The Best Kindles of 2026

• Dimensions: 5 x 7 x 0.3 inches
• Weight: 7.4 ounces
• Display size: 7.0 inches
• Screen resolution: 300 ppi
• Storage: 32 GB (Signature Edition) or 16 GB (Regular Model)
• Bluetooth capable: Yes
• Waterproof: Yes
• Battery Life: Up to 12 weeks

Refreshed in late 2024, this 7-inch e-reader is faster than previous models (up to 25% faster page turns, according to Amazon) and has a higher contrast ratio, which measures how much brighter the white parts of the screen are compared to the black (the text).

We spent hands-on time the Signature Edition, which offers twice the storage of the regular Kindle Paperwhite (32GB instead of 16GB), an auto-adjusting front light (more on this in a moment), wireless (Qi) charging along with USB-C, and enhanced (metallic) colors over the regular Kindle Paperwhite, available in black, jade, and raspberry.

In our humble opinion, the 7-inch display is the sweet spot between portability and readability. It is small and light enough to take virtually anywhere, and e-books and other content look great at this size.

Like other Kindles, you’ll first select your desired language and region, connect to your Wi-Fi network, and then sign into your Kindle account (which uses the same email address/phone number and password as your Amazon.com account). Updating your new device with your previous Kindle settings and content only takes a minute.

Paperwhite lets you adjust the screen brightness, which will likely be very low in direct sunlight or brighter in a dark bedroom. The Signature Edition will automatically tweak the front light based on your surroundings.

This works out of the box, always delivering the optimal brightness based on the lighting around you, but you can override this using the touch-enabled slider in the Settings.

If you’re reading by the pool or at the beach, the Kindle Paperwhite (all versions) is protected by IPX8, which means it can be submerged in up to 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) of water for up to an hour.

Unlike a tablet, with a battery measured in hours, Kindle Paperwhite can last as much as 12 weeks via USB-C cable (included), based on 30 minutes of reading per day with the light setting at 13 (and with wireless turned off). In other words, take this on vacation and leave the charger behind, if you like.

As with other Kindles, there are many ways to load content onto the device, with most downloading from the Kindle Store (with more than 15 million titles worldwide).

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is close to a perfect 10, but at $200, it’s not an inexpensive e-reader. The non-Signature Edition doesn’t include an auto-sensing front display (for brightness to be adjusted automatically), nor does it support wireless charging.

• Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.3 x 0.32 inches
• Weight: 5.56 ounces
• Display size: 6.0 inches
• Screen resolution: 300 ppi
• Storage: 16 GB
• Bluetooth capable: Yes
• Waterproof: No
• Battery Life: Up to 6 weeks

If you want something light to hold and light on your wallet, the 11th-generation Amazon Kindle is your best bet.

The Amazon Kindle (2024) is a 6-inch e-reader compact enough to fit in a purse or jacket pocket.

Compared to its predecessors, the new Kindle has faster page turns (something owners of previous Kindles will notice), a higher contrast ratio (referring to the difference in brightness between the darkest black and brightest white the screen can produce), and a brighter front light (now 25% brighter at the max setting, matching the Kindle Paperwhite). In other words, you can read your books in bed without disturbing a partner by turning on an overhead light or nightstand lamp.

While the 6-inch screen may look small at first blush, it’s surprisingly comfortable to read on, even if you need to enlarge the font first. The 300-ppi resolution means text is crisp and easy to read on the anti-glare display. There’s also a dark mode, which reverses the text and screen color to become white text on a black screen. To turn the page, swipe anywhere or tap the right side of the screen.

Storage starts at 16 gigabytes (GB), which is more than enough to store ebooks, but also ample for audiobooks via Audible (also owned by Amazon), which requires you to enable Bluetooth in the Settings and pair wireless headphones or a speaker.

While we only reviewed the e-reader for a week and a day, Amazon says the Kindle's battery life lasts up to six weeks. This is believable, given that we barely used the Kindle after a fairly heavy reading week.

Available in black or a greenish matcha color, this Kindle is made of 75% recycled plastics and 90% recycled magnesium, says Amazon (and as with all other Kindles, 100% recycled paper packaging).

While it’s an exceptional device, especially for the price, it doesn’t have an ambient sensor that automatically adjusts the screen based on its surroundings (like other Kindles). This model is also not waterproof and does not support wireless charging.

Also, this entry-level Kindle is ad-supported, with sponsored screensavers that can be removed for about $20 (under the “Special Offers” area within Settings). For many, it’s not that big of a deal since the ads don’t pop up when you’re reading, but it still may irk some users.

• Dimensions: 7.7 x 9.00 x 2.2 inches
• Weight: 15.3 ounces
• Display size: 10.2 inches
• Screen resolution: 300 ppi
• Storage: 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB
• Bluetooth capable: Yes
• Waterproof: No
• Battery Life: Up to 12 weeks

When is an e-reader more than an e-reader? When it is also a capable note-taking device. The new 10.2-inch Kindle Scribe is such a device, available in 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB storage options, depending on your needs and budget.

