I recently got the brand-new Kindle Colorsoft 2026, and it's definitely one of the best e-readers I've tried. In true bookworm style, I devoured fantasy novel after fantasy novel — but I had to buy every book. I didn't realize I could get 3 months free of Kindle Unlimited with my new e-reader.

Kindle Unlimited is effectively a refillable soda for books... or just a library card. Instead of buying each book individually, you pay a flat $11.99 a month, and you can "borrow" unlimited books per month. You can only have 20 Kindle Unlimited books downloaded at a time, but you can easily swap these out. It truly is "unlimited".

But you have to order a specific version of the Kindle to take advantage of this. The basic version is just 1 free month, so here's how you can triple that. Unfortunately, these deals are only for Prime Members. This deal is both U.S. and U.K.

The best US Kindle Prime Day deals

How to get 3 months free Kindle Unlimited

Snagging 3 months free Kindle Unlimited is so easy, I'm kind of beating myself up over not getting it for myself.

Here's exactly how you do it.

When you go to Amazon, scroll down. There are two secret tabs underneath the price information.

Make sure you have selected "With 3 months of Kindle Unlimited" before you check out.

Obviously, this is only a "trial," and you will have to pay $11.99 after your first three months. But saving $36 is awesome, especially if you've already saved $90 on the brand-new Kindle Colorsoft.

I wish I had known this when I bought my Kindle — now I'm stuck paying $11.99 each month!

We're tracking all the best Prime Day home appliance deals

Is the Kindle Colorsoft 2026 good enough to be one of the best e-readers? Yes, definitely. This is the King of e-readers — and it knows it. With a bright, 7-inch display (1 inch bigger than its nearest rival, the Kobo Clara Color) and up to 8 weeks of battery, the Kindle Colorsoft 2026 is here to stay.

But because it’s the King of e-readers, it’s priced like it. The Kindle Colorsoft 2026 is $90 pricier than the closest Kobo alternative, an increase of 56%, and I’m… not really sure why. Yes, the Kindle library is bigger than Kobo’s, and Kindle Unlimited is better than Kobo’s, but does that justify a price increase of 56%? The initial $250+ cost might put off newcomers.

The Kindle Colorsoft 2026 is a fantastic e-reader, though — just an expensive one. I thoroughly enjoyed my time testing this device. It’s easy to use, lovely to look at, and has bright color for comic books. Want to find out more? Keep reading this Kindle Colorsoft 2026 review.

All images showing e-books have been blurred for copyright. Screen is sharp and detailed in real life.

Kindle Colorsoft 2026 review: Specs

Kindle Colorsoft 2026 review: Price & availability

There are two models of the Kindle Colorsoft 2026: 16GB and 32GB. I tested the 16GB model, which can hold almost 6,000 books (depending on length, images, and the like). The 16GB model is $249 from Amazon U.S. and £239 from Amazon U.K.. The 32GB model is an extra $30/£30, making it $279 in the U.S. and £269 in the U.K..

Kindle also makes the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, which is not this product. If you want the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, that’s $279 from Amazon U.S. (yes, the same price, annoyingly). The Signature has automatic brightness adjustment and wireless charging.

I recently tested the Kobo Clara Colour, which is $159/£169. Honestly, if you want a great e-reader for as little money as possible, I’d go for the Kobo. Of course, the library isn’t as large — the Kindle Store has a near-incomprehensible 15 million titles, and a much wider self-published selection — but I’ve been able to find every book on my TBR on the Kobo store.

The Kindle Colorsoft Gen 1, 2024, launched at $279/£269, so no price increase there, which I like to see.

Kindle Colorsoft 2026 review: The ups

There are so many things to like about the Kindle Colorsoft 2026, including its speed, screen, and library size.

Processor go Brr!

The Kindle Colorsoft is faster than the Kobo Clara Colour. Not by much — it’s more “blink and you miss it” than countable seconds — but every little helps, right? When I turned both e-readers on at the same time, the Kindle displayed the reading material a touch faster than the Kobo.

Kindle store is a modern-day Library of Alexandria

As much as I loved testing the Kobo — and I think it works much harder than the Kindle — the Kobo store is nowhere near as large as Amazon’s. The Kobo store is still fantastic, don’t get me wrong, with millions of books available for purchase, and a Kobo Unlimited subscription too.

However, it just can’t compete with Kindle’s whopping 15-million-plus titles. This is an incomprehensible number. I couldn’t even imagine 15 million plotlines if I spent the rest of eternity locked in a dark room.

But Kindle has everything, including obscure self-published books penned by Susan who lives down the street. If you’re the kind of reader who absorbs books like they’re going out of fashion, then you might be better off with the Kindle.

With my purchase, I also got 3 months free of Kindle Unlimited and 1 month free of Audible, which is great and something other e-reader brands simply can’t compete with.

Kindle Unlimited is better than Kobo Plus

I’ve tried Kobo Plus and Kindle Unlimited, and what they say is true: Kindle offers a wider range of books, both big-name authors and midlist novels alike. Unlike Kobo’s library, KU isn’t just self-published/thriller type books. You’ve got huge names, like Holly Black, Colleen Hoover, Freida McFadden, and more. Kobo Plus just doesn’t have this range.

Kindle Unlimited is $11.99 for literally unlimited books, magazines, and audio, whereas Kobo Plus is $7.99/$9.99 (for books and audio).

Night mode for those tired eyes

Just like the Kobo Clara Colour, the Kindle Colorsoft 2026 has a warm filter. Although any electronic light source can interrupt sleep, research has shown that front-lit e-ink screens with warm filters interfere less than blue light devices (like phones).

You can access the display settings easily by scrolling down on the left margin, much like the Kobo Clara Colour.

Although I don’t have any scientific, quantitative data detailing my improved sleep quality, I can report that my sleep was no more interrupted than normal after reading before bed. I read before bed every single night, e-reader or paper, and didn’t notice any difference.

Direct sunlight? No problem

As the Kindle Colorsoft uses a front-lit e-ink screen, which means the screen is lit from the front rather than the back, it is visible even in direct sunlight. As you can see from the photos throughout this review, the screen looks vibrant under strong sun.

This performance is identical to the Kobo Clara Colour, both of which offer natural, e-ink screens with fantastic visibility.

IPX8 rating for bathtub adventures

Like the Kobo Clara Colour, the Kindle Colorsoft 2026 is IPX8 rated. In real terms, this means it will survive if you accidentally leave it on the hood of your car before going through the car wash. Or something less ridiculous, like accidental dips in the bathtub.

Kindle Colorsoft 2026 review: The downs

Although there’s lots to love about the Kindle Colorsoft 2026, it’s not perfect. It isn't as customizable rivals, and it's much pricier, too.

Not as customizable as Kobo

One of my favorite aspects of the Kobo Clara Colour is that you can change the screen layout. You can also do this on the Kindle, but it’s more restrictive. On the Kindle, you can change orientation and font size, margins, and text alignment, but on Kobo, you can customize the actual layout of the menus.

On Kobo, you can change the ‘home’ button (the area of the screen you tap to bring up the main menu) depending on your preferences. By default, it’s set to: center tap brings up the menu, and then you turn the page forward or back by tapping the edge of the screen. I set mine so I have to click on the bottom of the screen to bring up the menu and 75% of the screen turns to the next page. I think this feels more natural because I’m left-handed and naturally tap to turn the page on the left side of the screen (don’t ask).

On Kindle, you can’t actually do this at all. You’re stuck with tapping on the top of the screen to bring up the menu, and 50% of the screen turns the page in its corresponding direction.

If there is a way to adjust this on Kindle, it’s not in the ‘Settings’ tab or in any of the device options menus, which is a con in and of itself.

Much more expensive than Kobo

Now, this is the biggest con there is. In our current, seemingly endless cost of living crisis, you need to save every penny you can get — or at least, I do.

The Kindle Colorsoft 2026 starts from $249, which is $90 more expensive than the Kobo Clara Colour. I don’t think the benefits justify the price increase.

The Kindle grants you access to Amazon’s huge library, which is a pro, and… that’s it? The other great features (front light, IPX8 rating, color, e-ink screen, long battery life, night mode) are all present on the Kobo. I totally recommend the Kindle, don’t get me wrong, but if you’re serious about saving every dollar you can, then I’d go for the Kobo.

Kindle Colorsoft 2026 review: Verdict

I really enjoyed testing the Kindle Colorsoft 2026. It’s got everything you’d want in an e-reader: a frontlit e-ink screen visible even in direct sunlight, and has night mode for those tired eyes. The battery life matches the Kobo Clara Colour — “up to” 8 weeks, but mine’s at 37% as we speak because I’m always using it — and the IPX8 rating means it’ll survive a dunk in the tub.

The only thing holding it back is the price. $249 is $90 more than Kobo’s competitor, which is an increase of 56%. Sure, the Kindle has a larger screen, but it’s not noticeably brighter. You can make the text on the Kobo as large as you want. The only main thing is the Kindle has a larger library, but whether or not this is a dealbreaker is something only you can decide.

At the end of the day, the new Kindle Colorsoft 2026 is a great e-reader, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by it at all. I thoroughly enjoyed reading on this device.

Outside of signing checks at a restaurant, I haven’t regularly written by hand since the early 2000s. My handwriting was always terrible, so when keyboards (both physical and digital) became the standard, I never went back to “real” writing again. As you can imagine, my handwriting has only gotten worse over the decades. Hence, testing the new ReMarkable Paper Pure has been an interesting experience.

In case you don’t know, ReMarkable has made a name for itself with its digital paper tablets designed for writing, sketching, and reading—all without distractions. The company is best known for the ReMarkable 2 and the color-enabled Paper Pro. Now, it is releasing the ReMarkable Paper Pro, which is effectively a spiritual successor of the ReMarkable 2.

I’ve used the new ReMarkable Paper Pure for the better part of a week, and I find that it lives up to its promise of being a distraction-free way to write digitally. There’s a lot to like here if you’re looking for such a device. However, if you’re used to keyboards, it might feel like technological regression. Here’s what I think of the ReMarkable Paper Pure.

What’s new with the ReMarkable Paper Pure?

The Paper Pure is the back-to-basics entry in ReMarkable’s 2026 lineup, sitting right under the more expensive, back-lit Paper Pro. This 10.3-inch monochrome tablet is essentially a digital version of a high-end legal pad. It’s just about as slim and light, weighing 0.79 pounds and thin enough to carry easily in your backpack.

Don’t mistake this for one of the best iPads or best Android tablets, as it has no color, web browser, and perhaps most importantly, no backlight. Because of that, you’ll need to be in a well-lit room or other light source to see what you’re doing. I’ll expand on this last bit shortly.

Another interesting aspect is that this device is made with 38% recycled materials and features a new, repairable design that’s held together with screws rather than glue. Thanks to that, it’s relatively easy to repair, which makes it more future-proof than traditional tablets on the market.

The writing experience

As I mentioned above, I haven’t handwritten for any serious length of time since I finished college in the early 2000s. Because of that, my first hour with the Paper Pure was admittedly a struggle. I’ll freely admit that it didn’t take long for my hands to cramp—something I wasn’t exactly prepared for. But I persisted, and the device slowly began winning me over.

I wouldn’t say that writing on the Paper Pure feels like writing on actual paper, but the amount of friction I feel when I put stylus to screen is satisfyingly tactile. In fact, I like the experience much more than using the Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro since it doesn’t feel like I’m writing on glass. It legit feels much closer to using a ballpoint pen.

Thanks to its 21-millisecond latency, the digital ink appears almost instantly on the screen. I say “almost” since you do see the delay, but it’s not egregiously long. And that’s fine, since I had to slow down anyway for my scribblings to resemble actual words. The intentionality of writing each letter took me back decades, which is likely why many still prefer to write by hand. You’re forced to slow down—something that’s almost unheard of in this fast-paced age we live in.

As for the lack of a backlight, I honestly didn’t find it an issue. I purposefully turn off the backlight on my Kindle Paperwhite to spare my eyes from yet another screen burning my retinas, so using the Paper Pure near a light source came naturally to me. I know some might legitimately need a backlit display, but I feel that would ruin what the Paper Pure’s attempt to function more like actual paper.

Useful features

Since we live in a digital world, the Paper Pure lets you transfer or upload files to and from the device. And if your handwriting is as bad as mine, you can even use some of the built-in AI features to clean things up. Don’t worry, as this is good AI that doesn’t get in the way.

With a Connect subscription, you can tap a button and watch your messy scribbles turn into a clean document. There is also an “Action Items” feature that scans your notes and automatically creates a separate to-do list, if necessary. I find this extremely useful, especially if I want to send a note to someone and don’t want them to spend unnecessary time deciphering my handwriting. This feature is also helpful if you take notes during meetings.

Speaking of meetings, you can sync your Outlook or Google Calendar, and the Paper Pure will pre-populate a note template with the date, time, and attendees of your next meeting. I wasn’t able to try this feature because my work account wouldn’t let me sync with my reMarkable account, but I can see it being handy.

Bottom line

Though I’m not yet ready to return to analog writing, I love what ReMarkable is doing overall. With so much digital noise around us, I appreciate that a device like the ReMarkable Paper Pure exists to deliver a more grounded and distraction-free experience.

Sometimes, it’s not all about how productive you can be, but how engaged you are with your work. If you agree with that sentiment, do yourself a favor and check out the ReMarkable Paper Pure. No pun intended, but it truly is a remarkable device—even for keyboard warriors like myself.

More from Tom's Guide

• ReMarkable Paper Pro Move review: E-paper in your pocket
• Kindle Scribe vs. ReMarkable Paper Pro: Which e-reader is right for you?
• I just tested the Kindle Scribe — and it will be hard going back to the Paperwhite

The Kobo Clara Colour is a godsend. Combining the best features of all of Amazon’s flagship e-readers, the Clara Colour has it all: color screen, warm night lighting, a touchscreen, 49-hour battery life, full waterproofing, and native Libby e-book borrowing. And my favorite part? It’s $90 cheaper than the Kindle equivalent, the Colorsoft.

But is this enough to make the Clara Colour one of the best e-readers you can get? Heck yeah! I love my Clara Colour. It’s everything I could ever want in an e-reader. The screen is paperlike and visible even in direct sunlight, and when I’m reading on a plane or car at night I can up the brightness without needing to turn on a separate light.

However, the Kobo library is considerably smaller than the Kindle library — which, personally, is a non-issue as every book I’ve tried to purchase has been available on Kobo — but if you’re a KU self-pubbed kind of reader, you might want to stick with the larger library. To find out the full story (pun intended), keep reading this Kobo Clara Colour review.

Kobo Clara Colour review: Cheat sheet

• Who is it for? If you want an e-reader without paying the Kindle tax
• What does it do well? It’s $90 cheaper than the Kindle Colorsoft and does everything just as well
• What are its weaknesses? The Kobo library doesn't have as many books, but this is a non-issue for readers like me
• What should you use it for? Um, getting back into reading like the insatiable little bookworm you are

Kobo Clara Colour review: Specs

Kobo Clara Colour review: Price & availability

I blurred all book text to protect copyright. The Kobo Clara Colour display is clear and distinguished in real life.

Interestingly, the Kobo Clara Colour is spelled the same in the U.K. and the U.S., despite “colour” being the British/Canadian/Australian variant. In the U.S., you’ll find the Clara Colour for $159 at Amazon, and for £149 in the U.K..

Even so, the clue’s in the name: the Clara Colour is the color version of the BW model, which is $139/£139. This is Kobo’s entry-level e-reader: if you want a Kindle Scribe ($449) equivalent, you’d be looking at the Kobo Libra Colour ($229) or Kobo Elipsa 2E ($399).

The Kobo Clara Colour is considerably cheaper than the Kindle equivalent — the Colorsoft is $249, $90 pricier than the Clara Color. Similarly, the BW Clara is $139, whereas the Kindle Paperwhite is $159. True, the basic Kindle is just $109 — but this doesn’t have a warm light setting (unlike the Kobo Clara), so you can’t switch to night-safe reading.

Kobo Clara Colour review: The ups

The Kobo Clara Colour has so much going for it: night mode, the display clarity, the bright color, IPX8 rating, super lightweight feel, scrollable library, and more.

Night mode!

Unlike the basic Kindle, which lacks a night mode/warm setting, the Kobo Clara Colour offers both daytime and nighttime display. You can either select night mode to come on automatically, or you can manually adjust.

When I first started testing the Clara Colour, I set my bedtime at 9:00PM (yes, I am a grandma). You can choose between 9:00PM-3:00AM, which I think is a bit crazy. Who’s out here going to be at 3:00AM? In a perfect world, I think it’d make more sense for bedtime to align with your location’s sunset and sunrise times — but this isn’t a major issue, as you can just manually turn on night mode whenever the sun sets in your area.

But even if you’re reading at nighttime in a dark environment — think of being on a plane where you don’t want to disturb your neighbor by turning on the overhead light — you can just up the brightness while in night mode. While not completely blue light free, reading a frontlit e-reader with a warm filter isn’t overly detrimental to your melatonin production.

Paperlike display

As touched on briefly above, the Clara Colour uses a frontlit display rather than the LED, backlit display you might be used to. Generally, smartphones and tablets utilize backlit, blue-light displays, which are both difficult to read in the sun and can be detrimental to your melatonin production.

The Clara Colour has a frontlit display, meaning it uses tiny LEDs that illuminate across the screen itself rather than up into your eyes. This is also a paperlike display — I genuinely think it looks 99% like real paper.

Take a look at the screen in direct sunlight.

As you can see, the text is clearly legible, even in strong, direct sunlight. I don’t think the screen is grainy at all, nor suffers from leftover shadows (A.K.A “ghosting”) like the Kindle Paperwhite is known to, either.

Pool-safe, dunk-in-the-tub-surviving IPX8 rating

The Clara Colour is IPX8 rated, which means it’ll survive up to 60 minutes in up to 2 meters of water. The Kindle Colorsoft and Kindle Paperwhite have the same IPX8 rating, but the Kindle basic has zero waterproofing.

In real terms, this means you’ll be able to accidentally drop your Clara Colour in the bathtub or dry off from the pool beside it without it saying goodbye forever.

E-book renting — local library dependent, of course

If your local library uses Libby (Overdrive), you can rent e-books like you would borrow normal books. Unfortunately, my local library uses BorrowBox, which isn’t directly available on the Kobo store. However, I can still download ebooks from BorrowBox and manually load them onto my Kobo using Adobe Digital Editions and a USB-C cable.

I’d like to see Kobo introduce direct BorrowBox compatibility soon, as it’s much, much more widely used than Libby in the U.K., where I live.

If you’re in the U.S., though, you’re in luck. Libby is used by 22,000 libraries across the United States, so your local library might just be one of them. In this case, you can select Libby directly in your Clara Colour and browse available ebooks.

As you can see, the app is native to your e-reader itself, so don’t worry about downloading books onto your computer and manually installing onto the Kobo.

Manga, audiobooks, Kobo Unlimited, oh my!

If you’re a manga reader, audiobooks listener, or Kindle Unlimited devourer, don’t worry. Kobo has you covered. You can still get manga on the Kobo Store — and it looks fantastic. The clarity is incredible, and the full color cover is gorgeous.

As you can see, the color cover is beautiful, with no grainy, faded, or blurry areas. This is easily Kindle Colorsoft-equalling, and you save $90 in the process. Despite being on a 6-inch screen, I was able to read all the text on this manga, and I was never struggling to make out smaller words. Of course, you read manga right-to-left, so remember to tap the left side of the screen to change page.

In the Kobo Store, you can also browse tons of audiobooks. You’ve got the big names — think Stephen King, Sarah J. Maas, Terry Pratchett — but also books I’d never heard of by authors I’d never heard of. Of course, you can check Kobo’s ebook and audiobook store online without going through an e-reader.

Finally, if you’re coming from a Kindle, you’re in luck! Kobo also offers Kobo Plus, an unlimited service, where you pay a subscription for unlimited books each month. Kindle Unlimited is $11.99 a month for unlimited books and e-books. Kobo Plus is $7.99 for either just ebooks and just audiobooks, or $9.99 for both.

Kindle offers 5 million books, whereas Kobo offers 1.5 million books — this may or may not be an issue, depending on what kind of reader you are, which I’ll get into now.

Kobo Clara Colour review: The downs

As much as I’m enamored with my Kobo Clara Colour, there’s one thing that might hold me back from recommending it for everyone.

Kindle library is much bigger

Now, this one is a little weird for me. I think it depends on what kind of reader you are. Personally, I mostly read traditionally published books, and all of the books I’ve tried to buy from the Kobo Store have been available.

If you’re the Kindle Unlimited self-published kind of reader, you might be better off sticking to the bigger library. This is not to say that Kobo’s bookstore is lacking or threadbare, but more so that the Kindle bookstore had a wider variety of lesser-known, self-published books.

However, if you’re the kind of person who buys books from Barnes & Noble and your local independent bookstore, you’re probably going to be fine with the Kobo Store. As I said, every book I’ve tried to buy has been available, so this is a total non-issue for me.

Kobo Clara Colour review: Verdict

Would I recommend the Kobo Clara Colour to 99% of the population? Without a shadow of a doubt. I flew through every book I was reading on the Clara Colour because it was so easy to read everywhere — in bed, at the park, on the bus, you name it. The sleep cover also has a magnetic kickstand, so I could prop the Clara Colour up to read hands-free.

All that being said, if you’re predominantly a Kindle Unlimited self-published book lover, you might want to stick with the bigger library. Kindle offers millions of indie books, whereas Kobo offers just one million.

Even so, this is a non-issue for me. Every book I’ve looked up on the Kobo Store has been instantly available. If you’re the same kind of reader, you’ll be just as obsessed with the Kobo Clara Colour as I am.

Amazon is making a slew of older Kindle devices obsolete starting in May. This means that you won't be able to download new books unless you find a workaround or purchase a newer model.

As reported by The Verge (and elsewhere), starting on May 20th, 2026 Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets released in 2012 and before will "no longer be able to purchase, borrow, or download new content via the Kindle Store."

Any books you already have on those devices will still be accessible. And you can still access your accounts and purchases via the Kindle mobile app, Kindle site and newer models. Additionally, if your older Kindle is factory reset or deregistered, you won't be able to re-register after May 20.

Here's the complete list of Kindle devices losing support going back to the original Kindle, which launched in 2007.

• Kindle 1st Generation (2007)
• Kindle DX (2009)
• Kindle DX Graphite (2010)
• Kindle Keyboard (2010)
• Kindle 4 (2011)
• Kindle Touch (2011)
• Kindle 5 (2012)
• Kindle Paperwhite 1st Generation (2012)
• Kindle Fire 1st Gen (2011)
• Kindle Fire 2nd Gen (2012)
• Kindle Fire HD 7 (2012)
• Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (2012)

The youngest devices on that list is 14 years old at this point.

According to the report, Amazon will send out emails to impacted Kindle owners before the deadline which will outline what your devices can and cannot do. The pre-2012 Kindle Fire devices won't be able to download new books, but other Amazon services and apps you have shouldn't be updated.

Amazon is offering a 20% discount on new Kindle devices and a $20 ebook credit that will arrive on your account after the upgrade. The credit only lasts a month valid through June 20, 2026 at 11:59 pm PT.

Up until now, Amazon has largely left owners of older Kindles alone, letting them purchase and download ebooks as desired. There was a 2016 software update that maintained access to the Kindle Store.

Before last February, you could have gotten around this restriction by downloading your books on your computer and transferring them using the USB port. However, Amazon killed that function.

What are your options?

If you insist on keeping your older Kindle, especially if it's still working well, you could consider jailbreaking it. I won't tell you how to do it here, but there are ways.

If you want to upgrade, currently, Kindles start at $110 for the entry-level version. The Kindle Paperwhite will set you back $160, while the color-screen Kindle Colorsoft is $250. At the high-end, there is the giant Kindle Scribe writing tablet, which starts at $400 for the non-color version.

If you need help deciding, check out our guide to the best Kindles. We've also included recommendations for some non-Amazon ereaders if you're looking to get out of the Amazon ecosystem.

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• Best DIY home security systems
• Amazon has a hidden button that connects you with a real customer service agent — here's where to find it
• I used ChatGPT to shop smarter on Amazon — and I finally stopped overpaying

I thought I’d seen everything in the world of displays, from foldable glass to transparent OLEDs that look like something out of Minority Report. But Samsung just threw a curveball that I genuinely didn't see coming. The company just announced a new 13-inch Color E-Paper display that’s built using a bio-resin derived from phytoplankton, or plankton. No, I’m not making that up!

As Samsung detailed in a blog post, the company is essentially using microscopic marine organisms to build a screen. It sounds like a plot point from a sci-fi novel where we’ve run out of plastic, but the goal here is sustainability. By using this bio-resin, Samsung claims it can slash carbon emissions during the manufacturing process by over 40% compared to traditional petroleum-based plastics. It’s a crazy science project turned into a real-world device.

The tech inside the screen is just as impressive as the plankton-based shell. This is a 13.3-inch panel with a 1600 x 1200 resolution that looks and feels like actual paper, according to Samsung. Since this is a digital paper display, it consumes 0 watts of power when showing a static image. It only drains a bit of juice when it changes to another image.

Now, before you get excited about a potential Samsung Galaxy Tab e-reader, I have some bad news. Right now, this device (the EM13DX model) is aimed strictly at businesses. Samsung wants these on store shelves, restaurant menus, and office doors to replace traditional paper signage. You can’t buy this device from Amazon or Best Buy just yet.

If you’ll permit me to speculate, I can see Samsung eventually bringing this tech to the consumer market. If that happens, we might finally see a true rival for the Kindle Colorsoft and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft. Those are fantastic tablets that I use all the time, but it would be fascinating to see Samsung’s color-imaging algorithms applied to an e-reader. Again, this is likely wishful thinking on my part—but a man can dream!

More from Tom's Guide

• How to read library books for free on your Kindle or other e-reader
• Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour: Which is the better color e-reader?
• Amazon's Kindle Colorsoft finally convinced me to get an e-reader

Amazon just launched the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, an upgraded version of the Kindle Scribe that lets you read and write in color. It's a welcome upgrade for the Scribe that opens up some fun new possibilities, like color-coding your notes on a book or being able to read your favorite manga and comic books in color. But it's also quite expensive. In my Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review I called this slate the Cadillac of Kindles, and for good reason: Amazon slapped a $629 starting price on this e-paper tablet, so it costs more than a new iPad Air.

At that price, you have to be someone who loves reading and writing to buy one of these new Kindles, because otherwise you could get more features and a better screen for less by buying an iPad or Android tablet. And if you are someone who prizes the ability to put stylus to screen to jot down notes or doodle during boring meetings, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft has serious competition in the ReMarkable Paper Pro.

I know because I wrote our ReMarkable Paper Pro review last year and loved it, calling it the best e-paper tablet for writers I'd ever used. Now that I've had a chance to test out the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft side-by-side with the Paper Pro, I've learned a lot about which is best for what, so I figured I could help you make your decision by breaking down the differences between the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs. ReMarkable Paper Pro. Let's dive in!

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro: Price

One of the tricky things about deciding between these two e-paper slates is the price: they both start at $629, though that climbs depending on what accessories and upgrades you want.

So let's quickly talk through what you get for that price: Amazon's Kindle Scribe Colorsoft starts at $629 for the 32GB model and comes with a free Kindle Premium Pen stylus, which has a built-in "eraser" tool on the rear end as well as a function button you can customize to do things like switch to a specific art tool, etc.

You can pay $50 more (so $679) for an upgraded model of the Scribe Colorsoft with 64GB of storage space, effectively doubling how many documents you can store at once. If you want a folio to protect the Kindle, you can get one direct from Amazon for $139.

The ReMarkable Paper Pro, by comparison, starts at $629 and comes with 64GB of storage and a basic ReMarkable Marker stylus that has no eraser end or function button. If you want the fancier ReMarkable Marker Plus stylus with the "eraser" tool on the end it will cost you (surprise!) $50 more, for a total of $679.

If you'd like to cover up your ReMarkable Paper Pro to protect it, you can get a basic Book Folio cover from the company for $89 or pay $229 for the Type Folio, which has a keyboard built in. ReMarkable offers some small discounts if you buy multiple products in a bundle, such that if you were to splurge for the Paper Pro with Marker Plus and Type Folio it would cost you $829 before tax, rather than something north of $900.

So if you want to get the best possible device for the least amount of money, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft has the slight edge here because it comes with the Kindle Premium Pen stylus no matter what — you don't have to pay extra for the better stylus. The trade-off is that you get less storage space on the Kindle, and you have to pay $50 more if you want the same amount of space as you get with the ReMarkable Paper Pro.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro: Design

Both the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft and the ReMarkable Paper Pro are thin, rectangular slates, though the Paper Pro is bigger and sports a slightly larger (11" vs 11.8") display. Both also have tiny feet on the back which help them rest flat on a table without scratching anything.

The e-paper tablets both weigh around a pound, though the ReMarkable slate is slightly heavier (14 vs 18.5 oz) and has a thicker bezel at the bottom of the device than the Kindle. This little lip at the bottom can be handy when you want to hold the device upright without touching the screen, but while using both tablets I don't find I miss it much on the Kindle.

Similarly, both have a single power button near the top (on the top edge for the ReMarkable vs on the top right edge of the Kindle) and a single USB-C port on the bottom edge for charging and data transfer.

So in terms of design, there really isn't a huge difference between the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro. However, the ReMarkable Paper Pro does have a slightly larger screen and weights slightly more than the Kindle, so if screen real estate is king you probably want the Paper Pro.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro: Display

The screens on the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro look similar but are very different in their construction, which matters if you care about how it feels to drag the stylus across the screen.

I'll dig into that in depth in the Writing section, but before I do I want to point out that there is one area in which the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft clearly outperforms the ReMarkable Paper Pro. Put simply, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft can get brighter than the ReMarkable Paper Pro, so it's going to be easier to use in dark settings without external light.

In terms of display quality, well, some of this is going to be anecdotal because I'm no display expert. But first let me point out that technically the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is capable of displaying black and white images slightly sharper than the ReMarkable Paper Pro, while color images will be slightly less sharp.

That's because the ReMarkable Paper Pro's unique Canvas Color display has a rough PPI (pixels per inch) of 229 no matter what you're looking at. But the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft's Kaleido 3 screen has to halve its resolution when displaying color, so you get B&W images in 300 PPI but color images in 150 PPI.

In my experience, you won't notice the difference between the different resolutions unless you're paying very close attention. However, the fact that the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft can get noticeably brighter than the ReMarkable Paper Pro will make a difference in dark areas. Plus, the colors on the Scribe Colorsoft can seem to "pop" a bit more than they do on the Paper Pro because you can crank up the brightness for a bit of extra vibrancy.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro: Performance

I have both the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft and the ReMarkable Paper Pro in front of me on my desk right now, and I have to admit that neither seems to perform basic functions in a particularly snappy or fast way. So if you're expecting responsiveness on a par with the best tablets from Apple and the rest, you're in for a disappointment.

