Amazon’s leading star, and pulls out all of the stops in its mission to get words out of the page and into your brain. It’s the most advanced and expensive Kindle in the range, sporting a metallic, asymmetrical design and a thicker ergonomic edge that sits comfortably in one hand. The magnetic fabric cover case (£39.99, Amazon.co.uk ) doubles as bonus battery capacity, and the screen can automatically flip 180 degrees so that the Kindle can be held in either hand.

Apart from the wireless charging of the signature edition Kindle paperwhite (£104.99, Amazon.co.uk ), every feature of lesser Kindles is included. Sensors automatically adjust the screen warmth and brightness depending on your surroundings. Audiobooks can pick up where you left off reading, and vice-versa. And waterproofing gives you the confidence to continue reading near puddles.

So, is it worth the extra cash? We love the Kindle oasis, but the cheaper Kindles have everything you need in an ereader. The best ereaders are the ones you forget your holding, that fade into the background so that there’s nothing standing between you and your book. The entry-level Kindle does exactly that, but if you’re a fan of bells and whistles, the oasis is one of the best-designed pieces of technology you’ll ever hold.

What is Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited is a Netflix-style alternative to purchasing new ebooks. By paying a monthly subscription of £7.99 ( Amazon.co.uk ), you gain access to a library of more than 1 million titles, including audiobooks, which you borrow rather than own.

Is Kindle Unlimited worth it?

That depends entirely on how much you read. If you’re a voracious reader and spend more than £7.99 each month on books, a subscription to Kindle Unlimited means you’ll break even compared with buying each new ebook.

Just keep in mind that, while you can borrow up to 10 books at a time and as often as you like, the ebooks don’t belong to you. Just like streaming a movie on Netflix, you’re buying access to Amazon’s giant library of titles, rather than the titles themselves. And just like Netflix, when you stop paying, you lose access.

The Kindle Unlimited library doesn’t always contain every new title either, especially the most popular new books from the biggest publishing houses. So, if you have mainstream tastes, you might not be getting your money’s worth.

The verdict: Which Kindle should I buy?

The four devices in the Kindle range are designed to suit different types of readers, but if we had to pick just one Kindle to take into an underground bunker it would be the Kindle paperwhite .

For almost every user the mid-range Kindle strikes the best balance between cost and functionality. The inclusion of a softer reading light that can be made warmer for more comfortable reading at night is worth the small step-up in price, while the ability to charge using the increasingly ubiquitous USB-C cable means you’re less likely to be caught short by a dead battery. On top of that you get a slightly larger display, slimmer bezels and sharper text.

The Kindle oasis is the most advanced ereader in the range, and while the price has come down since launch it’s still an expensive piece of hardware, considering it basically performs just as well as a Kindle costing half as much. Still, if you know an avid reader and really want to spoil them, the luxury Kindle oasis is a showstopper of a gift.

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Home / Reviews / Tablets & computers / Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review

The Kindle Paperwhite has had a spruce-up and then some

It can sometimes feel like Amazon launches a new Echo device every time you go to make a cup of tea, but the company is a lot more relaxed when it comes to Kindles. 

The entire point of a Kindle is that you exclusively read books on it, and there’s only so many ways you can jazz up plain text on a colourless display. Still, it’s been a long time since Amazon updated its Goldilocks e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, presumably because the old model has been selling consistently well since it debuted in 2018. 

Given the wait, it’s not surprising that in 2021 the Kindle Paperwhite has had a spruce-up and then some. We’re talking about a larger display, reduced bezels, adjustable warm light and USB-C charging. And if you pay a bit extra for the fancy Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition you get more memory, wireless charging and an auto-adjusting front light, a la the top of the range Kindle Oasis. 

There’s also a redesigned interface, which makes bookworming the day away easier than ever. 

Design and features: bigger is better 

Oasis and the oft-forgotten Kindle DX aside, Kindles have had 6in displays since Amazon invented its e-reader in the late noughties. And honestly, we’ve always felt that it was a perfectly fine display size for reading books. 

But Amazon has seen fit to up the new Paperwhite’s display from the tried and tested 6in to 6.8in, trimming down the surrounding bezels in the process. A bit of extra space is welcome and overall makes for a more pleasurable reading experience, but it does mean that the 2021 Paperwhite is noticeably larger than its predecessor, both in width and height, even if it is a teeny bit slimmer. Small-handed users might find the proportional change to be unwieldy, but it didn’t particularly bother us. 

It definitely looks and feels different, but the new Paperwhite does lift several design elements from the previous model. Once again the display is completely flush, you’ve still got that grippy plastic back and there remains a slightly unwelcome Kindle logo below the screen. The lack of buttons means all interaction with the device when reading relies on the touchscreen, which like every Kindle before it is totally fine but lacks the responsiveness of modern phones and tablets. The best thing about the more expensive Kindle Oasis is its side-mounted page-turning buttons, and we do wish Amazon would add something similar to the mid-range e-reader. 

