The best ereaders for 2024

Display measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white and colour E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi colour | Capability: 16GB| Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof ranking: IPX8 (submergible to six ft for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No

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 frightened we’d see Kobo system with superfluous revamping to justify an inflated worth. Fortunately, that’s not the case. The Kobo Clara Colour not solely provides colour and a quicker processor, it’s simply $10 greater than the earlier era.

Because the identify suggests, this ereader provides colour to the web page, lending somewhat 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 colour filter layer on prime of the usual black and white microcapsule layer. That ends in two totally different resolutions on one display screen: 150 dpi for colour and 300 dpi for textual content.

Full-color pages remind me of comedian ebook artwork from the ‘60s, muted however saturated. Coloration makes ebook covers extra attractive and provides somewhat selection to headings, and tables in some non-fiction books. It’s actually not a obligatory characteristic, 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. In case you look carefully, you may see a little bit of noise on the white components of the web page. That is as a result of added colour 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, you could be higher off with a non-color ereader.

Most likely 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 somewhat 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 through 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 bunch 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 $50 greater than the bottom mannequin Kindle. However the waterproof construct, heat entrance gentle, responsive controls and lack of adverts (which price $20 to eliminate on Amazon’s system) 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 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.   

After all, when you already personal a mountain of Kindle books, you could need to keep on with Amazon’s system. In that case, your finest wager is Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite Signature. Our reviewer Nathan Ingraham known as it “the best ereader. Period.“

Display measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white E Ink | Decision: 300dpi | Capability: 16GB| Battery life: Weeks |Waterproof ranking: None | Heat gentle: No | Lock display screen adverts: Sure

Amazon has dominated within the ereader area for thus lengthy that I used to be shocked when a Kindle system didn’t win me over. A Kobo could have taken the highest spot right here, however nothing can beat the standard Kindle relating to worth. It’s listed at $100 however has gone on sale each few months since its debut in October 2022, typically for as little as $75.

With it, you may entry the perfect of what Amazon has to supply, together with many unique titles. Kindle Exclusive is a catalog made up of 1,000,000 titles, together with books by established authors in addition to newer, self-published writers; Kindle Limitless affords the widest number of any subscription-based studying service on the market; and Audible Originals is made up of narrated titles and podcasts you may solely hear by a Kindle system or Amazon-owned app.

In case you like to change between audiobooks and ebooks, Kindle is the way in which to go. Whenever you purchase each iterations of a title, you not solely get a reduction, however the Whispersync characteristic traces up the place you might be within the e-printed model with the narration, too. Say you hear for an hour after which need to learn – the synchronization permits you to choose up on-screen the place you left off audibly. (Although we must always level out you can’t hear and browse concurrently on the identical system.) In assessments, the characteristic was pretty correct, getting me shut sufficient on the web page or within the audio to determine my spot.

The usual Kindle doesn’t really feel notably luxurious, but it surely doesn’t really feel low-cost both. The shell has a velvety end that doesn’t gather fingerprints, however I discovered myself wishing it had extra texture for a greater grip. Navigating from a web page to the menu isn’t as speedy as Paperwhite or the Kobos we tried. And it takes a number of moments to wake from sleep after hitting the button and swiping.

Web page turns are fast, however the touchscreen gestures didn’t at all times do what I wished them to. I’d typically discover the web page skipping ahead after I thought I’d tapped to return. There’s no heat gentle, which didn’t trouble me throughout the day, however at night time it felt like I used to be nonetheless looking at my pc.

Kindle’s studying customization is nice, letting you dial within the font, measurement and margins. You’ll be able to even save a set of settings as a “theme,” one thing not supplied by different gadgets. I created one with bigger textual content and wider line spacing known as “drained eyes.”

Some individuals gained’t be bothered by the lock display screen adverts that come customary on each Kindle system (except you pay to take away them). They’re pretty innocuous, largely 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 eat books on the lowest worth. It is also price noting that the Kindle Kids is similar system however comes with a canopy, an extended guarantee and goes on sale extra often than the usual model. 

Display measurement: 7” | Show sort: Black/white and colour E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi colour | Capability: 32GB | Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof ranking: IPX8 (submergible to six ft for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No

When Kobo got here out with the brand new Clara Color, it additionally debuted the new Libra Colour, which is perhaps the extra thrilling of the 2 gadgets. Along with colour know-how from the E Ink Kaleido panel and an upgraded processor, the Libra now has stylus assist. It’s the one ereader on this checklist with that characteristic, making it rather a lot like a small E Ink tablet — however all of its new options really make it a greater ereader.

Once I wrote in regards to 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 system to only 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 colour, ebook covers all look extra attractive — although, in case your TBR checklist is already three ft lengthy, this gained’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 may, some new applied sciences don’t yet beat their real-world counterparts. That’s largely how I really feel about styluses — I’m only a large 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 facet so it doesn’t get misplaced.