Both slates are powered by quad-core CPUs, but the Kindle has double the RAM of the Paper Pro (2GB vs 4GB).

That said, I'm having a hard time figuring out which of these e-paper slates actually "performs" better because I've noticed inconsistent results when running basic tests like tapping the same file on both screens and seeing which opens the document faster.

The one thing I can say about using both at the same time is that the ReMarkable Paper Pro seems to load documents and new pages in those documents at pretty much the same (reliably slow) speed. But while testing the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft I noticed that load times seemed much more variable: sometimes the Kindle loaded the next page in a document or a recently opened document within two seconds, whereas other times loading the next page or a recent document seemed to take 3-5 seconds — not very long, obviously, but long enough to doubt whether the device had registered my input.

So ultimately I don't think you're going to notice a big difference in performance between these two e-paper slates, and their relative snappiness shouldn't make a big impact in your buying decision.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro: Writing

Both of these e-paper tablets come with a stylus because writing and annotating documents on them is half the reason to buy one. So if you care about what it's like to put stylus to screen, I have some key details you need to know before you buy.

This is an area where there's a big difference between the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro. For my money, no stylus and tablet have ever been as nice to write with as what ReMarkable sells, but the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is no slouch in this department either.

That's because Amazon put special effort into trying to make the feel of dragging the Kindle Premium Pen against the screen of the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft feel as much like paper as possible. The company crows about having put new texture-molded glass on the Scribe Colorsoft and further squished the display stack (that is, all the tech beneath the screen) further to minimize the lag between when you put the stylus to the screen and when your input appears. And I can vouch that it seems to have made a difference, because I enjoy the feel of writing on the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft more than I did when testing last year's basic Kindle Scribe.

But while the feel of writing on the Scribe Colorsoft is better than any Kindle I've tested to date, it still can't hold a candle to what it feels like to write on the ReMarkable Paper Pro.

That's because the Paper Pro's Color Canvas display is more textured than the Scribe Colorsoft (though they feel equally smooth to the touch) so that when you drag the ReMarkable Marker across the screen it feels and sounds like a pencil scratching across paper.

Maybe not as much as an actual No. 2 pencil would on real notebook paper, but as close to the real thing as to be indistinguishable unless you were doing both side-by-side. The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, by comparison, does give you a bit of texture and resistance when dragging the Premium Pen across the screen but mostly feels like dragging plastic across glass.

Another reason I prefer writing on the ReMarkable Paper Pro over the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is the way annotations work on each device. See, with the ReMarkable Paper Pro you can open pretty much any document or file and start making marks directly on the page using the Paper Pro's 10 different art tools (including a highlighter, marker, pen, pencil, paintbrush and the like) and 9 different colors.

The marks you make on a document stay directly where you put them no matter how you move or change the document, which means you can do things like scratch out words (if you're editing someone's school paper, for example), color in illustrations and doodle on the document wherever you please, just like it was a real piece of paper.

The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, on the other hand, offers you two ways of marking up documents (besides highlighting passages) and neither feels as intuitive as what you get on ReMarkable slates.

First, you can use the "Active Canvas" feature to jot down notes and annotations directly on a document. However, the Kindle doesn't actually render what you write or draw directly where you put it; instead, it automagically creates a space between the text (between paragraphs or sometimes between sentences) and puts your annotation in an "Active Canvas" between the text. That way, when you scroll around or change the size of the text your note will stay readable between the lines.

The other option to take notes on the Kindle (as of publication) is to use the expandable margins, which let you tap a little arrow icon on the side of the screen to pull out an expandable margin where you can jot down notes tied to the text.

This enables you to make annotations that feel like footnotes, since you can see a little icon that you have a note on this page but can't actually read the note(s) until you open the margin and look at them.

Both of these systems are effective on the Kindle, but they feel a bit like a compromise compared to the ReMarkable Paper Pro's intuitive "write directly on the page and see it" feature. For my money I much prefer the experience of writing on the ReMarkable Paper Pro over the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, but both are perfectly usable.

Kindle Scribe vs ReMarkable Paper Pro: Libraries

Now let's talk a bit about what kinds of files you can get on these devices, and how easy they are to access.

If you just want to load them up with your own documents for work, you're in luck: both slates can display PDF and EPUB files with no trouble. ReMarkable has a nice suite of software that makes it easy to quickly drag and drop files to your Paper Pro, but you have to set up additional connections to third-party services (i.e. Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive) to do more advanced tricks like send Google Docs/Slides/Sheets to the slate as PDFs, transferring Word documents, PowerPoint files and more.

One key limitation of the Paper Pro is that it can't easily display DRM-protected ebooks like those you buy in Amazon's Kindle store, so you're limited to buying/downloading ebooks from DRM-free sources.

The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft has the advantage here because you can buy any ebook on the Amazon Kindle store and have it sent directly to your Kindle Scribe Colorsoft in moments, giving it a huge leg up in terms of available content. The Kindle Store is filling up with products specifically for Scribe users too, like ebooks full of Sudoku puzzles you can do right on the screen as well as digital coloring books you can work on using the Scribe Colorsoft's limited palette.

The Scribe Colorsoft also supports Bluetooth while the Paper Pro does not, so you can connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones to the Kindle and use them to listen to your Audible audiobooks on the go. Plus, you can also send files from outside Amazon's walled garden (like term papers and DRM-free ebooks) using the Send to Kindle feature.

So while ReMarkable's Paper Pro is fairly versatile, there's no question that the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft has the edge in terms of library access and the convenience of the Kindle Store.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft vs ReMarkable Paper Pro: Bottom line

If you've made it this far you know that while these two $600+ e-paper slates look awfully similar, there are some key differences between them which can help you make the choice between where to spend your money.

For most people I suspect the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is the wiser choice because while it doesn't feel half as nice to write on as the ReMarkable Paper Pro, the Scribe has a brighter screen, more features and easier access to ebooks and other digital goodies via the Kindle Store accessible right on the device.

But for me personally, I think I still prefer the ReMarkable Paper Pro because it just feels so much nicer to use than the Kindle. Sure, the Kindle can feel snappier sometimes and gets brighter, but when I put the stylus on the screen no other tablet I've ever used feels as nice beneath my hands as the ReMarkable Paper Pro. And while I appreciate that the Kindle supports Bluetooth and gives you easy access to the Kindle Store, I'd rather jump through the hoops of loading the ReMarkable up with whatever I want to do (books to read, documents to edit, digital coloring books to fill in) than put up with the inferior writing experience and frustrating Amazon focus of the Kindle.

So if you care about writing and editing above all, I still recommend the Paper Pro. If you just want a fancy e-paper tablet with color for entertainment, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is probably your best bet. And if you just want a great slate for entertainment and don't care about writing or e-paper at all, get an iPad Air—it's just as expensive and way more versatile than either of these (excellent!) e-paper slates.

More from Tom's Guide

• Real books are good, but Kindles are better
• No Kindle? No problem: 5 places to buy DRM-free e-books
• I never liked e-readers, but the Kindle app on my phone has converted me

Amazon is rolling out a new generative AI feature for the iOS version of its Kindle app, the digital version of one of the best eReaders. The new “Ask this Book” tool is a chatbot that will provide “spoiler-free” answers about the book’s plot, characters, and more.

The AI feature was announced in a blog post proclaiming that the bot is available for “thousands of English-language best selling” books. .

Amazon is pitching the AI chatbot as an “expert reading assistant” that makes it “easier for you stay immersed in your books.” As you’re reading, you can highlight a portion of the book to get started with the bot.

Ask this Book can seemingly provide a broad array of information from plot details and character relationships to thematic elements, but the company claims it will only reveal information up to your current reading position.

Amazon also announced another AI-based feature, “Recaps”, which is supposed to give you a refresher about book series you’re reading while you wait for the next book or when you’ve taken a prolonged break.

How Ask this book works

According to Amazon, when you highlight a section of your book in the Kindle app you should see a new “Ask” button in the menu. Tapping that button will let you type in a prompt before being placed in a chatbox with the AI.

Additionally, some pre-made suggested queries will be available if you didn’t have a question prepared.

The feature is rolling out to the Kindle iOS app now. As mentioned, the Android Kindle app won’t receive this feature until next year. Additionally, Amazon says it will come to Kindle devices in 2026, though a specific timeline wasn’t provided.

Authors concerned

When it comes to artificial intelligence, there has been a lot of concern about rights and AI’s effects on authors. Most every AI company has been accused of copyright infringement, and Anthropic settled a class action lawsuit with authors earlier this fall.

Insider publication Publisher’s Lunch (via Writer Beware) highlighted the feature earlier this week with concern over the AI bot generating information without permission or rights. The site apparently did not receive a definitive answer from Amazon about the company’s process regarding the AI bot or what rights it relies on.

They did learn that the feature is always on and authors and publishers can not opt out.

“The primary focus has been on preventing unpermissioned AI training, but with the technology embedding itself at warp speed in all aspects of the book business, the rights implications are expanding just as fast,” Writer Beware notes.

This isn’t the first time the company has done something controversial to the Kindle platform this year. Back in February Amazon took away the ability to download Kindle books and back them up on a PC using USB transfer.

Let us know if you believe Ask this Book infringes or will it be a helpful tool for readers?

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• Amazon just announced a huge delivery upgrade affecting 2,300 US cities
• I used the Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio to create an Alexa Home Theater — here's how it sounds

I’ve used the best Kindles for years, with the Kindle Paperwhite being my go-to tablet for reading my favorite novels. That’s going to change, as I’ve fallen in love with the new Kindle Scribe after using and testing it for the better part of a week. Though I won’t completely abandon the Paperwhite, the Kindle Scribe is now the main Kindle I’ll use, both for reading novels and black and white comics.

What’s so great about Amazon’s latest e-reader? While it doesn’t have a color e-paper display like the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, the new standard Scribe features a more streamlined design than its predecessors. The tablet’s lightweight design makes it comfortable to hold for long periods of time. The 11-inch display and its auto-brightness feature also enable me to read without much (if any) eye strain.

You can read my full Kindle Scribe (2025) review for more details, but here are some thoughts on why the new Scribe is now my favorite Kindle model — and why my Kindle Paperwhite might not get as much attention as usual.

Easier reading

With the right font size and spacing, you can reasonably approximate the experience of reading a mass-market paperback on a Kindle Paperwhite. It reminds me of the days when I used to buy these small (and cheap) novels from the local pharmacy.

I don't read physical books as much as I used to, but when I do, I now tend toward the larger paperback or hardcovers since they’re easier to read than mass-market paperbacks. Going back to the comparatively smaller Kindle Paperwhite can be jarring.

This is no longer an issue with the Kindle Scribe, since its screen is either as large or larger than that of a standard paperback or hardcover. And like I said in my Kindle Scribe review, the default font size and line spacing make for comfortable reading out of the box. Don’t get me wrong, I fiddled with the settings to see what I preferred (since I always do this with a new Kindle). In the end, I just settled for default since it’s practically perfect.

I almost always turn off the front lights on a Kindle since I like reading near a light source the same way I would when reading a real book. I mostly do this on the Kindle Scribe, though I sometimes switch its front lights on so that the display matches the white bezels surrounding it. I actually wish the bezels were black, but that’s a minor complaint. Regardless, whether it's with the display’s front lights on or off, the Kindle isn’t scorching my eyes as the display on something like an iPad Pro M5 would.

Comfortable to hold

The Kindle Scribe’s aluminum body makes it feel more premium than the Paperwhite, which has a plastic chassis. I don’t dislike the latter, especially since its rubbery backside makes it comfortable to hold, but I just like the Scribe’s smooth and sturdy chassis more. It’s also very light to hold, and is actually a tad lighter than an 11-inch iPad Air M3 (14.1 ounces vs 16.2 ounces, respectively).

I mostly hold the Kindle Paperwhite with two hands as I would a real book, but I do occasionally prefer holding it in one hand. Though it’s not hard to hold the Scribe this way, I can only comfortably hold it for so long before my arm and wrist get tired. This is one of the few downsides when reading, but it’s not a deal-breaker since I generally use two hands anyway.

Another minor complaint is that the Scribe’s aluminum chassis can get pretty cold now that winter is approaching. Obviously, the Scribe’s back warms up as I hold it, but initially picking it up in between sessions isn’t always fun for my fingers. I’m considering purchasing the Amazon Kindle Scribe Folio Cover to alleviate this issue.

Versatility

Kindles are fantastic for reading books, but they’re not so great for comics since their screens are smaller than a comic’s page. Manga (black and white Japanese comics) aren’t as bad to read on a Kindle Paperwhite, but I enjoy reading this kind of book more on an iPad mini since the screen is larger and there’s better contrast between the white pages and black ink. Things are different on a Kindle Scribe, however.

The Scribe’s 11-inch e-paper display is roughly the same size as a standard American comic book page. That size, combined with the screen’s sharp 300ppi resolution and paper-like appearance, makes for an enjoyable comic book reading experience. Naturally, manga also looks fantastic on the Kindle Scribe. Of course, the main downside here is that all comics are in black and white. If you want color, you’ll need the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

I appreciate that the Kindle Scribe has expanded my reading options since it can expertly handle novels and black and white comics. It’ll be more convenient than always switching between a Kindle and an iPad to accommodate the kind of book I’m reading at the moment.

Read on!

The Kindle Scribe's main selling point is that it's a Kindle you can write or draw on. While that aspect works as intended, that's actually the least interesting feature since I don't like writing by hand. If that's what you're looking for with the Kindle Scribe, then you won't be disappointed when taking notes or doodling. For me, however, it's all about the reading experience, and the Scribe excels at that.

I was smitten the instant I unboxed the Kindle Scribe, and that feeling hasn’t diminished over the subsequent days. I’m still fond of the Kindle Paperwhite, and will no doubt use it when I’m on a cramped airplane ride to CES next month. But aside from specific situations, the Kindle Scribe will now be my go-to Kindle for novels and black and white comics.

More from Tom's Guide

• Real books are good, but Kindles are better
• How to set and manage bookmarks on Kindle
• This one Kindle Colorsoft shortcoming is getting under my skin

The new Amazon Kindle Scribe ($499) delivers meaningful improvements over its predecessors. Featuring a more streamlined design, larger e-paper display, and easier-to-access notes, it’s arguably the best standard Kindle Scribe yet.

I’ve been a Kindle Paperwhite user for years, so reading my favorite novels on the expansive 11-inch e-paper display has been a revelation. The 300ppi resolution makes everything from written text to black and white comic books appear sharp and defined. I appreciate not being forced to adjust the font and spacing to get a better reading experience. I get that right out of the box.

The lightweight design is another highlight. The Scribe is so light in my hands that it makes the 11-inch iPad Air M3 feel bulky in comparison. I also appreciate the sturdy aluminum chassis that makes this device feel more premium than a Kindle Paperwhite. Though I wish the bezels were a tad thinner, they’re thick enough to let you comfortably hold the device without having your thumbs on the actual display.

Writing is generally satisfying thanks to the chunky included stylus and how there’s virtually no lag when you write. The Quick Notes section on the Home screen allows you to instantly jot down or draw whatever comes to mind at the moment. Unfortunately, annotating text is as clunky and unintuitive as ever.

Faults aside, the new Kindle Scribe is an overall satisfying update. If you’re a Kindle fan who wants a device for taking notes and drawing, this and the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft are excellent (if expensive) options. And if you’re not a notetaker or artist, you’ll have an enjoyable experience reading novels and black and comics on this device. I’ll explain further in my full Kindle Scribe review.

Kindle Scribe (2025) review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Kindle Scribe (2025) is an e-reader that allows you to take digital notes with its included stylus and to read books from the Kindle store. This updated model features a thinner design, a larger display, and a snappier interface.
• Who is it for? This tablet is for anyone who wants an e-reader that also allows them to take notes or draw.
• What does it cost? The Kindle Scribe (2025) starts at $499 for the 32GB model and $549 for the 64GB variant. You can purchase it from Amazon.
• What do we like? I like the lightweight design, sharp 11-inch display, and seamless integration with the Kindle store and Goodreads.
• What don’t we like? Annotating text is clunky and unintuitive. The Kindle Scribe also costs as much as an 11-inch iPad Air M3 but does less.

Kindle Scribe (2025) review: Specs

Kindle Scribe (2025) review: The ups

The Kindle Scribe (2025) impresses thanks to its thin and sturdy design, sharp 11-inch display, and generally enjoyable writing and reading experience.

Lightweight design

The new Kindle Scribe isn’t just a refresh, as it features a brand-new design. Besides a larger display, the tablet is thinner and lighter, and features a uniform look since it dropped the previous model’s asymmetrical handle design. The new Scribe has an aluminum chassis, which makes the tablet feel sturdy and more premium in hand.

The Kindle Scribe actually weighs less than an 11-inch iPad Air M3. Because of that, you can easily hold the e-reader for long periods of time without your hands or wrist getting tired. Sure, it’s not as comfortable to hold in one hand as a Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Basic, but it’s still very light for its size.

As I said in the intro, the bezels are a tad thin, but they’re just large enough to let me hold the Scribe without my thumb touching the display. I still prefer this over the previous design, which might have been more comfortable to hold but was awkward-looking. The Kindle Scribe hits the sweet spot of comfort and elegance.

Gorgeous e-paper display

The first thing I do on a new Kindle is dive into a book’s settings to adjust the font, letter size, and margins. I entered the Kindle Scribe’s settings only to find that I didn’t need to change anything, since the out-of-the-box reading experience is practically perfect. This is a testament to how easy reading novels and comics is on the 11-inch e-paper display.

I typically read Titan Comics' black-and-white Savage Sword of Conan comics on the iPad Pro M5, as its OLED panel delivers such inky blacks. While the Kindle Scribe doesn’t offer the same level of contrast and defined detail, black and white comics still look great on such a large and sharp canvas.

I normally keep the Kindle’s front light off to better simulate reading on paper, but when I want to read at night, the built-in front lights get the job done. Even if you crank the brightness all the way up, the lighting isn’t as harsh as on a typical tablet or monitor. The adjustable warm light is good for minimizing blue light, and the auto light feature smartly adjusts to your ambient lighting.

The Kindle Scribe’s large and sharp screen is so good that I don’t see myself going back to reading on a Kindle Paperwhite unless I want a smaller device for reading on a cramped plane. Pardon the pun, but the Scribe’s display is really a wonder to behold.

Comfortable stylus and easy note-taking

The included Kindle Premium Pen is a brilliant stylus that feels amazing to use and hold, thanks to its thick and chunky design. The tip easily lets you draw thick and thin lines, depending on how hard you push it against the screen. The texture-molded glass display creates a nice amount of friction when you write. There’s also an eraser on the end for when you need to correct mistakes.

You’ll also find a shortcut button that lets you highlight passages, at least by default. If you want, you can head into system settings and change the shortcut to perform other actions, such as changing the lines produced to simulate a pen or pencil. Conversely, you can also disable the shortcut button. I didn’t use the shortcut button much, but it’s good to have in case I do want to enable a specific function.

For easier note-taking, there’s a convenient Quick Notes option on the Home page. Tapping it will open a new note, which is useful for when inspiration hits or you want to jot something down before you forget it. You can create as many notes as you’d like, and the most recent will remain in the “jump back in” section on the Home page. You can view all your notes by clicking on the “Workspace” tab at the bottom of the Home page.

On a related note, the Scribe’s built-in AI does an admirable job of cleaning up your handwritten notes. This is especially true for my barely legible handwriting. The AI also lets you search for notes, and even has a “chat” feature, though I haven’t taken enough notes to try this myself. I can see this being useful if, for example, you’ve taken exhaustive notes on a sci-fi manuscript and want the AI to assist you in finding what you need.

Same great Kindle experience

Beyond the hardware upgrades and new features, the Kindle Scribe offers the same fantastic Kindle experience you’re familiar with. The Home page has selections from your library and recommendations from Amazon, along with your most recent notes. Navigating your library and settings is a snap thanks to the responsive interface.

Since this is an Amazon device, you can seamlessly connect to the Kindle store and Goodreads. I know some folks have justifiable reasons for disliking these services — DRM (digital rights management) and the amount of spammy self-published books being two of many. But I like being able to purchase digital books from the Kindle store with a simple tap, or updating my Goodreads followers on how far I am into the latest novel or comic I’m reading.

Kindle Scribe (2025) review: The downs

Using the Kindle Scribe for note-taking and doodling generally works as intended, but this e-reader has some notable setbacks you should be aware of.

Active Canvas feature is clunky

I share the same frustrations with annotating text as my colleague Alex Wawro, who reviewed the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft. To be specific, I’m not a fan of the Active Canvas feature.

Sure, you can write or draw right on a document or page and have your annotation appear alongside the text. However, the way Active Canvas automatically inserts annotations breaks up the text of said document or page, which can make things extremely confusing and messy. I wish your annotations or drawings stayed exactly where you placed them without distorting a page, as they do on the ReMarkable Paper Pro.

The other way to take notes is to open the expandable margin and write them there. This is a cleaner option since it doesn’t warp pages, and you’re able to hide your notes when you want. I hope there’s a fix for Active Canvas awkwardly moving text around, but the margin is the best way to go right now.

Fewer features than a similarly priced iPad Air

The 2024 Kindle Scribe was already expensive for what it offered, and its 2025 counterpart costs $100 more. While the Scribe offers meaningful upgrades and updates over its predecessor, said improvements might not be worth $499 — especially for a device that is mainly for reading books and note-taking.

For the same price, you can purchase an 11-inch iPad Air M3. You can read all of your Kindle books from the Kindle App for iPad, and even read those books (and comics) in full color. The iPad Air is also great for doodling, so long as you don’t mind the smooth, glassy display. Beyond those basic Kindle Scribe features, you can also watch videos, play games and surf the web much easier on Apple’s thin tablet.

If you’re already invested in the Amazon ecosystem, then it might be easier for you to justify the Kindle Scribe’s asking price. However, if you want a device that offers more features for the same cost, you might want to consider the iPad Air instead.

Kindle Scribe (2025) review: Verdict

The Kindle Scribe (2025) might not have the same robust note-taking features as some of its competitors, but if you like writing by hand or drawing, it will get the job done. Just don’t expect the best note-taking e-reader out there. For that, you might want to check out the ReMarkable 2 ($449).

While the Kindle Scribe might fall a little short when it comes to the scribing part, it’s a phenomenal e-reader for avid bookworms. The 11-inch display is perfect for novels and black and white comics, which you can comfortably read for hours — thanks to the device’s lightweight and sturdy design. Seamless integration with Amazon services like the Kindle store and Goodreads is also a highlight, especially if you’re invested in the company’s ecosystem.

I instantly fell in love with the Kindle Scribe when I unboxed it, and it will now be my main e-reader when I’m at home. The Kindle Paperwhite is still brilliant, but if you need a larger display that’s easier to read on, this is the Kindle to get.

Amazon's new Kindle Colorsoft Scribe ($629) is the biggest and most expensive tablet the company has sold yet.

Luckily, Amazon packed a slew of features into this expensive slate. With a big 11-inch e-paper display that lets you view documents in color and a packed-in stylus you can use to highlight passages and jot down notes, you can get a wide variety of reading and creating done on this device.

There's also some level of AI assistance built in, just like there is on the Kindle Scribe. The Colorsoft Scribe uses it to do things like decipher your handwritten notes and summarize them as well as make them searchable, so you can search for something like "vet" and among the search results you'll find the "pick up cat from vet" from your to-do list.

Factor in the built-in backlight, and you start to see why this is one of the best e-readers I've tested in years. Of course, it's also more expensive than an iPad Air.

Is it worth it? The answer depends on what you plan to use it for. I'll walk you through what I mean in this Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review!

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft (2025) is the first Kindle Scribe to let you read and write in (a limited set of) colors.
• Who is it for? This premium Kindle is well-suited for anyone who expects to read and write a lot and likes to do so in color. Students, writers, educators and anyone with $600+ to drop on a Kindle will appreciate it.
• What does it cost? The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is available to purchase via Amazon at a starting price of $629 for the 32GB model, though you can pay an extra $50 ($679) for the 64GB version.
• What do we like? The big, easy-to-read 11-inch screen and the thick stylus are nice, and colors look pretty good on the display, especially with the brightness maxed.
• What don’t we like? This e-reader costs more than an iPad Air yet does less. There's also no waterproofing (avoid the beach), and it's a little annoying that the homepage is full of ads for books and other things to buy on Amazon.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review: Specs

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review: The ups

After using the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft for a few days, I'm impressed by how handy this device can be for the right person.

Big 11-inch e-paper screen makes reading easy

The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft feels roughly about the same size as the Kindle Scribe (2024) I reviewed last year, but the display is actually bigger at 11 inches vs. 10.2 inches, so it feels even easier to read on than last year's Scribe.

The large e-paper display makes reading documents and comic books easier than on any other Kindle I've used to date. It also gives you enough room to work on documents while opening the expandable margin to take notes, and when doodling with the various colors, it's nice to have all this space.

However, one minor drawback about that is that I find the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft a little tricky to hold without smudging up the screen because the bezels are fairly thin. Not as thin as on an iPad Air, mind you, but still thin enough that if you have big hands or aren't delicate, you will find yourself accidentally tapping the screen occasionally.

I haven't found that to be a problem when doodling since you can typically rest your hand or wrist on the screen without triggering input, but it can be frustrating when reading because accidentally tapping the edge of the screen with your finger can cause your page to flip forward or back, losing your place.

Colors unlock a whole new world of entertainment

The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft effectively marries the color e-paper screen of the Kindle Colorsoft with the expanded design and capabilities of the Kindle Scribe, and the screen has a special color filter and light guide (using nitride LEDs) that helps it display colors in a way that feels fairly bright and vibrant.

That effectively unlocks a whole new realm of use for the Scribe family, as you can now read comics, graphic novels and manga in color. And while your comics and images will likely look sharper and more colorful on an iPad, I never felt like I was compromising or settling while reading issues on our Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review unit.

However, I did sometimes need to flip between the two display modes (Standard and Vivid) depending on what I was reading. While you might expect Vivid to deliver better colors across the board, in some cases, I found switching back to Standard mode was better for parsing text or making out details in small images.

Likewise, I really appreciate the option to sketch and take notes in 10 different colors. Admittedly, two of them are black and grey, but the rest are more exciting options like aqua, pink, orange and green. I appreciate that you get some bright colors to work with on the Colorsoft screen, and they show up brighter than colors do on the comparable ReMarkable Paper Pro e-paper tablet I tested last year.

Premium Pen stylus is versatile and comfortable in the hand

I have big hands, which is often a problem when using modern gadgets because they're so gosh darn small. Heck, even this Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is a little too thin for my liking, as being less than a quarter-inch thick makes it tricky for my clumsy paws to keep hold of.

I can't make the same complaint about the thick, chunky stylus that comes with the Colorsoft, which magnetically attaches to the side of the device and is bulging with useful features. It's technically called the Kindle Premium Pen, and in addition to the tip, it has a screen-sensitive rear end you can use to "erase" what you've written, as well as a shortcut button on the side you can customize to your liking.

By default, the shortcut button enables the highlighter tool, so no matter what you're doing, you can quickly squeeze the pen to start highlighting a passage. But I changed that in the system settings so that when I squeeze the pen, I can drag it to turn the page forward or backward, and I'm loving using the stylus itself to interact with the tablet because it feels more accurate and responsive than my fat fingers. Plus, it cuts down on screen smudges!

AI features are nice to have

There are a few AI-driven features built into the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, and while I haven't had enough time with the device to thoroughly test them yet, what I've seen so far seems fairly benign and useful.

In the days I've had with the device, the Scribe Colorsoft has been able to decode my horrid handwriting at least 80-90% of the time. It's nice to be able to scribble down notes and be able to search them later, and I could easily see this form of AI assistance being a boon for folks who love to write by hand.

However, I haven't yet taken enough notes or spent enough time with the device to effectively test the new feature, which lets you "chat" with your notes. This involves using a chat interface to ask questions in natural language (like "what is the screen size" if you have a page of notes about a gadget, for example) and get responses back, with a link to the notebook the answer was sourced from.

In my early testing, I've seen a few (minor) errors in the answers, but again, this product just came out on December 10, so I expect (and hope) the software will improve with time. I also think I need to put down a larger quantity of notes to really put this thing to the test — it seems well-suited to pages and pages of lecture notes or fiction writing, for example, than the few hundred words I've gotten in so far. Stay tuned!

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review: The downs

I'm quite fond of the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, but there are some frustrating aspects that you ought to know about before buying one yourself.

Costs more than an iPad Air, does less

I already felt like last year's Kindle Scribe was priced a smidge too high (for what you get) at $399, so the fact that Amazon is asking $629 for the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft feels painful.

I'm torn about how to discuss this because I don't know how much money and effort was spent fine-tuning the Colorsoft display for the Scribe, so I don't want to suggest that you're not getting what you're paying for here.

No, what I'm saying is that you get more for less with other tablets. Apple's 11-inch iPad Air M3 launched earlier this year with a starting price of $599, for example, and right out of the box, an iPad can do a lot more than a Kindle Scribe — including running games, playing music, streaming videos and downloading all sorts of apps.

Of course, the iPad Air doesn't come with a stylus included, but toss in a $129 Apple Pencil Pro and you have a faster, more useful tablet with a better stylus for roughly $730. That's more than any Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, but not much more, so I find it very tricky to understand who the Scribe Colorsoft is for.

Ultimately, I think it really only makes perfect sense for inveterate Kindle Scribe users who are already used to working within Amazon's ecosystem and want the added option to write, doodle and read in color. If that's not you, I suggest considering your alternatives before pulling the trigger on a new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

Annotating text is a bit frustrating

I haven't been a fan of the way you annotate text on the Kindle Scribe since I reviewed one, so I'm not surprised that it hasn't changed significantly on the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

If you're not familiar, there are two main ways you can jot down notes when reading a document: my favorite requires you to open the expandable margin and write down notes there, then close it to hide them until you want to look at them.

The other way to do it is to use the Kindle's Active Canvas feature, which lets you write or draw directly onto a document and have your annotation appear alongside the text. It sounds good in theory, but in practice, I find it irritating to use because the Active Canvas inserts your annotations in ways that break up the text of the document.

So while you can write a note at the end of a paragraph or chapter easily enough, it's annoying to try and do things like edit a student paper because you can't easily annotate a single word or add in a bit of punctuation where it belongs — the Active Canvas automatically moves your annotations off the text and into blank spaces on the page.

This is in disappointing contrast to the ReMarkable Paper Pro ($579) I reviewed, which lets you basically draw a line or letter anywhere on the page and makes it appear to stay right where you made it, no matter how you scroll or adjust the page.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review: Verdict

The new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is, without a doubt, the best Kindle I've ever used. While I wish it was slightly thicker with chunkier bezels so my big paws could comfortably hold it, I can't complain about the build quality or features of this Kindle Cadillac.

