Best E-Reader for 2026: Ditch Those Paper Books for Good

Pros

• Slightly larger 7-inch 300 ppi high-resolution display
• Higher contrast ratio and faster page turns
• More advanced lighting scheme than entry-level Kindle
• Fully waterproof

Cons

• No dedicated page-turn buttons
• Power button still on bottom of device
• Costs $20 to remove ads

Like the entry-level Kindle, the new Kindle Paperwhite also costs $10 more than the previous Paperwhite base model. But the changes to the Paperwhite seem more substantial. Amazon has reduced the size of the bezel around the screen (at the bottom of the device), so instead of a 6.8-inch diagonal E Ink display in a similar-sized chassis, you get a larger 7-inch screen. The device itself is also slightly thinner, has the highest contrast ratio of any Kindle and 25% faster page turns. Amazon is touting it as the fastest Kindle yet -- the page turns and refresh rates do seem noticeably quicker.

Aside from the larger screen and more advanced lighting scheme than the entry-level Kindle, the Paperwhite is fully waterproof, while the Kindle isn't. The Paperwhite also comes in a Signature Edition, which offers 32GB of storage, wireless charging and an autoadjusting front light for $200. Both the standard Paperwhite (16GB of storage) and Signature Edition are available in metallic raspberry, metallic jade and metallic black colors.

Pros

• Slightly faster page turns and brighter light than previous model
• 300 ppi high-resolution display with slightly higher contrast
• Built-in light and USB-C charging
• Good value ($50 less than Kindle Paperwhite)

Cons

• Not waterproof
• Lacks more premium feel of Kindle Paperwhite
• Costs $20 to remove ads

Pros

• 11-inch color E Ink display with newly redesigned display stack, including a new mini-LED lighting system
• New custom MediaTek for improved performance (writing feels smooth and natural)
• Adjustable warm light with over 70 LEDs
• Includes redesigned Premium Pen
• More robust note-taking and document markup capabilities
• Easy to send documents to device

Cons

• Pricey
• Base model should come with 64GB of storage not 32GB
• Needs a cover with a built-in stand
• Color pixel density is only 150 ppi for color content compared to 300 ppi for black-and-white content
• Can't mark up Kindle e-books (or DRM-free ePub ebooks)

After releasing its second-generation Kindle Scribe 2024, Amazon launched three redesigned, pricier Scribes, including a flagship color model, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft in late 2025. The new Scribes have a few key upgrades that may allow you to pardon the price bumps, including a larger 11-inch screen (compared to 10.2 inches), slightly slimmer design, newly redesigned "display stacks," including a new mini-LED lighting system and a new custom MediaTek processor that Amazon says delivers a 40% performance boost.

While the monochrome Kindle Scribe (with blacklight) is an appealing option for those looking for a jumbo e-reader and E Ink tablet, I personally feel you might as well get this color model because having color is a significant upgrade (even if the color appears washed out compared what you get with an LCD or OLED display) and seems like it's worth the extra $130. For those immersed in the Amazon ebook ecosystem, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is a compelling alternative to ReMarkable's slightly larger 11.8-inch Paper Pro (only 5.1mm thick), which doesn't have as good a lighting scheme but has a higher pixel density (229 ppi) for color content. That said, its pixel density for black and white content is only 229 ppi compared to 300 ppi for the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, so text doesn't appear as sharp.

Pros

• E Ink Kaleido 3 display
• Auto-adjusting front light
• Waterproof
• Physical page-turn buttons
• Less expensive than Kindle Colorsoft
• Power button is well-placed on back
• Compatible with Kobo Stylus 2

Cons

• Little bit larger than Kindle Colorsoft
• Stylus 2 costs $70

Kobo makes a couple of color e-readers. The smaller Clara Colour has a 6-inch screen and costs $150, while the larger Libra Colour ($230) has a 7-inch screen and is compatible with Kobo's Stylus 2 (available separately for $70), which allows you to store handwritten notes on the device. The larger screen makes more sense for color, especially if you're viewing graphic novels or comic books (even a 7-inch screen is a little small for reading those types of content). You can also highlight text in different color options like you can with the Kindle Colorsoft.

