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The Best Kindle
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024, 12th Generation)
A Colorful Kindle
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft
For Note-Taking and Reading
Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024)
Kid-Friendly Kindles
Amazon Kindle Kids
We love Kindles here at WIRED. They’re simple, reliable, and perfect at what they do. If you’re looking for the best Kindle, you really can’t go wrong. One palm-sized device can bring thousands of books anywhere, and these ebook readers typically get a month of battery life per charge. You can subscribe to get unlimited books from Amazon or get free books from your local library (more on that below). Our guide will help you decode the differences to find which Kindle is right for you.
Be sure to check our many other buying guides, including the Best E-Readers, Best Fire Tablets, Best Tablets, Best iPads, and Best Alexa Speakers.
Updated December 2024: We’ve added our review of the Kindle Scribe (2nd Generation).
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Want to Get Rid of Your Older Kindle?
Have an old Kindle lying around? Are you looking at a used one for sale? If you’re trying to figure out what model it is, this Amazon page includes photos, specs, and release years for the entire lineup. Once you know which one you have, you may be able to trade it in for credit toward a newer model.
Most old Kindles probably still work, just with fewer bells and whistles. It’s best to avoid Kindles with keyboards or any other physical buttons other than page-turn buttons. Some older Kindles lost the ability to browse, purchase, or borrow new books directly from the device. However, you’ll still be able to do this via Amazon.com on your computer or phone and have it sent to your Kindle, which is a better experience anyway. The models affected are the Kindle 2nd Generation (International), Kindle DX International, Kindle DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4th Generation, and Kindle 5th Generation.
If you buy every single book you want to read on a Kindle, it can add up! But there are ways to save some money while reading as much as your heart desires. You may want to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for $12 a month. You can only choose from the Unlimited catalog, but there are millions of titles there, including audiobooks and magazines. Start out with the 30-day free trial.
If you already pay for a Prime account, you’re eligible for some free ebooks through Prime Reading. There are not as many options as with Kindle Unlimited, and in a lot of cases, you’ll see both Unlimited and Prime options lumped together; you’ll have to look closely to find the free ebooks. It’s still something, and there are even a few magazines.
But if you don’t want another monthly subscription and don’t want to continue giving your money to Amazon, take advantage of the ebooks available with your library card. Browsing a digital catalog is not as magical as spending an afternoon looking over every shelf in a library, but such is the ebook life (no one says you can’t read both!). We have a detailed how-to on this you should check out, but here are some of the takeaways:
- Get a library card for your local branch.
- Check your branch’s website for its ebook offerings. Many libraries use a service called OverDrive.
- Download directly to your Kindle library. They’ll automatically be removed when they’re due back.
If you know someone else with a Kindle, you can lend books between your libraries, just as you would with a physical copy. Follow these instructions from Amazon if you want to share an ebook, but keep in mind that not all books can be loaned.
What Else Can a Kindle Do?
Kindles have helpful features you may want to take advantage of. Long-press a word or phrase to see its definition, highlight it, or take notes. You can also search the entire book for that particular word or phrase or translate it to or from other languages.
Word Wise shows short definitions in small text within the lines. Unfortunately, it’s not available for all books, but when it is, you can turn it on or off and choose more and fewer hints. Clicking the short definition opens a longer one from Word Wise and the New Oxford American Dictionary or Oxford Dictionary of English (you can switch between the two), plus translations, and a Wikipedia page, if applicable.
While reading, tap the top of the screen and click “Aa” to change font size or type—there’s even a font called OpenDyslexic that helps make reading easier for people with dyslexia. You can control margin sizes and line spacing from that menu too.
When a Kindle is connected to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones, VoiceView Screen Reader (accessed through Settings > Accessibility) allows you to use gestures to navigate your device and reads aloud what you’ve pressed. It will also read a book aloud, though it doesn’t sound nearly as nice as an audiobook.
Amazon owns Goodreads, so it syncs seamlessly to Kindles (press the three-dot menu > Goodreads). If you have a Goodreads account, you can review the Kindle books you’ve read or browse your bookshelf and recommendations. Long-pressing a word or phrase, in addition to what is mentioned above, opens up an option to share quotes directly to Goodreads.
There’s a web browser too if you’re connected to the internet (three-dot menu > Web Browser). It’s not the best, so I’d reserve it for emergency searches.
Is It a Good Time to Buy a Kindle?
Yes. Amazon refreshed all of its Kindles across the board in October 2024, debuting a new Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Scribe, and Kindle Kids editions. The company also released the Kindle Colorsoft—its first-ever color Kindle. However, the best time to buy a Kindle is during a major sale event, because Amazon often has steep discounts.
