Best E-Readers

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) sits at #1 in the S tier of our consolidated board, ranked across independent research runs over current expert reviews. Universal critical consensus plus waterproofing, mature firmware, and the best replacement/support infrastructure in the category. The safest multi-year buy.

Amazon Kindle (2024) ranks #2 (A tier). Wirecutter's top pick; dead-simple hardware with almost nothing to fail, and years of updates ahead.

Our research places Onyx Boox Go Color 7 (Gen II), Onyx Boox Palma 2 Pro, PocketBook Verse Pro, Amazon Kindle Colorsoft, Kobo Elipsa 2E, Amazon Kindle Scribe (2022), reMarkable Paper Pro, PocketBook Era in the bottom tiers (D/F). Capable Android reader, but the same Boox longevity caveats apply, and the Libra Colour beats it on repairability.

An e-reader is a dedicated reading device with an e-ink screen that reflects light like paper instead of shining a backlight into your eyes. That is why it stays readable in direct sun, weighs less than a tablet and runs for weeks rather than hours on a charge. The trade-off is that it does one thing: the screen refreshes slowly, most models are monochrome, and there is no app store worth using. If you mainly want to read books, an e-reader is the better tool. If you want video, email and games as well, buy a tablet and accept the shorter battery and glare.

Buy a Kindle if you want the largest support network and the simplest ownership, and a Kobo if you want buttons, open formats and a device you can repair. On our board the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) is the top pick on the strength of consensus reviews and Amazon's replacement pipeline, and the Amazon Kindle (2024) is the cheapest reliable option. The Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara BW sit in A tier with a repairable 2024 design and no store lock-in, and lose to the Paperwhite only because Kobo's service network is smaller. If you already own a Kindle library, stay with Kindle. If you borrow from the library a lot or buy books from several stores, Kobo is the easier fit.

Most readers should pick a 6 to 7 inch screen, which is the size of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024), the Kobo Libra Colour and the Kobo Clara BW. It fits in a coat pocket, holds in one hand and shows about a paperback page at a comfortable font size. Go to a 10 inch class device like the Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025) only if you need to write notes or read PDFs at full page width, and accept that large pen devices have more to go wrong. The phone-sized Onyx Boox Palma 2 is a niche choice for a reader that lives in your trouser pocket, not a primary device for most people.

For most book reading, no. The colour layer on current e-ink panels slightly reduces text contrast and the board's research notes that monochrome panels age better. On our board the Kobo Clara Colour ranks below its monochrome twin the Kobo Clara BW for exactly that reason, and the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft sits in F tier after a launch screen defect that halted shipments. Colour makes sense if you read comics, magazines or illustrated children's books, in which case the Kobo Libra Colour is the A tier choice. If you read novels, save the money and buy monochrome.

A well-made e-reader lasts five years or more, and the board's community-reported figures for the Kobo Clara BW run from four or five years minimum to a decade. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) has an excellent multi-year survival record, and the Amazon Kindle (2024) has fewer parts than any rival, which is why both are rated as safe multi-year buys. The practical limits are the battery, which loses capacity over years of charging, and software updates, which stop first on the devices Amazon or Kobo no longer sell. The Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara BW have replaceable batteries and screens, which extends their useful life past the others.

The common failures are a cracked or dead screen, a battery that no longer holds charge and software that stops getting updates. The e-ink panel is glass and does not survive a drop onto a corner, so a case matters more than it does on a phone. On our board the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft earned an F partly for a yellow-band screen defect at launch, and the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 (Gen II) and Onyx Boox Palma 2 Pro are marked down for firmware support that slows after year two. Pen devices such as the Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025) add a stylus and a larger panel, which means more to break.

Amazon, on the evidence of this board. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) and Amazon Kindle (2024) hold the top two places on mature firmware, years of updates ahead and the deepest replacement pipeline in the category. Kobo is a close second, with the Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara BW in A tier and a repairable design that Amazon does not offer, held back only by a smaller service network. Onyx Boox and PocketBook make capable hardware but both are marked down for warranty service that routes overseas and firmware attention that fades, so they suit tinkerers rather than people who want a device to just work.

You do if you read in the bath, by a pool or on a beach, which is where e-readers get used most. IPX8 means the device survives being submerged in fresh water for a while, not that it should be swum with, and salt or soapy water should still be rinsed off. On our board the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) and PocketBook Era carry IPX8 ratings and the Kobo Clara Colour is waterproof too. The reMarkable Paper Pro has no waterproofing at all, one of several reasons it sits in F tier as a reading device.

Yes on every major brand, but the route differs. Kobo readers have OverDrive library borrowing built into the device, so you can search and borrow without a computer, which is one reason the board calls the Kobo Libra Colour the best long-term buy outside the Amazon ecosystem. Kindles borrow through your library's Libby or OverDrive app and send the book to the device, which works but is only offered in some countries. Android readers like the Onyx Boox Palma 2 run the Libby app directly. The reMarkable Paper Pro has no OverDrive support at all.

Only if you will actually write on it every week. On our board the Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025) is the right big-screen buy for people who want a pen, backed by Amazon's update record on the first Scribe, but it sits in C tier because large pen devices have more to go wrong than plain readers. The Kobo Elipsa 2E is in F tier on 2023 internals and a previous-generation panel at near-flagship money, and the Amazon Kindle Scribe (2022) is superseded. The reMarkable Paper Pro is a beautifully built note slate, not an e-reader, with no store and no library borrowing. If reading is the main job, buy a 7 inch reader and a paper notebook.

Avoid superseded models sold on old buying guides, first-generation colour panels with a defect history, and brands whose warranty means posting the device overseas. On our board the Amazon Kindle Scribe (2022) is the superseded example, the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft is the defect example, and the PocketBook Verse Pro and Onyx Boox Palma 2 Pro are the thin-warranty examples. Do not pay flagship money for a note slate if you want to read books: the reMarkable Paper Pro is outclassed as a reader by the Kobo Libra Colour at a third of the price. And check the device is current, because buying an older model starts you years into its update cycle.