The Libra Colour uses E Ink Kaleido 3 display technology (300 ppi black and white/150 ppi color) and like the Kindle Colorsoft, it comes with 32GB of storage and is fully waterproof. While I think the color is a tad more vibrant on the Kindle Colorsoft, the Libra Colour has physical page turn buttons, which some people really appreciate. The overall footprint of the Libra Colour is a little larger than the Kindle Colorsoft, but for those who haven't bought into Amazon's ecosystem and are looking for a color e-reader alternative, the Libra Colour is a good choice.

Pros

• Color E Ink display combined with Amazon's new customized technology
• Faster page turns (similar performance to new Paperwhite)
• Auto-adjusting front light
• IPX8 waterproof
• Wireless charging

Cons

• Expensive
• Power button is still on bottom of device
• No page turn buttons

The Kindle Colorsoft is Amazon's first ever color Kindle, which brings book covers, graphic novels and comic books more to life than a monochrome E Ink display and allows you to highlight text in different color options. The Colorsoft uses the same oxide backplane with custom waveforms as the new Paperwhite (2024). Amazon says the custom display includes a new light-guide with nitride LEDs that, when combined with custom algorithms, enhances color and increases brightness. The E Ink display (it uses E Ink's Kaleido color filter) is 300 ppi for black and white and 150 ppi for color.

In all other respects the Kindle Colorsoft is similar to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, though its battery life is rated for up to eight weeks instead of three months. In fact, the Colorsoft only comes in a Signature Edition with 32GB of storage. Priced at $280 (£270), it is fully waterproof and has wireless charging. 

By comparison, the Kobo Libra Colour, which also has a 7-inch screen, costs $220 and is compatible with Kobo's Stylus 2 (available separately for $70). While the Kobo costs less, I do think Amazon's color e-reader offers slightly more vibrant color, as well as slightly better overall performance.

Editors' note: Amazon had an issue with faint yellow tinging on the bottom and sides of the smaller Kindle Colorsoft display when it first launched its color E Ink model in 2024 (the issue was more apparent with the front light on). It paused shipping the Kindle Colorsoft for some weeks while it came up with a fix and replaced the units of users who reported the problem. Amazon appears to have fixed the Kindle Colorsoft's yellow-banding issue -- or at least made it barely noticeable. Some E Ink e-reader aficionados have suggested that the way the Colorsoft's display was designed made it susceptible to the issue, while the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft's more advanced display design has eliminated the problem (according to my tests, it indeed has). 

Pros

• 300 ppi high-resolution display
• Built-in light
• No ads
• Fully waterproof
• USB-C charging

Cons

• Screen may be a little small for some people

Pros

• Large 10.3-inch display
• Upgraded processor
• Writing feels pretty smooth and natural
• Built-in light with adjustable brightness and color temperature
• Can mark up PDFs, other docs
• Supports lots of file types

Cons

• Pretty weighty and pricey
• Needs a cover with a built-in stand
• Not as sharp of a 300 ppi screen as other readers

I used Kobo's original jumbo e-reader, the 10.3-inch Elipsa, and now Kobo has a new, slightly upgraded version of that model called the Elipsa 2E. The previous model came with a cover and stylus as part of an Elipsa Pack (you can still buy it for $350), but now you get the new Stylus 2 and have to buy a cover separately.

The screen is pretty sharp and easy to read with an E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen with a density of 227 ppi and a dark mode. The Scribe has a sharper 300 ppi screen.

You get Kobo's upgraded ComfortLight Pro with adjustable brightness and color temperature and a 2GHz (up from 1.8GHz) quad-core processor with 32GB of storage. Even with the slight speed boost, an E Ink device like this still feels relatively sluggish compared to an iPad (using an Apple Pencil). The performance is decent enough and battery life remains a big strong point for E Ink devices. Like other e-readers, the Elipsa's battery life is rated in weeks rather than hours. The Elipsa supports 15 file formats natively (EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ and CBR). 

It weighs in at 13.5 ounces, plus the cover (if you purchase it) adds additional weight, making this a pretty heavy e-reader. You can use the case to prop up the e-reader so you don't have to hold it while reading, taking notes or reviewing and marking up documents. Big e-readers aren't for everybody, but if you like to see a lot of words on a page or bump up the font size, this Kobo e-reader is an appealing option. They're also good for looking at PDF files.