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

Writing within the margins or straight on the textual content labored on each ebook I attempted. Although I ought to level out that when you change the font measurement in a ebook, your handwritten notes shall be transformed to a sticky note-type field. Going again to the unique font restores your authentic scribbles.

The Kobo Libra Color is $30 costlier than the Libra 2, however you get rather a lot for $220. If it had been simply an ereader, the stunning colours, responsive studying expertise, quick web page turns and straightforward highlights would make it well 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.

After all, the stylus prices additional and also you gained’t get options like notebooks and writing within the margins with out it. Collectively, the set prices $290, which continues to be $50 cheaper than the most well-liked stylus-enabled ereader, Amazon’s Kindle Scribe. That one does have an even bigger, 10-inch display screen, which, for me, is somewhat large for an ereader. The Libra Color however has simply the proper options on the proper measurement, plus some extras that stretch its usefulness.

Display measurement: 7” | Show sort: Black/white and colour E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi colour | Capability: 64GB | Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof ranking: splash-resistant | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No

Coloration 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 proper mixture of colour saturation and readability, it’s now interesting sufficient for basic consumption. The newest ereaders from each Boox and Kobo are colour fashions, and there’s little doubt Amazon will stick colour in a Kindle within the close to future (probably as a substitute to the now-unavailable Kindle Oasis).

The Boox Go Color 7 (Amazon, Boox) is a pure option to supplant our earlier winner on this class. The Boox Page continues to be out there, and represents a terrific multipurpose pill that simply handles ereader and pill duties. The brand new Go Coloration not solely layers colour on prime of that, it additionally has double the storage capability, an additional gig of RAM and ships with Android 12. The again can be textured as a substitute of slick, an improve my accident-prone fingers are grateful for. And all of this comes on the similar $250 checklist worth because the Web page.

Boox caught a quicker quad-core processor within the Web page. That made for a noticeable uptick in velocity when in comparison with the reader’s predecessor, the Leaf 2. This seems to be the identical CPU within the Go Coloration and I haven’t observed an enormous velocity distinction with the brand new reader — although it’s a lot quick. 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 obligatory.

The Go Coloration 7 runs on a fork of Android 12, which permits it to behave extra like a pill than a standard ereader. Like all Boox gadgets, this method is finest suited to the tech-savvy. In contrast to a Kindle or Kobo, which come preconfigured with a retailer and straightforward library-book entry, Boox ereaders provide 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 by ereader apps like Kobo, Kindle, Libby and others from the built-in Google Play retailer.

Boox’s built-in ereader app, NeoReader, is properly featured with quantity of management over the look of the textual content. However it solely handles DRM-free ePubs from websites like Venture 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 special app. Mockingly, I’ve been utilizing PocketBook’s ereader app to learn DRM ePubs I purchased from third events.

The pill is impressively customizable, with programmable buttons and fine-tunable settings. Boox users have created APK information to tweak and enhance the expertise additional. The system even has a microphone and audio system, and may run apps like Spotify. In brief, the Go Coloration 7 can do way over a typical ereader can, when you’re prepared to experiment.

The studying expertise is enhanced with a comfortable, 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 colour 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 an excellent duper crisp display screen and solely an excellent crisp display screen.

The comfortable 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 when you want an ereader that may do way over simply carry your books round.

Display measurement: 6.13” Decision: 300 dpi | Capability: 128GB | Water-proof: Sure, splashes and spills | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No

Boox makes two sizes of its ereader. The is smaller than the , doesn’t have buttons and goes for about $80 much less. However after attempting it, I don’t advocate it. It’s laggy and getting the Google Play Retailer to work was a ache. As soon as I did, web page turns in apps like Kindle had been excruciatingly sluggish.

The Boox , nonetheless, is kind of enjoyable. It’s the identical measurement and form as a smartphone and, in plenty of methods, acts like one. The house display screen is a muted black and white model of what you would possibly discover on an ordinary Android — you may even add a number of widgets. Just like the Web page, it may well obtain and run apps from the Google Play Retailer and has audio system to play music and movies. The E Ink display screen (a Carta 1200) renders textual content crisply, however photos, notably shifting ones, look far grainier and rougher than they’d on an actual telephone’s LED display screen. That stated, the video high quality is the perfect I’ve seen on an E Ink display screen, due to a software program enchancment Boox calls Tremendous Refresh Expertise.

However make no mistake, it’s not going to interchange your telephone. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are the one connectivity and the 16MP digicam is only for making doc scans you may convert to PDFs. However the phone-like construct is comfortingly acquainted and the E Ink display screen is gorgeous to learn. At $280, it’s costlier than an ordinary ereader — and a few E Ink tablets — but it surely’s a extremely moveable technique to learn Kindle, Kobo, Google Books and different ePubs, whereas additionally dealing with easy video games and apps like a smartphone. In case you’re sick of the glow of your handset, the Boox Palma is a captivating different.