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar; Getty Images
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024, 12th Generation)
The Kindle Paperwhite is Amazon’s most popular model, and it’s easy to see why. It comes with all the features you want in an ebook reader: a large display with high resolution, warm lighting, smooth performance, and an IPX8 water-resistance rating. The 12th-generation Paperwhite (8/10, WIRED Recommends) improves on those features. It has a larger display (7 inches instead of 6.8), the highest contrast ratio of any Kindle for sharp text and images, and up to three months of battery life (an increase from two months)—packed into the thinnest chassis yet.
It’s too incremental of an update if you’re coming from its predecessor, but it’s the best choice if you’re new to the Kindle world. Whether you want to read more or are tired of carrying physical books, all the extra features are worth the price—trust me, the basic Kindle may seem enticing, but the Paperwhite will serve you better in the long run. It’s more enjoyable and got me out of a long reading rut. The 12th-gen Paperwhite has two versions: the standard and the Signature Edition. The latter comes with auto-adjust brightness, wireless charging, and double the storage at 32 gigabytes. The regular Paperwhite is more than enough, but if you plan on buying the model without lock-screen ads, you may as well pay the extra $20 for the Signature Edition.
Specs Display: 7 inches, adjustable warm light | auto-adjusting front light available on Signature Edition Resolution: 300 pixels per inch (ppi) Storage: 16 GB (Paperwhite) | 32 GB (Signature Edition) Weight: 7.4 ounces (Paperwhite) | 7.55 ounces (Signature Edition) Battery and Charging: Up to 12 weeks; USB-C | wireless charging available on Signature Edition Waterproof: Yes, IPX8 -
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar; Getty Images
A Colorful Kindle
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft
Note: Following customer complaints of a yellow bar at the bottom of the Kindle Colorsoft’s screen and discoloration along the edges, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed to WIRED that “customers who notice this can reach out to our customer service team for a replacement or refund.” The company also said it’s “making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that new devices will not experience this issue moving forward.” We did not encounter these issues with our review unit.
The Kindle Colorsoft (7/10, WIRED Review) is Amazon’s first-ever Kindle with a color screen. Color technology isn’t new for ebook readers, but it became more commonplace in 2024 with devices like the Kobo Libra Colour and the ReMarkable Paper Pro. The Colorsoft is Amazon’s first attempt, sporting a 7-inch display with an oxide backplane for speedy performance and higher contrast on color and black-and-white content. Amazon also tweaked the screen’s front light with nitride LEDs to enhance color and increase brightness.
Color illustrations look sharp and vibrant—I used the Colorsoft to read a comic book called Paper Girls, and it almost felt like I was reading from the hardcopy I own. You won’t lose on quality when zooming in either—even minor details, like shadows, look great. You can switch between Standard and Vivid mode—the latter enhances color in less saturated images. But there is a noticeable lag when flipping through pages with illustrations, which might feel jarring if you’re coming from physical copies. I also noticed that the text looks a little fuzzy with color and black-and-white content.
The steep $280 price is tough to justify considering there’s not much else this Kindle offers. Yes, there’s wireless charging and an auto-adjust light (as seen on the Paperwhite Signature Edition), but you’re more or less paying $80 for color. Keep in mind that the color screen only comes in handy when browsing the Kindle bookstore, or when you’re reading graphic novels and books with illustrations or photos. You can highlight text in books with color but it’s a little cumbersome to do this. Stylus support would have been nice, and the same goes for page-turn buttons. I suggest waiting for a major sale like Black Friday or Prime Day to snag one.
Specs Display: 7 inches, adjustable warm light, auto-adjusting front light Resolution: 300 ppi (Black & White), 150 ppi (Color) Storage: 32 GB Weight: 7.7 ounces Battery and charging: Up to 8 weeks; USB-C, supports wireless charging Waterproof: Yes, IPX8
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
For Note-Taking and Reading
Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024)
If you’re looking for a Kindle for note-taking and reading, you’ll want the Scribe (8/10, Wired Review). The latest version has the same 10.2-inch (300 ppi) paperlike display as the previous model, but this time Amazon swapped the black bezel for white borders to make it look more like writing on a traditional piece of paper. The new Premium Pen, which now is included, also has a soft-tipped eraser that mimics that of a No. 2 pencil.
Amazon added some new software capabilities. With Active Canvas, you can write directly within the book you’re reading. (The first-gen model lacked this feature.) Your notes will flow around the text and anchor the link to the exact spot so that if you resize it or the book layout changes, it’ll stay put. However, I found it unintuitive—even though you’re writing directly on the ebook, each note is automatically placed into a small square on the screen (you can resize it or move it around). So it still feels more like adding sticky notes than annotating the text itself. You’ll also have access to expandable margins, but that feature won’t be available until next year.
