The quick list
1. Best overall
2. Best budget
3. Best for note taking
4. Best for audiobooks
5. Best Kindle alternative
FAQs
Picking the best Kindle for your digital reading needs is rather simple – currently there are 5 models to choose from, and one of them is aging and slowly being phased out. Moreover, Amazon isn't known for refreshing its Kindle range on a yearly basis as Kobo does, so if you don't need too many bells and whistles from your ereader, the base Amazon Kindle would be a no-brainer.
However, if you do want more from your Kindle than being just a simple reading device, you will need to decide exactly what else you want from it and how much you're willing to spend on it. For example, you can get water resistance with the Kindle Paperwhite but not wireless charging – for the latter, you will need the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.
Need to take notes? The only option here is the 10-inch Kindle Scribe. Want an ergonomic ereader? You'll have to consider the now-aging Kindle Oasis. There's even a dedicated Kindle for kids but availability is limited to US customers only.
We've put together this guide to help you figure out which of these Kindles does what and if they're worth your money. That said, the best time to pick up a new Kindle device would be during Amazon Prime Day (either in July or October) when the entire range usually gets a significant discount.
Recent updates
September 3, 2024: We've added a new category to provide information on a Kindle alternative, plus we've checked the availability and pricing of all the other models in this guide.
While she spearheads the day-to-day functioning of the TechRadar editorial team in the APAC region, Sharmishta spends every free minute she gets reading. It's what got her interested in ereaders in the first place and, over the last few years has managed to test a wide variety of these epaper devices, including several Kindles. She's even appeared on Singaporean radio a couple of times to speak about these underrated tablets.
The quick list
Below you'll find a quick list of the main best Kindles that we recommend you buy right now. But for more details, read on for further product breakdowns and links to the full reviews, where you can read how we put these Kindles to the test. Our price comparison tool will also flag the latest Kindle deals that are worth your attention.
Best overall
The Kindle Paperwhite hits the sweet spot between price and performance: it's water resistant and has a better backlight than the basic Kindle. Battery life is excellent, too, and can often be picked up for a great discount.
Best budget
The basic Kindle is fine for most people, including students, as long as you won't get it wet. Amazon upgraded the backlight so it's almost as bright as the Kindle Paperwhite, and the screen is just as sharp. It also comes with 16GB of storage, which is plenty.
Best for note taking
Whether you want to read on a big screen, or you want to write, doodle, and journal, the Kindle Scribe is a powerful ereader. It isn't water resistant, so take care, but its features put this Kindle in a whole different class, not to mention its large, bright display.
Best for audiobooks
The Signature Edition offers upgrades over the standard Paperwhite, including wireless charging and an auto-adjusting light. It also offers 32GB of storage, making it ideal for storing audiobooks.
Best Kindle alternative
If you're not too enthused about getting stuck within Amazon's ecosystem, your best alternative is to opt for a Kobo ereader and the Clara BW gets the latest screen tech in compact package.
The best Kindle 2024
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Below you'll find details for each of the best Kindles in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best Kindle overall
The Amazon Paperwhite is the ideal electronic book reader, and you can take it just about anywhere. In fact, with 16GB of internal storage, you can carry an entire library around with you. And thanks to its IPX8 waterproofing, you can read in the bathtub, or by the pool, with less worry than you'd have holding a paperback.
If you like reading in bed, the Paperwhite will adjust to a warm backlight to make your eyes more comfortable. Reading on a Kindle's ultra-sharp display is already more comfy than reading on your phone or iPad, and the Paperwhite has plenty of backlight for reading any time, day or night.
The current Paperwhite model was released in 2021, so it's not brand-spanking new anymore, but it's the best Paperwhite yet. With a 6.8-inch screen, it's bigger than any of its 6-inch predecessors and it got a better battery too, so you can easily read for up to 10 weeks within charges. It was also the first ereader to get an USB-C port for charging and file transfers, setting the standard for other brands to follow.
As with any Kindle ereader, the Paperwhite allows you access Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited if you have a subscription, plus you can log into your Audible account to listen to audiobooks via a set of paired wireless headphones. There's even text-to-voice available if you don't have an Audible account and want your books read to you.
Read the full Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review
The best budget Kindle
The base model Kindle is no slouch, and the upgrades to the latest edition (released in 2022) have made it arguably the best bargain-priced ereader ever. Keep an eye on that price, too, because Amazon loves to put this ereader on sale whenever it throws a Prime Day party.
The screen on the Kindle is now just as sharp as every other Kindle display – a full 300 pixels per inch (to compare, the mighty iPad Pro is only 265 ppi). That's the best upgrade you can give a reading device, but keep in mind the screen size (6 inches) remains the same and some users might find that too small, especially if they like to keep the font size bigger. This means you'll be turning pages quicker and that can eat into the battery life.
Speaking of which, you can easily get up to four weeks of daily reading from a single charge, if not longer, but you will want to keep it away from water. The base Kindle is not waterproof. Otherwise, you still get 16GB of storage, which is plenty of space for a ton of books, magazines, and even audiobooks.
