The very best ereaders for 2026

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

Learn our full Kobo Clara Colour review

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

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

Full-color pages remind me of comedian ebook artwork from the ‘60s, muted however saturated. Shade makes ebook covers extra attractive and provides slightly selection to headings, and tables in some non-fiction books. It’s actually not a crucial function, but it surely provides vibrance and it’s enjoyable. 

There’s a slight distinction in readability between the colour and non-color model of the Clara. If you happen to look carefully, you’ll be able to see a little bit of noise on the white components of the web page. That is as a result of added coloration filter layer. It is not distracting and solely one thing I observed when evaluating the 2 generations side-by-side. but when absolute readability is your main objective, it’s possible you’ll be higher off with a non-color ereader.

In all probability the extra helpful improve right here is the twin 2GHz processor, a bump from the Clara 2E’s 1GHz CPU. There’s a noticeable enchancment within the velocity of the web page turns and navigating from the menu to the web page and again once more is sort of instantaneous. As with the 2E, the Color not often errors a swipe for a faucet or a web page flip gesture for a menu request.

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

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

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

Rakuten nonetheless makes the Kobo Clara BW, which is sort of similar to our earlier “finest general” choose. It does not undergo from the slight readability loss that the colour overlay presents, but it surely additionally nonetheless has the older processor.   

In fact, for those who already personal a mountain of Kindle books, it’s possible you’ll wish to follow Amazon’s system. In that case, the perfect Kindle is Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite. It prices $160 and was not too long ago up to date with a extra highly effective processor and new E Ink tech that makes it exceptionally speedy whereas displaying high-contrast textual content. The nice and cozy gentle is nice and the flush entrance display screen feels premium.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Display measurement: 6.13” | Decision: 300 ppi B&W, 150 ppi coloration | Capability: 128GB | Water-resistant: Sure, splashes and spills | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No | Textual content codecs: PDF, CAJ, DJVU, CBR, CBZ, EPUB, EPUB3, AZW3, MOBI, TXT, DOC, DOCX, FB2, CHM, RTF, HTML, ZIP, PRC, PPT, PPTX

Boox doesn’t name its an ereader. As a substitute, the palmable rectangle is marketed as a cell e-paper gadget. In use, I discover it splits the distinction between an excellent moveable E Ink pill and a . That is the third gadget from Boox to undertake a cell phone design and it’s essentially the most superior but.

To start out, it makes use of a Kaleido 3 E Ink show (the identical tech you’ll discover within the Kindle Colorsoft and different coloration ereaders). And the brand new integration with the model’s InkSense stylus turns the display screen right into a responsive pocket book for handwritten notes. However the extra thrilling function is the addition of 5G knowledge capabilities. The Palma 2 Professional has a SIM tray that may help twin data-only SIM playing cards or one subscriber ID module and one microSD card to develop the storage as much as 2TB.

Knowledge-only connectivity enables you to use the Palma whenever you’re away out of your Wi-Fi alerts, however you received’t be capable to textual content or name. In fact, messaging by means of Sign, Telegram or no matter different app you favor is totally potential, because of the underlying Android 15 working system and built-in Google Play Retailer. You’ll be able to obtain any app out there there, however you shouldn’t count on to play high-speed video games or stream exhibits. I used the brand new Palma to do easy issues like play the Wordle, take heed to an audiobook with Libby and take a look at evaluations of a brand new espresso store on Google Maps.

There’s a subtler, quieter really feel to searching on an E Ink display screen than on the neon blare of my iPhone. Every part nonetheless works, however the refresh charge is sluggish, so you’ll be able to’t comfortably watch Reels or velocity scroll by means of Bluesky posts. Pages take a second to load and that small pause is typically sufficient to interrupt the spell most smartphones have over us.

In fact, it additionally works nice as an ereader. You’ll be able to learn on any e book reader app, like Kindle, Kobo, Libby, Google Play Books, Moon+ and so forth. The touchscreen response is correct, making web page turns fast and the backlight is heat for snug studying. If you happen to’re attempting out a scrolling weight-reduction plan, you possibly can pair the Palma with a data-only plan — a few of which go for as little as $10 a month — and nonetheless keep considerably (however not overly) related whilst you’re out and about. 

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

Learn our full Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review

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

Each the usual and Signature fashions have heat entrance lights that solid a beautiful glow throughout a display screen that’s slightly bigger now at 7-inches (up from 6.8 final time). The battery life is longer, promising as much as 12 weeks (as an alternative of 10), that means you’ll not often have to cost your ereader. Regardless of that, the Paperwhite fashions are literally three millimeters thinner than the earlier era (and only a contact heavier).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Urgent and holding the button on the aspect of the stylus highlights textual content whereas flipping it round erases. I by accident pressed the button a couple of instances after I was attempting to jot down, however I acquired used to the location after a couple of minutes of utilizing it. You’ll be able to choose from 4 completely different highlighter colours and consider your written notes and spotlighted textual content within the notes part of any title — which I might see being fairly helpful for ebook membership reads, faculty assignments or simply refreshing your self on a previous learn earlier than you dive into the sequel.

Be aware-taking within the margins or straight on the textual content labored on each ebook I attempted. Although I ought to level out that for those who change the font measurement in a ebook, your handwritten notes can be transformed to a sticky note-type field. Going again to the unique font restores your authentic annotations.

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

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

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

Shade E Ink screens are the “new” factor in ereaders — although the tech has been commercially out there since around 2010. E Ink introduced its Kaleido 3 show in 2022, and with the fitting mixture of coloration saturation and readability, it’s now interesting sufficient for normal consumption. Now Boox, Kobo and, at last, Amazon all have fashions with coloration screens.

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

For the reason that Go Shade 7 runs on a fork of Android 12, it acts extra like a pill than a standard ereader. Like all Boox units, this method is finest suited to the tech-savvy. In contrast to a Kindle or Kobo, which come preconfigured with a retailer to purchase books, in addition to straightforward borrowing out of your native library system, Boox ereaders supply little hand-holding in setup and utilization. Whereas there’s a retailer, it’s made up of public area titles — most individuals will learn books by importing ePubs manually. Or, extra possible, you’ll learn on a third-party ereader app like Kobo, Kindle, Libby and others, which you’ll obtain from the built-in Google Play retailer.

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

The Go Collection readers are impressively customizable, with programmable buttons and fine-tunable settings. Boox users have created APK recordsdata to tweak and enhance the expertise additional. The gadget even has a microphone and audio system, and may run apps like Spotify. In brief, the Go Shade 7 can do way over a typical ereader can, for those who’re prepared to experiment.

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

The gentle and muted colours have a saturated seem like watercolors or outdated comedian ebook illustrations. Evaluating the identical ebook cowl on the Kobo Clara Color and this, the Boox hues do look a contact grainier and fewer wealthy. However that’s a small sacrifice for those who want an ereader that may do way over simply carry your books round.