Amazon has incorporated a couple of generative artificial intelligence features, naturally. The Refined Writing tool transforms your notes into a script font with the tap of a button so that it’s both legible and presentable. Meanwhile, Summarization will quickly summarize pages of notes into bullets with a script font that you can then share from the notebook tab. Both features work well. Summarization quickly and accurately summarized notes I took during a meeting, and Refined Writing made my notes a lot easier to read. It doesn’t transform the experience all that much, but these are useful features if you’re in school or have a job where you’re constantly jotting down pages of notes.
We don’t recommend upgrading to the second-gen version if you already own the original. You can download Active Canvas and the AI features manually or wait for the over-the-air update to hit your device. Had Amazon added more features, like a color screen or writing tools in color, we’d be singing a different tune. But with the lack of new features and the $60 price increase, you’re better off holding on to your current model. It is, however, still a great option if you’re in the market for a digital notebook but want to stay within Kindle’s ecosystem. You can access your existing library of ebooks on the Scribe and also access your notebooks via the Kindle app.
Specs Display: 10.2 inches, adjustable warm light, auto-adjusting front light Resolution: 300 ppi Storage: 16, 32, or 64 GB Weight: 15.3 ounces Battery and Charging: Up to 12 weeks, USB-C Waterproof: No -
Photograph: Adrienne So
Kid-Friendly Kindles
Amazon Kindle Kids
Along with updating the rest of its lineup, Amazon also updated the kid-friendly Kindles, which have the same updated features as the non-kid variants. My 7- and 9-year-old have been using the Kindle Kids since the first versions were launched. To my eye (looking over their shoulders), the images are noticeably clearer and sharper, and the page-turn speeds are faster.
The reason you get a Kindle Kids instead of repurposing your old Kindle is the kid-friendly case, which also has fun new designs my kids like very much. You also get six months of access to Kids+, Amazon’s subscription service that features tons of age-appropriate books, including books in Spanish. Amazon also throws in a two-year warranty. My 7-year-old likes the smaller size of the basic (and cheaper) Kindle Kids ($130) and prefers the new kid-friendly covers. However, my 9-year-old likes the bigger display on the Kids Paperwhite, which is better for reading graphic novels. I also recommend getting the Paperwhite over the basic Kindle because it’s waterproof and she reads poolside at her brother’s swimming lessons. —Adrienne So
Specs Display: 6 inches (Kindle Kids), adjustable front light | 7-inches, adjustable warm light (Paperwhite Kids) Resolution: 300 ppi Storage: 16 GB Weight: 9.03 ounces (Kindle Kids) | 11.6 ounces (Paperwhite Kids) Battery Life: Up to 6 weeks (Kindle Kids) | Up to 12 weeks (Paperwhite Kids) Waterproof: No (Kindle Kids) | Yes, IPX8 (Paperwhite Kids)
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
The Cheapest Kindle
Amazon Kindle (2024, 11th Generation)
This is Amazon’s smallest and most affordable Kindle. The latest version is an iterative update, which makes sense since the 2022 model came with a higher-resolution screen, double the storage, and a USB-C port. In the 2024 version, the Kindle has a higher contrast ratio for crisper and clearer text, a 25 percent brighter front light at the highest setting, and a faster page-turn rate. Sadly, it still doesn’t come with warm lighting (you’ll have to get the Kindle Paperwhite for that).
This Kindle has been pleasant to use. It’s lightweight, easy to hold with one hand, and great to travel with (especially if you prefer carrying a smaller purse or bag). Before switching to this Kindle, I was using the 2019 model and the difference is surprisingly drastic. The text is sharper, the performance is snappier, and the brighter screen is much appreciated during the day and night. I’m also obsessed with the Matcha color—it’s a fun touch. That said, if you can splurge on the Paperwhite, I think you’ll like it a good deal better.
Specs Display: 6 inches, adjustable front light Resolution: 300 ppi Storage: 16 GB Weight: 5.56 ounces Battery and Charging: Up to 6 weeks; USB-C Waterproof: No -
Photograph: Simon Hill
Great Reading Lights
If you typically read before bed but don’t want to disturb sleeping partners, kids, or roommates, I suggest investing in a reading light. Below are a few of our favorites. You can find more in our Best Reading Lights guide.
- Vekkia 14 LED Book Light for $18: This is our top pick. It’s a clip-on light with an adjustable gooseneck and two swiveling light bars that pack seven LEDs each. You can cycle through five levels of brightness and three warm colors. It’s relatively large though, so it’s not great for small paperbacks. The clamp opens as wide as 2.1 inches and serves as a stable base to place on a nightstand.
- Glocusent LED Neck Reading Light for $19: This reading light wraps around your neck, so it looks silly. But it’s an excellent alternative to a clip-on reading light while remaining hands-free. It’s lightweight, adjustable, and comes with three color temperature modes as well as six brightness settings. It’s rechargeable and offers up to 80 hours of battery life at dimmer settings.