Well, okay, I can complain just a little: I wish I could annotate text directly like I can on ReMarkable slates, without having to rely on the Active Canvas or expandable margins. But that's a problem common to the Kindle Scribe family, and it's hardly a deal-breaker.

However, the high price does feel like just that for a lot of people. You can get a ReMarkable Paper Pro with a high-end stylus for the same $629 asking price, for example, and while I think the brightness is a bit better on the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft (and thus the colors look more vibrant), I prefer the experience of writing on any ReMarkable tablet over any Scribe.

And if the "feel" of writing on glass with a stylus isn't important to you? Then it's hard to know why you wouldn't want to go for an iPad + Apple Pencil combo (or a comparable Samsung tablet) instead of the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, given that you have to pay over $600 for this e-reader.

While I think the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is probably the best Kindle made yet and an impressive device, the high price and steep competition from comparably-priced tablets make it hard to give this expensive e-reader a full-throated endorsement.

But hey, if you've got $700 burning a hole in your pocket and you (or someone you love) wants an e-paper slate that lets you read and write in color, this is a great one!

Chinese firm Onyx International has been making and selling e-paper tablets for years, and the Boox Note Max ($699) is one of the newest and largest.

With a 13.3-inch e-paper display, a fairly open Android 13 operating system and a packed-in stylus, it's a strong competitor to the Kindle Scribe and could be one of the best e-readers for folks who want a big e-paper slate that can create as well as consume.

I've been testing the Boox Note Max for a week or two now, and I'm enjoying myself. While I was initially perplexed by the interface and the intricacies of using Android on an e-paper slate, once I got the hang of it I've become pretty fond of this beefy tablet.

The experience of writing on it with the packed-in stylus is not as satisfying or as tactile as you'll get when writing on ReMarkable's e-paper tablets, but I find the Note Max to be as good or better than the Kindle Scribe in a few ways.

But of course, the Boox Note Max costs nearly twice what you'd pay for the Scribe and more than you'd pay for the ReMarkable Paper Pro, which offers a better writing experience as well as limited colors. Heck, it costs more than the entry-level iPad Air.

So is the freedom of having access to Android 13 and the Google Play Store worth the extra cost of the Boox Note Max? I'll walk you through the details and help you decide for yourself in this Boox Note Max review.

Boox Note Max review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 13.3-inch monochrome e-paper slate that runs Android 13 and sports speakers and a microphone, plus it comes with a stylus included.
• Who is it for? Anyone who wants a general-purpose e-paper tablet you can write on and run limited Android apps on, allowing you to create art, take notes, annotate documents and more.
• What does it cost? $699 on the Onyx website, though I've seen it on sale for as low as $620. You can also order from a warehouse in the US, the UK or Hong Kong in order to avoid import tariffs.
• What do we like? I like the large screen, comfortable stylus and broad access to a wide variety of Android apps that allows you to access a variety of e-books and other file types with ease.
• What don’t we like? I don't love the lack of a backlight (so you need to be in good light to use the tablet), and I often find text and images on the screen look dark and harder to read than on other e-paper slates I've used. I also wish it was a bit cheaper.

Boox Note Max review: Specs

Boox Note Max review: The ups

I'm pretty fond of the Boox Note Max after spending some time testing it, and there are some features that I really wish other e-paper slate makers would copy.

Big, comfy design makes working easy, even in split-screen

I'm a fan of the Boox Note Max's expansive 13.3-inch e-paper display because it gives you plenty of room to read, doodle, take notes or annotate documents.

It's big enough that the built-in feature to be able to use two apps at once in spit-screen mode is both useful and fairly usable, as I was able to easily annotate PDF files one one half of the screen while taking notes on them in the other half.

At 13.3 inches diagonally the Boox Note Max offers notably more screen real estate than either the monochrome Kindle Scribe or the ReMarkable Paper Pro, whch is remarkable given that the Note Max is also a hair thinner than either of those competitors.

Android app access

When I first set up our Boox Note Max review unit I was surprised to discover it comes with a slew of apps already installed, including a web browser, a gallery app, a music player, Boox apps for pushing documents and files to your tablet and even an RSS reader.

Moreover, you can open up the Google Play Store (or at least, a monochrome e-paper version) and start downloading basically whatever Android app you want. You can install YouTube to watch (grainy, choppy, black and white) videos, download Spotify to listen to (tinny) music or pull down a game to entertain yourself with.

As you might imagine, most Android apps are a little tricky to use on the Note Max's 13.3-inch (3200 x 2400) e-paper display. The tablet has some built-in software tools you can use to fine-tune how apps look on the screen, allowing you to do things like darken, lighten or change the spacing on text and images so it's easier to read.

And input lag isn't terrible, either. While it takes longer than a standard Android tablet to change apps and the slow refresh rate doesn't serve games well, you can often play and enjoy slow-paced games that look good in black and white. However, I didn't find anything I much enjoyed playing on the Note Max and I expect the Play Store is better used for downloading sketching apps, note-taking tools and other software that plays to the slate's strengths: big display, decent writing experience and compatibility with a wide variety of files.

Personally, I've found basic Android apps like Google Drive, Google Docs and Evernote to be pretty useful on this e-paper slate. I can easily imagine folks who use such apps for work taking advantage of the Note Max's fairly open OS to use this e-paper slate as a productivity device at work.

Boox Note Max review: The downs

I confess I'm a bit surprised at how much I like the Boox Note Max, but in addition to the usual slow refresh rate you get on e-paper slates I think it has some downsides you should consider before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

No backlight is frustrating

I find it very frustrating there's no built-in lighting option on the Boox Note Max. While I appreciate that e-paper displays are less grating on the eyes since they don't emit bright light, I also hate that I constantly feel like I'm squinting to read or make out details on the Note Max.

Admittedly, you can buy an attachable light or flip on a lamp and hold the slate under it in order to see details more clearly. But I found that annoying, and I can imagine some folks (say, those on a red-eye flight or sharing a room with someone who's sleeping) might find it hard or impossible to increase the ambient light enough that you're not squinting and hurting your eyes to make out details on the display.

Moreover, it seems like such a minor detail to add a decent backlight to the screen (every Kindle has a backlight, even the cheapest model) that it almost feels like an oversight on Boox's part not to include one. Still, it's frustrating because other Boox tablets (including the cheaper Boox Palma 2) do offer built-in backlights.

Costs more than an iPad Air, does less

As much as I've grown to like the Boox Note Max, it's hard to recommend to anyone except e-paper afficionados at the $689 asking price. You get a decent amount of value out of the tablet and stylus, especially if you like the idea of doodling and annotating documents or taking notes.

Of course, you can probably wait for a sale to ease the sting. But it's hard to forget you can get a new iPad Air starting at $599 here in the States. Obviously they're two very different devices with different applications, so it's not a completely fair comparison. But what is fair is saying that the basic iPad Air offers a lot of features the Boox Note Max can't match, including a faster, brighter and far more colorful screen, a camera, better speakers and a wider variety of useful apps.

Admittedly, to get an iPad Air that can duplicate the functionality of the Note Max would cost closer to $700 since you'd need to get an Apple Pencil or Apple Pencil Pro as well. But even then an 11-inch basic iPad Air M3 with the basic Apple Pencil would cost you roughly $679, which is still cheaper than the Boox Note Max.

But of course, the Note Max does satisfy a specific niche desire that the iPad Air does not: demand for an e-paper slate that's easier on the eyes than an iPad, yet can still access many basic Android apps and deal with a broader variety of documents and files than you could access on e-paper competitors like Kindles.

Boox Note Max review: Verdict

While the Boox Note Max has as many flaws as it does strengths, I think it's generally a good e-paper slate with a much broader range of capabilities than any Kindle you'll own.

And while it doesn't feel nearly as good to write or sketch on as ReMarkable's e-paper slates, in a way I think the Note Max does a better job of delivering the core experience ReMarkable promises because you can do a lot more with it.

For example, many e-paper slates (including ReMarkable tablets) are marketed as reading and productivity devices that are less intrusive and eye-searing than a tablet or laptop with a bright display. Buy a Kindle Scribe or a ReMarkable Paper Pro for work or school, the ads usually go, and you'll be less distracted and more connected to your colleagues and your work.

And maybe that's true, but on the Boox Note Max it seems more true because you can do a lot more with this e-paper slate than you can with anything from Amazon or ReMarkable. Not only can you read e-books of all types (including EPUB, MOBI, CBZ and all basic document types) but you can listen to MP3s or WAV files, stream music via Spotify, access files on services like Google Drive or Box and even play games.

Perhaps that's enough functionality that you're back to the same distractions you'd be dealing with on an iPad, and of course a lot of iPads and Android tablets are cheaper than the Boox Note Max even if you factor in the cost of buying a stylus.

But I'm hard-pressed to think of a better device for someone who wants a big e-paper slate for work and play that can also do much of what a standard Android tablet can do. If I was in the market for an e-paper slate that I could use for both work and play, I think the Boox Note Max is one of the best choices I could make.

Amazon finally brought color to its Kindle Colorsoft lineup in the last year, but the color e-paper displays may not be the best for reading.

Notably, the Good e-Reader spotted recently-updated FAQ pages for the Kindle Colorsoft and the just announced Kindle Scribe Colorsoft that assert the Colorsoft displays deliver a "high-quality reading and writing experience." However, they also note that other Amazon e-readers offer a "slightly crisper black and white" reading experience.

"You may notice that the texture or brightness of the display looks different than the Kindle Scribe display. That’s because of the color filter layer that creates the easy on the eyes color reading experience on Kindle Scribe Colorsoft," reads an excerpt of the FAQ.

The page goes on to recommend one of Amazon's monochrome readers for customers who want the crispest reading experience. And it's likely correct, which is a surprising and welcome admission from any company, let alone Amazon.

Display tech

The folks at Good E-Reader claim most color e-readers today (like the Kobo Clara Colour) feature a Kaleido 3 e-paper display, which halves the resolution to 150ppi when in color mode. So if you're looking at a page in color and hold it side-by-side with the same page on a monochrome e-reader, the black and white version should look sharper.

The color is pretty good for comics, magazines, and more colorful PDFs. In our Kindle Colorsoft review, Tony Polanco praised the e-reader for reading comics and manga. However, he has found that the Paperwhite is sharper for regular black and white.

I've found that it's not a huge difference, but you might notice a slight fuzziness in side-by-side comparison.

Colorful alternatives

One of the advantages of an e-reader is that the e-paper display is easy on the eyes, especially in darker rooms. Adding color gives you more reading options, but it may not be the best way to read graphic novels and other hued texts.

We've found that the iPad is an excellent way to read comic books. The iPad Pro OLED (one of the best iPads and best tablets in general) features a vibrant OLED display, and its thinner design makes it more comfortable to hold. As we found, it's especially good for double-page spreads.

If you prefer the size of the Kindle, the iPad mini 7 is a great alternative that's cheaper than the Kindle Colorsoft Scribe and only marginally more expensive than the 16GB Kindle Colorsoft, which costs $249.

The current iPad Mini, meanwhile, starts at $499 for the base 128GB model.

When we compared the iPad Mini and the Kindle Paperwhit, we found that Apple's tablet is perfect for manga or comics thanks to great contrast and a similar size to Amazon's device.

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I am a big-time reader. I burn through books like they're going out of fashion, often committing to my next read before finishing my last. So when the Kindle Colorsoft — the e-reader I've been eyeing — was discounted for Prime Day last week, I snapped it up, thinking there was absolutely no harm in nabbing the newly released Kindle. But to my surprise, Amazon's first color e-reader has been plagued by an ongoing issue, and potentially some of its other models, too, due to Amazon's own actions.

As per multiple Reddit threads, Kindle Colorsoft users have found that "sideloading" e-books — the process of transferring e-books onto the device via the USB port or Wi-Fi from third-party libraries — failed to work correctly, as book covers did not appear on their device. The same issue was also found in older models, including one user's 2018 Paperwhite.

Undeterred, I attempted to sideload some new books via Calibre, a well-known program in the e-reader community, and was annoyed surprised to find that the book covers didn't appear in my Kindle's library either. Instead of seeing gorgeous, colorful covers of my latest fantasy reads (one of my main reasons for investing in the color version), I was greeted with bare title texts and authors' names, making my e-books look like boring PDF files.

Sideloaded kindle paperwhite / colorsoft from r/ereader

Upon further digging, Calibre's forum alleges that Amazon "deliberately broke this functionality in their ColorSoft and newer devices" to discourage users from reading third-party books on their devices.

While there is no real confirmation from the e-retailer that this was true or rolled out in a recent software update, it wouldn't be the first time that Amazon has blocked users from downloading e-books and their covers.

Back in February, Amazon removed the ability to download Kindle e-books to users' computers. This meant that users couldn't use files as a backup or convert them for use on another non-Kindle e-reader; they could only download books via Wi-Fi or through Amazon's own platforms. And we can't forget the incident that involved the ironic deletion of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-four' and 'Animal Farm'.

That said, as per an Amazon spokesperson, "Kindle supports a variety of ways for customers to easily upload and read their own personal documents using Send to Kindle" — an Amazon-branded service used to send PDFs, Word documents and EPUBs to a user's Kindle library.

The spokesperson suggested that "some third-party files may display differently depending on how they’re created or formatted, but customers can continue to enjoy reading their personal documents across their Kindle devices and apps".

No true fix for the missing covers

If you're looking for an e-reader you can write on, Amazon's big Prime Day sale has just the deal for you, as the current Kindle Scribe just hit its lowest price yet. This deal saves you $100 off one of the biggest Kindles you can buy.

Thanks to the discount, the Kindle Scribe Gen 2 is down to $299 at Amazon right now. That's the cheapest I've seen this all-in-one e-reader designed for bookworms and note-takers alike. And yes, it comes packed with its upgraded Premium Pen stylus to make for an easier, far more comfortable writing experience. In the U.K.? The Kindle Scribe is now £269 on Amazon thanks to a £110 price cut!

As you'll find in our Kindle Scribe (2024) review, one of our biggest gripes was the price bump over its predecessor. Well, with this Prime Day discount taking $100/£110 off, that's no longer an issue, making this e-reader you can doodle on a very worthwhile purchase.

With its large 10.2-inch e-paper display and updated design to make it easier to hold, the Kindle Scribe isn't just the biggest e-reader in Amazon's suite you can grab, but it's also one of the most comfortable around. The extra screen space (compared to its predecessor) makes a fittingly big difference for reading and writing notes.

Speaking of its display, while it doesn't feel as paper-like as, say, the ReMarkable Paper Pro, it's still extremely comfortable to scribble on. And thanks to its backlighting options, it makes text clear to read — even when outdoors.

We also gave major points to the Premium Pen stylus, as it's more comfy to hold and works naturally to doodle, erase, highlight, select text and more. That's thanks to the Kindle Scribe picking up on actions near-instantly, and we especially like the "eraser" at the opposite end of the stylus acting like a proper, well, pencil.

It's not without some setbacks, as it takes some time to get used to jotting down notes with it automatically reorganizing text that's written. And it's important to note (no pun intended) that it's not waterproof, so stay away from reading and writing next to a pool.

Otherwise, the Kindle Scribe Gen 2 makes a compelling choice for anyone who enjoys a big-screen reading experience and doodling while they're at it. For $100/£110 off, you won't find this e-reader any cheaper. But if you're after even more options, Amazon has more price cuts on Kindles for Prime Day, with up to 30% off!

For more great discounts, be sure to check out our Amazon Prime Day deals live blog right now.

Amazon has announced new Kindle devices at its hardware event today in New York City. Hosted by Panos Panay, the event — which also saw new Echo and Ring security devices announced — revealed the brand new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is joining the company's e-reader lineup alongside a standard Kindle Scribe 3.

The original Amazon Kindle Scribe is Amazon's tablet-sized e-reader with a stylus that launched back in 2022. We've had revisions since then, but this is the first time Amazon has given it a color display, and for comic book fans, this could be close to the perfect device.

The device has been on something of a diet, too. The latest model(s) come in at 5.4mm thin and weigh just 400g. According to Panay, the texture-molded glass display has a 12 millisecond latency when it comes to the pen input, which makes it feel just like "you're writing on paper".

That display has been made bigger, though. It's now 11 inches across up from last year's 10.2 inches.

The new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft boasts a customized chip and more memory, making it 40% faster on actions like page-turning and writing. There's also a non-color version, the regular Kindle Scribe 3, too.

We don't yet know how the new Kindles will hold up in terms of longevity, but Amazon says the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft will offer "weeks of battery life".

AI productivity updates

Because it's 2025, and we can't have anything without AI in it, Amazon has also listed a bunch of new AI features coming to the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

Here's how the company pitches it:

• All-new Home: From our all-new Home, we’ve added Quick Notes so you can easily jot something down whenever inspiration strikes. You can also open recently opened and added books, documents, and notebooks.
• Access all your docs: With support for Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, it’s easy to import documents for mark-up and export annotated PDFs.
• AI-powered search: Search your notes naturally across your notebooks and you’ll get simple AI summaries. You can also dig deeper with follow-up questions.
• Send to Alexa+: Early next year, you’ll be able to send your notes and documents from Kindle Scribe to Alexa+ and have a conversation about them.
• Share notebooks with OneNote: Export your notes as converted text or as an embedded image to OneNote so you can keep them all in one place and keep editing from your laptop.
• Color pens and highlights: Write, draw, and annotate in one of 10 pen colors or highlight in one of 5 highlighter colors.
• Shading: Artists and creators can create smooth gradients and subtle tones with our new shader tool, giving you even more control over the depth and richness of your art.
• Workspace: Organize your documents, notebooks, books, and more in the same folder.

Pricing and availability

The Kindle Scribe 3 will be available starting at $499.99 and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft will be available starting at $629.99. Kindle Scribe without a front light will be available early next year for $429.99.

Currently, the products are limited to the U.S., but Amazon says it will be bringing them to the U.K and Germany in 2026.

Speaking of price, I should point out that if you're not fussed about the latest version, you might be pleased to learn Amazon has knocked $100 off the price of the original Scribe in the lead up to next week's Prime Day event.

If you want to know more about what's been announced, check out our up-to-the-minute Amazon live blog for the latest news.

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Amazon may be testing out a new smaller Kindle with a color display. Recently, a post appeared on the Kindle subreddit (spotted by The Verge) that showed off a device labeled as a prototype Kindle.

The Redditor, Successful_Bear4855 writing in Portuguese, shared a couple of images, one of which showed the device with the name Kindle Petit Color in the corner of the screen. The poster does claim that the name hasn’t been finalized by Amazon yet.

They went on to say that the device will launch in November of this year. The Kindle ColorSoft is among the best Kindle e-readers, but has been hard to recommend because of its much higher price.

The display on Petit Color is supposed to be much better than the one on the Kindle Colorsoft, with a greater density of color and the ability to adjust the intensity and saturation of individual colors. The poster also said in a comment that you can change the colors of the icons, like the battery, wifi, and shopping cart.

The text of an ebook you're reading can also be colored and will transition from say black through four different colors as you progress. Alongside the status bar, this would be an additional visual clue telling you how much of an ebook you’ve read.

At first glance, the prototype appears to be similarly sized to the basic black-and-white Kindle, though the poster says it will be smaller than the 11th-generation version of the Kindle. Successful_Bear added that the prototype does not feature a screen light, but the final edition will have one.

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• I didn't love the Kindle Scribe when I reviewed it, but this new feature changed my mind

Amazon just announced two new versions of the Kindle Colorsoft — a more affordable 16GB Kindle Colorsoft at $249, and a Kids edition to bring that color e-ink display tech to a child-friendly device.

The current Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition retains its $279 asking price and has features like auto-adjusting front light, wireless charging, and 32 GB storage. And just like Amazon's other Kids edition options, the Kindle Colorsoft Kids comes bundled with a kid-friendly cover, a year of Amazon Kids+, parental controls and a two-year warranty.

The aforementioned cover comes in two colors: Fantasy River or Starlight Reading. This reader will also have learning features such as the OpenDyslexic font and Bluetooth connectivity to listen to audiobooks with a pair of the best wireless headsets. Naturally, there will be parental controls via the Amazon Parent Dashboard.

I reviewed the Kindle Colorsoft when it launched last year, and it has been my main Kindle ever since. Despite being a fan of this device, it has been difficult to recommend because of its steep asking price. While $249 is still expensive compared to a $159 Kindle Paperwhite or an even cheaper $109 base Kindle, the $30 discounted price is at least more palatable.

The Kindle Colorsoft Kids announcement isn’t exactly surprising, but it’s a nice option for parents who want to get their kids a Colorsoft. The $269 asking price is a bit steep, but you at least get a year of Amazon Kids+. That service offers a range of age-appropriate content like books, movies, educational apps and games, which could be well worth it for parents. The bundled cover is also a great bonus—and a necessary accessory for keeping the tablet safe.

The 16GB Kindle Colorsoft and Kindle Colorsoft Kids are available now on Amazon. If their respective prices are a tad steep, I’m sure we’ll see price reductions during the next Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. As always, we’ll keep you posted!

More from Tom's Guide

• Real books are good, but Kindles are better
• No Kindle? No problem: 5 places to buy DRM-free e-books
• Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour

We're tracking the best Prime Day deals live all week. We've got deals on TV, outdoors, and even air fryers. Whatever you're after, we've got you covered.

However, this awesome Kindle Paperwhite sale has stolen my attention. The Kindle Paperwhite 2024 only came out last year (what gave it away?), but it's already crashed to its lowest ever price.

The Kindle Paperwhite has 16GB of storage, which works out to around 15,000 books. Yeah. That's a lot. I'm actually so tempted by this deal... especially as you can get 3 months of Kindle Unlimited for free!

And the good news? Each of the three colorways is discounted and this deal is matched over in the U.K. — so our British readers can also take advantage!

Quick links

• (U.S.) Kindle Paperwhite 2024 Black: was $159 now $124 @ Amazon
• (U.S.) Kindle Paperwhite 2024 Green: was $159 now $124 @ Amazon
• (U.S.) Kindle Paperwhite 2024 Pink: was $159 now $124 @ Amazon
• (U.K.) Kindle Paperwhite 2024 Black: was £159 now £124 @ Amazon
• (U.K.) Kindle Paperwhite 2024 Green: was £159 now £124 @ Amazon
• (U.K.) Kindle Paperwhite 2024 Pink: was £159 now £124 @ Amazon

• See all Amazon Prime Day deals right now!

Best Kindle Paperwhite deals

Which Kindle Paperwhite 2024 is for me?

We awarded the Kindle Paperwhite 2024 an enviable 4.5 stars in our review. Our reviewer Dave wrote, "If you don’t own an e-reader and are in the market, I’d 100% recommend getting the Kindle Paperwhite."

So, I'll help you choose exactly which model to get. There are a few different versions of the Kindle Paperwhite. As mentioned above, this deal is available in both the U.S. and the U.K., so readers both side of the pond can take advantage of these awesome savings.

The deal price listed above is for the ad-supported Kindle. Yes, I know. I know. You have to pay extra to get a Kindle without ads. As much as that fills me with rage, it's just the way Kindles are now, I guess.

If you get the ad-free version, it'll cost you $144 in the U.S. and £134 in the U.K.. If you are happy to spend an extra $20/£10, then get the ad-free version. However, if you're trying to save as much as possible, I would recommend getting the ad-supported version.

I wouldn't look at the ads anyway, so it just makes more sense to pay less money for the same product. I'm the kind of person who glazes over during no-skip ads on YouTube, and who just gets up and grabs a cookie during ads on Netflix. I can live with some lockscreen ads on my Kindle — I know I'm never going to buy the stuff they're advertising, anyway.

Once you've figured out if you're getting the Kindle Paperwhite with or without ads, you can then choose if you're going to get it with or without 3 months of Kindle Unlimited. Kindle Unlimited is $12/£10 a month, and it's what it says on the tin: it's unlimited books for a subscription fee. I would definitely get my Kindle Paperwhite with Kindle Unlimited.

At the rate I devour books, I'd get a free book a month if I had Kindle Unlimited. My friends are always trying to persuade me to bite the bullet and get a Kindle + Unlimited, and at this price, it's kind of rude not to.

Shop more Prime Day sales

• Shop Prime Day deals at Amazon
• YETI sale: up to 25% off
• Prime for Young Adults: 50% off
• Amazon Haul: Adidas, Columbia, from $5
• Lego: deals from $8
• Carhartt sale: deals from $9
• Amazon devices: from $14
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• Outdoor String Lights: just $21
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You might be paying too much for your e-books when you can get them for free from your local library and read them right on your Kindle, Kobo, or even your phone.

A lot of people don't realize their local public library offers ebooks, which are often more convenient to check out than physical books (and get automatically returned on time so you don't get late fees).

I've saved a ton of time and money by getting my e-books from the library, and it's a lot easier than you might think, whether you're on Kindle or Kobo.

Getting started with a library card and Libby

Regardless of what type of e-reader you're using, you need to get set up with your local library first.

If you don't already have a library card, stop by your nearest public library, where you can usually get one for free in just a few minutes. While you're there, it's also a good idea to ask if your public library system offers e-books. Most public libraries do, but it's not a guarantee.

Next, you'll want to download the Libby app for Android or iOS. Most libraries in the U.S. that offer e-books go through Libby. You can search for, check out, renew and read e-books in the Libby app. If you're using a Kobo e-reader, you don't absolutely need it, but it's a must-have for Kindle users.

After you download the Libby app, all you need to do is enter your library card info in the app to access your library's e-books.

How to read library books on your Kindle

The easiest way to read library books on your Kindle is by going through the Libby app. Once you find the book you want, check it out and head over to the "Shelf" tab on Libby.

Select your book from the list and tap "Manage Loan." Here you should see a "Read With…" option. Tap it and choose "Kindle" to connect to your Amazon account and send the library book to your Kindle.

The next time your Kindle syncs up, you should see the library book in your Kindle library. You can download, read, and annotate it like any other Kindle book but once your library loan expires, you won't be able to open it anymore unless you renew the loan, which you can do through Libby.

You can return library books from your Kindle by tapping the three dots icon on the library e-book's cover and selecting "return early." Any other changes to your library loan have to be made through Libby, though.

How to read library books on your Kobo

There are a couple of ways to check out library e-books on your Kobo e-reader. My preferred method is to do everything directly through my Kobo without going through the Libby app.

On the Home screen on your Kobo you should see an option for "OverDrive." That's the legacy system for circulating library e-books. Libby is a newer version of the same thing, but Kobo still uses OverDrive. It's all the same books, though.

Tap the "OverDrive" tab on your Home screen and you should get a pop up screen where you can connect your library card to your Kobo to access all of your library's e-books. If you don't see that option on your Home screen, there's also an OverDrive option in your Kobo settings under the "More" tab.

OverDrive load times can be a tad slow on Kobo, but it's worth it. Once you have your card connected, you will see an option on all available books in the Kobo store to "Borrow with OverDrive" instead of buying the book.

That means you don't need to go to a different app or device. You can simply search for whatever book you want on the "Discover" tab on your Kobo and see if it's available at your library just by tapping the three dots icon next to the book's "Buy" and "Wishlist" buttons.

After you check out a book, it will appear in your "My Books" tab where it should show up as an "OverDrive" book with the days left in your loan displayed below your reading progress. Like on Kindle, once the loan expires the book will stay in your library but you'll need to renew your loan to open it again.

You can also check out library e-books to read on your Kobo through the Libby app, but it's not as straightforward.

Once you check out a book in the app, select it on your shelf and select "Manage Loan" then "Read With…" then "More Options" and choose "EPUB." This will let you download a DRM-protected EPUB version of the ebook, which you can manually send to your Kobo using the Adobe Digital Editions app.

Reading library books on your e-reader: FAQs

The steps above should be all you need to get started reading library books on your e-reader, but if you're new to e-readers or using them to check out library books, you might still have a few questions.

• Q: How do you place a hold on library ebooks on Kindle and Kobo?
  A: Like physical books, libraries don't have unlimited copies of ebooks they can lend out, so you might find that a book you want is currently unavailable, meaning you'll need to place a hold to get on the waitlist for it.
  
  If you're on Kindle, the easiest way to do this is through the Libby app. Simply search for the book you want and select the option to "place a hold." When it's your turn for the e-book, you'll get a notification from the Libby app.
  
  If you're on Kobo, when you search for the e-book you're looking for, the option to "Borrow with OverDrive" will say "Place a hold with OverDrive" if the book is currently unavailable. Simply tap that to join the waitlist. Then you'll get a notification on your Home screen (a badge on the bell icon at the top of the screen) when your turn for the ebook comes up.
• Q: Can you get library late fines for ebooks?
  A: No, which is one of the most convenient benefits of reading library books on your ereader. When the due date for your ebook arrives, it will be automatically returned, so you'll never get late fees. This applies regardless of whether you're reading on a Kindle, Kobo, or in an e-reader app like the Kindle or Libby apps.
• Q: Can you check out e-books from the library if you don't have an e-reader?
  A: Yes! Some may be surprised to learn that you don't need an e-reader to read e-books from your local library. As long as you have a library card and your library offers e-books, you can read them for free through the Kindle app, the Kobo app, or the Libby app.

More from Tom's Guide

• I read 100 books a year —and Meta AI struggled to come up with new recommendations
• I never liked e-readers, but the Kindle app on my phone has converted me
• No Kindle? No problem: 5 places to buy DRM-free e-books

Ever gotten so lost in a book series that you don't remember a particular character's arc or the ending of the last novel? Thanks to an AI-automated summary feature for Kindle devices, you’ll be back on track in no time.

Simply known as Recaps, the new feature acts like a "Previously on…" television segment, giving readers a quick refresher on storylines and characters before reading the next book in a series. This feature, however, is only available for books borrowed (aka via Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited) or purchased from the Kindle Store and, of course, across ebooks in a series.

Users can access the new feature by downloading the 5.18.1 update on a 10th-gen or newer Kindle device. Once updated, readers should look for the “View Recaps” button in the series page in the Kindle Library or the “View Recaps” item within the series grouping three-dot menu. If the "View Recaps" button isn't available, the feature is inaccessible for that series.

Tap, tap the side to turn

Another great feature included in the latest software update is Double Tap to Page Turn. As the name suggests, the feature can be switched on in Kindle settings, and instead of pressing the screen, users can double-tap the Kindle's frame to turn a page or scroll down (i.e. on the Home or Library screen).

This is a fantastic new addition that makes Kindles with no physical page-turn buttons easier to use in one hand. There’s one disadvantage though: you can only move forward with double taps when reading, and users will have to rely on the usual screen taps to go back.

