Best E-Reader 2024: Our favourites, rated and reviewed

The successor to Amazon’s 2021 version, the Kindle Paperwhite (2024) is seriously easy to recommend, thanks to its good-sized, well-lit display and its premium, water resistant design. 

The Kindle Paperwhite is available in two options: one that displays ads when the screen is locked and one without, and the latter is unsurprisingly £10/$20 pricier.

Its seven-inch display is slightly larger with a more premium finish compared to the cheaper Kindle (2024), plus it sports a water-resistant design which ensures moisture can’t get inside.

The transparent display surface is anti-reflective so it copes well when used in bright light. The LED front lighting system also feels more natural compared to its predecessor, the Kindle Paperwhite (2021), offering a warmer, more natural effect that mimics how paper looks in ambient lighting. 

Those who have used Kindles or e-ink displays before will be pleased to know that Amazon has improved the Paperwhite’s screen refresh time, which means loading and moving within the interface feels smoother than ever before. 

While Amazon promises the Kindle Paperwhite’s battery can last a whopping 12 weeks on a full charge, this will depend entirely on how you use the Kindle. Having said that, we were impressed with the battery life and found it drained just 30% in 10 days, with an hour of daily reading. 

Otherwise the Kindle Paperwhite has Bluetooth to connect speakers or headphones for streaming Audible audiobooks and is fitted with 16GB of storage, which should be enough to hold thousands of books and multiple audiobooks too.

We seriously enjoyed our time with the Kindle Paperwhite and find it offers one of the best reading experiences you can find on an e-reader right now.

Full review: Kindle Paperwhite 2024

Reviewer: Cam Bunton

If you’re looking for an alternative to Amazon’s Kindle range that offers more ways to purchase e-books and most importantly, a colour screen, then you really can’t find much better than the Kobo Libra Colour.

Unlike tablets which typically feature an OLED screen, the Libra Colour uses the same E Ink technology found in other e-readers, just with colour. This addition of colour naturally makes reading graphic novels and illustrated books feel much more complete. 

Even if you favour novels with little to no images, colour has been added to the homescreen and gives life to book covers in your library and the Kobo store. You’ll also be able to see book covers in full colour when the Libra is put to sleep too, with the colours replicating that of printed paper. 

You can bring the Kobo Stylus into the mix which lets you easily highlight book passages in various colours. With an RRP of £70/$70 however this is a handy albeit pricey addition. 

To make reading easier at all times, there’s a backlight for night reading which can take on warmer tones to make it easier on your eyes when reading in the dark. 

Equally, if you plan on reading poolside this summer or tend to read in the bath then you’re in luck as the Libra Colour features an IPX8 rating, meaning it can be left in two metres of water for up to an hour. 

Unlike Kindle, Kobo offers a lot more choice where software is concerned and doesn’t require you to buy from Kobo’s store. There’s also OverDrive integration, which lets you borrow e-books from your local library.

There is, however, no support for Audible so you will need to either use Kobo’s audiobook store or subscribe to the monthly Kobo Plus service.

Charged via USB-C, the Libra Colour promises a long battery life which we estimate should last up to a month. We found after a week’s use and finishing one book, the Libra Colour went from 100%-70%.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full review: Kobo Libra Colour

If you don’t want to rely solely on Amazon’s bookstore and want the most flexibility available, then the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 is the best option for you. 

The Boox Go Color 7 runs on a stripped-back version of Android 12 which provides the e-reader access to the Google Play Store where you can download the Kindle app or utilise the Google Play Books app instead.

All Boox e-readers support 25 file types which easily makes them some of the most far-reaching options. You can even store thousands and thousands of files thanks to the 64GB on-board storage and there’s even a microSD slot for expandable storage too. 

Interestingly built-into the e-reader is OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3 tool. Whether this is at all useful depends on your use, however we concluded this to be quite an unnecessary feature in the e-reader.

As the name suggests, the Boox Go Color 7 sports a colour e-ink display which makes it ideal for reading comics and illustrated books, although it’s worth noting that the display does only have a limited range of 4096 colours. 

While navigating through the e-reader feels somewhat laggy, this is typical of an e-ink display as it prioritises clarity over refresh rate.

Unlike the more affordable Kindle (2024), the Boox Go Color 7 has an adjustable warmth level which makes for a more comfortable reading experience.

Fitted with twin speaker grilles and Bluetooth connectivity, the Boox Go Color 7 allows you to play audiobooks with ease however we did note that the speaker struggles with anything fuller or more musical.

If you like to read comics or illustrated books on the go or want the option to read e-books from multiple online bookstores, then the OnyxBoox Go Color 7 is undoubtedly one of the best options around.

Full review: Onyx Boox Go Color 7

Reviewer: Jon Mundy

If you’re looking for an affordable e-reader that may lack premium features but still offers a comfortable, glare-free reading experience, a large library of books and a six-week long battery life then the Kindle (2024) is a great option.

The cheapest of Amazon’s 2024 e-reader series, the Kindle is available in two options: one that displays ads when the screen is locked or for £10/$20 more you can opt for the ad-free device instead.

Its six-inch panel is brighter than its predecessor and even matches the levels of the pricier Paperwhite, however the Kindle (2024) is missing the warm light option that’s found in its alternatives. This means you’re stuck reading with a cooler, blue hue. 