- Black Diamond Wiz Headlamp for $30: This is our favorite headlamp for kids. It’s comfortable and the adjustable straps come in various colors. It has three brightness settings and an IPX4 water-resistance rating, so you don’t have to worry about splashes. It turns itself off automatically after two hours, in case they fall asleep with it on. It takes two AAA batteries.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
For Easy Reading
Kindle Accessories
If you’ve ever had a long reading session give you hand cramps, these two accessories might help.
- Strapsicle E-Reader Hand Straps for $21: Attach one or both of these to the back of your Kindle—one is angled for your right hand and the other for your left—and slide your hand in. Your hands won’t cramp, you won’t accidentally hit the screen and flip pages, and the reader won’t slip out of your hands. There are three sizes meant to hold different types of e-readers. You should see exactly which models they work with on the Amazon pages, as well as on this page on the Strapsicle website.
- Lamicall Gooseneck Tablet Holder for $29: WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell tested this and said that while it’s not completely hands-free, it’s a super convenient and comfortable experience, particularly if you have any sources of chronic pain in your wrists. The clamp is easy to attach to bed frames and side tables (there’s also a floor stand version for $70). It’s lightweight to deploy anywhere and has enough resistance to the neck that it doesn’t fall forward or out of the position you place it in. It does wobble a bit when touched to turn the page (or bumped by a curious cat), so she tended to rest a hand on it to keep it steady from herself and her feline roommate. If you want to go fully hands-free, add a page-turner so you can read without lifting a finger.
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Photograph: Amazon
Do You Need a Cover?
Kindle Cases
Kindles are, thankfully, not as fragile as our pricey smartphones, but you may still want to add a cover to protect the screen if you’re frequently toting it around in a bag. These aren’t padded for serious drops. The Kids editions come with cases.
- Fabric Covers for Base Kindle for $32 and Paperwhite ($37): These open like a book and come in some variation of black, blue, pink, or green. They’re made from post-consumer recycled fabric.
- Fabric Cover for Scribe for $60: This one flips up and over like a notepad, and you can position it into a stand too. There’s also a slot for the pen if you don’t want it to attach magnetically all the time. It’s also made with recycled materials.
- The Quirky Cup Collective E-Reader Sleeve for $28: I prefer these gorgeous sleeves, particularly the Sun and Moon version. They’re beautiful and will protect your device when you aren’t using it, so you can throw it in your bag without worry. The outside is velvet and the inside is satin, with some padding in between and a zip closure. On the back is a small zip pocket. On each product page, you’ll see which devices fit, but consult the measurements. There are also separate, and larger, book and iPad sleeves.
About Those Older Kindles
Amazon doesn’t release new Kindles often—the company usually takes a few years between models. Whenever a new model arrives, its predecessor’s stock starts to dwindle. It’s not that I don’t recommend these per se, but I only suggest these if you can find them on sale for the right price. Otherwise, I recommend buying the latest version.
Before making your purchase, cross-check the price with the latest model to make sure you’re spending a fair amount less on the older device.
- Kindle (2022, 11th Generation): This is the smallest of the lot at 6.2 inches tall and 4.3 inches wide, with a 6-inch screen. If you find tablets too cumbersome to hold with one hand, consider this one. With this model, Amazon doubled the storage to 16 gigabytes and upgraded the display to 300-pixel-per-inch (PPI) resolution (up from 167 PPI). It’s tough to find, but if you manage to snag one, you shouldn’t spend more than $50.
- Kindle Paperwhite (2021, 11th Generation): This is the next step up from the basic model. It has a bright 6.8-inch screen with adjustable warm lighting, a fast page-turn rate, a USB-C port, and 16 gigs of storage. It’s waterproof too. I like the Signature Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends) which also includes auto-adjust brightness and 32 gigabytes of storage. I don’t recommend spending more than $100 if you can find them.
- Kindle Scribe (1st Generation): The Scribe (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great option for note-takers. It has a giant 10.2-inch screen, for taking notes, marking up PDFs, or drawing, and numerous paper formats you can choose, like college-ruled or dotted. It also comes with the Basic Pen which feels natural to write with and attaches to the side of the Kindle magnetically. I only recommend it for $230 or less.
- Kindle Kids (2022): This is the kid-friendly version of the entry-level Kindle. It comes with a cover, a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+, parental controls, and a two-year warranty. I don’t suggest spending more than $70 on this one.
- Kindle Paperwhite Kids (2021): The Paperwhite version is a step up from the Kindle Kids. It has a high-resolution 300-ppi display with an adjustable warm screen and is also waterproof. You shouldn’t spend more than $110 on this one.
