The Best Ebook Readers

Medea Giordano












I dearly love a paperback book that I can bend, touch, smell, and display on my bookshelf when I'm done. But there's no doubt that ebook readers (also called e-readers) make life easier--they might just make you read more too. E-readers let you carry thousands of books or dozens of audiobooks in a single, slim, rectangular tablet; they have paperlike screens that are easy on the eyes; and they won't inundate you with distracting notifications. Books can also be expensive and take up a lot of physical space, but that's not a problem with ebooks. Even better, you can check out digital books from a library without leaving your house.
Naturally, when you hear "e-reader," you might think Kindle. Amazon makes the best ebook reader, which is why we have a separate Best Kindles guide that breaks down the entire lineup. But there are a few Kindle alternatives out there in case you don't want to support Amazon or you just want a different set of features. WIRED's Gear team has spent months, if not years, reading on these tablets--these are our favorites.
Updated January 2023: We've added the Kindle Scribe as an option if you also need to take notes, and we've added more about kid-specific options from Amazon.
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Amazon's Kindles are the best e-readers around. It's dead simple to get new ebooks from Amazon directly, and the Overdrive integration makes it easy to check out books from a local library instantly. E Ink screens in most ebook readers are a little slow when you interact with them, but Kindles are some of the most responsive devices on the market. It's worth noting that Kindles almost always see steep discounts a few times a year, particularly on Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday, so try to wait for a sale.
Any of the models in Amazon's current lineup is better than the competition, but the latest Kindle Paperwhite is my favorite. I reviewed the Signature Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends), but the standard $140 model is quite capable too. I recommend paying a little extra for no ads. Both are waterproof, so you can read in the pool or tub without worry, and the 6.8-inch screens also have adjustable warm lighting so you can read in bed. The Signature supports wireless charging, has a front light that can adjust automatically, and has more storage at 32 gigabytes. But the 8 GB on the standard Paperwhite is plenty--it can hold thousands of books. There's a Paperwhite Kids Edition too, which we recommend below.
Check out our Best Kindles guide for more advice and recommendations.
Best Kindles

Don't want to give your hard-earned money to Amazon? A Kobo is your next-best option. The company (owned by Japanese retailer Rakuten) currently has five e-readers for you to choose from, all of which sit somewhere between $110 and $400.
Most people should go for the Kobo Libra 2. It's waterproof, has physical page-turn buttons (a feature I really like), and there's Bluetooth support so you can connect headphones and listen to audiobooks. Kobo slates have Overdrive integration, which makes reading library books simple, like on the Kindle. You get 32 gigabytes of storage and a speedy 7-inch E Ink screen, which has an adjustable front light and even a dark mode that offers up white text on a black background to make reading in the dark easier on the eyes. If you prefer, you can even read it in landscape mode. WIRED editor Adrienne So says the Kobo is still slower than the Kindle's screen--it took her quite some time to type up her account credentials and log in.

Barnes and Noble put its Nook e-readers on the back burner for a while, but two releases in 2022 prove it's giving it the old college try again. The Glowlight 4e is a pleasure to read on, and I love the physical page-turn buttons. The bookstore also offers a bunch of cheap ebooks--after binging the True Blood TV series, I found the books that inspired it for just $3.
However, the process of trying to get a book from the library on a Nook is so frustrating that I had to put it down and come back at a later time with a cooler head. I recommend reading the full description in the booklet that comes in the box, but basically, you'll need to install Adobe Digital Editions on your computer and make sure you're signed in to your Adobe ID on your Nook before connecting it physically and transferring files. It feels very old school.

You don't necessarily need a kid-specific e-reader, so you should go with whichever one you can afford. However, if you're like us and prefer Kindle's interface and ease of use, the brand has two specific models for tots. Both come with a free cover, a year of Amazon Kids+, and a two-year worry-free warranty--if your kids are particularly accident-prone, you may appreciate this. A parent dashboard lets you adjust age filters and monitor reading progress too. Both come with their internet browsers restricted by default, and you can disable it if you'd like.
The Paperwhite Kids ($160) is waterproof and has the same adjustable warm light that the standard Paperwhite has--it also gets bright, with 17 LEDs. However, this price is only for 8 GB of storage. The newest base Kindle Kids ($120) has double the storage for $40 less, but it isn't waterproof and doesn't have adjustable warm light.
Paperwhite Kids ($160)
Kindle Kids ($120)
Reece Rogers
Simon Hill
WIRED Staff
Simon Hill

We've tried a few e-ink tablets meant for taking "handwritten" notes that can be organized and searched digitally. These two e-readers add that capability but still prioritize reading. The downside is the prices.
The $340 Kindle Scribe (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and $400 Kobo Elipsa are just plain fun, thanks to the included styluses that allow you to mark up PDFs, create notebooks, and doodle. Both have whopping screens: 10.3 and 10.2 inches, respectively. Kobo lets you mark up books directly, while the Scribe only allows you to make Post-it notes--I wanted the Kindle to allow direct writing too.
$340 Kindle Scribe
$400 Kobo Elipsa

If the above options aren't doing it for you, the below picks are ones we also really like. However, it's worth considering old Kindles, Kobos, and Nooks if you can find them for dirt cheap (or free). They're likely fine for reading, though the older they get the slower they may be, with less efficient batteries and laggy screens. See if you can test it out first in person before you buy.
Amazon Kindle for $100: The 2022 version of the basic Kindle is the smallest of that lineup, and it gets 16 gigabytes of storage--double what the last version had--but it isn't waterproof. It has a front light that makes it readable in a dark room, and it includes Bluetooth for listening to audiobooks with headphones.
Amazon Kindle for $100
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Barnes & Noble Glowlight 4 for $150: This ebook reader has 32 gigs of storage, which is a good deal more than the Glowlight 4E (8 GB), and it has a night mode for more comfortable reading.
Barnes & Noble Glowlight 4 for $150
:

You don't have to buy a separate device to read ebooks. Smartphones and tablets are perfectly viable for this purpose. You can use Amazon's Kindle app to read ebooks (iOS, Android), and even download OverDrive's Libby app (iOS, Android) for library book access anywhere as well. However, the E Ink screens found in e-readers are just plain nicer to look at--there's no getting around that fact. I also like that these devices are one-trick ponies; there are no notifications to be distracted by or social media feeds to doomscroll through.
If you'd still rather have one smart device you can read on and use for other purposes, take a look at our Best Tablets and Best iPads guides for recommendations.
Reece Rogers
Simon Hill
WIRED Staff
Simon Hill

Ebooks can be cheap, but the cost can add up if you're rapidly flying through the digital pages. You should 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 library books, but most library branches use OverDrive, making it quite simple. These ebooks are automatically removed from your device and returned to the library when they're due.
There are a few Kindle-specific ways to get free ebooks too, if that's the device you end up with. You can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for $10 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).
Julian Chokkattu
Parker Hall
Scott Gilbertson
Christopher Null
Joe Ray
Justin Pot
Reece Rogers
Simon Hill
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