Comparing Our Favorite E-Readers
Honorable Mentions
Below, find a few more e-readers I like but don’t necessarily love as much as my top picks.
Boox Go 7 ($270) and Boox Go Color 7 ($290): Boox is known for its wide range of e-paper tablets, including the Boox Go 6 (Gen II) I recommend above. If you’re looking for something a little larger with a similar Android-based experience, the Go 7 and Go Color 7 are both solid choices. There are page-turner buttons, and it’s a nice square shape that’s easy to hold and use. If you, like me, don’t use color features a ton, it’s worth saving the extra money on the black-and-white model. Regardless, it’s great that the price difference between the two models isn’t steep.
Boox Palma 2 for $316: This is a fun, pocket-sized device, with fingerprint recognition, a faster CPU, and a newer version of Android than previous models. Former WIRED reviewer Adrienne So loved using it with the Kindle app, but she wishes it cost less. It’s currently unavailable and has been for a while; I’m not sure it’ll come back in stock, but the Boox Palma 2 Pro ($400) is next on my list to test.
The Kindle Colorsoft.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Kindle Colorsoft Signature for $280 and Kindle Colorsoft ($250): The Kindle Colorsoft Signature (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is Amazon’s first Kindle with a color screen. It has a screen with an oxide backplane, which Amazon says delivers strong contrast and image quality. It also has custom-formulated coatings and nitride LEDs for brightness and color accuracy. But the screen is capped at 150 ppi for color images, versus 300 ppi for black-and-white, making the reading experience a little fuzzier than on the latest Paperwhite. Processing color images takes much longer than black-and-white ones on the Paperwhite, and the Colorsoft is missing features that are basically standard on other color e-readers, like page-turn buttons and stylus support. It’s not a bad Kindle, and color does enrich the e-reading experience, but I suggest waiting for a discount during an Amazon sale event.
Kindle Scribe (2nd Gen, 2024) for $400: The second-generation Kindle Scribe (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great option if you want an e-reader that doubles as a digital notebook while staying within the Kindle ecosystem. It has a 10.2-inch (300 ppi) paper-like display with features like an adjustable warm light and an auto-adjusting front light. The included Premium Pen also has a soft-tipped eraser (mimicking that of a No.2 pencil). With the Active Canvas feature and expandable margins, you can also mark up ebooks and write notes in the side panel. Amazon has launched three new Kindle Scribe models since this one, but this older edition remains my favorite Kindle e-reader with digital-notebook capabilities.
Kindle Scribe (3rd Gen, 2025) for $500: The latest Kindle Scribe (7/10, WIRED Recommends) arrived in December 2025 with a color version. It also has a new exterior design that does away with the single thicker side and standardizes bezels and frames across all sizes. It has a new homepage design that simplifies accessing your latest books and notebooks, plus a quick-notes capability that lets you pin a note to your homepage for easy note-taking. It also has a new set of AI features that can provide summaries and even send your notes to an Alexa+-powered speaker so you can ask questions about them. Overall, though, these features aren’t necessary and just drive up the price. The older Kindle Scribe (2nd Gen) is still my preferred option if you want a Kindle e-reader that doubles as a digital notebook.
Kindle Scribe (3rd Gen) on the left, and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft on the right.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Kindle Scribe Colorsoft for $630: Amazon brought the color screen to the Kindle Scribe late last year, with a redesigned exterior to match the new third-gen Kindle Scribe. The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft (7/10, WIRED Recommends) works exactly as you’d expect, with a range of colors and tools you can use on the notebooks and while reading your books. There are also several AI features, which is part of why it’s so pricey. I think it’s too expensive for not being able to transform into an e-paper laptop like the ReMarkable Paper Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends), but if you really wanted to stick with Kindle and have a colorful digital notebook and e-reader in one device, this is the one to get.
Kindle Scribe Without Front Light for $430: This is the third and final installment of Amazon’s latest generation of Kindle Scribes. It’s similar to the new base Kindle Scribe (3rd Generation), but it removes the front light and wireless charging. It has a max storage of 16 GB instead of the 32- and 64-GB options the 2025 Kindle Scribes offer. You can save some money with these cuts, but the loss of a front light is a pain if you’re a night reader like I am. If you want a cheaper Kindle Scribe, I still prefer the second-generation model, though you’ll lose out on AI reading features and the ability to connect to Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.