For reasons we can’t explain, the sole button (power) the Paperwhite does have is located at the bottom of the device, next to the charging port. Not only is this a bit awkward to reach with any finger bar your thumb, but if you’re reading with the Kindle propped up on your lap it’s not impossible to accidentally nudge it into standby.

The most notable feature of the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite was probably IPX8 waterproofing, and it’s still very useful nearly four years on, allowing you to read in the bath without fear of butter fingers. 

You get 8GB of storage on the standard model, which is enough to hold a library of thousands of books. The Signature Edition comes with 32GB, and you’ll really need to go some to fill that up. Both models support Bluetooth headphones for Audible audiobooks. 

USB-C charging is a very welcome addition, and the Signature Edition adds wireless charging too. It’s a shame Amazon denied the cheaper model that option, as most of us have several Qi charging pads lying around now, and to our mind it’s more a useful feature than one that should be considered premium. 

Display: Warming to it 

As for the display itself, it might be larger than before, but Amazon has kept the pixel density at 300ppi. You’re almost always just looking at text so there’s no need to make it any sharper as far as we’re concerned. The monochrome display is 10% brighter at its max setting compared to the last-gen model, although it’s rare we feel the need to crank it up that much anyway. 

A more significant enhancement is the warm light function, which was added to the Kindle Oasis in 2019, and when employed in conjunction with brightness turns the frontlit display various shades of amber rather than blue, which is much easier on your eyes late at night and at the right setting makes the pages look more like those of a real-life paperback. 

As with the Kindle Oasis before it, there’s no automatic display temperature adjustment like you get with most half-decent smartphones these days, so you’ll probably spend more time fiddling about in the settings to get it right than you’d ideally like to. 

The standard Paperwhite doesn’t have automatic brightness either; you’ll need a Signature Edition for that. But a warmth setting really closes the gap on the Kindle Oasis, so unless you really want the buttons, we’re not sure it’s still worth the extra cash. That is, until a new model is launched, which could happen early next year if we had to guess. 

The biggest strength of the Paperwhite display (and any Kindle display for that matter), though, remains the fact it is gloriously glare-free, which no tablet, no matter how ludicrously powerful, can match. It’s why e-readers are still by far the best way to read books that aren’t bound by paper when outside.

Software: new and improved

Along with most other Kindle models released since 2015, the new Paperwhite features a redesigned user interface that makes navigation easier. A bar at the bottom now lets you quickly hop between the Home screen, your currently open book – displayed by a small cover art icon – and the Library screen. There’s also a prominent search bar at the top for finding a particular book quickly without having to swipe through your entire library. 

You can now swipe down from the top of the screen, smartphone style, to access quick settings like airplane mode, Bluetooth and dark mode, as well as the adjustable brightness and warmth sliders. Amazon has also added the option of having the cover of the book you’re currently reading on the lockscreen, reminding you to get it read. 

All the changes are good ones, although they do relegate the Kindle Store icon to a tiny shopping telly at the top right of the screen. Initially, we were scratching our heads a bit as to how we were supposed to buy books with the new software. 

Otherwise, it’s much the same experience as before. You can swipe up on the Home Screen to see recommended books based on your reading history and active subscriptions. When you’re reading a book it’s easy to look up words, hop to different chapters and change everything from font style and size to page layout and theme. Getting around is still sluggish in comparison to using an iPad, but we’re happy to sacrifice a bit of speed for eye comfort and the lack of other distractions that can make trying to get through a book on a tablet problematic

Performance and battery life: fast reader 

Amazon says page turns on the new Paperwhite are 20% faster than before, and we definitely noticed a bit of speed boost where E Ink refreshing is concerned. Loading books feels slightly snappier too. You still wouldn’t call it zippy, but the days of Kindles feeling slow to the point that using one can actually be a bit of a chore are long gone. 

As for battery life, Amazon says you can expect up to 10 weeks if you’re only reading casually and not getting overzealous with screen brightness. Admittedly we haven’t yet had our review unit for even half of this time, so can’t say either way. 

What we can say for sure is that battery drain is still remarkably slow – a good three or four hours probably won’t see you drop more than a few percent – and even hardcore bibliophiles won’t have to worry about regular trips to the nearest plug socket. If you do somehow kill it without realising, a 9W USB-C charger will juice the Kindle up fully in 2.5 hours.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite verdict

With the redesigned and markedly improved Kindle Paperwhite there’s really no reason why Amazon’s Godzilla-like dominance of the e-reader market won’t continue until the next update. The slightly larger display is just about worth the added heft, while the warm light setting means the gap between the middle child Kindle and the comically expensive Kindle Oasis has never been smaller. We only wish it would pinch it’s flashier brother’s page-turn buttons, too. 