Both of these features are a real page turner for Kindle users, as they allow forgetful readers (like me) to recap a previous book or flip through pages without smudging the device's screen. So far, Double Tap is available globally, whereas Recaps has only rolled out on Kindle devices in the US and on the iOS app. Amazon has not confirmed when it will be accessible for readers globally.

How does Recaps work?

While the company's press release doesn't explicitly mention the use of AI in Kindle's new feature, it has been confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch. As per an Amazon spokesperson, "we use technology, including GenAI and Amazon moderators, to create short recaps of books that accurately reflect book content".

This isn't Amazon's only foray into using AI across its devices. The Kindle Scribes have AI summaries and handwriting recognition, while Ring cameras recently introduced a Smart Video Search for premium subscribers, using text-to-image prompts to scour saved footage.

Readers have raised some red flags on Reddit about these AI-powered features, with concerns about recap accuracy and how Amazon plans to ensure that moderator checks are actually completed. The company claims recaps do accurately reflect content, but we have reached out for verification of these processes. We'll keep you updated on how this narrative pans out.

The Kindle (2024) is the latest entry-level e-reader from Amazon. As always, the base model Kindle delivers on the essentials, providing a crisp display that boasts the same features as the panel on the Kindle Paperwhite (2024).

With a smaller footprint than others in the line-up, this Kindle is ultra-portable and easier to hold. Surprisingly, this device excels at displaying manga. Though smaller than the average manga volume, the display makes details even sharper. The 6-week battery life, which is likely closer to two or three weeks in real-world scenarios, doesn’t disappoint.

Unlike the 2022 Kindle, which underwent a significant redesign, the 2024 Kindle stays largely the same. Aside from a slightly brighter display, the device isn’t much different from its predecessor. And while we liked the older model enough to give it a 4-star review three years ago, this new Kindle offers essentially the same experience for $10 more.

The Kindle (2024) remains a solid, budget-friendly e-reader for those who want a bare-bones device. While this is probably the best Kindle for most people, it leaves me wanting more.

Kindle (2024) review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? This is the 11th-generation entry-level Kindle from Amazon.
• Who is it for? For people who want a simple e-reader that doesn't cost too much.
• What does it cost? The Kindle (2024) costs $109 on Amazon
• What do we like? The portable design, ergonomics, and battery life.
• What don't we like? Higher price tag than the previous version, has no dust or water protection, and has a small storage capacity.

Kindle (2024) review: Specs

Kindle (2024) review: The ups

The entry-level Kindle doesn't have all the bells and whistles of its higher-end counterparts but it manages to impress thanks to its portable design, sharp display and decent battery life.

Ergonomic and portable

This Kindle is the most portable e-reader I've ever used. It easily fits in my jeans’ back pocket and it's durable enough that I don't have to remove it when sitting down. Whether I'm going for a walk or taking the train, I can stash this Kindle in any pocket before heading out. This is great for me because I find it hard to read at home — there are too many distractions. While I still haven't made significant headway on my backlog of e-books, this Kindle makes it more manageable.

If you want a smaller e-reader backed by a company that will continue to update it for years, the Kindle is a good choice. The 6-inch display, though a turn-off to some, makes this Kindle an absolute pleasure to use. I can hold it in one hand for long periods and feel no fatigue, and I can easily grip it on the sides for extra security when lying on my back.

The one minor setback is the placement of the power button, which is where I typically rest my pinky. It's not a dealbreaker because the button requires more force than the graze of a pinky to actuate. However, it's worth mentioning. Having the power button at the top makes more sense.

Classic Kindle reading experience

I've owned several Kindles over the years, but I still rock the Kindle Oasis—boy, do I miss buttons on e-readers. Though the Oasis is getting old, its frequent updates have kept it relevant, making switching to the new Kindle seamless. If you have used a Kindle in the last few years, the experience won't shock you. Expect the same interface and settings.

When reading Seven Games: A Human History, I adjusted the font size and switched to the OpenDyslexic font, which is helpful for concentration. You can also adjust the layout, including changing the margins, spacing, alignment, and switching between portrait and landscape orientations. You can also find other essential features such as highlighting, note-taking, bookmarks, and jumping to chapters or sections.

My favorite feature, Lookup, is also available on this Kindle and lets you look up definitions and Wikipedia entries by highlighting a word or phrase. The review unit I received was set to Italian by default, so I had to download the Oxford Dictionary of English to get it to work.

Outside of the reading experience, this Kindle offers an interface that's easy to navigate. Hitting the kebab menu on the homepage lets you view your lists, Goodreads, the web browser, and your settings. The home screen is too busy for my taste, but at least it scrolls fast enough. Speaking of speed, browsing the Kindle Store is not bad at all. It's not lightning-fast, but it's also not frustratingly slow.

The dropdown menu on the Kindle is the main hub for enabling settings such as airplane mode, Bluetooth, sync, brightness, and dark mode. You can also jump to the settings page from here. In the settings menu, you can view device information and wireless settings but don't expect the kind of robust settings menu found on the best phones.

As with any Kindle, you can find your Send-to-Kindle email in the settings page, a feature that lets you send books and other media directly to your Kindle via email. This setting has saved me from a boring trip on more than one occasion, including when I went camping last year.

Great for reading manga

When you think of the Kindle, you think of books, not comics or manga. Yet, the Kindle is one of the best devices for reading manga. The display is smaller than a volume of manga, which is called a tankōbon, but that doesn't bother me. Sure, words are smaller and harder to read, but manga looks crisp on the 300 ppi display — the 94 nits of brightness, which is the same as the Kindle Paperwhite, keeps everything illuminated even in direct light.

Reading through the first volume of Vinland Saga, I noticed every little detail, which made me appreciate the work of the manga artist a lot more. The pages flip just as fast as if reading a book, and ghosting is barely noticeable. You have to squint to really notice it. Another plus is that the Kindle automatically flips the book's orientation, so you can flip pages from left to right as manga is meant to be read.

Arguably the best part of reading manga on this Kindle, or any Kindle for that matter, is access to Amazon's huge library of manga. You can purchase digital volumes of almost any manga you can think of, saving you shelf space in the long run. With a subscription to Amazon's Comixology Unlimited, you can access loads of manga titles, including heavyweights like Attack on Titan and Fire Force. Unfortunately, this subscription only provides access to a fraction of the available volumes —- e.g., the first 11 volumes of Fire Force. As a gateway to popular manga titles, that's not a bad deal for $5.99 monthly, especially because you can read thousands of comics and graphic novels on other devices.

Strong battery life

Amazon claims the Kindle has 6 weeks of battery life, but there are some caveats. To get 6 weeks on a single charge, you have to shut off wireless, read no more than 30 minutes per day, and keep the backlight level at 13. In other words, take that claim with a grain, or large pinch, of salt. A 6-week battery life is unlikely for more people. What's more realistic is a few weeks. That will vary based on the light level, reading time, and use of wireless features.

During my time with this device, I put the battery through its paces by cranking up the screen brightness to the max. In that time, I read for about five hours over four days and kept the wireless features turned on. I lost about a quarter of the battery in that time. Theoretically, if I were to continue at the same pace, I would have to recharge roughly every two weeks.

My advice is to lower the brightness and shut off the wireless features unless you're downloading media, which will lower battery usage when idle. Do that, and you can likely get away with charging once or twice a month.

Kindle (2024) review: The downs

Like the previous base Kindle model, this Kindle is good but far from perfect. Rather than fixing the flaws of the previous iteration, this new Kindle mostly stays the same while costing more. The lack of a version with more storage and no protection against water or dust makes it a lackluster follow-up to the 2022 Kindle.

Few upgrades for a higher price

Look behind the fun matcha color and you'll find a Kindle that's virtually the same as the 2022 model.

Ostensibly, there was no reason to fix what wasn't broken, especially since the 2022 Kindle was a big refresh that included a higher resolution display and double the storage than the model before. Yet, calling this a new Kindle and charging $10 more because the screen is a little bit brighter deserves to be called out.

In this economy, no one is immune to inflation, but you still have to offer something new when raising a product's price. To be fair, the display on this Kindle is as bright as the Paperwhite. But brighter lighting isn’t enough. The Kindle has the same design and virtually the same specs as the Kindle from two years ago, and the same flaws as well.

Paltry amount of storage

With the last iteration of the base model Kindle, Amazon doubled the internal storage to a grand total of 16GB, bringing it up to speed with modern standards. That's more than plenty for storing thousands of books. Yet, it's not nearly enough for manga or audiobooks.

Manga file sizes vary depending on the file type and the length of the manga volume. Typically, you can expect a volume of manga to take up as little as a few hundred megabytes to as much as a gigabyte or more. For example, the first volume of Vinland Saga is nearly a gigabyte, and it's just one of 13 available volumes. That severely limits the device, capping storage at a few dozen volumes of manga. Audiobooks also vary in file size, but they are typically around a few hundred megabytes, putting you in the same position.

I won't waste time roasting Amazon for not including a microSD card slot — that ship sailed a long time ago — but it is frustrating that there isn't a basic Kindle version with 32GB of storage, which is something that is offered with the new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. The only fix is to constantly delete older files as you download new ones. It's doable, if not a bit annoying.

Slow downloads

Downloading manga on this device takes longer than I'm used to. When downloading the same volume of manga on the latest iPad Mini and the 2024 Kindle, the iPad beats the Kindle by over 5 minutes. Despite being an unfair comparison, it paints a picture of how the Kindle stacks up to modern devices when it comes to downloading files.

It's not a dealbreaker if you're downloading a few volumes of manga every month. However, if you like to stock up on downloading media before a big trip, it will take you a long time. Good luck downloading several volumes of manga via the airport Wi-Fi before your flight.

No water or dust protection

Many modern devices have some form of water and dust protection. It's become so standard that I hardly look for it anymore. In this case, the lack of protection stands out because this is a device meant to be taken everywhere.

I don't expect the Kindle to be completely waterproof. That would be too much to ask from a budget device. What bothers me is that it's not even water-resistant. A slight drizzle or coffee spill could ruin this device.

Other Kindles, which have bezels that are flush with the screen, offer this type of protection, making them more expensive. With Amazon charging $10 more for a device launched two years ago, this could have been the feature that justified the $10 price hike. Instead, we have a super portable e-reader that becomes a liability as soon as it's overcast.

Kindle (2024) review: Verdict

The Kindle (2024) is as good as the model that came out two years before because it's effectively the same device. You get a small e-reader that's the ideal companion when leaving the house or going on a trip. The bright, crisp display lacks color temperature adjustment, but it's every bit as good as the display on the more expensive Paperwhite model.

Although this Kindle delivers the same basic experience as the previous model, it's more expensive while only offering a bump in brightness. Instead of buying this Kindle new, try to get a used or refurbished 2022 Kindle; you'll get the same experience at a fraction of the cost. If you’d rather have this model, you can wait until Amazon Prime Days to get a better deal.

You have just over a week to download your Kindle e-books before Amazon removes the ability to download them to your computer.

Starting Feb. 26, 2025 (via ZDNet) you will no longer be able to download copies of your Kindle books and use those files as a backup. After that date, you will only be able to download books via Wi-Fi or through the Amazon platforms.

Most people probably won't notice this latest example of an Amazon service getting worse, but the feature has existed for over a decade and is useful for backing up your purchases or converting them to formats compatible with other non-Kindle e-Readers or devices. It's also useful for those times when you don't have access to Wi-Fi, and of course, there's peace of mind knowing you have copies of your books.

This is not the first time Amazon has made a sweeping change to its Kindle platform that changes how or when customers can use the books they've purchased. In the past the company has removed books from its online store and remotely deleted them from Kindles or replaced books with edited or updated versions. The most famous incident involved the ironic deletion of George Owell's 'Nineteen Eighty-four' and 'Animal Farm', though at the time the company said that the books had been mistakenly published to its platform. More recently, in 2023, a number of Roald Dahl books were updated with 'censored versions.'

All in all it is a reminder that you don't actually own many or most of your digital purchases, as what you are typically actually "buying" are licenses to use content that can be revoked at any time.

Here are some alternatives

If you find this decision annoying and want to find alternatives, here are a few.

To start, might we recommend the Libbyapp which lets you borrow ebooks from your local library. You can also borrow audiobooks. Personally, I haven't bought an ebook from Amazon since I setup the app on my phone. You can use multiple library cards, sample books and tag titles at your leisure. It lets you send the ebook to your Kindle. If you have a different device it will let you download an EPUB version that you can send to your Kobo or Nook.

Speaking of, it may be time to give another e-reader a try like the Kobo Clara Colour or the Nook GlowLight 4. Kindles tend to be among the best e-readers but there are others, like the ReMarkable Paper Pro, that offer an alternative.

You can also try purchasing books from places like Google Books and Apple Books, both of which offer a number of ebooks. eBooks.com offers DRM free books and EPUB formats.

For those looking for free ebooks there is always Project Gutenberg which has over 75,000 free books largely those in the public domain though there are some more recent titles as well.

How to download your e-books for now

Currently, you can download purchased books from your content library on Amazon. You'll need to log in to your account go to Accounts & Lists and click on Content Library in the menu. From there you can see all of the Amazon content you own including ebooks, music and some videos. Your books will be under the Books icon.

For now, when you go to a book you want to download you have to click More actions in the book's menu and then Download & transfer via USB.

You will see this warning:

So, if you want to download your books, you're going to have to get going, especially if you happen to own a lot of Kindle books. It will take a minute but could be well worth the hassle if you ever want to read your Kindle books on anything other than a Kindle again.

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Amazon released a new version of the Kindle Scribe firmware this week that adds a new expandable margin feature for taking notes, and after using it myself I think it makes one of the best e-readers a little bit better for note-takers.

This is kind of a big deal because the Scribe's note-taking features have been a little lackluster since launch.

When Amazon released the Kindle Scribe in 2022, the fact that it was the first Kindle e-reader you could read and write on was pretty neat. But the software felt less than snappy, and taking notes in e-books was a lot less fun and intuitive than just writing them down in the Scribe's separate notebook feature.

Two years later Amazon followed it up with the 2024 Kindle Scribe, and when I reviewed it last year I found a lot to like about Amazon's decision to improve the design and include the Premium Pen stylus with all units.

But as you can read in my Kindle Scribe (2024) review, this e-paper slate still isn't great about letting you take notes directly on a document. When you're reading an ebook or other document you can either make "sticky notes" that auto-hide the text you're writing unless you tap on a small note icon that appears on the text, or you can use the Scribe's "Active Canvas" feature to create empty spaces alongside the text that you can then write or draw in.

The "Active" part of Active Canvas kicks in when the Kindle attempts to reformat text around your note boxes, which I personally found more of a hassle than a help because text often became awkward or frustrating to read.

Now there's a new expandable margin feature that lets you access a persistent, hideable margin on every page where you can jot down notes. The rough location of those notes in the text are then marked with note icons, so you can see which pages have notations in the margins and which don't.

To access these new margins, you just tap a new margin button that now appears along the edge of the screen. This summons an adjustable margin that can expand to cover roughly 1/3 or 2/3 of the screen, with the e-paper text adapting to fit the remaining space.

I think this minor upgrade is bigger than it seems if you take a lot of notes on texts, because I find it makes annotating a text on a Kindle Scribe easier than it was a month ago.

While these new expandable margins don't eliminate my quibble that the Scribe stumbles by forcing you to take notes "off" the page in areas separated from the text, the margins do make it easier to quickly skim the annotations you've made as you move through a text. Since you can keep the margin open as you flip between pages, you're not stuck waiting until you see a little note icon and then tapping it with your finger or stylus to read each individual annotation.

Instead, you can leave the margin open as you read through the text and see every note you've made alongside the text where you made it. And since the Kindle doesn't have to do as much work reformatting the text to accommodate the margin as it does to accommodate notes you make on the text, it's a lot easier to quickly skim through a novel or textbook and see all the notes you've made without ruining the layout of the text.

Outlook

This is ultimately a minor update for the Kindle Scribe, but it does make the device easier to use in my experience and is a nice little upgrade for Scribe owners who take a lot of notes.

I also think this complicates the question of whether to buy a Kindle Scribe (2024) vs. Remarkable Paper Pro a bit, because one of the clear weaknesses of the Scribe vs. Remarkable's color e-paper tablet is the fact that the Paper Pro accommodates you taking notes directly on the text.

That means you can scribble notes around words, cross out things you don't like, doodle in the margins and generally do almost everything on the Paper Pro that you could with a pen on a real paper book.

The Kindle Scribe still can't match that intuitive ease of use, but these new expandable margins do make it a lot easier to take notes on texts and review those notes quickly. It's a big upgrade for note-takers that own a Kindle Scribe, and I think it makes the device a bit better than it was at launch — which is all you can ask from a good update.

More from Tom's Guide

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• I never liked e-readers, but the Kindle app on my phone has converted me

When it comes to Kindles, Amazon has not had a great week. It started with reports that new Kindle Colorsoft owners were seeing a distracting yellow band at the bottom of the display.

Soon after, it was alleged that Amazon was cancelling Colorsoft shipments. The shopping giant has acknowledged the display flaws and offered refunds and replacements for affected Colorsoft owners. "We’re making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that new devices will not experience this issue moving forward," a spokesperson told Tom's Guide. At the time, it was not revealed what might be causing the yellowing issue.

But now, we might have an idea of why the flaw appeared. Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on X that the issue has been traced to Amazon utilising a different version of a component for the Colorsoft display than the one used on the best Kindles with a monochrome screen.

Kuo wrote, "Amazon's use of a different OCA [optically clear adhesive] than that used in grayscale e-paper displays. This change was implemented to enhance the limited contrast capabilities of E Ink's Kaleido color e-paper technology. While component suppliers have developed several hardware solutions, Amazon seems to be leaning toward a software-based fix."

Assuming this is correct, whatever adhesive Amazon picked appears to degrade quickly, causing the yellowing problem.

We should note that in our review of the Kindle Colorsoft, the yellowing issue was never a problem. We've checked the device multiple times since the reports started coming and the Kindle we tested does not appear to have the yellow band.

Tom's Guide has reached out to Amazon to confirm that the adhesive is behind the yellow band and will update this article if the company responds.

Presumably, Amazon either via software or hardware fixes, will have the problem resolved soon so future models of the Colorsoft shouldn't have a yellow band.

Still, if you're looking to try the first Kindle with a color display and willing to roll the dice, it will hit the wallet for $279.99 / £269.99. As we said in our review, "this is the Kindle I've been waiting for. It really is a terrific device." Once the stripe issue is resolved, it might be the Kindle to get.

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This week started with reports from owners of the new Kindle Colorsoft e-reader claiming that a distracting yellow band appeared at the bottom of the screen. Amazon acknowledged that they were aware of the issue. 

Yesterday, it was reported that Amazon was canceling Kindle Colorsoft shipments. That information appeared to come from random Reddit posts. 

Tom's Guide contacted Amazon to confirm if shipments were canceled and to get more information about the display issue. 

An Amazon spokesperson responded today, saying, "A small number of customers have reported a yellow band along the bottom of the display."

"We take the quality of our products seriously — customers who notice this can reach out to our customer service team for a replacement or refund, and we’re making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that new devices will not experience this issue moving forward," the spokesperson went on.

Amazon did not confirm if shipments have been paused, though. It was said that availability dates may shift as new and replacement devices are made available. Nor did they provide information on what "adjustments" are being made to remove the yellow band. 

We are not certain if the band is a software or hardware issue, though since Amazon is offering replacements, we are inclined to believe the issue is hardware-related.

If it is a hardware problem, we will see shipping delays as Amazon works to fix already produced Colorsoft devices or manufacture new ones with the fix in place.

An Amazon spokesperson said that Colorsoft should still be usable despite the yellow screen. We have been told that turning off the e-reader and leaving it off for a few minutes should resolve the issue, though we do not know if the issue will return after doing so.

In our Kindle Colorsoft review, we did not experience the reported yellow bar. We even gave the device a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising the vibrant color display. Despite the high marks, we did ding the e-reader because it was priced nearly double the Paperwhite and Paperwhite Signature Edition.

Since the issue started, we have been checking the device but have been unable to recreate the problem.

Enough people are experiencing the problem, and it wouldn't surprise us if Amazon issued a recall to take the issue's core.

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In mid-October, Amazon introduced four new Kindles, including the company's first-ever e-reader with a color display on Colorsoft. As we go into November, devices are supposed to be getting into people's hands, but suddenly, they are encountering problems.

Earlier today, it was reported that new Colorsoft owners are reporting a strange yellow strip on the display. An Amazon spokesperson told The Verge that it was aware of the yellow issue and is looking into it.

The folks over at Good e-Reader are reporting that Amazon is "canceling" shipments of the Colorsoft, at least until after November 26. According to their report, the delay could be through November 18 in the United States and November 26 in the UK. 

Supposedly, Amazon is holding any pre-ordered Kindle Colorsoft e-readers in warehouses due to the yellow stripe on the display. Purportedly, Amazon is working on a software update, or that is, Good e-Reader is claiming Amazon has told customers. 

We are taking this report with a grain of salt, as they did not provide any sources or quotes from anyone who has dealt with Amazon reaching out to them about their orders or the display issues. It's unclear where the information is coming from.

Tom's Guide has contacted Amazon to confirm that shipments are being paused and to comment on the yellow stripe claims. We will update this story if Amazon responds. 

Here is what we do know regarding the Colorsoft display. According to customer complaints, some people see a yellow bar on the bottom of their display, which Amazon is aware of. Supposedly, turning off the e-reader and leaving it off for a few minutes before restarting the Kindle might resolve the yellow bar issue.

In our review, we did not notice a yellowing on the Colorsoft that we used. We found the newest Kindle, which was so good that it immediately made our best e-readers list.

Otherwise, one annoyance is that the Kindle Colorsoft does not have Dark Mode, which Amazon acknowledges on the Colorsoft store page. "Dark Mode is currently not available on this device. Customers can enable a similar reading experience within millions of books using the Page Color feature, which, like Dark Mode, inverts the book page color to black and the book text color to white." 

It's not quite the same.

If your order has been canceled or pushed out to a future November date, please contact us and share your experience. 

Amazon responds

Amazon responded to Tom's Guide and acknowledged the yellow band issue. 

“A small number of customers have reported a yellow band along the bottom of the display," a spokesperson said. "We take the quality of our products seriously—customers who notice this can reach out to our customer service team for a replacement or refund, and we’re making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that new devices will not experience this issue moving forward."

Amazon spokespeople did not confirm that shipping has been halted or that Kindle Colorsofts are just sitting around in warehouses. However, it was said that availability dates may shift as new and replacement devices are made available as the "adjustments" are made to remove the yellow band. What those adjustments are was not stated. 

It is unclear if this is a software or hardware issue, though since Amazon is offering replacements, we're inclined to think it's a hardware issue.

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A new slate of Kindles only hit shelves last month, but problems are already being reported. New owners of Amazon's ereader, the Kindle Colorsoft, have documented an issue where the device is sporting a discolored, yellow-like band at the bottom of the screen.

As first reported by The Verge, Reddit users have highlighted the issue, stating the yellow discoloration is noticeable when the Kindle "is supposed to be evenly lit and colored like a piece of paper". Some users have reported the issue to Amazon and have exchanged the faulty device for a new one or returned it, while others have only noticed the strip while using the ereader's edge lighting mode.

Colorsoft has yellow tinge to bottom of display from r/kindle

Several users have contacted Amazon's customer support to report the issue, with support agents suggesting that the problem may be software-related, and could be fixed by a software update. However, others have reported that the yellow tinge only occurred on their device after updating to the latest operating system.

There's no confirmation of how widespread the problem actually is, but an Amazon spokesperson told The Verge that the e-commerce giant was aware of the issue. They also suggest that customers contact the customer service team if they notice any discoloration on their devices.

Is the pricier Kindle worth it?

In our Kindle Colorsoft review, we gave the device an impressive 4.5 stars out of 5, praising its sharp and vibrant color display. While we didn’t experience any of the discoloration that’s been reported by users, we had already knocked a few marks off as we thought the device was "decidedly expensive" as it is $120 more than the entry-level Paperwhite and $80 more than the Paperwhite Signature Edition.

Reviews on the Kindle Colorsoft listing are also rather mixed — with an average of 2.6 stars out of 5 over 363 ratings. The ereader is the first Kindle that allows users to read their titles in color, sparking popularity among graphic novel fans. However, one of the top reviews on the listing gives the device 1 star, as the screen was muted and the user found the yellow band to be rather "distracting" and disruptive to the reading experience that Kindles typically provide.

The Kindle Colorsoft is only available on Amazon US, so here's hoping that any issues will be fixed before Amazon rolls out the model globally. As always, we will keep you updated if this problem continues to persist.

Amazon has finally released its first color Kindle, the Kindle Colorsoft. The new e-reader features the same 7-inch screen, fast performance and overall design of the latest Kindle Paperwhite — only it can display color images. For Kindle fanatics like myself, the Colorsoft is arguably the best Kindle yet.

We posted a quick hands-on with the Kindle Colorsoft on TikTok, which generated more than a million views and hundreds of comments. One of the most frequent comments we received was about how the Kobo Clara Colour was a worthy rival and potentially a better color e-reader than Kindle’s device. We decided to put that to the test.

Is the Kindle Colorsoft truly the best color e-reader or does that honor go to the Kobo Clara Colour? Below, I’ll go over each of their core features to try to answer this question.

Editor’s note: While the Kobo Libra Colour has a 7-inch display like the Kindle Colorsoft, we’re comparing Amazon’s e-reader to the Clara Colour since that’s the one folks in our TikTok video specifically mentioned.

Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour: Price

The Kindle Colorsoft is a premium e-reader that commands an equally premium price. Right now, Amazon’s color Kindle costs $279. That’s $120 more than the entry-level Paperwhite and $80 more than the Paperwhite Signature Edition. 

In contrast, the Kobo Clara Colour costs $149, which is $130 less than the Colorsoft and even $10 less than the entry-level Paperwhite. If price is your main concern, then the Clara Color is the clear winner.

Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour: Display

The main selling point of both the Colorsoft and Clara Colour centers around their color e-reader displays. Though they share that commonality, their respective screens don’t deliver the same experience.

The Colorsoft has a 7-inch display whereas the Clara Colour has a 6-inch screen. Since the former is larger, it can fit more text on the page (depending on your font size). Reading comics on the Colorsoft is also easier thanks to the display’s size.

Differences don’t stop at screen size, however. Though each device has a 300ppi resolution, everything appears sharper and clearer on the Colorsoft. This is especially true for color content, which looks noticeably blurrier and washed out on the Clara Colour. Text and images in monochrome books also appear clearer on the Colorsoft. I also find the Colorsoft’s LED lights can get much brighter.

While I can’t say things look terrible on the Clara Colour, I’m giving this round to the Kindle Colorsoft, which offers the better screen across the board.

Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour: Performance

While neither e-reader is as fast and snappy as the iPad mini 7, Kindle’s reader has better performance than Kobo’s.

You really see the difference when flipping through comic books. I noticed it took the Clara Colour about a second or two to switch to the next page, whereas pages on the Colorsoft flipped about a split second after I touched the screen. Worst still for the Clara Colour are instances of ghosting, where you can see elements of the previous page.

The Kobo reader performs better with monochrome pages but the Colorsoft is still much faster in this area. Navigating through menus is also significantly faster on Amazon’s device.

Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour: Design

The Kindle Colorsoft shares the same design as the new Kindle Paperwhite, which itself shares the same basic design as its predecessors. The e-reader’s sturdy all-black matte chassis not only looks great but is also comfortable to hold for long periods. The flush display also gives the device an air of elegance. Though I wish the power button weren’t located on the bottom where it’s easy to accidentally hit, the Colorsoft has the design I’ve come to love.

In comparison, the Kobo Clara Colour doesn’t look or feel as premium thanks to its hard plastic chassis. It also looks tiny next to the Colorsoft since it’s a smaller device. But in its defense, the Clara Colour is easier to hold in one hand due to its smaller size and lesser weight. Also, the Kobo e-reader smartly has a power button on the back, where it’s difficult to accidentally press.

The Clara Colour is a practically-designed e-reader that serves its purpose of letting you comfortably read almost anywhere you want. However, the Kindle Colorsoft has the overall better design — even with its bad power button placement.

Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour: Libraries

One of the Kindle Colorsoft’s biggest advantages is its integration with Amazon, which gives you access to millions of books. This not only includes books you can purchase individually on the website but also a host of others available on the Kindle Unlimited subscription service. If you’re a serious bookworm, paying $12 a month for an “unlimited” amount of books is a no-brainer.

Speaking of integration, we can’t forget about Goodreads, which is Amazon’s reader-focused social network and a big component of what makes the Kindle experience so satisfying. You’re easily able to update your progress in a book and leave a review when you’ve finished it. Goodreads also does a decent job of recommending books based on your preferences. Though Goodreads is easier to use on desktop or mobile devices, you can perform the basics well enough right on the Kindle.

While its integration with Amazon is one of the Kindle’s greatest strengths, it’s also one of its major weaknesses since you’re effectively tied to the ecosystem. The main flaw is that you can only buy books from Amazon. And while you can add EPUB and PDF files to your Kindle, doing so requires you to go through the Amazon Send website, which can be a hassle.

On the other hand, Kobo doesn’t restrict you to its online store as you get access to other booksellers across the world. The e-reader also supports multiple file types and makes it easier to sideload them. You can even install different font types, which is a nice touch. And if you’re traveling internationally, it’s easier to borrow books from different countries on Kobo than it is on Amazon.

Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Clara Colour: Bottom line

Both the Kindle Colorsoft and Kobo Clara Colour are great e-readers. Though I personally prefer the Colorsoft due to its larger and sharper display, faster performance, better build quality and integration with Amazon, the Kobo Clara Colour costs less and gives you more versatility with the books you can buy or install. I don’t think you could go wrong with either.

Get the Colorsoft if you want the best possible picture quality and value easier book access and get the Clara Colour if you want more personalization.

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The Kindle Paperwhite (starting at $159) is often considered the best Kindle for most people. Between the bright screen, comfortable size and ridiculously long battery life, there’s a lot to love about this e-reader.

I’ve never owned an e-reader and have only used one in short bursts. The Kindle Paperwhite is the perfect starting place for me since it offers a fantastic balance of price and features. Sure, the Kindle Scribe and Kindle Colorsoft provide more, and the base Kindle is more affordable, but the Paperwhite sits in the sweet spot with its relatively cheap starting price.

While Amazon didn’t reinvent the wheel with this e-reader, the company made smart upgrades to 2021’s Kindle Paperwhite. The moderate speed increase, longer battery life and larger screen all create a fantastic reading experience. Sure, it costs $10 more, but with the upgrades, Amazon offers reasonable justification to bump the price.