Nook GlowLight 4 Plus for $200: The 4 Plus is the only waterproof Nook in the lineup, and it has the biggest screen at 7.8 inches, along with 32 GB of storage. It also has physical page-turn buttons and a headphone jack for listening to audiobooks (you can also connect wireless earbuds via Bluetooth). Unfortunately, it was often slower than my Kindle and tended to freeze. While the large library has cheap and even free ebooks, it’s not as good of a selection as Kindle Unlimited. The process of getting a book from the library on a Nook is also frustrating. You’ll need to download either Adobe Digital Editions or Android File Transfer before physically connecting the device to your computer and then transferring the files.
Nook 9-inch Lenovo Tablet for $150: If you mainly read cookbooks or other color-intensive materials, and you want a dedicated reader, you might want to consider this affordable tablet from Nook and Lenovo, which has the Nook app built in. It’s a tablet rather than an e-paper device like the rest of the gadgets in this guide, so you’ll lose the E Ink screen and the distraction-free nature of an e-reader. You can at least turn off notifications while in certain apps, which I recommend doing for the Nook app. It uses Android 13 OS, and it’s not built for heavy work, like video or photo editing.
Xteink X4 for $69 and X3 for $69: These are similar to the Xteink X4 Pro above when it comes to the app and basic capabilities, but you’ll lose out on the touchscreen, home button, and front light. Instead, there are more buttons, providing a Tamagotchi-like experience as you tap them to go back and forth between menus and pages of your reading material. The X3 is super small, with just a 3.7-inch screen that fits on the back of my iPhone 16 Pro, and it has stronger magnets to put itself into place. But the standard X4 is more comfortable to read on than the X3 since it’s larger (and won’t require quite as many page turns, though it’ll still need a lot) with a 4.3-inch screen, like the X4 Pro above.
FAQs
Ebooks can be cheap, but as with regular books, the cost can add up if you’re a big reader. To keep costs low, take advantage of your library card and check out ebooks instantly from the comfort of your home. We have a detailed guide that explains How to Get Free Kindle Books With Your Library Card, but the short version is that most libraries distribute books via OverDrive. You can access these books a few ways: through Kindle or directly from OverDrive with a Kobo, or you can download the Libby app. These ebooks are automatically removed from your device and returned to the library when they’re due.
Each e-reader’s own book service varies in quality. My favorite is Kindle Unlimited for $12 a month, which includes millions of titles, including audiobooks and magazines. Amazon’s Prime Reading also offers a handful of free books every month, which is good to know if you already have a Prime account. You can even lend books to friends and family for a short while (or have them share a book with you). For more details on each option, check out our guide to the Best Ebook Subscription Services here.
What File Formats Do E-Readers Support?
The most widely used format is ePub, which works natively with all the e-readers in this guide except for Kindle—technically. You can still upload ePub files to your Kindle, but you’ll have to use the “Send to Kindle” feature (through Amazon, your email, or the Kindle app) to convert it to Amazon’s proprietary format called AZW. (Newer Kindles support AZW3 and KFX, specifically). Other formats that will work with these e-readers include PDF, TXT, HTML, DOC, and DOCX.
Can I Install Apps on an E-Reader?
Kindle, Kobo, and Nook all use proprietary operating systems that don’t allow you to install third-party apps. The Boox, on the other hand, runs Android (mainly Android 11 and newer). That means you can use it to download any apps available in the Google Play Store or side-load apps from your computer.
Do You Need an E-Reader? What About a Phone or Tablet?
You don’t have to buy a separate device to read ebooks. Smartphones and tablets are perfect for this purpose. You can use Amazon’s Kindle app to read ebooks (iOS, Android) and download OverDrive’s Libby app (iOS, Android) for library-book access. However, the E Ink screens found in e-readers are just nicer to look at. I also like that these devices are one-trick ponies; there are no distracting notifications or social media feeds ripe for doomscrolling.
If you’d still rather have one smart device you can use for reading and other purposes, take a look at our Best Tablets and Best iPads guides for recommendations.
What About a Digital Notebook?
I’ve tried just about every digital notebook on the market; these devices are designed for handwritten notes on an E Ink screen. E-readers with that capability usually still prioritize reading, though there are plenty of models I like that can do both. The Kobo Libra Colour is my favorite option for annotating books, and it can double as a small digital notebook. If you want a larger option, check out my full guide to every digital notebook I’ve tested.
The most important step I take when testing e-readers is to read on them! I spend hours reading books acquired in a variety of formats, including books I purchased directly from each brand’s store, downloaded from local libraries via OverDrive/Libby, and PDFs acquired for free from God knows where.
In the process, I evaluate battery life, brightness, performance lag, screen responsiveness, and text sharpness. I check for extra tools, like whether the tablet in question accommodates accessories like a stylus. I also note features like waterproofing, annotation capability, and access to exclusive subscription services.
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