We'd also recommend this Kindle for kids – Amazon has sleepcovers that make this very kid-friendly. It's also a good consideration for students, at schools and universities, as it's an affordable ereader that can support some text book files, plus it's tough enough to be thrown into a backpack with other school supplies.
Read the full Amazon Kindle (2022) review
The best Kindle for note taking
The Kindle Scribe is an amazing device when you realize all it can do. It's a full-fledged Kindle with the biggest and brightest reading screen, but it doesn't sacrifice that great Kindle sharpness, so text still looks super crisp. If you like reading on a screen the size of an iPad but want Kindle comfort, the Kindle Scribe is your best bet.
You can also write on the Kindle Scribe, and Amazon has been steadily improving the writing and doodling features, adding more pen styles since launch. There's also a special section of the Kindle book store with books you can write on if you own a Kindle Scribe. The selection is mostly crossword puzzles and semi-blank daily journals, but it's growing and shows a lot of potential.
The Scribe may seem pricey for a Kindle, but it's a great deal for a writing tablet this size, and Amazon does love to put Kindle devices on sale. If you want to take notes, especially if your textbooks are available for Kindle, this is the only Kindle to buy.
Read the full Amazon Kindle Scribe review
The best Kindle for audiobooks
If you love audiobooks along with your reading and you can splurge a bit, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition is worth considering. For a bit more money (but still less than the fancy Kindle Oasis), you get twice the storage space. This Kindle Paperwhite can also charge wirelessly, if you have a bedside charger that you like, though the battery should also last weeks, just like every other Kindle.
That extra storage space comes in handy if you like audiobooks. A long, unabridged book is usually between 100-200MB of storage space, so having tons of tomes or podcast episodes can add up quickly. The Kindle Paperwhite is a great vacation and travel device, and having the extra space means you definitely won't run out of reading (or listening) material, no matter how long you're away for.
Otherwise, this is the exact same Kindle Paperwhite, with the same water resistance and the same sharp 6.8-inch display. It's not quite as bright and premium as the Kindle Oasis – which is now an aging device from 2019 – but it's much brighter than the base model Kindle.
Read the full Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review
The best Kindle alternative
The first mainstream ereader to get the latest in E Ink screen technology, the Kobo Clara BW boasts a 6-inch Carta 1300 display. That means it's a faster, more responsive display than any of the Kindles listed here, plus it adds more contrast that makes it a lot easier to read anything on the monochrome screen.
It's other party trick that no Kindle possesses is that it's repairable – Kobo has partnered with iFixit to provide both spare parts and instructions on how to self-repair the ereader, which should extend the life of the device further and keep it out of the landfill. In fact, 80% of this tablet's chassis is recycled plastic, and the packaging is fully bio-degradable, including the ink used to print on it.
Essentially competing with both the base Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite, the Clara BW gets you IPX8 waterproofing and 16GB of onboard storage, with battery life similar to the base Kindle.
While you can use the Kindles to borrow from select public libraries, this option is only available to US customers. Kobo's partnership with Libby, however, expands that to other regions thanks to the baked-in OverDrive support. If you read long-form web articles offline via Pocket, you can access these on the Clara BW by signing into your account.
Audiobook support is also available, although the Kobos can only play those purchased from the Kobo Store or downloaded via a Kobo Plus subscription.
Read the full Kobo Clara BW review
Frequently asked questions about Kindles
How to choose the best Kindle for you
The basic Amazon Kindle is a fine ereader, and will likely be enough for most people. If you like to read in the bath, or if you take your Kindle to the beach, you'll want a Kindle Paperwhite. That device can get wet, it can even handle a little salt water.
All Kindle ereaders can hold thousands of books, but if you plan on using your Kindle for audiobooks, you should upgrade to a model with 32GB or more storage.
What about Kindle Kids, is it worth buying?
No, not if you already have a library of books for your kids, or if you have specific books in mind you want them to read. It isn't worth the premium just for the colorful cover, so make sure you'll put the Kindle Kids Unlimited library to good use, or else it's worth buying the non-Kids version.
We're not including the Kindle Kids options on this list because the Kindle you get isn't different if you buy the 'Kids' version. If you get the Kindle Paperwhite Kids, you get the exact same Kindle Paperwhite.
How we test the best Kindles
We read. We read a lot, and we read every day. We use our Kindle devices to read books from Amazon, and we also use accounts from our local libraries to load free ebooks onto our Kindle. We also have a selection of documents and files that we use to test the clarity of the Kindle display, and the ease of transferring our own files.
We are also avid audiobook fans, and keep a subscription to Audible that feeds us new books monthly. We use our Kindle for listening to books, and occasionally for reading and listening at the same time, depending on content.
We read at all times of day, on the train, by the bed, in the bath, and wherever we find the time. We love to read, and we test our Kindle devices doing what we love.
- If you're a fan of Amazon but want a bit more color, check out our list of the best Amazon Fire tablets