The new interface gets a thumbs-up too, and when it comes to ebook stores Amazon’s enormous library and great value Kindle Unlimited subscription continue to win out. That is, providing you’re happy to buy all your books from Amazon, because it doesn’t make it all that easy to read from other sources. 

The question isn’t whether you should buy a Kindle if you want an e-reader. That is – perhaps sadly – pretty much a given. The question is what model. Well, we’ve always recommended the Paperwhite as the one to go for, and the 2021 model’s enhancements only cement that further. Sure, the Oasis still offers the ultimate non-actual-book experience, but it’s simply not worth the extra £100. Nowhere close now. 

If you have the previous edition and are wondering if it’s worth upgrading, that depends on how much you think the adjustable warm light would improve your reading experience. It’s definitely both nicer to look at and easier on the eye, but we don’t think it’s so essential that you should chuck your old one out of the window immediately. 

Stuff Says…

Score: 5 /5

The Kindle almost everyone should buy remains the Kindle almost everyone should buy

Bigger display

Warm light is a great addition

Positive changes to user interface

USB-C…finally

No buttons for turning pages

Awkwardly positioned power button

Larger size won’t suit everyone

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns

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Upsc prelims 2025: 25 new tricks Kindle Edition

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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CJBQVLNK
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• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 39% 37% 19% 4% 1% 4%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 39% 37% 19% 4% 1% 1%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the plot twists entertaining and unexpected. They describe the book as a great, compelling, and fun read. Readers also appreciate the writing style and character development. They mention the story is nostalgic, whimsical, and exciting. However, some feel the pacing is unexciting, repetitive, and not worth the hype.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the plot twists in the book unexpected and entertaining. They also say the ending is unpredictable and creepy.

"...Sager’s writing is lyrical, incredibly atmospheric, and also downright creepy ...." Read more

"...And I am happy to say that I quite liked it. It was fast read, few unexpected twists and I loved the ending." Read more

"...The ending was very unpredictable but not satisfying. I actually really hated the ending." Read more

"I really love this author and the way each book is its own. This book had mystery , emotions, intrigue. Simply loved and cried bat the end!..." Read more

Customers find the book compelling, fun, and unforgettable. They also say it's a quick read and flows well.

"...It flows so well and can be read so easily that it honestly hardly feels like reading at all, which, to be clear, is a compliment...." Read more

"...And I am happy to say that I quite liked it. It was fast read , few unexpected twists and I loved the ending." Read more

"...Simply loved and cried bat the end! What a great read ." Read more

"...But a not-my-favorite-of-his is still an excellent read !I will anxiously await for book #9 to come out in what I’m sure will be June 2025 🙃..." Read more

Customers find the writing style of the book to be talented. They also say the author is talented.

"...Style: Riley Sager’s writing is lyrical , incredibly atmospheric, and also downright creepy...." Read more

"...Per usual, Sager’s writing is captivating . From the first page until the last, I was engaged and curious what would happen next...." Read more

"...It is the best Riley Sager novel I have read: very well-written : in-depth, relatable characters and vivid details; no typos, which is sadly untrue..." Read more

"...A cross between mystery and who did it! I liked the writing style and will look at other books by this authir.b" Read more

Customers find the characters compelling.

"...The characters were compelling , there was a frank discussion of trauma and how it colors everyone’s lives for decades afterwards, and everyone’s..." Read more

"...Riley Sager novel I have read: very well-written: in-depth, relatable characters and vivid details; no typos, which is sadly untrue of so many..." Read more

"...It's an intoxicating mix of eeriness, character study , and a puzzle to be solved, that makes the book hard to put down...." Read more

"... Always good characters that you can see yourself befriending. One of my favorite authors!" Read more

Customers find the book nostalgic, exciting, and captivating. They say it has whimsical childhood magic and gets their attention right from the beginning.

"I really enjoyed this book - got my attention right from the beginning and kept it throughout, with no slow areas that can sometimes get me bogged..." Read more

"...Henry held a special place in my heart.There is a whimsical childhood magic to this story, as much as there are goosebumps and a mystery..." Read more

"What a fun, chilling, nostalgic , and emotional read...." Read more

"This is Riley Sager’s best book to date.It’s creepy, yet exciting , with many twists.It’s written in a duel timeline...." Read more

Customers find the pacing of the book unexciting, repetitive, and not worth the hype. They also mention the ending is rushed and not well-thought-out.

"...The ending was very unpredictable but not satisfying . I actually really hated the ending." Read more

"...I like the paranormal aspects, but overall it was unexciting . If you enjoy missing person cases and a whodunnit vibe, this is for you...." Read more

"...if the payoff is good, but I felt the ending was rushed and not well thought out . Still worth a read, but definitely not Riley Sager's best." Read more

"This book hooked me from the start. But then felt repetitive . I will say I was invested enough to keep going and I was shook when the ending Came...." Read more

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