The 3 Best E-Readers of 2025
Top pick
Amazon’s most affordable Kindle is also its most portable, with a 6-inch screen that offers sharp text on a bright screen and support for USB-C charging. Those features bring it in line with far more expensive e-readers. The Kids version costs an extra $20 but comes with a slew of perks that make it an excellent option if you can spend a little more.
The cheapest Amazon Kindle is also the best e-reader for most people. Its affordable price, portability, bright display, 16 GB of base storage, and USB-C charging compatibility check the most important boxes, and Amazon has a massive ebook catalog that frequently offers better prices than the competition. Checking out ebooks from the library via the Libby app on a phone or tablet and then having them delivered to your Kindle is also fairly intuitive.
The screen is on a par with that of the pricier Kindle Paperwhite. The Kindle’s 6-inch display is smaller than the Kindle Paperwhite’s 7-inch display, so it’s much more pocketable (if you have giant pockets). But both Kindle models’ E Ink screens are 300 ppi, so text is sharp and clear to read. Both the 2024 Kindle and the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite can reach up to 94 nits and are noticeably brighter—and slightly warmer—than the 2022 model we previously recommended. I had no issues reading in the dark, in a dimly lit living room, or on my patio in direct sunlight. On this model, you don’t get the same color-temperature controls as on the Kindle Paperwhite, or the auto-adjusting brightness of the Paperwhite Signature Edition, but if you’re not sensitive to warm or cool light, this model gets the job done for far less money. It also has a dark mode if you’re into that sort of thing (I am not).
The battery life is excellent, and the Kindle’s support for USB-C is much appreciated. The main reason I prefer reading on a Kindle compared with my phone or iPad is that I can go weeks—sometimes even a month or two if I’m reading slowly—between charges. The new Kindle, like the 2022 model, supports USB-C, so you can charge your smartphone, laptop, and e-reader with the same cable (though a wall plug isn’t included in the box). Amazon says it lasts six weeks on a charge; we don’t have a standardized e-reader battery test, but anecdotally we’ve found that the cheapest Kindle easily lasts a month on a charge.
The base Kindle offers the same amount of storage as the pricier Paperwhite. If you have a huge ebook collection or like to listen to audiobooks on your Kindle, the 16 GB of storage in this model is a blessing. But if you have a massive ebook library or store a lot of audiobooks on your device, you’ll have to splurge on the $200 Paperwhite Signature Edition to get 32 GB of storage.
The Kindle ecosystem is huge. The collection of services that Amazon and its partners offer is a major reason we love Kindle e-readers in general. You can share purchased books with people on your Amazon Prime account; use X-Ray, which helps identify notable people and terms in your books; subscribe to the optional Kindle Unlimited service, which gives you on-demand access to a huge catalog of books for a flat rate every month; and opt for Amazon Kids+, which provides access to kids books, movies, TV shows, and more (a free, six-month subscription is included with the Kindle Kids model, which costs an extra $20 but also comes with a cover, a longer warranty, and no ads).
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It isn’t waterproof. I love a hotel pool, and my Kindle is the first thing I throw in my tote on vacation. But it doesn’t offer any water resistance, so I have to be extra careful to avoid splashes. Similarly, if you like to relax in the tub with an e-reader, the waterproof Kindle Paperwhite is a better bet for your peace of mind.
It’s more expensive than previous entry-level Kindle models. Amazon increased the starting price of the base-model Kindle by $10 without offering meaningful new features in the 2024 version.
The recycled plastic scratches easily. I used the matcha-colored version of the 2024 Kindle for a few weeks around my home, reading primarily in bed or on my couch, and somehow the light-colored plastic already has a few faint scratches on the back. The Paperwhite feels much more durable and resistant to wear and tear. (Protecting your Kindle with a case is a good idea, and we have some recommendations.)
Downloading EPUB files requires some extra steps. Prior to 2022, Amazon offered no support for EPUB files, the open-standard format for unprotected ebooks that’s common for public-domain and other freely available books. Now, Kindles are EPUB compatible, but loading them onto your e-reader requires extra work. You have to download the file on an iOS or Android device, find it in the phone’s Files app, and then use the “Send to Kindle” feature to send it wirelessly to your e-reader. You can also email an EPUB file to your Kindle’s email address, which sends the file directly to your Kindle. (To find that email address, log in to your Amazon account on the web, and then navigate to your devices. Click the name of your Kindle, and you’ll see an email address that ends in @kindle.com. Attach the EPUB file to an email sent to that Kindle address, and then sync your Kindle to see the file pop up.)
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