Is the new Kindle Paperwhite worth getting if you already own the previous model? Probably not. But for anyone looking to upgrade from a base Kindle or get their first device, this is the one to get.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024): Cheat sheet

• What is it? The new Kindle Paperwhite, featuring a larger, more vibrant display and faster performance than its predecessor
• Who is it for? The Kindle Paperwhite is for anyone who enjoys reading and is willing to spend a little more than the base Kindle for premium features.
• What does it cost? The Kindle Paperwhite starts at $159 and packs 16GB of storage. You can order it now from Amazon.
• What do we like? The bright display, fast performance and lightweight design.
• What don’t we like? The price increase and power button location.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024) review: Specs

The ups

The Kindle Paperwhite wows thanks to its bright e-reader display and comfortable design. It has better battery life and a larger screen, which makes it slightly better than 2021’s tremendously successful device. It’s about as good as an e-reader can get.

Gorgeous, warm display

The display is arguably the most crucial part of being one of the best e-readers. After all, it’s the part of the device you’ll spend hours staring at as you lose yourself in the worlds of your favorite novels. As we expect from Amazon’s devices, the Paperwhite offers a beautiful, warm display that looks good in any lighting condition. You can adjust the display tinting from white to amber so that you can read in bright sunlight or the dark.

Amazon cranked up the display size while keeping the dimensions the same. This is thanks to thinner bezels surrounding the screen. This design tweak makes the device look and feel more high-end, which is reasonable considering it’s in the middle of Amazon’s e-reader lineup.

Other improvements to the display include an increased contrast ratio and speedier page-turning, thanks to a 25% bump in performance. Sure, it was already snappy on the last-generation Paperwhite, but getting a little performance boost is always lovely.

The 300ppi resolution makes text (and black-and-white images) pop off the screen, much like in a traditional book. The 94 nits maximum brightness is also more than sufficient for all kinds of lighting situations.

We tested the Signature Editon, which adds a nifty auto-adjusting front light sensor. As the light in the room changes, the brightness of your Kindle’s screen adjusts. It’s a nice feature and worth spending the extra money if you constantly move around while reading. This version also gains wireless charging, which is nice to have but not necessary considering the estimated 12 weeks of battery life.

Long battery life

I’ll never not marvel at how long e-reader batteries last. Amazon says the Kindle Paperwhite lasts about 12 weeks on a single charge. Of course, that’s in ideal conditions with the brightness set to whatever level Amazon uses (the company doesn’t disclose its battery testing process).

Unfortunately, we didn’t have 12 weeks to run the battery out before publishing this review, so we’ll have to take Amazon's word. What I can say is that I never charged the device. I pulled it out of the box at about 50% and drained it to 42% after more than a week of testing. No matter how you slice it, that’s some great battery life.

We can also say that Amazon’s battery life rating has jumped from 2021’s Kindle Paperwhite by a whopping two weeks (it was 10 weeks previously). Assuming the company uses the same testing methods, that’s a nice bump, no matter how you slice it.

So much to read

Amazon's most significant benefit over the competition is the massive library of Kindle content. Between the books you can buy, Audible, Kindle Unlimited and the Prime reading library, you’ll have difficulty navigating everything you already own. When you start picking up books on sale, your library will quickly grow to rival that of, well, actual libraries.

And speaking of libraries, you can use apps like Libby or Overdrive to download digital books from your public library without spending a penny. If you have other means of acquiring digital books, you can upload them to the Paperwhite via the Amazon Send website or by using the email address automatically assigned to your Kindle. I used the email address to send books downloaded from my phone to my Kindle and found that it worked well.

The downs

While the Paperwhite is close to perfect, there are a couple of minor flaws — namely, the increased price and terrible power button placement. While not likely to be deal-breakers for most tablet shoppers, they’re still issues worth mentioning.

Price increase

While Amazon made some smart upgrades to the Kindle Paperwhite, it also increased the price by $10. While I’m perfectly willing to accept that upgrades cost money, we see devices released year after year with new features for the same price.

No matter how much Amazon justifies the price increase, we’re never happy to see the price go up. And while I don’t think it’s worth upgrading from 2021’s Paperwhite, the price increase makes me think it’s even less worthwhile.

In the end, though, it’s $10 more for a device you can use for several years before it needs to be replaced, so it’s far from a deal breaker. Plus, you can usually find Kindles on sale through Amazon, espeically around Black Friday.

Power button location

This issue existed on previous versions of the Kindle Paperwhite, and it’s still there — the power button is on the bottom of the device, right where you may rest your finger when reading. If you move it a certain way, you can hit the power button by mistake, shutting the device off in the middle of reading.

Sure, it doesn't happen all the time, but I just can’t understand why Amazon doesn’t put the power button on the top like most other phones, tablets and other e-readers.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024): Verdict

As a first-time Kindle owner, I love the new Kindle Paperwhite. It has incredible battery life, a beautiful, vibrant display and a speedy processor. However, as great as the upgrades are, I can’t recommend buying this e-reader if you already have the previous version. The changes are so incremental that you can’t make a reasonable case for buying a new one (unless something is wrong with the one you already own).

For new buyers, though, this is the Kindle to get. You can read it in any lighting conditions with Amazon’s massive library at your fingertips. If you don’t own an e-reader and are in the market, I’d 100% recommend getting the Kindle Paperwhite. You’ll enjoy reading your books more than ever, which is all you can ask for from a device like this.

The Kindle Colorsoft ($279) is the first color Kindle and something I’ve been waiting years for. Thanks to its display, you can now enjoy book covers and comics in all their colorful glory. It’s effectively the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, only with a beautiful color display.

That 7-inch display is slightly larger than the 6.8-inch screen of the previous Kindle Paperwhite. It has a 300ppi resolution for black-and-white text and images but drops to 150ppi when viewing things in color. Thankfully, everything still appears reasonably sharp even with a diminished resolution. The screen also has a higher contrast than previous Paperwhite models, which helps black lines pop on white backgrounds.

The Kindle Colorsoft doesn’t shake things up design-wise, which is mostly a good thing. The matte black tablet is easy to hold in one hand and is thin and light enough to comfortably tuck inside a backpack—though it’s too big to fit inside most normal-sized jeans or shirt pockets. It’s a sleek and elegant device, though it doesn’t offer any color options besides black. And if you were wondering, the power button still resides on the bottom of the device, which will no doubt frustrate some.

As the company's first color Kindle, the Kindle Colorsoft is an absolute winner and one of the best Kindles available. Though it’s certainly pricey, it’s the Kindle I’ve always wanted.

Kindle Colorsoft review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Kindle Colorsoft is Amazon’s first e-reader with a color display.
• Who is it for? It’s for folks who want to read color comics, see a novel’s cover in color or create color highlights in books.
• What does it cost? The Kindle Colorsoft costs $279 and packs 32GB of storage. You can order it now from Amazon.
• What do we like? The color display, fast performance and lightweight design.
• What don’t we like? The high price compared to most Kindles.

Kindle Colorsoft review: Specs

Kindle Colorsoft review: The ups

The Kindle Colorsoft impresses thanks to its color e-reader display and familiar design. It also has strong battery life and provides instant access to Amazon's Kindle library.

Gorgeous color display 

Colors on the e-reader displays I've seen tend to look washed out and blurry. Because of that, I worried that a color Kindle would suffer from the same issue. Thankfully my fear was unfounded, as the Kindle Colorsoft has excellent color reproduction.

The Colorsoft’s 7-inch display is great for black and white and color content alike. Whether it’s comics or novels, everything appears like it was printed on actual paper. Sure, comics look much brighter and clearer on the iPad mini 7, but the latter doesn’t have that paper-like quality. Even after a week of use, I marvel at seeing the covers of the books in my digital library in full color on the Colorsoft.

There are two color styles to choose from: Standard and Vivid. The former utilizes the full range of colors to show more details while the latter makes colors pop more. While Vivid might sound like the better choice, some images appear better than others, depending on the colors on the screen. Because of that, I prefer the balanced look of Standard where everything almost always looks great.

Color is this device’s main selling point, but monochrome performance remains strong and it’s just as good for reading novels and manga. Black text looks nice and bold thanks to the Colorsoft’s boosted contrast. Drawings in manga volumes also benefit from this. The Colorsoft and new Paperwhite alike are now excellent options for reading black-and-white content.

I prefer reading Kindles with the display’s brightness set to zero, but I will bump up the brightness if I want to do some reading in bed with my room's lights off. The 12 white LEDs and 13 amber LEDs aren’t abrasive, making for a comfortable reading experience in the dark. You can also turn up the light’s warmth, which is easier for your eyes. I’m also a fan of the new auto-brightness feature that adjusts the light level based on ambient lighting conditions. 

Even though color images display at 150 ppi instead of the 300 ppi resolution you get when viewing black and white content, said images appear nice and sharp to my eyes. I read the latest issue of Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian and was impressed by the sharpness of drawings and text alike. Even though I could zoom in, I didn’t need to since everything on the screen was so clearly defined. If you love reading digital comics like I do, you’re going to have a blast binge-reading your favorite books on the Colorsoft.

Classic Kindle design

Except for its color display, the Kindle Colorsoft is virtually indistinguishable from the new Kindle Paperwhite. It has roughly the same dimensions and weight, features the same flush display and feels light in your hands. There’s only one design element I’m not too fond of, but I’ll cover that in a moment.

Simply holding the Colorsoft is delightful thanks to the soft matte-black chassis. Though the device is relatively smooth, you never feel like it will slip from your hand. The bezels are slightly smaller to accommodate the 7-inch display, though the bottom bezel is still oversized so you can rest your thumb on it without obscuring what you’re reading.

Ironically, the Kindle Colorsoft only comes in black, unlike the Paperwhite which comes in three different colors (Raspberry, Jade and Black). While I wish there were more color options, it’s not a major complaint since the all-black device makes it easier for me to concentrate on what I’m reading.

There’s a lone USB-C port on the Colorsoft’s bottom edge, along with a power button. The power button’s placement has long been a point of contention for many, and I’m surprised Amazon didn’t place it on the top. Though it doesn’t happen very often, there are times when I accidentally press the power button, which is pretty annoying.

I didn’t try dunking the Colorsoft in a sink full of water to test its water resistance like we did with 2021's Paperwhite, but if you like reading in the tub or by the pool, the device’s waterproof resistance rating of IPX8 means it can survive accidentally falling into shallow water.

Power button placement aside, the Kindle Paperwhite’s design is arguably perfect.

Great user experience 

The Kindle Colorsoft has the same intuitive user interface Kindle fans will be familiar with. The home page displays selections from your library and recommendations from Amazon. You’ll also see a search bar to let you search for books right from the home page. Clicking on the “Library” tab displays everything in your Kindle library. If you have a huge library like I do, you can use the filter icon to make searching easier.

Though it’s not well-liked by some, I’m a fan of the Goodreads reader-focused social network and how it’s seamlessly integrated into the Kindle experience. As I could before, I’m able to update my progress in a book and leave a rating when I’ve finished said book. This might be the gamer in me speaking, but as with trophies on PS5, I like having an account of every book I’ve read.

Navigating your library and settings is much faster than on the previous Kindle Paperwhite. This is good considering how painfully slow older Kindles once were. Since you can practically breeze through menus and options, you’re more inclined to fiddle with settings since it won't take a long time.

The actual reading experience is also better since page turns are much faster; up to 25% faster, according to Amazon. Because of that, I found myself reading faster than usual. Pages turn noticeably slower for comics or any other color book. However, I found the speed comparable to the previous Kindle Paperwhite, which isn’t bad at all. Regardless, you won’t have to suffer painfully slow page turns even if it’s a comic or novel.

So many books! 

Every Kindle can access the enormous Kindle Store with its millions of available books, including novels, comics and Audible audiobooks. With a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you have access to much of that content for $12 a month.

Other apps like Libby or Overdrive even let you download digital books from your public library. You can even upload your own e-books to Kindle via the Amazon Send website. Needless to say there’s virtually no shortage of books you can enjoy on the Kindle Colorsoft.

Incredible battery life 

Amazon claims the Kindle Colorsoft has up to 8 weeks’ worth of battery life. I haven’t had the device long enough to put that claim to the test. However, after a full week of reading for roughly an hour a day with the brightness off and the device connected to my Wi-Fi network, the Colorsoft’s battery went from 100% to 89%.

I don’t know if the Colorsoft will last exactly 8 weeks based on my personal usage, but I can confidently say that I won’t have to worry about charging it for several weeks.

Kindle Colorsoft review: The downs

The Kindle Colorsoft is an almost perfect device for reading digital books. However, there's something about it that could be a deal-breaker for some.

Steep price 

The Kindle Colorsoft is an incredible device. However, it doesn’t come cheap.

At $279, the Colorsoft is $120 more than the entry-level Paperwhite and $80 more than the Paperwhite Signature Edition. If you're like me, then paying extra for a color Kindle is worth it. However, even a color display might not be enough justification for some—which is perfectly reasonable.

While the Colorsoft’s price stings, Amazon almost always sells Kindles at a discount. And with Black Friday fast approaching, it would be smart to wait to see if you can get a Colorsoft at a reduced price.

Kindle Colorsoft review: Verdict

Despite its price, the Kindle Colorsoft is the perfect device for folks who want a color e-reader but don’t want to step out of the Amazon ecosystem. As I've made clear in this review, this is the Kindle I've been waiting for, and I'm sure many others will also feel the same. It really is a terrific device.

Thanks to its colorful display, svelte design and quality-of-life features, I expect the Kindle Colorsoft will be a winner this holiday season—and beyond.

Amazon has just unveiled four new Kindle models. These include refreshes of the existing Kindle 2022 and Kindle Paperwhite (2021), an updated Kindle Scribe that utilizes generative AI, and the brand-new Kindle Colorsoft, the company’s first color Kindle.

This announcement is significant considering Amazon hasn’t released any new Kindles since 2022. The Kindle Scribe seems to be the next best thing to using actual paper, while the Kindle Colorsoft will no doubt give competitors like Kobo’s color e-readers a run for their money.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new Kindles. Also, be sure to read our hands-on previews of the Kindle Colorsoft and Kindle Scribe (2024).

All-new Kindle specs

Kindle Colorsoft

People have wanted a color Kindle for years and the company has finally answered that request with the new Kindle Colorsoft. This e-reader is effectively Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, only with a display that supports color.

Like that device, the Colorsoft has a 7-inch display and packs 32GB of storage. The Colorsoft also has the same high-contrast, fast page turns, auto-adjusting front light and weeks of battery life. The e-reader has high contrast on both color and black-and-white content and features technology that enhances color and brightness without washing out details. It also supports wireless charging, is waterproof, and has eight weeks of battery life, according to Amazon.

Kindle Scribe

The new Kindle Scribe is the largest Kindle in the lineup. While it will be great to read books on, this device really exists for all you notetakers. And in case you were wondering, the Kindle Scribe supports generative AI.

The Scribe has new white borders and an updated display featuring a smooth, paper-like texture that makes it feel like you’re writing on a real sheet of paper. This is not only thanks to the sharp 300 ppi resolution, but the new Premium Pen has been designed to generate friction which approximates the sensation of putting pen to paper.

The new Active Canvas feature lets you write directly on whatever book you’re reading. What’s interesting about this feature is that your notes become part of the page, with the text dynamically flowing around your text. If you resize the text’s font size or style, the book layout changes practically in real time.

Sometime in 2025, an update will allow you to write notes in the side panel and easily hide them. With the new AI-powered notebook feature, the Scribe can also quickly summarize pages of notes into bullet points. And in case you’re wondering, yes, the Scribe’s AI can fix your (crappy) handwriting. Both of these features are very similar to Apple Intelligence’s Writing Tools.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024)

Though the new Kindle Paperwhite isn't a radical departure from the existing model, its subtle changes arguably make it a better e-reader.

Amazon says the new Kindle Paperwhite has 25% faster page turns when you’re scrolling through your Kindle Library or the Kindle Store. Thanks to the display’s oxide thin-film transistor, the e-reader has a higher contrast ratio, which in turn helps text and images appear sharper and clearer. The 7-inch display (up from 6.8 inches on the previous model) should also make for a better reading experience.

The Kindle Paperwhite is waterproof and packs 16GB of storage. It comes in three colors: Raspberry, Jade and Black. The Signature Edition comes with 32GB of storage, optional wireless charging, auto-adjusting front light and comes in Metallic Raspberry, Metallic Jade and Metallic Black.

Kindle (2024)

Last but not least is the new entry-level (or basic) Kindle. Like its bigger siblings, Amazon’s smallest e-reader has a 300 ppi, glare-free display. It also has faster page turns, a higher contrast ratio and a front light that’s 25% brighter at max setting—matching the Kindle Paperweight in that regard.

The basic Kindle comes in a new Matcha color, packs 16GB of storage, and promises “weeks” of battery life.

Outlook

Things have been quiet on the Kindle front for nearly two years, so it’s good to see Amazon finally announcing new Kindle models. The Kindle Colorsoft and Kindle Scribe are the most exciting of the bunch, but the updated basic and Paperwhite Kindles are fine (if subtle) updates to the existing models.

The Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite are available now on Amazon, with starting prices at $109 and $159 (respectively). The Kindle Colorsoft drops on October 30 starting at $279, while the Kindle Scribe arrives on December 4 with a starting price of $399.

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The Kindle Scribe 2024 ($399 to start) has arrived, and it sports new features and a new design as well as a price tag $60 higher than its predecessor.

This is potentially a big deal for students and writers because it's the second coming of Amazon's best Kindle for folks who like jotting down notes on their e-reader. The original Scribe was the first Kindle ever to ship with a stylus, and as you can read in our Amazon Kindle Scribe review, there's a lot to like about that inaugural Scribe—but also some glaring flaws.

After spending a week putting the 2024 model through its paces, I'm pleased to report Amazon seems to have shored up some of the original Scribe's weaknesses, making it a worthy upgrade. 

But the price has also gone up $60 alongside those improvements, so while I think this remains a great Kindle for writers, I'm not sure it's worth splurging on unless you really love the idea of scribbling on e-paper. I'll walk you through what I mean in this Kindle Scribe (2024) review.

Kindle Scribe (2024) review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Kindle Scribe (2024) is the second iteration of the Scribe, a Kindle you can write on using the included stylus.
• Who is it for? This is the latest version of the Kindle designed for writers and note-takers. If you want to annotate your e-books or jot down notes during readings, this is the Kindle for you.
• What does it cost? The Kindle Scribe (2024) is available for purchase from Amazon at a starting price of $399 for the 16GB model. 32GB ($419) and 64GB ($449) models are also available. It comes in two colors, Jade and Tungsten.
• What do we like? The big, easy-to-read screen and comfy design make this the most luxurious black-and-white Kindle you can read on.
• What don’t we like? The bump up to $399 makes this tablet feel a bit too expensive for what you get, especially when it lacks premium features like waterproofing.

Kindle Scribe (2024) review: Specs

Kindle Scribe (2024) review: The ups

After a week of using the Kindle Scribe at home and on the go, there are a few things I really like about this premium e-reader. Let's hit the highlights, shall we?

Big, comfy design makes reading easy

The Kindle Scribe (2024) sports a 10.2-inch e-paper display with a 300 PPI (pixels per inch) resolution, making it the biggest Kindle screen you can get. 

That's the same resolution as on the smaller Kindle Paperwhite (2024), but the extra inches of screen real estate make a big difference in terms of comfort. I never had a problem reading books on the little 6-inch (300 PPI) screen of my basic Kindle, but after a week of reading on the Scribe, I'm not stoked about going back.

I also love the thickened side bezel on the long side of the Scribe where the power button and charging port reside. It gives you a place to grip the slate without touching the screen, plus I found it makes it easier to hold the Scribe upright during marathon reading sessions.

Great backlighting options

Another reason I found reading on the Kindle Scribe (2024) so comfy is the robust backlight, which offers adjustable brightness and warmth as well as scheduling functions and an auto-adjust feature for when you don't want to worry about it.

This is the most robust backlight of any Kindle I've ever used, and it makes the Scribe easy to use basically anywhere you go. I like keeping the backlight off when possible because I'm most comfortable reading e-paper in natural light, but outdoors the backlight is clutch.

The auto-brightness feature works well enough that you probably won't need to futz with brightness too much when traveling and moving between dark and light, and the scheduling feature lets you change the warmth of the light during a specific time period.

Plus, you get a dark mode, which is less valuable to me on an e-paper display than my eye-searingly bright OLED monitor but welcome nonetheless.

Redesigned stylus is easier to use

If you go back and read our review of the original Kindle Scribe, you'll note some complaints about the experience of writing on it with the included Premium Pen stylus, which cost $30 more than the Scribe's Basic Pen.

Amazon took another pass on the stylus and redesigned it for this year's Kindle Scribe, and the result feels pretty good in my big mitts. The company also dropped the Basic Pen entirely, and now ships every Kindle Scribe (2024) with a color-matched Premium Pen stylus.

That may help explain the $60 year-over-year price increase, and after using the Premium Pen with the 2024 Scribe for a week I'm generally fond of it. "Writing" on the Kindle Scribe (2024) with the Pen doesn't feel like writing on paper (the ReMarkable Paper Pro does a better job simulating that sensation) but it does feel pretty good, and the "eraser" on the opposite end from the nib feels intuitive to use.

I will say that I noticed some residue of the lines I erased showing up on the Scribe's screen even after I was finished erasing them. At first, I thought this was a feature or a result of me not pressing hard enough, but I noticed that these faint after-images disappeared after flipping the page a few times.

It's not a problem that they appear, and in fact, they make the tablet feel a bit more like real paper since they look a bit like the actual residue of erased pencil. 

Working notes into e-books and other texts is also easier than it was on the original Kindle Scribe. You still can't draw directly on a page, of course; when you doodle something on an e-book it waits for you to confirm you're finished, then automagically moves and reorganizes text on the page around your illustrations.  

But it feels lightning-quick to start doodling, and the bar of tools at your disposal (draw, highlight, select, etc) are easy to access on the page. There's even less lag when you just want to underline or highlight a passage, and with its redesigned soft tip you no longer have to press obscenely hard on the stylus to get the eraser function to work well.

In short, ReMarkable tablets do a better job of replicating the feel of putting pen to paper, but the Kindle Scribe (2024)'s redesigned Premium Pen is more than good enough.

AI features are nice to have

The Kindle Scribe (2024) ships with some onboard "AI" features that let you dial out to Amazon's servers for help summarizing your notes or making them more readable. It’s built on Amazon Bedrock, a managed service which uses multiple models depending on the application.

Those are the two main AI features of the Kindle Scribe at launch, and I have to admit that having the Kindle reformat my chicken scratch into something readable by other people is a nice trick. It works about 90% of the time, too, and while it definitely makes mistakes, I rarely noticed more than a handful of wrong words when I ask it to "refine" my scrawl.

The trouble is, I can reliably read my handwriting, while the Kindle cannot. Sure it reads the majority of what I write just fine, but unless I'm planning to share my handwriting with others (which is easy enough to do, as you can transmit files back and forth from the Kindle) the AI actually confuses me more than my handwriting.

The summarization feature is also nice to have, especially if you plan on using the Scribe to take many pages of notes during a lecture or event. I found its ability to condense pages of notes into short, brief summaries useful, but not so convenient or easy that I would buy a Scribe to do it instead of just sending whatever notes I took on my phone or laptop to another LLM-backed service (like Google Gemini) and asking it for a summary. Heck, if I have a MacBook with macOS Sequoia and Apple Intelligence it can do the summary now, just as well as the Scribe can.

So while I think the AI features built into the Kindle Scribe (2024) at launch are nice to have (and require Internet access to use), they aren't game-changers and may not be terribly useful unless you plan to take a lot of handwritten notes.

Kindle Scribe (2024) review: The downs

I'm quite fond of the new Kindle Scribe, but there are a few concerns I have that you ought to know about before buying one yourself.

Costs as much as an iPad, does less

The original Kindle Scribe already felt a bit expensive at $339, so it's painful to see Amazon jack the price up to $399 for the 2024 model.

I do think it's reasonable to feel the Scribe is worth the money because you're getting the biggest Kindle you can buy with a pretty capable suite of note-taking features (albeit no water resistance) built in. So if you're just looking at the Kindle family, it makes sense this one is the most expensive model.

But by crossing the $350 mark Amazon has made the new Kindle Scribe more expensive than a new iPad. That means you really need to like the ability to jot down notes on an e-reader because otherwise, you could get one of the best tablets on the market for less.

Admittedly, it's not a one-to-one comparison. The basic iPad costs $349 to start but doesn't come with a stylus, so realistically you're looking at spending another $50 or more (the USB-C Apple Pencil costs $79) to duplicate the note-taking functionality of the Scribe. And even if you had the best stylus for your iPad, I still don't know of an iPadOS app that will let you annotate Kindle books and other e-books the way you can on the Scribe.

But when you consider the iPad has a gorgeous color touchscreen and is far better for browsing the web, watching videos, playing games and keeping in touch with your friends, the $399 price tag on the Kindle Scribe starts to feel a little painful.

Annotating texts feels a bit awkward

I like the feeling of writing on the Kindle Scribe using the packed-in Premium Stylus. It doesn't feel as much like paper as a ReMarkable tablet, but it does feel comfy and the stylus tip glides easily across the slate.

But while the physical act of writing on the Scribe feels nice, the way in which it automatically reorganizes and reorients text around your notes feels a bit awkward. While it's better than the old model, which actually didn't let you even take notes on the page but instead popped up a new "sticky note" every time you tried to take a note, it could use a bit more work to feel natural.

While writing on the page of an e-book feels natural, as soon as you stop doodling, you get a little icon that lets you choose to save what you've written or delete it. Save it and the Kindle sort of draws a blank rectangle around it and shuffles text around that rectangle so that it reads well without obscuring your note, and it stays there even if you scroll the page or change text size.

This is fine for basic use, but in my experience, it feels unnaturally stiff and limits your ability to easily draw and annotate text. A competing e-paper slate like the ReMarkable Paper Pro ($579) lets you basically draw a line or letter anywhere on the page and manages to make it appear as though it just stays right there where you drew it, even if you scroll around..

So while it's great to be able to finally draw and write right on the page of a Kindle e-book without having to deal with any intermediary layers, the implementation could use some work—and I'm hopeful Amazon will improve it on the next iteration.

Kindle Scribe (2024) review: Verdict

I like the Kindle Scribe (2024) quite a bit, but I have a hard time recommending it to anyone except those who want a Kindle they can write on.

If that sounds like you, this year's model of the Kindle Scribe is the best yet. Though pricey, you get a well-made e-paper slate that feels premium, with a nice big screen that's easy to read and well-equipped with lighting features. 

And if you like to doodle, take notes or read a lot of e-books, this is a great choice for you. You can send annotated documents or notebooks to yourself as PDFs or send PDFs to the Kindle to work on, and the long battery life (Amazon advertises up to 12 weeks, and in one week of use I barely saw the battery dip below 70%) helps ensure it won't leave you in the lurch on long trips or work days.

Yet at $400, this feels like a luxury item for people who are really passionate about the experience of writing longhand on an e-paper slate. And if that's you, I have a hard time not recommending you save your money and splurge on the ReMarkable 2 or ReMarkable Paper Pro. They already do the sort of handwriting cleanup that the Scribe does. And while the Paper Pro is slower and more expensive than the Scribe, it feels nicer, supports limited colors and offers a more diverse array of digital pen and ink tools.

But the Scribe is cheaper and faster than the ReMarkable Paper Pro, so if those are your priorities this is a great slate for your needs. 

Let's face it: Amazon has a chokehold on the e-reader market.

Exactly how tight that hold is seems to vary depending on the year and market research firm, but I've seen reputable claims that Amazon's Kindles now make up 70-80% of the total global e-reader market.

Whatever the truth may be, I can tell you from my years covering them for Tom's Guide that Kindles are the most popular e-reader on the market. If you check out our guide to the best e-readers you'll notice most of them are Kindles, and for good reason: Amazon has poured untold amounts of money into subsidizing and refining the design of these cheap e-paper tablets, while simultaneously expanding its Kindle e-book store.

The result, at least for Kindle users, is easy and reliable access to an Amazon storefront packed with ebooks from all your favorite authors. Which is great...until you make the mistake of straying beyond Amazon's borders and daring to buy an e-reader from another company.

When that happens you will get the unpleasant reminder that Amazon's Kindle e-books all have DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection on them that prevents you from easily reading them on anything other than a Kindle.

That can be a real hassle for a book lover who wants to buy anything besides a Kindle, but it doesn't have to be a deal-breaker — you just have to know where to look.

Alex hi, appreciate your in-depth Remarkable Pro review. One additional question: What kind of e-books are you able to read? Of course there is no Kindle support.

If I am looking for an e-book reader, is the selection just too small?

This has been an issue for a long time, but I was reminded of it recently after a kind reader wrote in thanking me for our ReMarkable Paper Pro review and asking what e-books I was able to read on it.

It's a good question, and I realized that we ought to point readers towards a few great sources of e-books you can read on more than just Kindles.

So I've rounded up my favorite sources of e-books (free and paid) below to give you some options outside Amazon's walled garden.

The vast majority of e-books available for purchase on these services are available as DRM-free ePub files, which are supported by e-readers from Barnes & Noble, ReMarkable and many more.

eBooks

While not all the e-books sold on eBooks.com are DRM-free, the company maintains a curated list of DRM-free e-books you can buy and read on your laptop or e-reader.

The list is quite varied, too, with everything from Python programming guides to Nebula Award-winning fiction like Vajra Chandrasekera's The Saint of Bright Doors.

It's a great list, and personally I'm overjoyed to see works like Ursula K. LeGuin's The Word for World is Forest available as a DRM-free e-book from eBooks.

Smashwords

Smashwords is an online marketplace for self-published ebooks that's committed to offering DRM-free books.

So while you may have a hard time finding the latest Dean Koontz novel on there, what you will find is hundreds of thousands of books from a wide variety of authors.

Many are incredibly affordable, too, including a whole slew of free e-books you can download and load onto just about any e-reader you want.

StoryBundle

StoryBundle is a great way to grab gobs of DRM-free e-books at a decent price.

If you're familiar with the Humble Bundle or similar "pay-what-you-want" bundle programs, you have a headstart on understanding StoryBundle's business model.

Here's how it works: Curated sets of e-books from independent authors are regularly sold in bundles, typically with themes like "Monsters and Cryptids" or "Cattitude", and each bundle is only available for a limited time.

You can pay what you want for the books in these bundles, and you can even set the revenue split between StoryBundle and the authors.

So what's to stop you from paying $1 for a bunch of great e-books? Nothing! However, there's typically one or more "bonus" books that are only unlocked if you pay more than a certain amount — a bonus threshold that's sometimes a set amount (say, $20) and sometimes a dynamic number that changes in response to the average price people are paying for that bundle.

Rakuten Kobo

Japanese tech giant Rakuten sells a fairly popular line of Kobo e-readers, and they company also maintains an online e-book marketplace to supply them with reading material.

