4 Kindle Alternatives On Amazon Actually Worth Buying – BGR

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The Amazon Kindle has become one of the most popular ebook readers on the market. It utilizes an E-Ink display that reduces eye strain and gives the pages of ebooks a somewhat paper-like feel. This kind of ergonomics has made it popular among book lovers, as has its integration with Amazon’s massive ebook library. Newer Kindle models have even grown beyond reading functionalities and come with technological advances like waterproofing that allows users to kick back with ebooks at the pool or in the bathtub. Long battery life and a lightweight design make it easy to keep around no matter where you go.

But with the Amazon Kindle’s popularity has come plenty of competition. There are a lot of e-readers and tablet-like devices that offer similar features to the Kindle, and it can be argued that many of them provide a better e-reading experience. Amazon even stocks many of these devices, so we decided to explore the inventory and nail down some Kindle alternatives that Amazon customers love. While you can find expensive tablets on Amazon all day long, we focused on devices that, at least to some extent, offer features designed specifically for book lovers. Emerging brands like Boox and Kobo sell such devices on Amazon, and we found a couple of others with devices worth considering.

Just like the Amazon Kindle, the second generation Boox Go Color 7 delivers a paper-like reading experience through its E-Ink display. The screen comes in at seven inches with a resolution of 1680 pixels by 1264 pixels, and it displays at 300 ppi when used in black and white and 150 ppi when used in color. That resolution makes text sharp when reading books. Moreover, the color display is something you won’t find in the base Amazon Kindle model. The Go Color 7 is powered by an octa-core processor and runs on Android.

This ebook reading device, however, is more expensive than the base model Kindle. It’s priced at $280 at Amazon, which makes it more comparable to e-readers like the Kindle Scribe or Kindle Paperwhite in terms of pricing. But if you’ve had your eye on one of Amazon’s more premium Kindle models, the Boox Tablet Go Color 7 Gen II is a worthy alternative. Several verified purchasers say that it is one of the best e-readers on the market. In total, nearly 70% of Amazon buyers give the Go Color 7 Gen II a favorable score. Some critical reviews mention that the hardware is not capable of handling multiple apps at once and the screen appears faint even on maximum brightness.

Another worthwhile Kindle alternative is within another of Amazon’s device lineups. The Amazon Fire HD 8 is not technically an e-reader like the Kindle, but it’s a budget-friendly alternative for anyone who wants to read ebooks without spending a fortune. It’s also one of the best Android tablets on the market according to Consumer Reports, as it provides a lot of quality tablet features for its $99 starting price point. Like the Kindle, it integrates with an Amazon account, automatically syncing purchased ebooks, audiobooks, and reading progress across devices.

There are a couple of drawbacks to the Fire HD 8 relative to a Kindle. One of them is that the Fire HD 8 utilizes an LCD screen, which can be harder on the eyes than an E-Ink display. The other is that the base model Fire HD 8 comes with lock screen advertisements, and it costs an additional $15 for a version of the device that doesn’t have them. This is, however, the case when purchasing a base Kindle model as well. With nearly 88% of Amazon customer reviews of the tablet being favorable, the Fire HD 8 should fit just as well on a bedside table as a Kindle.

A Kindle alternative that customers have made one of the best-reviewed e-readers at Amazon is the Kobo Clara Colour. The e-reader has a 6-inch E-Ink Kaleido 3 display, and at $160, it compares well to the Amazon Kindle in terms of pricing. The display is also a color display, which alone might be worth the additional cost over a Kindle. In terms of features, the Clara Colour looks a lot like the Kindle Colorsoft, though it offers major savings over the Colorsoft’s $250 price point. The storage capacity allows you to store up to 12,000 ebooks or about 75 Kobo Audiobooks.

The Clara Colour has received 89% favorable reviews at Amazon, with 81% of total reviews giving the device five stars. But it’s a bit of a wild card in the ebook reader space, as Kobo e-readers run on a proprietary operating system instead of Android. You won’t be able to install the Kindle app, but you will get access to Kobo’s library of ebooks through the built-in Kobo eBookstore. The Clara Colour supports a host of different formats, allowing you to access ebooks in a number of different ways. One Amazon customer notes the ease of use when transferring books in EPUB format, and another goes as far as calling the Clara Colour the perfect e-reader. Though some users find its screen to be grainy, while others say it can get a bit laggy.

The PocketBook Verse is a budget ebook reader that looks physically a lot like the Amazon Kindle. It has a 6-inch E-Ink Carta display with HD resolution, which is similar to what the base Kindle model offers. It’s incredibly portable at just 182 grams and features both a touchscreen and physical page-turn buttons that are positioned at the bottom of the device. Similar to the Kobo Clara Colour, the PocketBook Verse runs on a Linux-based operating system. This can set readers back who are heavily invested in Amazon’s ebook ecosystem, as you won’t be able to install the Kindle app on a PocketBook Verse.

But PocketBook has its own ebook store, and the Verse supports 25 of the most popular ebook formats. Additionally, 71% of users who have left a review at Amazon have given it five stars. Overall, it has received 87% favorable reviews, with one reviewer noting the benefits of the device’s microSD card slot, which allows you to expand your storage capacity should you manage to fill the Verse’s internal storage up with ebooks. At $139, the PocketBook Verse is an affordable Kindle alternative that doesn’t get bogged down in some of the more complex features found in more expensive e-reader options.

In selecting some worthwhile alternatives to the Amazon Kindle, our first priority was ensuring they provide easy access to what avid digital readers love most: eBooks. We also wanted to select devices we know to deliver a quality reading experience. We looked at devices that we regard highly and that are well regarded among tech enthusiasts. We also leaned heavily on Amazon customer reviews for insights on Kindle alternatives that haven’t quite become recognized by the masses.