The refreshed 2024 model includes an upgraded Premium Pen, a comfortable stylus that feels more like writing on paper (akin to similar products like ReMarkable 2 tablet and Kobo Elipsa 2E. Users can take notes during boardroom meetings or college lectures, jot down to-do lists, and work on billion-dollar business ideas. It’s also great for sketching out designs for work or play. Plus, you can annotate and mark up books or PDF documents.

This Kindle’s exclusive Active Canvas feature lets you start writing on a book page and will adjust the text to fit alongside your notes—remember it’s there when you return to that page. You can tap the pen to collapse or expand the Active Canvas, or keep it in the margins. Even if you change the font size, the page will automatically reformat to keep your notes where you left them.

The upgraded pen doesn’t require you to charge it up (like an Apple Pencil), and it includes a customizable shortcut button along its shaft and a soft eraser on its end. When you’re not using it, you can magnetically affix it to the right of the Kindle Scribe.

Regardless of what you write on the screen, you can always opt to convert handwritten notes into text before emailing them, with surprisingly good AI at play here (simply select “Summarize”). You can also leverage the integrated notebook tools to summarize your notebooks into bulleted takeaways. As for getting content onto Kindle to mark up, you can send PDFs, .Docx files, and other documents using the Send to Kindle in your desktop web browser, the Kindle app, or from Microsoft Word 365.

Similar to the smaller and non-stylus supported Kindles, the glare-free screen features 300 ppi resolution, a front-lit display for reading and writing in dimly-lit rooms, and multiple ways to import ebooks and other content.

• Dimensions: 5 x 7 x 0.3 inches
• Weight: 7.7 ounces (heavier with the folio screen cover)
• Display size: 7.0 inches
• Screen resolution: 300 ppi black and white, 150 ppi color
• Storage: 16 GB
• Bluetooth capable: Yes
• Waterproof: Yes
• Battery Life: Up to 8 weeks

For the first time, Amazon has released a Kindle with a color display, and it has been a hot commodity among Kindle users since its release.

Functionally, the Kindle Colorsoft operates exactly like the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. The only difference is the color on the high-contrast display screen, which is easy to read and look at. You can also highlight your favorite passages in hues like yellow, pink, and orange.

It’s important to note that the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition has frequently been sold out since its release, but keep checking back. .

• Dimensions: 5 x 7 x 0.3 inches (thicker with the folio screen cover)
• Weight: 7.4 ounces (heavier with the folio screen cover)
• Display size: 7.0 inches
• Screen resolution: 300 ppi
• Storage: 16 GB
• Bluetooth capable: Yes
• Waterproof: Yes
• Battery Life: Up to 12 weeks

The Kindle Paperwhite Kids (16 GB, 2024) is virtually the same as Amazon’s awesome Kindle Paperwhite, but this child-friendly version (ages 7 and up) includes a protective folio cover, a 2-year warranty (instead of 1-year), and six months of access to Amazon Kids+ and parental controls, which we’ll discuss in a moment.

There are multiple versions of protective covers to choose from—Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Cyber City, or Starfish.

Amazon also includes a 9-watt power adapter in the bundle. This adapter plugs the USB-C charging cable into an AC socket for faster charging, and you don’t need a USB-C device, like a laptop, to juice up the e-reader.

Amazon Paperwhite Kids is an exceptional 7-inch e-reader with crisp 300 ppi text, an improved display over its predecessor (with 20% faster touchscreen page turns and better contrast levels for richer black text). Amazon Paperwhite is IPX8-rated, so it can get wet without damaging the unit (and even be submerged in as much as two meters of water, or about 6.5 feet, for up to 1 hour). In other words, kids can read in the bath, by a pool, or on a beach (and if you get sand on the e-reader, just wash it off!). A two-year replacement warranty should give parents peace of mind, too.

While the front light sensor doesn't automatically adjust to brighten or darken the screen based on the user's reading environment, kids can manually make those adjustments, including a “warmth” light option (which makes the screen look more yellow rather than white).

Along with the folio cover to better protect the e-reader (and give it some personality), Paperwhite Kids includes six months of Amazon Kids+, a subscription service (usually $5.99/month) for kids age 3 through 12 that provides unlimited access to age-appropriate books (with varying selections based on age and genre). A parental dashboard lets you add books, view progress, set age filters for content, adjust screen time, and more.

Battery life of up to 12 weeks is magnificent, even if that’s without using a bright backlight and based on 30 minutes a day without a wireless connection.

While an AC plug is included, Kindle Paperwhite Kids doesn’t support the convenient wireless (Qi) charging, as other models do. Also, 16GB is ample for books, magazines, and comics, but more is preferred for audiobook content. But yes, the complete Harry Potter audiobook series is available on Audible (all 118.5 hours’ worth!).