Like eBooks, not all Rakuten Kobo offerings are DRM-free, but the vendor is kind enough to maintain a list of DRM-free e-books you can purchase that will work on just about any e-reader which can accept ePub or PDF files.

Publishers

In addition to all the sites mentioned here, some publishers will skip the middleman and sell you DRM-free e-books directly.

Baen Books is a great example because it's one of the few publishers which maintains its own regularly-updated e-book storefront and remains vocally opposed to DRM in e-books. Baen also offers a library of e-books you can download and read for free, as well as a podcast, regular give-aways and more.

So look up the website(s) of your favorite authors and publishers to see if they might be willing to sell you a DRM-free copy of your next favorite e-book direct.

These are just a few of my most recommended places to buy DRM-free e-books, not a comprehensive list. So if you have any favorites you'd like to share, please do drop them in the comments below.

Because while Amazon's Kindle storefront offers a wealth of reading material for Kindle owners, it's nice to remember that you still have the freedom to step outside that walled garden and read books on whatever device you please.

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The ReMarkable Paper Pro ($579 to start) is a new premium tablet that aims to replicate the feeling of writing, drawing and painting on paper.

In this way it's much akin to ReMarkable's previous release, the ReMarkable 2, which we called the iPad alternative for writers who like the feel of physically writing on paper. But the Paper Pro can do something totally new for the ReMarkable line: colors.

That's right, the ReMarkable Paper Pro let's you take notes, doodle and annotate documents with a variety of digital brushes in 9 main colors, though you can layer and shade the colors to create different varieties.

It's made possible by the Paper Pro's new Canvas Color e-paper display, which ReMarkable claims is its most responsive and comfy to write on yet. The device was unveiled at IFA 2024 in Berlin, and after getting my hands on a review unit I'm excited and intrigued by the potential of this e-paper slate.

But as fun as it is to put ReMarkable's Marker to the Paper Pro and feel the simulated scratch of pencil on paper, I have to be honest about the limitations of this tablet: it's a premium toy for writers, readers and note-taking types who want a $500+ device specialized for writing, taking notes and marking up documents. It excels in those areas, but for anything else you would be better off investing the same money in an iPad Air.

In this ReMarkable Paper Pro review I'll walk you through what I've learned about this device after a few weeks of use. I think it's probably the best tablet for writers and artists who hate writing on iPads, but even so you should know about the trade-offs you make when getting to grips with this e-paper slate.

ReMarkable Paper Pro: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? The first ReMarkable e-paper tablet capable of displaying colors.
• Who is it for? Folks who want a tablet that aims to mimic the feeling of reading and writing on paper, now with 8+ colors.
• What does it cost? The tablet itself is technically $499, but you can't order it without a stylus bundled in: $579 for one with a Remarkable Marker, $629 with a Marker Plus.
• What do we like? This slate looks and feels premium, and no other tablet I've used makes it this easy to write, draw and annotate documents in (limited) colors on a screen that looks like an e-reader.
• What don’t we like? There's often a noticeable delay when loading documents, moving between pages or waiting for a line you've just drawn to "fill in" on the page.

ReMarkable Paper Pro: Specs

ReMarkable Paper Pro: What we like

Despite being a writer by trade I don't actually love writing on paper anymore, because I've been typing for so long that my hands are damaged and can't comfortably hold a pen for very long.

Even so, I've always been fond of the ReMarkable e-paper tablets because I like reading digital documents on e-paper rather than a traditional LCD or OLED display. And while I don't love to write longhand, even on e-paper, it's still fun and satisfying to jot down notes, annotate text and doodle the occasional marginalia.

With that in mind, here's a few of the standout strengths of the ReMarkable Paper Pro that I've come to appreciate after a few weeks of use.

Colors are fun and help documents pop

Put simply, the new colors are fun to use on the ReMarkable Paper Pro, even though they are a bit limited.

I don't know about you, but I've always loved doodling in the margins and drawing silly figures in my notes. It was true back in grade school, and it's even more true today.

I'm pleased to report the ReMarkable Paper Pro does a good job of replicating that feeling on an e-paper display, and I found it was just as fun to doodle on my digital to-do list as it was to draw stick figures in my notebooks during study hall.

There are some cool ways you can use the Paper Pro's new colors and art tools in documents, too: you can color in diagrams in textbooks, draw silly moustaches on book illustrations and jot down notes in the margins of reference books.

And while the colors can often look a little off or washed-out on the Paper Pro display, you can do a lot with the nine art tools (plus a highlighter and eraser tool) to tweak or enhance their hues. You can draw a little tree with the colored marker tool, for example, then darken the trunk and make the foliage more vibrant by layering different colors on top using the shader tool.

Sometimes things get a little weird when you're drawing, writing and typing (via the optional Type Cover) in the same document because it's not always clear how or when you can move images like text. When you draw a cute tree in your notes and then start typing and hitting Return, for example, you may start moving the figure around inadvertently because it gets treated like text. But generally it's all pretty intuitive, easy and—most importantly—fun to learn.

Added backlight makes this slate more usable

You may be surprised to hear this is the first ReMarkable tablet with built-in lighting, but it's true. The lack of a built-in backlight is sort of a pain when you're using the old ReMarkable 2 to read books or write notes in a dim room, so it's lovely to finally have the option of lighting up when you're working in the dark.

The Paper Pro's backlight is nice and gentle, too, so it shouldn't give you too much eyestrain even at max brightness. In fact, it's so subtle you may not even believe it's working half the time — I had to keep checking to see if it was on while photographing this tablet in natural light.

Writing on the e-paper display feels great

The ReMarkable Paper Pro feels lovely to write on, and nice to draw or paint on.

Much of this has to do with the design of the Color Canvas display and the ReMarkable Marker, which support 4,000-plus levels of pressure sensitivity and are intended to feel as much like paper and pen as possible.

To that end, ReMarkable has worked to cut down the distance between the tip of the ReMarkable Marker and the e-paper in the slate to sub-1mm when the two are in contact. According to ReMarkable reps this helps make it feel even faster and snappier to write on because there's less distance between ink and tip, so digital ink appears faster and responds quicker to small variations in the Marker's movement.

And indeed, I noticed that writing feels faster and snappier on the Paper Pro than it does on the ReMarkable 2. There is still some noticeable lag and the different tools take some getting used to, but once you get a feel for how to twist and push on the Marker Pro to get the lines you want you almost forget you're writing on a screen.

ReMarkable Paper Pro: What we don't like

I'm impressed by the ReMarkable Paper Pro at first blush, but even after just a few weeks of use I've encountered some frustrations you should know about.

Still too slow

One of the big knocks against the ReMarkable slates is that they often feel slow and laggy because the e-paper display typically takes a full second or so to change or refresh a page.

This is a consequence of using e-paper, and it was one of our big gripes with the otherwise lovely ReMarkable 2. When I met with ReMarkable reps to see the Paper Pro they went to great effort to show me how much work was put in to improving the response time of the Color Canvas display, and they claim the display latency can get as low as 12 milliseconds, which is a significant improvement over the input lag of the ReMarkable and ReMarkable 2 (roughly 55ms and 21 ms, respectively).

After using one for a few days, I can confirm that the Paper Pro feels more responsive than the ReMarkable 2, and I felt like turning the page or drawing a line was snappier on the new Paper Pro.

But it's still not fast enough to feel like writing on paper, nor is it fast enough to make flipping through a document feel smooth or snappy.

Sometimes, it's fast enough that I almost don't notice: when drawing slowly with the pencil tool, for example, the line appears on the screen basically as fast as it would if I were using a real pencil. And when flipping through a short PDF that doesn't have a lot of images or annotations, it feels almost as fast as a modern Kindle.

But there's never a time when I forget I'm using e-paper, and honestly I often miss the speed of a modern iPad. Sure, the screen of the iPad Air hurts my eyes more than the e-paper display on the Paper Pro, and the Apple Pencil doesn't feel as good against the glass of an iPad as the ReMarkable Marker does on the Paper Pro. But those are small sacrifices to make for the speed and versatility of Apple's tablets.

Expensive for what you get

I think the ReMarkable Paper Pro probably delivers enough value to justify its $500-plus price, but that's still a significant chunk of change to lay out for a slate that can only handle documents.

While I was quoted a price of $499 for the tablet at launch, it's really closer to $600 because you can't order a Paper Pro from ReMarkable without a packed-in stylus. You can get one with the ReMarkable Marker for $579, or $629 for the Marker Plus, which has a second digital input module on the back of the stylus that basically functions like a digital eraser.

Now that's still a better value (in some ways) than a new iPad Air, which costs $599 to start and more if you want a stylus or keyboard cover. But a modern iPad or Android slate is faster, more capable and more colorful than ReMarkable's Paper Pro. So when you start to price ReMarkable's new slate against the competition, you see that you're paying nearly as much for a more limited device.

But really, what you're paying for is the Paper Pro's Color Canvas display, which offers a level of responsiveness and attention to the feel of writing on it that no other tablet I've tried can match.

To lay all the costs out, ReMarkable gave us a Paper Pro with Marker Plus ($629) for review, as well as a Book Folio ($89 - $179) and a Type Folio ($229) with built-in keyboard. So if you wanted the kind of productivity setup we're rocking in the photos here, you'd need to drop north of $860 (before taxes and discounts) for the Paper Pro, Marker Plus and Type Folio combo.

ReMarkable Paper Pro: Verdict

I really like the ReMarkable Paper Pro, and while I don't think it's the best tablet for me (my handwriting's atrocious, if you can't tell from the photos) I can see why it would appeal to writers and doodlers of all stripes.

So far I wouldn't turn to the Paper Pro if I wanted to read on a digital screen, because I'd rather use the cheaper, lighter Kindle I already own. And I wouldn't use it if I wanted to create digital art, because the iPad Air offers more robust and varied art tools via all the apps you can get out of the Apple App Store.

But if I wanted to edit a draft or mark up a text to prepare for a class, the ReMarkable Paper Pro seems awfully enticing because I can just load the document onboard (via ReMarkable's easy-to-use desktop and smartphone apps), pick up the Marker and start intuitively annotating the text like I would a real document. It feels good, it's neat and most importantly, it works without a lot of thought or effort on my part.

I don't know how much demand there will be for a specialized premium tablet like this, but I can tell you that the Paper Pro is a clear improvement over the ReMarkable 2. It's lovely for writing and working with text in natural light, and if you're willing to spend the cost of a new iPad on an e-paper slate optimized for writing, this is the best tablet for you yet.

Amazon could be readying the next device in its long line of Kindle e-readers for a surprise launch. According to a new report, the company could be so close to launching the next Kindle that we'll see an announcement as soon as next week (the week of September 30). 

While there hasn't been much in the way of leaks leading up to this news, this latest tip from GoodEReader (via The Verge) reveals some vital information about the next device from Amazon, including some specs. A listing appeared on the Spanish retailer MediaMarkt's website but has since been deleted.

Officially, we don't know the release date for Amazon's next Kindle, but the listing said the device would launch on October 1, which is right around the corner. The predecessor was shown off for the first time in October, so it would make sense for Amazon to put out the new one around that time.

Regarding specs, the listing mentioned that the 12th-gen Kindle offers a front-lit 300ppi display that is 25% brighter than the 11th-gen model. That puts it closer to the brightness provided by the more expensive Kindle Paperwhite, though with enough difference to make that model an upgrade worth considering. 

The listing claims the new device will offer smoother page turns and a dark mode that spans the entire OS for those who prefer that look. 

Before the listing was pulled (which adds some credence to its accuracy in a way), The Verge managed to snag a few screenshots with crucial information. You can see a more recessed screen with rising bezels in a "matcha green" color in one photo. 

Some other notable tidbits from the leak include 16GB of RAM, Bluetooth 5.1, USB-C charging and up to eight weeks of battery life on a single charge (up from six on the 11th-gen). 

Finally, the price listed was €119 (about $133), a big jump from the previous model, which retails for $99. Also adding credence to this leak is that Amazon shows the current model as out of stock with no date for when the devices will return.

More from Tom's Guide

• Real books are good, but Kindles are better
• How to set and manage bookmarks on Kindle
• Is the iPad mini 6 worth it?

The Kindle Paperwhite is my favorite e-reader and the main reason I got back into reading. As expected, this popular reader is on sale for Amazon Prime Day for a nice discount. If you want to rekindle your love of reading, this is a deal I wholeheartedly recommend.

Right now, the Kindle Paperwhite (2021) is on sale for $134 at Amazon. This 16GB configuration normally costs $149, which means you’re saving $15. Though this isn’t the lowest price we’ve seen the Kindle Paperwhite sell for, it’s a nice discount for such a fantastic device.

The latest Kindle Paperwhite model might be three years old (Amazon hasn’t refreshed it since 2021) but it still gets the job done for your reading purposes. The 6.8-inch display is flush with the device and gives the e-reader a sleek uniform look. Thanks to the sharp 300ppi resolution, everything from text and graphics comes through crystal clear. The glare-free screen almost looks like paper, hence the “paperwhite” moniker. If you’re reading in a darker environment, the 5 LED front lights do a great job of illuminating the screen.

This configuration has 16GB of storage, which is way more than you’d probably ever need if you’re just reading novels. However, if you download manga or audiobooks, the extra storage will give you plenty of breathing room. This Kindle Paperwhite comes with 3 free months of Kindle Unlimited, which gives you access to thousands of books from big and small publishers.

Seeing Kindles on sale during Prime Day might not be exciting since it’s so expected. However, there are still millions of people who’ve yet to experience reading digital books. And, in my opinion, there’s no better e-reader than the Kindle Paperwhite. Definitely take advantage of this deal while it lasts.

Rakuten Kobo will launch two new color e-readers, the Kobo Libra Colour and the Kobo Clara Colour, at the end of April. The latest devices utilize the E Ink Kaledio 3 module screen. 

The Libra Colour and Clara Colour appear to be incremental upgrades to the existing Kobo lineup, with the most significant update being the color screens. 

The Kaledio 3 screens have a resolution of 300ppi when viewed in grayscale, but it's cut in half to 150ppi when switched to color. However, it's still an upgrade from the previous Kaledio screen, which managed 100ppi. 

We’re very curious about how the new screen handles graphics novels and manga. We recently compared the Kindle Paperwhite and the iPad Mini for reading comics. With the depth of color and sharp screen resolution, the Mini was the winner. Still, the Kobo Libra Colour might be a nice, less expensive alternative. 

Compared to the Kindle Paperwhite, the Kobo model offers extra features like physical page-turning buttons, double the storage space and no ads. However, the $219.99 / £219.99 / AU$359.95 Libra Colour is comparable to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition, which has the same 32 GB of storage.

One way that the Libra Colour upgrades storage over the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kobo Libra 2 is by integrating cloud storage with Google Drive and Dropbox.

The Clara Colour is comparable to the standard Paperwhite with 16 GB of storage and a price point of $149.99 / £139.99 / AU$259.95.

Within the Kobo family, the Libra is similar to the Libra 2 and features the same IPX8 waterproof design as the Paperwhite. One new feature of the Libra Colour is that it is compatible with the Kobo Stylus 2, which must be purchased separately for $69.99.

The Clara Colour is similar to the Clara 2E but with color and an improved processor, which should improve performance.

Kobo is releasing an upgraded Kobo Clara BW with the processor upgrades offered by the Libra Colour and Clara Colour devices for $129.99 / £119.99 / AU$239.95.

The newest trio of Rakuten Kobo e-readers are available to preorder now and are expected to begin shipping on April 30th.

More from Tom's Guide

• Kobo Nia Review
• Mother's Day Gift Guide: Kobo Libra 2
• Kindle Paperwhite v iPad Mini for comics reading

There are several benefits to using an e-reader like the Kindle Paperwhite (11th Gen). The most popular Kindles are small and lightweight, and therefore much easier to tote around than a physical book. They also can hold dozens of books, and even let you check out the hottest reads from the library.

But what are the best Kindle accessories for making your e-reader experience even better? Interested in upgrading how I use my own Kindle, I searched the internet and social media for the top accessories for reading. As a pleasant surprise, they all cost under $35.

In a video on our YouTube channel, you can watch me unbox and and try out the best Kindle accessories I ordered online for myself. With the help of these products, I was able to squeeze in a few pages of my latest read whether I was sat at a couch, moving between between meetings, or getting cozy in bed.

For example, a neat Bluetooth page-turning ring let me leaf through a novel without needing to tap the Kindle screen. When paired with a gooseneck tablet holder, I could enjoy the book from a comfortable position.

Kindle accessories aren't just about convenience, though — I think the best Kindle accessories can also inject some personality into my e-reader. The same way that I appreciate a custom case for my iPhone, I wanted a way to make my Kindle feel like "mine." So, I ordered a one-of-a-kind PopSocket that I designed with the brand's AI Customizer. 

You'll need to watch the entire video to see how all the products turned out. But if something caught your eye, or you're looking for a quick round-up of the best Kindle accessories, see my picks below. 

The best Kindle accessories

The best Kindles give bookworms access to countless books, all on one small device.

Reading books on Amazon’s e-reader is convenient, provided you know how to buy them. If you’re new to the world of Kindles you might not know how to fill your tablet with your favorite books. That’s where we come in.

Below, we’ll show you a step-by-step guide on how to buy your books on Kindle. It might not seem straightforward at first, but we promise you’ll have the process down in no time. 

Now, let’s get some books on your Kindle!

How to buy books on Kindle 

There are three main ways to buy book on Kindle. In this guide, we’re focusing on how to buy books on your actual Kindle device. 

However, you can also purchase books for Kindle on Amazon’s online store or via the Kindle app on your mobile device. The steps below can also apply for the latter, should you go that route.

And that's all there is to it! Remember that any book you purchase on Amazon's website or the Kindle app on a mobile device will automatically get added to your Kindle device. And so long as you sync your devices (by selecting sync in options), you can continue reading wherever you left off across all your devices.

If you’ve just got a Kindle then check out our guide on how to set up a Kindle. Alternatively, here’s our Kindle Scribe review if you’re planning to upgrade. For more advanced Kindle features, be sure to read our guides on how to set and manage bookmarks on Kindle and how to highlight text and make notes on your Kindle.

• Real books are good, but Kindles are better
• Amazon Kindle (2022) review
• How to update your Kindle

Reading on an Amazon Kindle has completely ruined reading physical books for me. Before you close this page, hear me out!

Purchasing the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) back in 2019 changed my life. Prior to that, I probably read one book every couple of years. Now, I read at least one book a month. And because I can disable the Kindle’s display light, I get much better sleep because I’m not staring at (another) bright display before bed. I’ve since switched to the Amazon Kindle (2022) and love it as much as the previous-gen Paperwhite, which makes sense since they're among the best Kindles on the market.

Due to the Kindle's general ease of use, reading physical books has now become awkward at best and uncomfortable at most. Don’t get me wrong, physical books look awesome on shelves and feel good to hold. But, for me, the advantages physical books have over a Kindle are minuscule. Below, I’ll go into detail about why I prefer reading books on a Kindle over real books.

Better reading experience 

I’m going to start with what is probably the most contentious point of this op-ed: I have a better overall reading experience on a Kindle than I do with a physical book.

I don't recall the specific circumstances, but after about a year of reading exclusively on a Kindle, I picked up a physical book. It was great, initially. As I said up top, physical books feel great to hold. The smell of actual paper is also pleasing, as is the sensation of paper on one's fingers. But after reading for a few minutes, reading a real book became frustrating — which is something I wasn’t expecting!

Reading the middle of a book isn’t usually a problem since the pages on both sides remain relatively flat. The book’s weight is also evenly distributed between your hands. However, reading the first and last pages can be burdensome since one side of the book is thicker. It can be hard reading words closer to the margins when you can’t open the pages further. Trying to find the perfect angle so there are no shadows on a page is also tricky.

These issues don’t happen on a Kindle. The first and last pages are just as easy to read as anything in the middle of a book since you’re reading on a single screen. And because that screen is flat, it’s simpler to find a position where shadows aren’t created on the display. And of course, with the display brightness turned on, shadows aren’t a factor.

Regarding the screen’s light, I generally try to avoid turning it on. I like reading near a lamp or other light source. But if it’s bedtime and I’m eager to finish a particular chapter, I turn the Kindle’s brightness up while laying in bed. This would be harder with a physical book since I’d have to reposition myself so my lamp’s light would provide sufficient illumination. But even then, I’d have to contend with shadows on the pages.

At the end of the day, I want to get lost in whatever book I’m reading. The Kindle removes all the issues I have with reading a physical book and provides me with a richer reading experience.

Suits my digital lifestyle 

Books aren’t the only physical items I’ve abandoned. Since around 2015, I’ve gone all digital with video games and comic books. I also watch movies on streaming services instead of buying them on DVD… er… 4K Blu-Ray. There’s no reason physical books should be an exception — and not only for the reasons I outlined above.

As I said in my piece about why I’m excited about the return of Big-ass laptops, I live in a studio apartment and am always seeking ways to make the most out of my limited living space. While having long shelves stuffed with books would be nice to look at, I simply don’t have room for books or physical media in general. Having a small device like a Kindle which can store thousands of books is simply easier for me.

Traveling with a Kindle is also much simpler. I tend to carry a lot of electronic devices with me, with the heaviest being whatever laptop I’m reviewing at the moment. Stuffing a book into an already jam-packed backpack would only make matters worse. And as cumbersome as reading a physical book is at home, it’s even worse on the road — especially on a packed New York City train. While it's great to see people reading big novels on the R train in the morning, I can’t bring myself to do that.

I also like the option of reading books on the Kindle app. If I can’t use a Kindle while traveling, I can instead read on my iPhone 13 Pro. Being able to sync to the last page read on all devices is also handy when I have to switch between reading on a Kindle and iPhone.

Since Amazon makes the Kindle, it’s easy to purchase books or add them to my wishlist right from the device. I know I can perform the same function on competitors like the Kobo e-reader, but I’m married to Amazon at this point and prefer making my purchases from that website instead of jumping around to different places.

Goodreads integration 

I learned about Goodreads about a year after I got the Kindle Paperwhite. For those who don’t know, this is an Amazon-owned website that lets you keep track of the books you’re reading and allows you to write book reviews. You can also share your progress on what you’re reading and also socialize with friends and see what books they’re reading. My favorite part is setting reading goals for a year and seeing if I can accomplish them. Goodreads is a blast.

Whether you read books digitally or physically, anyone can sign up for Goodreads and use its features. But things are easier with a Kindle linked to an Amazon account. Instead of logging into Goodreads on my computer, I can simply update my status or leave a quick review right from the Kindle. It’s super convenient.

With that said, updating my book progress and posting a review on Goodreads is all I can effectively do on a Kindle. While I love the device, navigating through it is a slog due to how slow the e-reader loads in comparison to the best phones and the best tablets these days. If I want to write a full review or leave messages for my friends, I use Goodreads on my computer or phone. But aside from that, I like how well Goodreads pairs with a Kindle.

Kindles are my prefered way to read

I want to be clear that I don’t think reading physical books is bad. After all, printed books have been around for hundreds of years; it would be wrong of me to look down on something with such longevity. Real books are and always will be fantastic.

But while millions of folks will continue enjoying actual books, I’m going to stick with Kindles. As I outlined above, Amazon’s e-readers not only suit my lifestyle perfectly, but they allow me to read many more books than I would otherwise. And in the end, reading more books is what really matters — whether you do so with an e-reader or a real book.

Amazon’s tablets have long maintained the reputation of being shockingly good for their low prices, and the middle-sized device — the Amazon Fire HD 8 — represents the sweet spot in terms of price, power, and functionality. That’s unchanged with the new 2022 model, although it comes with some nice tweaks and upgrades from the last edition.

This 12th-generation Fire HD 8 tablet packs roughly 30% more power than the last model, helping to smooth out some of the spurts of lag we saw when we reviewed the older hardware. It’s also lighter, but Amazon says that it’s more durable than before. Granted, it’s also $10 more expensive than before.

But the overall experience and value equation are much the same: this is an amazingly solid tablet for the price ($100) if you can deal with modest performance, along with more pressing annoyances like lock screen ads and the limitations of Amazon’s app ecosystem.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Price and configurations

• The Fire HD 8 starts at $100 with lock screen ads and 32GB storage.
• Skip the ads for $15 extra, or double the storage for $30 more.

The Amazon Fire HD 8 starts at $100 for the default configuration, which serves up advertisements on the lock screen and comes with 32GB of internal storage.

You can skip the ads altogether by paying $15 more upfront or removing them later for the same price, and double the internal storage for another $30. As such, the priciest configuration with no ads and double the storage will run you $145. I reviewed the Fire HD 8 in black, but Amazon also offers it in Denim (navy blue) and Rose (pink) options.

For the most part, the ads are unobtrusive. They point to mobile games that you can download on Amazon’s Appstore, as well as shows on Amazon Prime Video, Kindle ebooks, and more.

In other words, they help fuel Amazon’s business model, which offers up dirt-cheap devices in the hopes that you’ll spend cash on content. It’s a reasonable deal, in my view, but $15 is also a fair price to pay to unplug from the marketing barrage.

Note that Amazon also offers a Fire HD 8 Plus edition that starts at $120 and packs in extra RAM for smoother performance, wireless charging, faster wired charging, and a higher-res back camera. Again, it’s a small price to pay for potentially useful upgrades, but cost-conscious buyers can probably do just fine with the core Fire HD 8 model.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Design

• The Fire HD 8 (2022) is nearly identical to the previous model.
• It’s still slim and lightweight, with a plastic shell.

At a glance, Amazon hasn’t done much to shake up the design of the Fire HD 8 from the previous model, nor would most people notice that it’s about half an ounce lighter, weighing in at just under 12 ounces. Amazon made a couple tweaks the last time around to implement a USB-C port (over microSD) and shift the front camera, but this edition doesn’t change much.

Given the lightweight build and compact dimensions (7.94 x 5.4 x 0.37 inches), the Fire HD 8 feels slim and easy to tote around. It’s easy to pop into a small bag or carry around your home. It might even fit into a baggier pants pocket.

The plastic backing means that it doesn’t feel nearly as premium and refined as Apple’s iPad Mini … but that like-sized iPad costs five times as much. So bear that in mind. In any case, Amazon claims that the Fire HD 8 is twice as durable as Apple’s smallest iPad, so it may be more resistant to drops and tumbles.

As before, this Fire HD 8 model fits most of its buttons and ports on a single side of the frame — the right side when held in landscape mode, with the camera atop the display. The power button, volume rocker, 3.5mm headphone port, and USB-C charging port are all snugly packed on that side. Meanwhile, the microSD port for expandable storage (up to 1TB) is on the bottom, beneath a tethered cover.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Display

• The 8-inch LCD screen has a modest 1280x800 resolution.
• It’s bright and reasonably crisp at this size and price point.

Given the price, it’s fair to come into the Amazon Fire HD 8 experience not expecting much from the screen. Thankfully, this is an entirely solid 8-inch LCD touch display for a tablet of this size.

At 1280x800 resolution, it’s handily beaten by iPads and even budget-friendly Android alternatives, but it’s crisp enough to support 720p HD content and even text looks reasonably sharp when you’re not hunting for individual pixels.

It’s only about 10% sharper than the cheaper Amazon Fire 7, in terms of pixel density (as measured in pixels per inch, or PPI), but it’s enough of a difference to notice. This is also a nicely bright display, as we measured 474 nits of brightness in lab testing.

It doesn’t look as dull or lifeless as the Fire 7 by comparison, either. We measured 88% of the sRGB color gamut on the Fire HD 8, compared to about 67% on the Fire 7, along with 62.3% of the DCI-P3 color space on the Fire HD 8 versus 47.4% on the Fire 7.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Performance

• It’s solidly responsive for basic tasks, with mostly tolerable spurts of lag.
• However, it struggles with 3D gaming. Some games crashed during testing.

For casual browsing and entertainment needs, the Fire HD 8 serves up adequate performance. It’s an ideal portable screen for watching video in bed or on your commute, it handles web browsing across multiple tabs with only modest compounding sluggishness, and it can run casual games like Candy Crush Saga and Subway Surfers relatively well.

All that said, keep your expectations in check. Amazon’s hardware isn’t nearly as powerful as you’d find in even the entry-level iPad, and it’s hardly a silky-smooth experience navigating the interface and jumping between apps. There are little hangs and delays along the way, but they are much less noticeable than on the Fire 7 — and therefore far less obnoxious.

In benchmark testing, the Fire HD 8 put up a Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 854 — a nice bump from the 540 score we registered on the latest Fire 7 tablet, and the everyday benefits of that increase are apparent.

On the other hand, Apple’s iPad Mini gave us a score of 4,540; about five times the power at five times the price. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A7 budget Android tablet from a couple years ago still beats the Fire HD 8 with a Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 1,405, while the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite lands a bit below that at 1,291 in the same benchmark test.

Unsurprisingly, the Fire HD 8 struggles with power-intensive games and applications. The flashy 3D racing game Asphalt 9: Legends is marred by slowdown and kept crashing on my review unit. Curiously, it runs a bit smoother on the Fire 7, as I noticed when comparing them side by side. Battle royale shooter PUBG Mobile also crashed each time I tried playing it. And Roblox games are widely hit-or-miss in performance on the Fire HD 8.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Audio

• The Fire HD 8 delivers strong audio for a $100 tablet.

The Fire HD 8’s stereo speakers fare better than some pricier smartphones (and laptops) that I’ve tested, delivering audio that sounds full and reasonably robust. The two grates—both along the long edge above the selfie camera—provide playback that is markedly better than the Fire 7’s single, flat-sounding speaker. It’s night and day.

Watching the Taylor Swift Reputation Stadium Tour concert film on Netflix, for example, the Fire HD 8 provided ample aural atmosphere to elevate the compact image. It gets pretty loud, too, without losing much detail in the process, although it’s hardly a bass-heavy blaster. All things considered, it’s far better than expected.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Battery life

• It packs excellent battery life, especially at this size and price.

For both a cheap and compact tablet, the Amazon Fire HD 8 offers excellent uptime on a single charge. In our battery rundown test, in which the tablet continuously browses the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits brightness, the Fire HD 8 kept running for 13:41. Compare that to 10:56 on the iPad Mini and 13:13 on the Galaxy Tab A7.

At full brightness and with more demanding apps and games in the mix, you’ll probably shave down that figure by a few hours. Even so, that’s a very comfortable window to accommodate a lengthy travel day, or potentially days of casual, occasional home usage. The Fire HD 8 is a slow charger, however, only picking up 13% of a charge in 30 minutes.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Cameras

• Both cameras take fuzzy shots and struggle even in well-lit scenes.

Like the smaller Fire 7, the Amazon Fire HD 8 packs a pair of 2-megapixel cameras — and neither is particularly good. Both serve up fuzzy-looking photos that lack detail even in ample lighting, and seriously struggle in lower-light indoors scenarios or in heavily backlit scenes.