We would suggest that the lack of warm light is one of the main reasons to opt for the Paperwhite, as this offers a more comfortable read when compared to a cooler hue. Having said that, the glare-free e-ink display still results in very little eye strain which meant we could read comfortably for hours without any issue.

Opting for the budget-friendly Kindle does mean you will lose out on other premium features which are useful, including an IP rating which means it isn’t water-resistant, and wireless charging. 

Like other Kindles in Amazon’s line-up, there’s also lack of Libby support and it’s also tricky to import your own ePub book files. While this may seem restrictive, as it means you’re essentially forced to use Amazon’s bookstore, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the bookstore is easily one of the best we’ve tested.

There is, however, Bluetooth on-board for connecting a speaker or earbuds to listen to Audible audiobooks and a generous 16GB of onboard storage which should comfortably house thousands of books without issue.

Full review: Kindle (2024)

Reviewer: Max Parker

Most e-readers follow a rather standard design formula, closely resembling that of a page of a book. It makes sense, given what most people are doing with the devices. However, Amazon competitor Onyx has thrown the rulebook out of the window with the Onyx Boox Palma, a new e-reader with a surprisingly smartphone-like design.

That means that the Palma, with its 6.13-inch E Ink Carta Plus display, is much more compact than even the pocket-friendly Kindle (2022), making it both easy to hold when reading and a doddle to slot into a pocket or a bag.

Crucially, it still performs well as an e-reader, with exceptional performance even in the brightest conditions. Its 824 x 1648 resolution may not beat the FHD+ of regular smartphones, but it’s more than enough for crisp, legible e-reader text.

And, like other Onyx and Kobo e-readers, the Palma boasts support for Android 11, providing access to Google Play and all its apps. That means you can access your Kindle library as well as a host of other e-book offerings, as well as regular apps like YouTube, though the latter isn’t recommended for any device with an E Ink display. Still, it’s there if you need it!

Reviewer: Sean Cameron

Full Review: Onyx Boox Palma review

The Kobo Elipsa 2E is the latest e-reader from the Kindle competitor, offering a high-end alternative to the Kindle Scribe with great note-taking functionality thanks to the Kobo Styus 2.

Made from recycled and ocean-bound plastic, the Kobo Elipsa 2E sports a 10.3-inch e-ink Carta 1200 touchscreen that isn’t quite as pin-sharp as smaller and cheaper e-readers, but that doesn’t stop text from being nice and legible. ComfortLight PRO tech helps to reduce blue light and ease eye strain with a shifting hue from cool blue to warm orange, it’s just a shame there isn’t auto-brightness to further improve that experience.

Still, the display itself isn’t the main reason to get the Elipsa 2E: it’s the Kobo Stylus 2 and, more specifically, the cool software the Kobo e-reader offers. While you can get other e-reader and stylus combos, Kobo goes a step further with features like surprisingly accurate handwriting-to-text conversion and the ability to annotate your e-books, making notes in the margins or underlining or highlighting the text with ease.

If Amazon’s Kindle range is a walled garden, Kobo is an open vista, supporting 15 different e-reader file formats without making you jump through hoops to access those not directly purchased from the Kobo Store – though that doesn’t extend to the Kindle file format unsurprisingly. You can also import files from the likes of DropBox and Google Drive.

Performance can occasionally be sluggish, but it’s more than enough for a causal e-reader user.

Full Review: Kobo Elipsa 2E review

Reviewer: Jon Mundy

There’s really only one reason to buy the Kobo Clara 2E – but that reason could be big enough to make this dinky reader a worthwhile purchase. And the reason is that it’s free from Amazon, using Kobo’s store instead.

You can also borrow books from certain local libraries and load it up with ePub files you’ve downloaded elsewhere, offering support for 15 of the most popular file formats around. It doesn’t offer support for Dropbox cloud transfer like the more premium Kobo Elipsa 2E though.

Outside of this, the device is comparable with the budget Kindle. It’s small and light, with a great display, IPX8 water resistance and weeks of battery life. Just don’t expect to be able to access your Amazon Kindle library once you jump ship.

Full Review: Kobo Clara 2E

Reviewer: Jon Mundy

The Amazon Kindle Kids (2022) is functionally the same as the Kindle (2022) listed above, so all that applied there also applies here, but with a more child-friendly spin that makes it one of the best e-readers to get your kids into reading.

That starts with a protective case that ships with the e-reader, available in a couple of colourful designs to make it more appealing to the little ones while still being effective at warding off knocks to the corners and the display. Strong magnets keep the case securely in place, even if thrown in a school bag.

The Kindle Kids also comes with an extended two-year worry-free guarantee, with even accidental damage being covered by Amazon. If it breaks, send it back to Amazon and it’ll replace it completely free of charge.

There’s also the child-friendly Kindle Kids UI which gamifies aspects of reading, awarding achievements for reading your daily reading quota, finishing a book and more. There’s also a built-in vocabulary builder that can make note of words that the child has looked up for later reference, and you’ll only see kid-friendly books pushed to the forefront of the store too.

Throw in a free one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, providing access to over 1000 kid-friendly e-books, and you’ve got the perfect e-reader for children.

Full Review: Amazon Kindle Kids (2022) review

Reviewer: Jon Mundy