The best eReaders you can buy

The latest Kindle Paperwhite (2021) takes the top spot once again thanks to a number of upgrades.

A larger screen that now has adjustable colour warmth previously exclusive to the Kindle Oasis is the main one here. But Amazon has also made other improvements such as battery life, plus finally switching to USB-C.

This comes at a slightly higher price than the last generation but it is justified and the Paperwhite won’t disappoint should you have enough budget to afford one.

It’s also worth considering the Paperwhite below, but the extra features won’t be worth it for most people.

The Kindle might dominate the eReader market, but it’s by no means the only option. Canadian company Rakuten Kobo are an alternative brand worth considering, and the Clara 2E is its best effort yet.

It adopts the same basic design as the Kindle Paperwhite, but includes some key features you won’t find on Amazon’s devices. The most notable is integration with OverDrive, which allows you to digitally borrow books from your local library free of charge. The Clara 2E also supports a wide range of different book formats and has Pocket support, allowing you to easily read articles from the web.

With IPX8 water resistance, strong battery life and no ads anywhere, the Kobo Clara 2E has a lot going for it. Sub-par performance is undoubtedly its main weakness, while the screen doesn’t quite sit flush with the bezels and you can’t sync audiobook progress with your eBooks.

But despite these inconveniences, the Clara 2E is the best Kindle alternative.

Amazon’s 2022 refresh of the base Kindle was an iterative update, but it includes a long overdue change: USB-C charging.

Alongside an improved display with backlighting and solid performance, it’s easier than ever to recommend if you’re considering a Kindle. Battery life is measured in weeks, while 16GB of storage is plenty for most people.

However, it’s not perfect by any means. There’s no waterproofing of any description, while the durable body is prone to scuffs. Kindles in general are mostly limited to the Kindle Store for content, while the likes of Kobos let you sideload easily.

Its affordable price point makes the regular Kindle a great option for most people, although it’s disappointing that you still have to pay $10/£10 extra to remove ads.

The Elipsa 2E is arguably more capable than any other eReader, but that doesn’t mean it’s the one you should buy.

A crisp 10.3in display is great for writing notes and annotating any book using the included stylus, but less practical for travelling or before bed. It’s also much more expensive than the entries higher in this list.

But as an E Ink tablet designed for both reading and note-taking, the Elipsa 2E is unmatched. You can get books from the Kobo Store or import them via Dropbox, borrow eBooks from your local library or instantly read articles saved from the web to Pocket. Alongside impressive performance and solid battery life, Kobo is onto a winner here.

If you don’t mind a smaller audiobook selection than Amazon and no waterproofing, the Elipsa 2E is a superb eReader.

If you’re looking for an e-ink device but don’t want any software limitations, the Boox Note Air 2 Plus is for you.

It runs a full version of Android, meaning you can download all the same Google Play Store apps as a full colour tablet. Most apps still run on this older version of Android (11), although it has a very different look and feel to normal.

However, with a premium design, powerful note-taking experience and highly customisable display, the Air 2 Plus has a lot going for it. It’s a very smart device indeed, aside from the USB-C port being blocked when the folio case is applied.

The price tag is the other main reason to hesitate before buying one – it’s more expensive than almost all other e-ink tablets. But if you’re willing to pay top dollar, the Air 2 Plus is definitely worth considering.

New to the Paperwhite range is this Signature Edition which strikes a balance between the regular model and the premium Oasis.

While many specs are the same as the cheaper Paperwhite, this model has extras like auto-adjusting light sensors and wireless charging. With the same 6.8in screen, it’s debatable whether those are worth the extra money.

Still, it’s a solid eReader, especially if the Oasis – which hasn’t been updated since 2019 and adopts a very different design – isn’t for you.

The Libra H20 is an excellent eReader. It offers largely the same appealing design as the Forma, with a light chassis, chunky grip, textured back and IPX8 water resistance, as well a 300ppi screen and 8GB of storage.

But by compromising slightly on the size of that screen (at 7in) you can get the device for a far more manageable price tag.

Kobo’s eBook store remains unhelpful in terms of genre curation and user recommendations, but the Libra supports EPUB (so you can sideload free eBooks from Project Gutenberg) and OverDrive (so you can get eBooks from your local library). This is a great choice of eReader.

The Kindle Scribe is the first Kindle that can be used for note-taking, but it’s large screen that’s the big draw here. A 10.2in panel is much larger than most e-ink devices, and it offers a better reading experience than similarly-sized devices in this list.

If you want to fit more text on a page or read comics and magazines, this is the Kindle for you.

However, Amazon is pitching the Scribe as a device for taking notes. That is possible thanks to the included pen, which works very well for writing or diagrams.

Unfortunately, there are still some big issues on the software side. The Kindle software is already limited when it comes to reading, but its shortcomings are even more pronounced here. Amazon doesn’t allow to to write directly onto books (only PDFs), with only clunky sticky notes instead. The notebook section also needs work.

It’s a great Kindle for reading, but most people can get that from a device that’s significantly cheaper.

Read our full Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019) review

The ReMarkable 2 was first released back in 2020, but several software updates have improved the experience since then.

Its primary focus is note-taking rather than reading books (although it can do both), with a large 10.3in display and excellent pen support. However, the compatible stylus is sold separately.

But ReMarkable’s stripped-back software experience is one of the big reasons why it’s so good. The tablet runs on a custom version of Linux, offering extensive customisation and easy exporting to other devices via the companion app.

However, the latter is one of several features exclusive to the $2.99/£2.99 per month ReMarkable Connect subscription. Considering its already high price tag in comparison to other e-ink devices, the ReMarkable 2 is only right for certain people.

Specced much more like a conventional Android tablet, as opposed to a dedicated eReader, Huawei’s debut E Ink-based slate offers the largest display in this lineup and includes a few standout features that you won’t find elsewhere too.

For a start, that 10.3in E Ink touch-responsive panel serves up a respectable 227ppi, paired to a backlight with 32 brightness levels and if you add in the company’s second-generation M-Pencil stylus, the MatePad Paper becomes a serious note-taking device too, with a respectable 26ms of latency and integrated handwriting to text conversion.

The main caveat here isn’t really to do with the Paper’s hardware, so much as the lack of compatible reading experiences up for grabs on the Harmony OS-based software out the box. Huawei’s own Books app is a little light on content, so you’ll have to spend more time side-loading supported media (including ePub and PDF files) than you do on competing eReaders.

At least 64GB of storage for all your media, plus up to 28 days of battery life per charge.