If you have a semi-recent smartphone, then chances are pretty strong that you’ll get better shots from your pocket device. But for video calls with friends and family, the Fire HD 8’s front camera can do the job OK. Just don’t expect to get any snaps that are worth saving.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Software

• Amazon’s OS lacks Google services—and the Play Store’s bounty of apps and games.

The Fire HD 8 is built upon a forked version of Android, but it mostly doesn’t look or feel like your typical Android device. Instead, Amazon has used it to power its own custom OS, which sadly lacks a lot of the things we’ve come to expect from Android — namely Google services.

You don’t get Google’s well-stocked Play Store here for apps and games, let alone things like the Chrome web browser, an official native YouTube app, Google Maps, or useful apps like Google Docs and Sheets. You can use the web versions of things like YouTube and Maps, but some of the other omissions are more keenly felt.

To be fair, Amazon’s ecosystem has a lot of appealing pieces. For those plugged into Amazon Prime, you’ll have access to movies, TV shows, music, ebooks, and more. And the Amazon Appstore has a lot of popular apps and games to choose from. Media apps like Netflix, Spotify, and Disney+ are here, along with Zoom, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and the aforementioned games (among others).

But there’s also a lot missing beyond Google’s services, such as Slack, Telegram, non-Amazon smart home apps, and a wealth of popular games found on the Play Store or Apple’s App Store. Given the $100 price, most prospective buyers can probably deal with the omissions. You’ll pay more for a tablet from Apple or Samsung, but you can do more with them, too.

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Verdict

• Shortcomings are easily overlooked at this attractive price.

True, the 2022 edition of the Fire HD 8 costs $10 more than the previous model, but the end result is very much the same: this is a super-appealing tablet for $100, overall, and arguably the best all-around pick in the Amazon lineup in terms of balancing price and features.

It has a decent screen and great audio, excellent battery life, and good-enough performance for things like browsing the web, watching media, and using social media apps. On the other hand, the limited power means that robust games and apps struggle, the cameras are both mediocre, and Amazon’s app selection pales in comparison to rival tablets.

Still, you can’t beat this bargain. The Fire HD 8 does most of what it needs to do at a fraction of the cost of an iPad, and it’s markedly better than Amazon’s clunkier Fire 7 at $60. If you’re looking for a solid, compact tablet that won’t break the bank, the Fire HD 8 does the trick.

The Amazon Kindle Scribe (starting at $339.99) introduces a feature I, for one, hadn’t really expected to see anytime soon on the king of e-readers: writing! Now, just as easily (well, more or less) as you read ebooks, you can take notes in them, elaborating on things you might want to remember or sketching pictures to illustrate some important concept, or even create notebooks full of e-paper that you can then fill with lists, doodles, or anything else you can think of. And all that’s required is a swipe of the included pen.

It's a fun addition, and the Scribe in every other way represents the state of the e-reader art, with a strong design sensibility, a terrific and spacious screen, and the kind of well-honed usability you’d expect from Amazon. But considering the price, the product had better be airtight and the writing functionality something you can’t live without, and neither is quite the case. This may be the ideal e-reader for a very specific audience, but most people would likely be better served by one of Amazon’s other less-expensive — but still impressive — Kindles, many of which made our list of the best Kindles on the market.

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Configurations and pricing

The $339.99 base version of the Scribe gives you 16GB of storage space and includes the Basic Pen. Another $30 gets you the Premium Pen, which also comes standard with the 32GB ($389.99) and 64GB ($419.99) capacities and adds a couple of additional tricks to your writing arsenal (and are discussed below).

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Design

Measuring 9.0 x 7.7 x 0.22 inches and weighing 15.3 ounces, the Scribe is the biggest Kindle currently available, but unlike the previous champ (the Kindle DX from 2009), it feels in no way bulky. It has a 0.38-inch bezel on the top, bottom, and one side; the final bezel measures about 1.13 inch and can be on either the left or the right depending on how the Scribe is oriented. (The screen rotates automatically as you turn the unit.) Both the Power button (the Scribe’s only physical control; there are no page-turn buttons as there are on the Kindle Oasis) and the USB Type-C port are located near the center of the widest bezel’s side.

The bezels and the all-metal back (which, aside from the four tiny rubber feet, is adorned only with a black Amazon logo) are a dark gray color Amazon refers to as “Tungsten.” It’s somewhat nondescript, but more stylish than the basic black colors of the currently available base Kindle model and the two Paperwhites.

Our review unit came with the Premium Pen, which from tip to eraser is about 6.38 inches long (and about 0.8 inch wide), and is that same Tungsten color. Thanks to its single flat edge, it’s comfortable to hold and unlikely to roll very far if you put it down on a table. The Shortcut button (which we’ll get back to presently) is positioned about 1.5 inches from the tip and just about an ideal spot given where I hold writing instruments. Although the Premium Pen will attach to the (non-button) side of the Scribe with an integrated magnet, I found that the magnet was not especially powerful and the Pen would disconnect easily during just normal reading.

A better storage solution for it — and for the Scribe itself — is to use one of the available folio covers. These are sold separately, and range in price from $59.99 for the Fabric Folio Cover to $99.99 for a swanker premium leather version (like the one our review unit shipped with). The cover holds the Scribe securely and has an integrated loop for the Pen, ensuring it won’t fall off at an inopportune time. Another good reason for the case: Unlike the Oasis and the two Paperwhite models, the Scribe is not waterproof.

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Display

Kindle displays have never been small, but the one on the Scribe is luxuriously large: 8.2x6.1 inches (HW), and 10.2 inches across the diagonal (half an inch larger than the DX’s screen). This gives you almost as much page real estate as a full-size hardcover, a development I love since it’s not accompanied by the size or weight associated with those physical books.

The 300ppi touch screen uses Amazon’s Paperwhite technology, which allows for ultracrisp text and more realistic contrast, which results in a considerably more pleasant reading experience than with traditional Kindles (which were and are, it should be said, totally fine for reading). Add in the advanced backlighting technology, which uses 35 LEDs to ensure evenness across the whole sccreen and features automatically adjusting brightness (though you can also set it yourself using a slider in the top-of-the-screen drop-down menu), and the ability to adjust the screen’s warmth to give the display a more amber hue.

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Battery Life

Amazon promises hefty battery life on the Scribe — at least under certain conditions. For reading only, the company claims 12 weeks, which puts it at the forefront of the current lineup. Throw in writing, and things get a little murkier, with the claimed time dropping to “merely” three weeks. In both cases, the time is measured with wireless off and the light set to 13 (a touch above medium brightness). In our daily anecdotal observations using Amazon’s criteria, we predict those numbers to be roughly accurate.

During our mixed-use testing period (with wireless networking on, as that’s the way we expect most people will use the Scribe), battery life expectedly dropped more quickly. But even there, we estimate the battery would last most average readers six to eight weeks on a single charge — not at all bad given the size and composition of the screen. (Neither the Pen nor the Premium Pen requires charging.)

When the time eventually comes to charge the Scribe, you can do so with the included USB (Type-A–to–Type-C) cable by plugging it into a computer or a power strip. As is the current trend, no dedicated charger comes with the Scribe.

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Reading experience

That the Scribe is as good as e-readers get from the reading standpoint should be no surprise — Amazon has been at this, and at a high level, for a long time. Swiping to move between pages is completely fluid. Interacting with the book, such as flipping between chapters, employing highlights, or getting dictionary definitions of unfamiliar words, is still a seamless process. You have tons of control over every aspect of the font and page layout, so you can always read in a way that’s easiest on your eyes. The organization of your library, which in addition to regular books and notebooks (see below) also includes Audible audiobooks you can listen to by pairing a Bluetooth audio device, is clean, thoughtful, and easy to navigate.

The Paperwhite screen remains a marvel of clarity whether displaying text or images, no matter what the lighting scenario. As I prefer something closer to the look of traditional paper, I never felt the need to adjust the warmth setting, but that gives a nice effect nonetheless.

The only potential wrinkle: Because of its size and lack of buttons, the Scribe is not well suited to one-handed reading. My hands are of above-average size, and I had trouble holding it and turning pages consistently. Otherwise, the Scribe is nearly a peerless e-reader.

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Writing experience

As the Scribe’s existence is predicated on its ability to take notes within the pages of ebooks, one would expect that functionality to be top-notch, too. Unfortunately, it is not.

Tapping the Page icon in the toolbar of the margin of any ebook lets you place a “sticky” note on the page. This opens a window (consuming more than one-third of the screen) where you can enter the contents of the note using either text (via an on-screen keyboard that consumes still more of the display) or handwriting. If you choose the latter, you can tap on either a Pen icon to create lines or a Highlighter icon to create broader swaths of a light gray (through which pen text can be seen); an Eraser icon lets you, well, erase anything you’ve written or drawn. Tapping a selected icon again lets you change the line thickness and, in the case of the Eraser, also choose to erase merely a selection or a full note page.

This all works as expected, though I would not agree with Amazon’s claim that writing on the screen feels just like writing on paper; it’s smooth, but not that smooth. I also didn’t love having to reselect the icon each time if I wanted to add multiple notes to a page.

There are bigger issues. The overall note experience is akin to that of other Kindles. Once you close a note, it’s represented in the book as only a tiny page icon above the line, which is not only easy to miss, but it also tends to cover up the letters to which it’s attached. Notes also won’t “stick” just anywhere; each needs to be connected to text, so you can’t just put one in convenient blank space on a page or on an image. I tried to attach a note to a cover picture, for example, and the icon got buried, half off the screen, in the upper-right corner.

As a result, it’s easy to feel that you don’t have precise control over the notes. That’s one thing on a Kindle where you just read, but something substantially different when the notes are the whole point. Precision-tapping those tiny, cumbersome note icons with the pen isn’t easy or enjoyable; a solution that worked with the Scribe’s unique features and hardware would have been preferable.

It's also worth reinforcing that you’re never writing directly on a book’s “pages” — which would seem to be the most natural use for the Scribe — so there is always an extra, fussy step required to see any notes you add. If you import a PDF document through Send to Kindle, then you can write directly on that—but, according to Amazon, that feature isn’t available with PDFs copied via the USB port. Saved text notes are automatically entered into a “My Clippings” book in your library for easy export, but handwritten notes aren’t saved this way; they must be e-mailed separately.

What works better are the Notebooks, accessible from the home screen. Like their dead-tree namesakes, these are groups of digital pages you can create expressly for the purpose of writing in. When you create a new notebook, you can choose from among 18 styles of paper, including college ruled, dictation, graph, memo book, to-do lists, music staff manuscript, or entirely blank, and then write in the pages however you wish. You can’t mix different types of paper within a notebook — you would need to create a folder and populate it with multiple notebooks of different types of paper — but overall, this is the best way to write using the Scribe.

Except: That’s a problem, isn’t it? If you wanted to take notes separately, you could do that on your phone, in a paper notebook, or with another device — maybe one that supports handwriting recognition for conversion to text or other advanced note handling features (like the dedicated “smart paper” notebooks on the market). Having to leave the book you’re reading to enjoy an intuitive writing experience defeats much of the purpose of the Scribe, which should not be the case when you’re paying $340 or more. Amazon is promising “regular, free software updates” to expand the Scribe’s abilities, with new brush types and copy-and-paste tools for notes, more notebook organization options, and the ability to import to the Scribe directly from Microsoft Word. These sound like nice additions that are unlikely to improve the Scribe’s fundamental flaws.

Finally, a word about the Premium Pen. It’s required for creating handwritten notes — your finger won’t do — and it’s comfortable enough to use for extended periods. The tip exhibited notable, if not extreme, wear during our testing, and five additional tips and a removal tool are included with the Scribe, but unless you’re writing a lot, you likely won’t have to worry about replacing the tip more than every six to eight weeks. The Shortcut button, which lets you switch between a Highlighter, Pen, or Eraser, or add a note, depending on what you specify in the settings, works well enough, but I found it just as easy to tap the icon in the toolbar. I did not, however, care much for the eraser. It activates automatically when you push it down, but you have to keep it pushed down while you’re erasing, and the combination of the oddly high amount of force required and the scraping sound the eraser makes when dragged across the screen is unpleasant. It’s understandable why a lighter touch may not be technically feasible for both writing and erasing, but any kind of a more organic feeling would be an improvement.

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Verdict

In many ways, the Amazon Kindle Scribe is an outstanding product. Building on the features and usability that Amazon has spent a decade and a half perfecting, it offers one of the best raw reading experiences I’ve ever had on a Kindle (and I’ve used every major version). The larger screen size, the screen quality, and the general design are all exactly the combination of elements I would want while reading.

While reading. Ay, there’s the rub. It’s ultimately because of its underbaked writing capabilities — and that price — that the Scribe must ultimately be defined what it can’t do.

At $339.99, it is firmly in tablet territory. And we’re not just talking the likes of, say, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra (starting at $349.99), but even the formidable Apple iPad, with the ninth-generation version starting at $329 and the current one coming in at $449. Any tablet offers more functionality than the Scribe, in color, and with a Kindle app readily available from every major app store. The screens and the reading experience aren’t the same, of course. But they’re good enough, and when you throw in everything else a tablet makes possible, the Scribe looks worse by the second. It doesn’t even compare well against dedicated electronic notebooks, which offer handwriting recognition and more fancy features for about the same price. You’re giving up the polished e-reader experience, true, but that’s not the Scribe’s main selling point anyway.

The compromises might be more forgivable were the price lower, especially for voracious readers. But then Amazon would slam into its own higher-end, no-writing e-readers like the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and the Kindle Oasis, which at $199.99 is already pricey and has a thoroughly satisfying 7-inch screen. And if you’re okay going the minimalistic route, the new entry-level Kindle is superb — and it costs about a quarter as much as the Scribe.

Unless you desperately want to annotate or draw in your books, there’s no good argument for the Scribe. Sure, the notebooks are delightful, but my phone does the exact same thing — and it’s always with me, right in my pocket, whereas the Scribe’s size works against its aspirations to be a constant companion.

At least the Scribe isn’t a bad product, and with some tweaking of what it can do and how much it costs, Amazon might be able to better justify it. What we don’t and can’t know yet is whether Amazon’s planned feature rollouts will make a better case for the Scribe than the launch set. Based on the information currently available, I would say no. But given Amazon’s history, I’m willing to keep an open mind. The full story of the Scribe has not yet been written.

Amazon didn’t need to reinvent the wheel with the Kindle 2022 ($99). E-readers can have all the bells and whistles they want, but in the end they have one job: to allow you to read. Well, more accurately, allow you to read a collection of books comfortably, all on one device. 

So it was a pleasant surprise when Amazon decided to refresh the Kindle in a noticeable way. This latest version’s e-ink display got upgraded to a 300 pixels per inch (PPI) resolution and Amazon swapped the old micro-USB charging input for USB-C. 

There are still enough differences to make the Kindle Paperwhite the superior choice. The new Kindle 2022 is still not waterproof and it lacks the softer display lighting options of its more expensive counterpart. It’s also smaller, but whether or not that is better or worse is subjective. If you want a Kindle and don’t care about it being waterproof, the $40 cheaper price point makes the Kindle 2022 the better value for most readers. 

Amazon Kindle (2022): Price and configurations 

If you’re someone who gets overwhelmed by choices, then I have good news. The Amazon Kindle 2022 comes in just a single 16GB model for $99. There are two color options though: Black or Denim. So if you want a little choice you’re covered there too. I tested the Black model and it was nice, though fingerprints did show up on the Kindle where I handled it.

Some may complain that the price went up $10 versus the $89 price point of the Amazon Kindle (2019), but at least you get something for that price increase. Between the upgraded resolution and the switch to USB-C, Amazon did at least make some improvements that could justify a price hike. 

Amazon Kindle (2022): Design 

The Amazon Kindle has always had a relatively simple design, and that has not changed with this latest iteration. The 6.2 x 4.3 x 0.32-inch Kindle (2022) is slightly smaller than the Kindle (2019), but you probably wouldn't notice. It remains comfortable to hold, and at 5.56 ounces it’s even easier to bring with you anywhere.

It also remains a no-frills device in terms of extra physical features. Aside from a power button and the USB-C charging port, there’s nothing else. To be fair, there isn’t really a need for anything else. Some people like to have physical page-turn buttons, but personally, I don’t view the lack of those as a negative. 

The only design change I would advocate for is upgrading the chassis for the Kindle to be IPX8 waterproof resistance rated. I think that Amazon could accomplish this without undercutting the more expensive Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, which still offers improved lighting options and a larger size than the base 2022 Kindle.

Amazon Kindle (2022): Display 

One of the biggest complaints about the previous iteration of the Kindle in our review was the mediocre display resolution. While the Amazon Kindle 2019 upgraded the display by adding four front lights, which allow for a better and more energy-efficient reading experience, it still featured a relatively low resolution at just 167 ppi. That's fine for reading, but noticeably below the resolution of the rest of the Kindle lineup.

Now, Amazon is fixing that with the Kindle (2022). This Kindle has an upgraded 300 ppi 6-inch display that felt incredibly comfortable for this former Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (3rd generation) user. The e-ink grayscale display looked fantastic and was easy to read. 

The biggest complaint I had was that I found the light to be a bit harsher than the warmer tones you can get on the Paperwhite. However, I found with a little tinkering — and turning on the Kindle 2022’s dark mode — I was able to land on an enjoyable display experience. 

Amazon Kindle (2022): User experience and features 

The Kindle user experience is pretty simple, and I found it easy to use and intuitive. When the Kindle boots up, you’re presented with a home page that displays some selections from your library and recommendations from Amazon. There’s also a search bar to allow you to just search for content directly from the home page.

At the bottom there’s also a “Library” tab that shows everything you have in your Kindle library. You can filter this library by using the filters icon located directly under the search bar, which is great if you’re in the mood for something you haven’t read yet or searching for an Audible audiobook.

Speaking of Audible, you can listen to your Audible audiobooks on the Kindle using Bluetooth. I found it easy to connect my headphones to the Kindle, but be warned — it may be loud at first. Make sure to set your volume using the Settings pull-down menu (drag your finger down from the top of the screen to access) once you’re connected. The volume slider only appears with Bluetooth connected.

Finally, our past reviews have spoken at length about the awfulness that is Goodreads, Amazon’s widely-disliked social network for recommending books. Unfortunately, it hasn’t entirely gone away. While I’ve had a largely Goodreads-free experience, when you open a new book there is an annoying “About this book” pop-up that appears. While technically not a Goodreads feature, it’s still an annoying distraction that the Kindle could do without. Still, overall Amazon largely didn’t overwhelm me with distractions, so it's a vast improvement over some of the previous Kindles in that regard.

Amazon Kindle (2022): Battery life 

While the 6-week battery life of the Amazon Kindle 2022 is less than the Kindle Paperwhite’s 10-week, it’s more than enough. Amazon claims that the Kindle can hit six weeks on a single charge based on 30 minutes of reading a day with Wi-Fi off and the brightness set at 13. Using the Audible audiobook streaming feature over Bluetooth will reduce battery life below this figure.

While I have not tested the battery life of the Kindle as rigorously as Amazon has (I haven’t even had 6 weeks to try and drain the battery) I can tell you so far I’ve been impressed. I’ve been using it for a while now and still have not had to charge it. While it may fall short of the six weeks Amazon promises, it won’t be by much.

Amazon Kindle (2022): Content

Content is both a major advantage and disadvantage of the Kindle ecosystem. Amazon Kindles, of course, have access to the massive Kindle Store and its millions of books. You also get access to Audible audiobooks, which as mentioned you can listen to using Bluetooth. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can even download a free eBook a month from a selection of new books curated by Amazon. You even get free cloud storage for all Amazon content.

Unfortunately, alongside offering this wealth of content Amazon does everything it can to lock you out of other ecosystems. The Kindle can download eBooks from your public library through the Overdrive service, but other services (like Hoopla, which works on Kindle Fire tablets) don’t work on the Kindle 2022. And if you have Google Books eBooks, those won’t work either.

Amazon Kindle (2022): Verdict 

The Amazon Kindle (2022) is nearly a perfect device for what it is, and some of its flaws are more down to Amazon than the device itself. Being locked into Amazon’s ecosystem is a drag, but you can’t really knock the Kindle for that.

That’s not to say there aren’t improvements that could be made. The fact that the Kindle 2022 isn’t waterproof is probably the biggest reason that I couldn’t rate it above four stars, and the ability to adjust the warmth of the display light is something I sorely miss from the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) — though if you’re fine with using dark mode it’s easy to move past that shortcoming. Admittedly, if Amazon fixed those things there would be no reason to get the Paperwhite, so while I’m disappointed, I’m not shocked.

Ultimately though, the Kindle 2022 is probably the best Kindle for most people, dethroning the Paperwhite when both are at full price. It’s lightweight and comfortable to hold, the display is bright and crisp — a massive improvement — and the battery lasts for ages. Unless you really need a waterproof Kindle, it’s tough to advocate spending more than the $99.99 for the Amazon Kindle 2022.

When it comes to reading, note-taking and drawing, there's no better tool for the job than one of the best Kindles or e-readers. You're here to find the best of them, and we have just the expert tips to help guide you in picking the right one!

Amazon's Kindles and their many models are always a great shout. I still think the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is the best e-reader for most people. If you can afford to splurge on a premium device specifically for reading, I recommend the Kindle Colorsoft because it's great for reading graphic novels and manga. And if you can afford the absolute best Kindle possible, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft lets you read and write in color.

But for those on a tight budget, the entry-level Amazon Kindle delivers the best value for the price, especially if you're willing to put up with the lockscreen ads that come on the cheapest model. But there are even more alternatives I recommend you check out.

But if you're passionate about writing by hand or annotating documents, I recommend the ReMarkable Paper Pro and its uniquely textured e-paper display that feels amazing to write on. Or if you like the idea of an e-paper tablet but don't want to be limited to one app store, the Boox Note Max is a big 13-inch e-paper slate that comes with a stylus and runs a version of Android.

With my team of experts reading and writing on dozens of these devices, you'll find all our go-to picks, advice and tips on finding the best e-reader for you right here. So, let's dive in!

Best Kindle Prime Day deals

The best Kindles you can buy today

The best Kindle overall

The latest Kindle Paperwhite is a study in understated competence. The latest model sports the same basic look as previous Kindles and Kindle Paperwhite models, including the matte black shell and an e-ink screen, but the latest Paperwhite has a bigger-than-ever 7-inch screen that makes it easier to focus on what you're reading. I also love that the bezels are small and thin, so you tend to forget they're there when engrossed in a good book.

The Kindle Paperwhite's sharp 300-ppi display is supported by an array of 17 LED backlights, which affords you the small luxury of incredibly even lighting. Plus, it offers a robust level of waterproofing (IPX8-rated) protection. So while you probably don't want to take it in the pool, a quick drop in a puddle or bathtub might not spell the end.

The latest model is worth buying because it offers faster performance and smoother page-flipping than earlier Kindles. Flipping through pages is 25% faster than before, and black text on white backgrounds appears clearer and more defined. Though we wish the power button had been moved to the top, we like this e-reader's premium design and appearance.

The only shortcoming? The latest Paperwhite costs $10 more than the previous model. While that's a bummer, there are regular sales on Amazon that should help lower the cost if you wait for a good opportunity. But even if you pay full price, I think the Kindle Paperwhite is the best e-reader for most people thanks to its elegant design, premium features and robust library.

Read our full Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) review.

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The best value

The Amazon Kindle is a great e-reader that meets every need by being bright, long-lasting and comfortable to carry on long trips. The fact that you're locked into Amazon’s ecosystem is a drag, but you can’t knock the Kindle itself for Amazon's customer-unfriendly business practices.

That's not to say it's perfect, of course. There's room for improvement, like the fact that it's still not waterproof. So while I recommend it as a great Kindle at a killer price, it's key that you don't take it in the bath with you. This remains the biggest differentiator between it and the more expensive Paperwhite, and it feels like a slightly arbitrary difference intended to justify charging more for the Paperwhite.

Also, I missed having the option to adjust the warmth of the display light, another minor but meaningful Paperwhite feature — though if you’re fine with using dark mode, it’s easy to move past that shortcoming. Admittedly, if Amazon fixed those things, there would be no reason to get the Paperwhite, so while we're disappointed, we aren't shocked that the base Kindle doesn't get these useful features.

Ultimately, the Kindle 2024 is probably the best Kindle for most people. It’s lightweight and comfortable to hold, the display is bright and crisp — a massive improvement over earlier models — and the battery lasts for ages. Unless you really need a waterproof Kindle, it’s tough to advocate spending more than the $100 you'll pay for a new Amazon Kindle (2024).

Read our full Amazon Kindle (2024) review.

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The best premium

If you have money to burn and want the absolute best Kindle you can get, you want the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

When I reviewed this extra-large e-paper slate I called it the Cadillac of Kindles because it has (almost) all the fancy features you could want in an e-reader: a crisp 11-inch screen that's capable of displaying your books and documents in black and white or color, a packed-in stylus with a built-in eraser tool and extensions to let you easily move documents back and forth from your Kindle to cloud services like OneDrive.

And after using one for a few weeks, I'm pleased to report that it's a great device. Colors look nice and bright on the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, although black and white looks even better since the display effectively halves its resolution when displaying colors (you get 300 PPI in black and white, but just 150 PPI when displaying color). And writing on the 11" e-paper display with the included Kindle Premium Pen feels pretty good (although not as good as it feels to write on the ReMarkable Paper Pro).

I'm not the biggest fan of the way you annotate documents on Kindle devices because you have two choices: either write your notes in an expandable margin that pops out of the side of the screen, or write/doodle your annotations directly "on" your document or text using the Active Canvas. My issue is that the Active Canvas tech basically anchors your annotations between the text, so your annotations stay in the same place if you scroll or change text size, but are fundamentally disconnected from the text. That's a stark contrast from what it feels like to annotate documents on ReMarkable tablets, where you can simply write directly onto the text and count on your marks staying put no matter how you scroll or adjust the document.

I also need to let you know that the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft doesn't have any meaningful waterproofing to speak of, so you'll want to keep this pricey e-paper slate away from the surf. And frankly, since you'll pay basically the same amount for the ReMarkable Paper Pro, I personally would go with the Paper Pro over the Scribe Colorsoft.

But I've used both, and I will say that colors (and the screen in general) do appear brighter on the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft than they do on the ReMarkable Paper Pro. So if you want to read and write in color, both are great choices!

Read our full Kindle Scribe Colorsoft (2025) review.

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Best color Kindle

The latest Kindle Colorsoft brings everything readers expect from a Kindle, just in full color. Its 7-inch color e-ink screen is crisp and, in our experience, remains readable even in direct sunlight—so comics and illustrated books finally look as engaging on an e-reader as on paper.

What really tips the balance for color fans is the Kindle library itself. You get access to the largest ebook and magazine collection around, which means no hunting for obscure formats or worrying about limited selection for color content.

In terms of day-to-day use, the Colorsoft holds its own: battery life stretches up to 8 weeks, and the IPX8 water resistance means you don’t have to panic if it gets splashed. These are practical essentials for readers who want to enjoy graphic novels at the pool or on the go, without sacrificing reliability.

The only real catch is price: the Colorsoft costs noticeably more than the entry-level Kindle or Paperwhite models. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed my time testing this device. If color is your top priority and you want a Kindle that goes beyond black and white, this is the most balanced option Amazon offers right now.

Read our full Kindle Colorsoft review

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The best for writers

While the new Kindle Scribe is available and offers the option of writing on its e-reader display, the high price of the Scribe makes it hard to recommend. Because of that, I think the ReMarkable Paper Pro is a better choice for those who want an e-reader they can write on.

I say that because it's an e-reader designed for writers and note-takers. The ReMarkable Paper Pro is built for writing, to the extent that you can't buy one without a ReMarkable Marker or Marker Plus (which has an eraser tool on the back) stylus bundled in.

And while you can read your favorite ebooks just fine on this slate, you should only buy a ReMarkable tablet if you also want to write on them or jot down your own notes as you go. This tablet is designed to mimic the feeling of putting pen to paper, and I genuinely enjoy the feeling of jotting down notes or editing manuscripts on the 11.8-inch e-paper display in action.

This is the first ReMarkable tablet to support color, too, which is fun if not vital to the tablet's mission. It supports fewer than ten colors, but you can still get a pretty good range of colors popping up both in books and under your stylus as you play with the suite of art tools included.

But you should know that this tablet is as slow to update as any other e-reader on this list, due to its e-paper nature. In my testing, I found that I would often notice a delay between when I drew a line or flipped a page and when the action actually happened on-screen.

So while this is a unique device that offers standout value for writers who want a tablet that mimics the feel of a pen on paper while you're reading or marking up PDFs, everyone else should go with a more affordable, more durable Kindle for their e-reading habits.

If you'd prefer something smaller than a full-size slate, the ReMarkable Paper Pro Move is basically a smaller 7.3-inch version of the Paper Pro that's about the size of a big airport paperback.

Read our full ReMarkable Paper Pro review.

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Also tested

We test and review lots of e-readers every year, and just because they don't all make this list doesn't mean they aren't good devices.

Below we've gathered all the e-readers we've tested that don't quite make this list, but are still good alternatives well worth considering if they meet your unique needs, or if you can't find your first choice on sale.

Battery life claims compared

E-readers are built to go weeks between charges, a clear advantage these pint-sized slates offer over bigger, brighter, more capable tablets like the iPad. Sure, you can read ebooks on any tablet with the right apps, but an e-reader will last a week-long vacation in your bag without needing to be plugged in—can your iPad do that?

In fact, the lengthy battery life of these slates makes them challenging for us to test, because we have to use them for months at a time to see if the battery claims are accurate. We have done that on occasion, and we've found that in general manufacturer claims are pretty close to what we actually see in real-world use.

Since battery life is a key data point that can help some people choose between e-readers, we've compared the advertised battery life of all the tablets on this page below so you can quickly see which last the longest.

As you can see, the Kindle Paperwhite is the clear leader of the pack with an advertised battery life of up to ten weeks.

Note that Amazon typically couches these recommendations with the caveat that it's based on you using the tablet to read for about 30 minutes per day, with the brightness set a few pegs lower than max. If you tend to read more often, you'll likely need to charge more often too.

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How to choose the best e-reader for you

Let's start with your budget, as that's the easiest way to make this call. If you're running tight right now, the entry-level Kindle is a solid recommendation. Its lighting is good enough for a handful of situations and its battery life is nothing to sneeze at. Frankly, as long as you're careful about keeping it out of the water I think the basic Kindle is just as good an e-reader as anything on this list.

But hey, if money is no option then you should probably be choosing between the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Scribe family, and this is sort of tough. If you prefer your devices to be built with a harder plastic, that still feels reliable, then I recommend the Paperwhite because it's more sturdy and also offers waterproofing.

But if you want to be able to jot notes on what you're reading you'll probably want to choose between the Kindle Scribe, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft or the ReMarkable Paper Pro.

