At a glance
1. Best overall
2. Best entry-level
3. Best for kids
4. Best for writing
5. Best color Kindle
How to choose
The Kindle brand name has long been synonymous with e-readers, and Amazon dominates the category. There has never been a better time to buy or upgrade to the best Amazon Kindle e-reader than now, since Amazon has refreshed its entire lineup in October 2024. All the popular models have gotten a big makeover, along with a surprise new addition.
Amazon is finally embracing color as it adds its first-ever color Kindle to the lineup, called the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition. For most readers though, the new Kindle Paperwhite (12th Gen) is a fantastic starting point if you're looking to get your feet wet with an e-reader. There are plenty of other great picks available at various price points. If you're in the market for the best E Ink tablet, here are some of our top choices when it comes to the best e-readers that Amazon makes.
At a glance
Best overall
The Kindle Paperwhite (12th Gen) is easily the best e-reader from Amazon. This 2024 model strikes the perfect balance between price and specs, giving you up to 12 weeks of battery life and water resistance.
Best entry-level
Not so sure about e-readers just yet? Get the cheap and cheerful entry-level Amazon Kindle (2024) to try it out. This 2024 refresh features a brighter display, faster page turns, and up to six weeks of battery life.
Best for kids
Amazon took something great and made it even better. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids (12th Gen) is perfect for children because it comes with a two-year warranty, a case, and a six-month access to the Amazon Kids+ subscription.
Best for writing
The new Kindle Scribe features a uniform borders, two new colors, and a higher-resolution screen. You can now write directly in the book you're reading, and let AI summarize your notes in the hideable side panel.
Best color Kindle
The first ever color Kindle boasts of a 7-inch Colorsoft display, the ability to highlight text in multiple colors, and it can last up to eight weeks on one charge.
Best overall
The Kindle Paperwhite set the benchmark for affordable e-readers for a long time, and the latest model adds even more compelling features to the mix. The highlights of the Paperwhite (12th Gen) model include a faster processor which is said to deliver 25% quicker page turns, and a new oxide thin-film transistor in the display for a higher contrast ratio. The screen size is also slightly larger at 7 inches, and it's the thinnest Paperwhite device yet. What's impressive, is the (up to) three-month long battery life.
Like the previous model, the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite has IPX8 water resistance, which lets you take your e-reader to the pool. The Paperwhite can survive up to two meters of water for an hour, giving you much more flexibility. There's only a single storage variant now with 16GB, allowing you to store thousands of books at a time. The Paperwhite also get an adjustable warm light so you can adjust the screen's color temperature based on the ambient lighting around you. It comes in three neat colors; Black, Raspberry, and Jade.
Just like the 11th Gen Signature Edition, there's a new Paperwhite Signature Edition (12th Gen) too which has all of the features from the standard model, but with 32GB of storage, wireless charging, and auto-adjusting light sensors for roughly $50 more.
Best entry-level
The entry-level Amazon Kindle is the perfect stepping stone if you've taken up reading as a hobby. The 2024 refresh comes in a fun Matcha shade, and it's very compact and light weighing just 158g. It shares many of the features with the new Paperwhite like a 300 ppi display, 16GB of storage, Audible audiobook playback via Bluetooth, and the same max brightness of 94 nits. It does miss out on some features like the waterproofing, adjustable warm light, and has nearly half the battery life of up to six weeks.
It's really hard to complain though when you're paying just over $100 for it. The 2024 Amazon Kindle features faster page turns, and a front light that's 25% brighter at max settings. Just like before, you can get it with or without lockscreen ads (the latter is $20 more).
Best for kids
There's never been a better device with a screen to hand to your kids than the Kindle Paperwhite Kids. This 12th Gen 2024 model gets all the same upgrades as the standard 2024 Paperwhite, but with a bundled cover and two years of "worry-free" warranty from Amazon. The latter entitles you to a 'no-questions-asked' replacement of the device in case it gets damaged through regular wear and tear. There are three new themes for the covers on the 2024 kids edition, which are Cyber City, Starfish, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
One of the other advanatge of getting the Kids edition of the Paperwhite is the six month subscription to Amazon Kids+. This used to be one year on the previous model, so its a bit of a downgrade actually. With this subscription though, your child will be able to read thousands of kid-friendly books for free. You can even restrict access to certian types of books for your child via the Amazon Kids+ Parent Dashboard app for Android and iOS.
Best for writing
The new Kindle Scribe (2024) comes with a redesigned display with evenly thick white borders all around it. The e-reader has the same 10.2-inch glare-free display as the first Kindle Scribe, and with the paper-like texture makes it feel like you're writing on an actual piece of paper. The new design looks a lot more modern and the added color option is welcomed. Amazon has addressed our biggest complaint with the Scribe, and the 2024 model has something called Active Canvas which lets you annotate directly within the pages of the book. Not only that, your notes stay anchored to the text and adapt to the change in layout or font size. This is a fantastic new addition, which should make it easier to read your written notes.
The new Kindle Scribe lets you highlight text for the first time. There's also an AI-driven summary feature that'll come as an update next year, which is said to be able to summarize pages or the notes taken in the hideable side panel. The second generation Scribe has the same three storage variants, and starts at the same price too of $399.99. The e-reader ships with the Premium Pen which is weighted to feel like an actual pen and sticks magneticallly to the side of the Scribe. It even has a soft-tip eraser for erasing written notes.
Best color Kindle
This bold new addition to the Kindle family finally lets you read your graphic novels in full color. Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is essentially the Paperwhite Signature Edition but with a new color display. The screen can show black and white content at 300 ppi, but also color at 150 ppi. This version also lets you highlight text in different colors. The paper-like colors should make browsing your library more vibrant and comic books more fun to read. The new Kindle Colorsoft has dedicated child profiles too, so you can share your Kindle with your kids.
The Colorsoft has a claimed battery life of up to eight weeks, which is pretty respectable for a color display. It's only available in a single Metallic Black though, which means you'll have to get a case for it if you want a different look. This is Amazon's first attempt at a color Kindle, which it hopes will keep customers looking for a color e-reader from going to the competition like Onyx Boox. The Kindle Colorsoft only comes in one storage variant, and it's a bit on the pricey side.
How to choose
Which is the best overall?
The Kindle Paperwhite (12th Gen) is the best e-reader for most people, and it is an absolute steal for what's on offer. The superb features — in the form of water resistance, a bigger display, and a warm light setting — represent a significant step up from the base Kindle, making the Paperwhite 2024 a no-brainer if you're in the market for a new e-reader. If you're simply looking to upgrade from an older device, like a 11th Gen Paperwhite, then this might not be a massive upgrade for you.
What if I'm looking for some extra features?
The Signature Edition of the Paperwhite (12th Gen) tablet is worth looking at if you need more storage and wireless charging, on top of the slew of features already included with the base version.
Which is the best for writing?
The new Kindle Scribe 2024 is currently the best option if you're looking for an E Ink tablet sporting the Kindle brand. The improved note-taking abilities and upcoming AI-integration makes it a no-brainer over the first model. It is quite expensive though which means you need to make sure you'll use all its features before making this commitment.
Why should I buy the Kids Paperwhite over the standard version?
If you have a child and you want to get them their own Kindle, you may be wondering why the Kids version of the Paperwhite is a better option than the non-Kids Paperwhite. While the ordinary Paperwhite is certainly a viable pick for a child, the Kids version comes with the Amazon Kids+ trial, along with the Vocabulary Builder and Word Wise tools. A range of cases more suitable for children makes the Kids' edition of the Paperwhite potentially more appealing visually as well.
What if I want a color e-reader?
In the world of Kindle, you only have one choice right now and that's the newly launched Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition. It's essentially the Paperwhite Signature Edition but with a color display and a higher price tag. If you're reading regular books, this might not be of great value. But if you have a vast comic book or graphic novel collection, viewing them in color would be an infinitely better experience.