The Kindle Scribe is the cheapest, but if you really love the look and feel of handwriting I recommend you at least try to check out ReMarkable's Paper Pro because, while it's more expensive, it also has a far more advanced stylus and screen that make it almost feel like you're writing on paper. It's a niche experience, but I've never felt anything like it on any other tablet. The Paper Pro can also display a limited color palette, while the Kindle Scribe cannot.

For that you need to pay for the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, which costs as much as the ReMarkable Paper Pro and lets you read and write in color. I personally prefer the experience of writing on ReMarkable's tablets more, but the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft does appear brighter and more colorful than the Paper Pro in person!

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How we tested these e-readers

To start, we read a lot on these Kindles. We don't just do that to see how much battery life is drained in a set of time (and to then compare against the estimations these manufacturers provide), but to discover what we like and don't like about a given Kindle. We then keep reading. At home, on the bus, in the park and anywhere else where the lighting changes.

In addition to evaluating e-readers' size, weight, claimed battery life and design choices, we test their brightness using our light meter. The experience of reading on the device also plays a huge role in these reviews. For instance, we look at the intuitiveness of the interface, the size of the available library and how well the special features (such as web browsers or dictionaries) work.

We've also tried alternatives to the Kindle, such as the ReMarkable Paper Pro and Kobo Nia. And while Kobo's slates are not currently among our best picks, their interface is great for those who want to stay focused on books, and isn't as focused on supplementary content as Amazon's Kindles are.

We even drop water-proof Kindles into our makeshift dunk tank, and watch as they survive — the first time it was surprising, and now it's become something we expect. Lastly, we try and see if Amazon's changed anything about how Kindles work with public libraries. It's the one thing we prefer about competitors.

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Amazon recently announced its newest e-reader: the Kindle Scribe. This 10.2-inch tablet has all the same features the best Kindles are known for, including easy access to one’s Kindle library — and Amazon's giant online store of books and magazines and audio books. But the new tablet takes things further by including a writable screen. Yes, you’ll be able to write directly on the Kindle Scribe using an included digital pen.

My initial reaction to the Kindle Scribe was: “Why would anyone want a writable e-reader?” I know writable e-readers like the reMarkable 2 and Kobo Nia exist, but I always saw these as a novelty. At least for myself. I own the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite, and only need it for reading books. I’ve never once had a desire to write on it. I don’t jot down notes on physical books, so why would I want to do that on a reading device?

However, the more I think about it, the more open I’m becoming to the idea of getting a Kindle Scribe. So, allow me to explain why this device may be the latest gadget I didn't know I needed in my life.

Taking notes in a book could be useful

As I said, I’ve never been one of those folks who jot down notes in the novels they read. I want to keep my books as pristine as possible. That means I don’t fold pages or bend the spine too much. Heck, I even make sure to place bookmarks in the center of the page rather than near the spine. I'm kind of obsessive, you could say.

This is where the Kindle Scribe comes in. With the device, I’ll be able to write notes "in" a book without fear of damaging it... because it's digital. Check out this product preview trailer from Amazon to see it in action, where you'll see that you don't write in the margins, but in sticky-note like fields 'attached' to the book.

This could get me into the habit of leaving notes about specific passages I find interesting in a book. Millions of book readers already do this with their physical books, but it would be a first for me.

The other reason taking notes on the Scribe seems appealing is because of the large 10.2-inch screen. Though I have no issue with my Kindle’s 6-inch display, that's too small of a surface for writing. At 10.2-inches, the Kindle Scribe has the same display size as my iPad 2020 — and a large enough digital canvas for me to warm up to the idea of writing on an e-reader.

A more “book-like” experience 

Beyond the possibilities offered by a writable tablet, the aforementioned large display is a (pun intended) big selling point for me.

Though I’m content with reading on a 6-inch screen, I’d prefer reading on a large display. I used to read books from the Kindle app on my iPad before switching to a Kindle proper. Staring at backlit displays is already an occupational hazard of sorts in my field of work, so I didn't need to volunteer my eyes for more of that sort of screen time. The Scribe borrow the Paperwhite's glare-free display with the added benefit of a super-sized surface for fitting more on a single 'page.'

The 10.2-inch screen would also be closer to the page size of a standard hardcover novel (only far more slimmer and portable). This would allow me to reach the size similarity I've enjoyed on iPad, but in the made-for-reading Kindle Scribe.

Outlook 

I’m always open to new experiences and having an e-reader that I can write on will certainly provide that. In fact, it could be something I didn’t realize I needed! And while its asking price of $339 is a little steep, the benefits it provides (note taking and large screen) should justify the cost.

Though I was initially skeptical about the Kindle Scribe, the moments since have found me more than likely going to end up getting one. I’m in the market for a new Kindle anyway, so it might be better to get the Scribe instead of waiting for a new Paperwhite model to get released. Tom's Guide will be testing it out soon, so I'm looking forward to seeing our verdict or, possibly, writing it myself.

Amazon has just announced its latest e-ink tablet – the Kindle Scribe. Instead of simply being a dedicated e-reader like the best Kindles, this device comes with a digital pen for taking notes, journaling and drawing. These tasks should be facilitated by the large 10.2-inch 300 ppi front-lit display. It will be available this holiday season for a starting price of $339 (AU$549).

The Kindle Scribe has a glare-free display that Amazon claims feels like reading or writing on paper. The new digital sticky notes feature on the device allows you to add handwritten notes to whatever books you're reading. These notes and highlights are automatically in one place to keep pages "clutter-free," says Amazon.

You'll be able to journal or take notes using various templates, including to-do lists for tracking tasks and lined paper for meeting notes. Your notes are automatically saved and backed up to the cloud — which should give you some piece of mind. Amazon says that these notes will be accessible via the Kindle app in early 2023.

Another handy feature is called Send-to-Kindle. This will let you import documents from your computer or phone to the Kindle Scribe and write directly on PDF documents. In addition, you'll be able to import and create handwritten sticky notes in Microsoft Word documents, websites and other document formats with adjustable font sizes and layouts. You can send documents to Kindle Scribe from Microsoft Word in early 2023.

As we said up top, the Kindle Scribe will be available starting at $339 this holiday season. It will come in Tungsten with options for 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of storage. The device is bundled with a battery-free Basic Pen or Premium Pen, which includes an eraser and a customizable shortcut button.

Amazon says new leather, premium leather, and fabric covers, which can be folded to support Kindle Scribe at different reading angles, will be available in a variety of colors. No word on when these covers will release, but it could be when the device launches.

Outlook

The Kindle Scribe should be a solid device for those who want to do more with their Kindle than simply read books. This tablet bears some similarities to the reMarkable — though the latter isn't an e-reader like the Kindle. Based on what we've seen today, the Kindle Scribe could be an e-reader to keep on your radar.

I’m not exactly sure who the target audience is for the Nook GlowLight 4 ($149). I think, perhaps, it’s people like me, who have stubbornly hung onto their original Nooks or Nook Simple Touches for the last 10-plus years, but who won’t get an Amazon Kindle out of sheer stubbornness. Beyond that, I'm having trouble coming up with a large demographic.

Think about it. There’s no reason for Nook GlowLight 3 owners to upgrade, since the benefits over the previous model are marginal. There’s no reason for Kindle or Kobo owners to switch, since the GlowLight 4 is a weaker device overall. There’s no reason for casual readers to buy one, since their smartphone or tablet can fulfill the same function almost as well. Even if you’re dead-set on buying an e-reader for the first time, there’s no particular benefit that the Nook can offer over its two closest competitors.

The best thing I can say about the Nook GlowLight 4 is that if you know exactly what you want to read and successfully load it onto your device, you’ll be able to read it in peace for as long as you like. As a distraction-free way to read books without straining your eyes, the GlowLight 4 succeeds. That’s reason enough to give it at least a mild recommendation.

But there’s so much that Barnes & Noble needed to fix from the GlowLight 3, and so little that actually got done. If you need to replace an old Nook and can’t stomach the thought of losing your library, this Nook GlowLight 4 review will show it's a fine device. Otherwise, though, you’d be much happier with one of the best Kindles or a Kobo.

Nook GlowLight 4 review: Price and availability

If you decide to buy a Nook GlowLight 4, you at least won’t have to put much thought into which version to buy. There’s one configuration, which comes with a 6-inch e-ink screen, 32 GB storage and a USB-C charging port. It costs $150, but Barnes & Noble members can save 10%, knocking the price down to $135.

Barnes & Noble also sells the Nook 10” HD Tablet Designed with Lenovo for $130, but this is a more traditional LCD screen tablet. It’s not an e-reader.

Nook GlowLight 4 review: Design

If you’ve used an e-reader anytime in the last decade, the Nook GlowLight 4 should feel pretty intuitive. It’s a thin rectangular device, about the size of a mass-market paperback, but much lighter and thinner. At 6.2 x 4.8 x 0.2 inches and 6 ounces, it’s small enough to stash in almost any bag, and light enough to hold for hours while you read.

Like most dedicated e-readers, the GlowLight 4 eschews the LCD screens common to smartphones, tablets and computers, opting instead for an e-ink display. If you’ve never used an e-ink device before, it’s tailor-made for immersive reading. A static e-ink display doesn’t consume any energy. As such, e-readers can last an extremely long time on a single charge (up to a month, in the GlowLight 4’s case), and don’t tire your eyes out as quickly as LCDs, which refresh dozens of times per second.

One major advantage of the GlowLight 4 over comparably priced Kindle and Kobo devices is its physical page-turn buttons. While you need to buy super-premium Kindle and Kobo models ($180 and up) to get physical buttons, the GlowLight 4 includes them by default. Furthermore, you get these buttons on either side of the screen, unlike Kindle and Kobo, which put both physical buttons off to one side. The GlowLight 4 has a better, more naturalistic layout, and the buttons make a big difference, particularly since it means your screen won’t be covered in fingerprints.

Otherwise, the GlowLight 4 looks like a traditional e-reader. It has a power button on top, a USB-C charging port on the bottom, a “Nook” logo on the back and not much else. The only big difference from the GlowLight 3 is that the GlowLight 4’s chassis is slightly smaller, and the page-turn buttons are on the edges of the bezel rather than the center.

Nook GlowLight 4 review: Interface

There are two main components to the Nook Glowlight 4’s interface: the reading experience, and what I’ll call “everything else” — settings, lighting, buying new books and so forth. Generally speaking, the GlowLight 4’s reading experience is excellent, while “everything else” ranges from “fine” to “a nightmare.”

To give credit where it’s due, I actually prefer the GlowLight 4’s core reading experience to that of the Kindle. Unlike the Kindle, which crams its books full of Goodreads and social media functionality (Editor's Note: which you can spend time disabling, if you're like us), Nook books are quiet. There’s nothing between you and the printed word. You simply buy or borrow a book, open it up, and read until you no longer feel like reading. I also have to give Barnes & Noble credit for solving the terrible screen flashing and interminable load times from the GlowLight 3. The GlowLight 4, like any good e-reader, does precisely one thing, and does so very well.

The reading interface is mostly good as well. When you’re in a book, you can tap the screen to jump to distant pages, or to select a particular chapter. You can also alter font size, font style, margins, line spacing and justification. You can look for keywords, add bookmarks, highlight and make notes.

You can adjust the titular GlowLight with two quick menu taps, and you can also activate a helpful Night Mode. This shifts the Nook's color temperature over the course of the day, from cool blues in the morning, to warm oranges at night. This might help you sleep better if you read right before bed; otherwise, it's easy enough to turn off.

I have only two complaints here. The first is that Amazon lets you sideload your own fonts to the Kindle; while the Nook, on the other hand, offers seven fonts, and that’s all you’ll get, unless you root the device. The GlowLight feature is also less precise than I’d like, since you have to drag a slider around rather than specifying discrete levels. You can’t save your favorite lighting levels, and there’s no adaptive brightness. Both of these were issues last time around, and Barnes & Noble had plenty of time to address them.

Beyond that, you can organize your books on the Library screen, play with display options in Settings, read snippets of recommended books in Readouts, or Search for books, both in your library and in the Barnes & Noble digital storefront.

Nook Glowlight 4 review: Content

Buying new books is simple enough. You simply open the store, find the book you want (you can search, browse, or get individualized recommendations) and pay for it via credit card or gift card. New books download to your device automatically, and with 32 GB storage, you can store tens of thousands of books. (I’m not exactly sure why Barnes & Noble upped the storage from 8 GB to 32 GB, as mainstream book files rarely exceed 10 MB, but more storage is never a bad thing.)

While Barnes & Noble’s shop isn’t quite as rich as Amazon’s, you’ll be able to find what you need, provided that you like books that have been in print sometime in the last 20 years or so. Barnes & Noble advertises that it has more than 4.5 million books on offer, from classics to New York Times bestsellers, and I’ve never had too much trouble finding what I needed to read, from ‘50s sci-fi to brand-new lit fic. You can even drop into a Barnes & Noble store and read pretty much anything for as long as you stay, much like picking a book up off the shelf and sitting with it for an hour or two.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the process of sideloading content to a Nook. Back when the Nook debuted, its open EPUB file format was a big boon over the Kindle, with its walled-garden MOBI files. EPUB compatibility was particularly helpful for downloading from local libraries, something that the Kindle didn’t offer at all.

Now, however, the tables have turned. While the Nook continues to rely on antiquated Adobe Digital Editions technology and side-loading via USB cables, Amazon has partnered with library programs to allow wireless loans. Even the otherwise-unremarkable Kobo has surpassed the Nook, as you can browse Overdrive library books right from a Kobo device.

Conversely, trying to borrow library books on the GlowLight 4 was somehow — against all conceivable odds — even worse than trying to borrow them on the GlowLight 3. Last time around, the Nook refused to recognize that my library loans were valid; this time, I could not get my computer to recognize the Nook at all.

If you run into trouble trying to sideload books, Barnes & Noble offers outdated troubleshooting advice that blames Adobe; Adobe offers outdated troubleshooting advice that blames Barnes & Noble. Neither company has lifted a finger to improve the process in the last few years. Without rehashing the whole miserable process, it took full resets of both the GlowLight 4 and Adobe Digital Editions before they started playing nicely together. Even then, the Nook would still sometimes insist that I wasn’t ejecting the device properly, so it had to delete all of my sideloaded files in retaliation.

As I told another Tom’s Guide editor after I wasted a whole morning on this process, “I haven't bought a physical book in over a decade, but nonsense like this is enough to make me go back.”

Nook GlowLight 4 review: Battery life

One area where the Nook GlowLight 4 fully lives up to its potential is in the battery life department. Barnes & Noble claims that the device can last up to a month on a single charge. This is obviously dependent on a ton of different factors, such as your reading speed, your lighting options, your Wi-Fi connectivity and so forth. But the bottom line is that you won’t have to charge the device very often. That’s a good thing, considering that it’s not uncommon for serious readers to plant themselves in front of a book for hours and hours at a time.

The only metric I can offer is that when I first received the GlowLight 4, I charged it to 100%. A week later, after reading infrequently with the light at half-strength and the Wi-Fi off, I brought it down to about 75% charge. That’s in line with Barnes & Noble’s estimate, although I imagine it will start draining faster once I sit down for a marathon session.

Nook GlowLight 4 review: Verdict

When I reviewed the Nook GlowLight 3, the three issues that drove me up the wall were the slow load times, the incessant screen flashing and the near-impossibility of sideloading content. Barnes & Noble has fixed the first two problems, while keeping the distraction-free reading experience intact. However, sideloading is as miserable as ever, and that’s a big problem when an open file format is your biggest advantage over the competition.

Over the past few years, both Kindle and Kobo have made great strides in improving the user experience, with features such as waterproofing, adaptive brightness and a variety of different hardware options at different prices. This Nook GlowLight 4 review shows that this model doesn’t have any of those things. It’s the mildest possible upgrade for an e-reader that needed a significant overhaul — and it needed that significant overhaul three years ago.

If you’re like me, and simply can’t let go of your hard-won Barnes & Noble ebook library, I’ll begrudgingly recommend the GlowLight 4. It could have been much worse. But I’d really like to see Barnes & Noble give its venerable old e-reader a top-to-bottom refresh before the company has to bow out of the hardware game forever.

If you've got a new Kindle for the holidays, or are giving one to someone, we've got a helpful set of things to know about how to make the most of your new device. And while the Kindle can be simple and easy to use, it's a little subtle about some things.

Whether it's the entry-level Amazon Kindle or the best kindle there is (the Kindle Paperwhite 2021), there are many things that could make your e-reading experience smoother and easier. And thankfully they're easy to explain.

Whether it's learning some new tricks about the modern Kindle screens, making your reading experience more focused or removing ads from your device, we've got all the tips you need. Happy e-reading!

The Kindle app on your phone can be a huge help

If the Kindle hardware has any real big flaw, it's that typing on its keyboard is bad. Digital paper screens are okay for tapping single buttons, but spelling out a whole email address and password on a slightly laggy screen is not a great experience.

So, before you even open your Kindle, download the Kindle app onto your mobile phone — it can make the setup process an utter breeze. 

You just sign into (or create) your Amazon account on your phone in the Kindle app (iOS / Android), and then via Bluetooth your phone can easily transmit your account data to your Kindle. As someone who reviews Kindles and other tech, and sets devices up all the time, I wish this were the standard. It doesn't even require you pointing your phone's camera at a QR code

Enable or Disable Goodreads

A lot of digital ink has been spilled over whether or not Goodreads is actually good. It's one of Amazon's many ways to make reading more social and online. And to us, it's unnecessary. As Angela Lashbrook explained for OneZero (and others have explained elsewhere), Amazon's Goodreads is practically broken. Sure it has an end-of-year "Your Year In Books" wrap-up, but it's no Spotify Wrapped.

If you want a list-making app to keep track of the books you want to read, and the ones you've read, you can just use your phone's notes app. 

So, when you're setting up your Kindle for the first time, think twice about if you want a social network, with weird and rote recommendations lists, on your Kindle. The initial Kindle setup lets you opt-in or opt-out, but (of course) you can always change your mind.

To enable or disable Goodreads:

1. Tap the three dots button in the top corner
2. Tap "Your Account"
3. Tap "Social Networks"
4. Tap "Goodreads"
5. And follow the on-screen instructions

Disable ads

This one's optional, but it's going to help with our next tip and we personally recommend it. Your Kindle may have come with ads on its lock screen, and it's never been a better time to remove it (again more on why below). Amazon charges $20 to remove these ads, and we think you'll be happy you did this if you use your Kindle a lot.

Sign into Amazon and open your My Devices page. Then tap Kindles, and select your Kindle. Look for the Special Offers (Amazon's other way of saying Ads) section, and tap Remove Offers.

Turn on Cover on Lock Screen

Once you've removed ads (or if you bought the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which has none), you're ready to unlock the low-key best Kindle feature. This setting, which lets you change the lock screen to the the cover of the book you most recently read, is kind of a no-brainer. 

The only excuse for it, we imagine, is if you've been reading something so saucy or vulgar that you don't want others to know about it. And no judgement for those raunchy readers. We salute your boldness, and understand your want for privacy.

But for everyone else? There's no reason to not do this, unless you love Amazon's default images of typography. It's a good way to show off the book you're actually reading, and remember what it was like to have books with actual covers.

Here's how to do it (after disabling ads):

1. Tap the three dots button in the top corner
2. Tap Device Options
3. Turn "Display Cover" on 

Try out Kindle display warmth 

Just like the books you choose to read, this feature is all about your personal preference. Recent Kindles, currently the Paperwhite (2021), Paperwhite Signature Edition and Kindle Oasis, have a display warmth setting. It's the kind of thing you might love or simply forget about after trying — but it's too easy to try to sleep on it.

And speaking of sleep, don't think this feature is about helping you sleep. It's not to be confused with blue-light filter technology that helps your eyes relax and fall asleep faster. It's just a way to change the color of the lighting and therefore your Kindle screen.

To change Kindle display warmth, first tap the drawer button at the very top of the screen (think of it as a wide 'v'). Then, if your Kindle supports warmth, you'll see a scale for Warmth, with a dot you can drag to the right to increase warmth.

If you want to have display warmth turn on and off during specific times of day, tap the Schedule button, tap the Off switch to turn it on and pick the times of day when you want warmth enabled.

Borrow local library books

Amazon may not promote this feature, but the Kindle can borrow ebooks from your local library. But you can't do it from the Kindle. Start by going to overdrive.com and finding your local library, and then find a book you want. 

Then, you can check out the book by clicking Borrow. You may need to sign in or create an account. Then, look for a button called Read Now with Kindle. You'll then be sent to Amazon's website to finish the process.

Test out Dark Mode and Bluetooth for audiobooks

Now that you know about the drawer menu at the top of the screen, it's a good time to try out two features you may not know are there. Dark Mode, as its name suggests, enables a dark mode with white text and black background. A Dark mode is less necessary for an e-ink screen, but some will prefer it. 

Then there's also the Bluetooth toggle in the drawer menu, which you'd turn on if you want to listen to Audible audio books. To pair headphones or a speaker with your Kindle go to Settings (under the three dots button), tap Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and tap Bluetooth devices. 

The new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition sits between the $139 Kindle Paperwhite and the $249 Kindle Oasis. Not only is the $189 e-reader pricier than the Kindle Paperwhite (2021), our pick for the best Kindle, but it's got one feature that used to be only available in the Kindle Oasis. But should you really spend $189 on an e-reader that's incredibly similar to one that's $50 less?

That's the question we're here to figure out, because while I like one of the Signature Edition's signature features, I'm not sure everyone else will think it's worth spending extra to get. That said, this is still an excellent e-reader, especially for those who live the Amazon Prime lifestyle. The big benefits, wireless Qi-charging and automatically-adjusting light, are the kind of thing that benefit the folks trying to gain a more seamless, minimalistic experience. It's also got more storage and no ads. 

And for those who feel like the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite hasn't evolved fast enough over time — gaining small perks year after year — this model may be perfect. But that same crowd may not like how much more they have to spend.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Specs

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Price and configurations

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition starts at $189, $50 more than the $139 Kindle Paperwhite 2021.

While this is a new model, the higher price, when compared to the Paperwhite 2021 is, reflective of Amazon's gradual price increases over the last years. Both the 2018 and 2021 Kindle Paperwhites were $10 more than prior models.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition shipped on October 27, 2021.

The default Paperwhite comes with 32GB of storage, four times as much as the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 (8GB). The Oasis starts at 8GB can be purchased with 32GB for an extra $30. The newly-announced Nook Glowlight 4 has 32GB standard and costs $149.

Unlike with the regular Paperwhite or Oasis, Amazon doesn't charge you $20 to remove the lock screen ads that may annoy you (they annoy me). This means your Kindle screen is free to show the cover of the book you're currently reading.

As you may have noticed, Amazon's added two features (32GB of RAM and no ads) that it would normally charge $50 for. Looking at the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition like this, the Qi-charging and automatically-adjusting lights are bonuses. 

Amazon no longer offers a cellular-capable Paperwhite, a feature exclusive to the $249 Kindle Oasis.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Design

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition looks just like the Kindle Paperwhite (2021), so much so that I kept getting them confused. Both feature a matte-black shell and 6.8-inch e-ink display, which is larger than the 6-inch screen in the previous Paperwhite. Barnes & Noble's new Nook Glowlight 4 has a 6-inch panel.

That larger screen comes at a slight price on size: the Paperwhite Signature Edition (just like the normal Paperwhite) measures 6.9 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches, making it slightly larger than the 6.6 x 4.6 x 0.3-inch 2018 Paperwhite. I didn't find this made it harder to hold, but the slightly thinner bezels made me have to hold it in different ways to avoid actuating the screen. If you want more space to grip, you may prefer the Amazon Kindle Oasis' design, which has an asymmetrical design, with page turning buttons. 

The Paperwhite Signature Edition weighs 7.3 ounces (a hair heavier than the 7.2-ounce Paperwhite 2021), a tad heavier than the 6.4-ounce Paperwhite 2018.

Looking across the lineup, the 6-inch entry-level Amazon Kindle (6.3 x 4.5 x 0.3 inches, 6.1 ounces) is smaller and lighter and the 7-inch aluminum Kindle Oasis (6.3 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches, 6.6 ounces) is shorter, wider and a little lighter.

And the Paperwhite Signature Edition also offers USB-C charging. This may be great for you — I'm trying to consolidate around this relatively new cable and remove the crummy non-reversible micro-USB port from my life — or it may be no big deal. One of my Kindle-loving relatives had no idea when I brought it up. No other Kindles offer USB-C, but the Nook Glowlight 4 does.

Amazon isn't offering any claims of faster charging for USB-C charging vs micro-USB.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Durability

Just like the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite, the Paperwhite Signature Edition has a waterproof resistance rating of IPX8. Even though previous waterproof Kindles did well on their water tests, I put this model through its paces again. I dropped the Paperwhite Signature Edition in about 5 inches of tap water in my NYC apartment sink and letting it sit for 20 minutes.

And when I took it out? The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition worked as if nothing had happened. 

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Display

The Paperwhite Signature Edition's 6.8-inch, 300 ppi display is nearly identical to that of the 2021 Paperwhite. It's got amazingly evenly-lit backlighting (17 LEDs vs 2018's five LEDs), plus a perfectly crisp 300ppi screen, so that text looks great at all sizes, which I noticed as I tried to start She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker Chan (which didn't click with me). The resolution is no upgrade, as Kindles dating back to 2015 have had this sharp screen quality.  The entry-level Amazon Kindle has a 167 ppi screen, and Kindle Oasis and B&N Nook Glowlight 4 are also at 300ppi.

The automatically-adjusting brightness, however, is an upgrade. As I brought the Paperwhite Signature Edition around my apartment, I saw its brightness jump from 5 to 16 points of brightness, depending on the ambient lighting. As someone who can get lazy enough to prefer his tech to take some of the work away? This is a nice touch. As I moved around on my sofa one night, I saw brightness shift a bit here and there to adjust. "It's always thinking," I told myself.

As I noticed while reading How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell late at night in my living room, I noticed that the Paperwhite Signature Edition's lighting is perfectly even. I tested this out at multiple settings, going as low as 5 points on the Brightness bar. Throughout, the lighting stayed even. 

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition also features a Display Warmth setting, so you can get a yellowy/amber hue. This isn't a blue light filter meant to help you fall asleep easier, but just an aesthetic change. I prefer the colder settings, as I'm trying to replicate paper.

You may (as I did while working on my Kindle Paperwhite 2021 review) notice that there's a small gap between the screen and the bezel. It's nothing huge, and I got used to it. But The reMarkable 2 has a much smaller gap.

When I brought the Paperwhite Signature Edition to my local park to read, I noted that the Paperwhite display stayed crisp and legible in direct sunlight (Again, I had more trouble getting into She Who Became The Sun than actually reading it).

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: User experience and bonus features

In 2021, Amazon made notable changes Kindle home screen and smaller tweaks to the rest of the interface, and they it feels like they're for the better. Now, your home screen is now split between "Home" and "Library" sections. The former shows you some of the books you have, along with suggestions for stuff you might like, as well as your reading lists. Just want to see the stuff you have? Tap the Library tab. 

Now, you have a much wider Search bar at the top of the home screen, and only there. The menu bar that used to show up when you tapped that area while reading now just shows you small buttons for font, bookmarks and search, and you tap a wide arrow at the top to open the menu for airplane mode, sync, Bluetooth, dark mode and display brightness and warmth settings.

Amazon's made it slightly easier to remove Goodreads (its social network for readers up front). Why would you? Well, I've never really found it to be a place where I've gotten much value, and it can take up parts of the menus and screen. I'm not alone in my disapproval of Goodreads.

I wish the Kindle OS made it easier to remove all the other sorta-neat (but not for everyone) interactive stuff in their reading experience. Tired of seeing popular highlights (this is my book, not the community's book)?  You need to do this for each book: open the book, open the top of screen menu and tap the Font button, tap More and turn off Popular Highlights (I also disable About This Book).

Amazon's also recently added Bluetooth listening for audio books. It works fine in my testing, but I'd never use a Kindle for Audible. I don't need an e-ink screen for an audiobook, and my phone is right there.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Battery Life

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has lengthy battery life to spare. Amazon claims it should last up to 10 weeks, but that's based on 30 minutes of reading per day, with Wi-Fi off and brightness set to 13 out of 24. 

In one day of testing, I read for approximately two hours with varying levels of brightness and downloaded a few books over Wi-Fi and kept Bluetooth off, and that knocked out 4% of battery life. By the numbers, that would last me 25 days (and 1% per half-hour would be 70% in 10 weeks, so, their math seems right). 

That's still a lot of time to remember to either plug it into a USB-C cable or place it on a compatible wireless charger. Yes, unlike any other Kindle before it, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition charges over Qi-based chargers, and it refueled that 4% I'd lost in 24 minutes. 

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Content

In the way that Arby's has the meats, Amazon has the books. The mega-retailer doesn't publish numbers of how many books it sells, estimates suggest it stocks around 9 million titles.

Kobo boasts that it offers "6 million eBooks and audiobooks," while Barnes and Noble, on the other hand, claims it has "millions of eBooks." 

Amazon's also got other ways to give you books, such as the $9.99 Kindle Unlimited, a Netflix-for-books with "over 2 million titles and thousands of audiobooks." They even throw in three magazine subscriptions. 

In case you're not made of money, the Kindle Paperwhite still supports borrowing books from public libraries for free, using the Overdrive service.

Prime members can take advantage of First Reads (formerly Kindle First), which grants early access to editor's picks. Members also can access two free Kindle books per month, and get access to discounted print editions.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Verdict

I wish the Paperwhite Signature Edition was just the Paperwhite 2021. While USB-C and display warmth are nice updates, the rising price of the Paperwhite Kindle feels annoying. All of these features combined would make for a compelling reason to upgrade, but the $189 Paperwhite Signature Edition delivers sticker shock for anyone who remembers the $129 Paperwhite (2018). 

Yes, Amazon's adding a little here and there, and so the reason to upgrade to this model will vary greatly by use case. We recommend the $139 Kindle Paperwhite to most, and I hate ads, so I've accepted that $159 is the price I'll probably pay for a Kindle. Is an automatically-adjusting light (which means more to me than Qi-charging) and 4x as much storage worth another $30? For me, even though I like the lighting to be adjusted for me? I don't think the answer is yes.

So, I'll still send people to the regular Kindle Paperwhite, which has the right screen crispness and that waterproofing that you'll love at the beach. The Signature Edition exists because the $249 Kindle Oasis may be too rich for some folks' blood, but they still want a little more than the regular Paperwhite offers. 

When you add up the extra storage space, the lack of ads, Qi-charging and automatic brightness? The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is kind of a bargain bundle that mixes and matches features of its more affordable and more expensive siblings. The question is "is this bargain still too much?"