Gear

The Best Kindles to Take Your Library Anywhere

Amazon has four different ebook readers. Here's how they stack up—and which may be right for you.

Kindles are one of our favorite devices. They're simple, reliable, and perfect at what they do—in one palm-sized device, you can bring thousands of books with you to your mountain cabin or the park. They get more than a month of battery life per charge and you can subscribe to get unlimited books from Amazon. You can also get free books from your local library. But what's the best Kindle? Our guide will help you decipher the differences.

Are you ready to wade even further into the field of Amazon devices? We have guides to the Best Fire Tablets, Best Alexa Speakers, as well as many other buying guides for more advice.

Updated December 2020: No new Kindles arrived in 2020. We've added rumors about an upcoming new Paperwhite and tweaked language throughout.

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  • Amazon Kindle
    Photograph: Amazon

    Best for Most

    Amazon Kindle (2019)

    If you're looking for an ebook reader, this has all the essentials (8/10, WIRED Recommends). WIRED Senior Writer Adrienne So could hardly tell the difference between it and a Paperwhite, except for the lack of waterproofing. The base Kindle has an adequate 6-inch E Ink capacitive touchscreen for reading, and it lights up so you can read in the dark—a first for a Kindle under $100.

    It can also stream Audible audiobooks to headphones via Bluetooth, but its storage is limited to 4 gigabytes (about 4,000 megabytes). For reference, an hour of audio will take up about 30 megabytes, so it can probably fit a dozen or so audiobooks. (But you can delete audiobooks when you're done to clear space.) Like most ebook readers, it gets about three to six weeks of battery life, depending on how much you read.

    $90 at Amazon
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    A 'Worth It' Upgrade

    Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

    The 2018 Kindle Paperwhite is an upgrade worth considering. For a couple of extra Jacksons, it opens up the joys of reading in the pool, at the beach, or in the tub without fear. The display is flush, and the device is rated IPX8, meaning it can sit in 2 meters of water for two hours.

    While you're rinsing off, you may notice that its touchscreen is noticeably clearer (300 pixels per inch vs. 167 for the standard Kindle) and lights up more evenly. It also comes with 8 or 32 gigabytes of storage—more is better if you have an Audible audiobook collection because they hog about 0.03 gigabytes of space per hour. The battery also lasts for weeks and weeks. It's worth noting that Amazon usually refreshes its Kindles every few years and the Paperwhite is due for an upgrade. If you're impatiently waiting for a Kindle that will have a USB-C charging port instead of a Micro-USB, like the newer Fire tablets, it might be worth waiting just a little longer.

    $130 at Amazon
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    Frivolously Awesome

    Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019)

    There's no practical reason to buy a $270 ebook reader. (You can save $20 if you agree to have ads, but at this price you don't want them.) The Oasis is more expensive than two Kindle Paperwhites—but it's an absolute joy to use. The 2019 version has 25 LED lights to make its screen glow evenly (double the previous version), and you can adjust it to give off a more pleasant, warm orange glow. It's more paperlike than the Paperwhite.

    Page turning is snappier thanks to a faster processor, and it has a larger 7-inch touchscreen with an aluminum design that has a bump on one edge and physical buttons to turn the pages. These make it ideal for one-handed reading. The light-up display also looks a little more natural and automatically adjusts the brightness. If you're investing in a Kindle this expensive, you may also want the premium leather cover to complete that luxe feel. On the downside, it's too large to fit in many pockets.

    $280 at Amazon
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    Best for Kids

    Amazon Kindle Kids Edition

    The Kindle Kids Edition is basically a 10th-generation Kindle (the first on this list), dressed up in a cute case and with a year's subscription to Amazon Kids+, which lets parents monitor and filter content for their kids. Yes, you could just buy a regular Kindle. But the upcharge does include a two-year no-questions-asked replacement guarantee. If your kid smashes it just once, you get your money back.

    The selection in Kids+ has also vastly improved over the past few years. Audible books and Spanish titles are now available, and Amazon's kid selections include popular series like Harry Potter and Phoebe and Her Unicorn. You can also access the same Kids+ platform across other Amazon devices, like the Fire kids tablets or the new Echo Dot. If you're going to get your kid an entertainment device, an ebook reader that doesn't have a browser or access to social media is probably as safe as you can get.

    $110 at Amazon
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    Older Kindles Are OK

    Amazon Kinda Old Kindles (2013 and Newer)

    Have a pal who's ready to give up their Kindle? It may work fine for you. Here's a breakdown of every Kindle Amazon has ever made.

    If you're buying a sixth-generation Kindle Paperwhite (2013) or newer, it's probably just fine. You may get a few less pixels, and it may lack Bluetooth for audiobooks and any semblance of waterproofing, but older Kindles generally hold up well for reading—even used or refurbished. Just deregister an old Kindle and wipe it, then load up your account. This page shows the newest software each Kindle should run.

    $60 at Amazon
  • Photograph: Amazon

    Avoid These Kindles!

    Amazon Ancient Kindles

    As a general rule of thumb, if there are any buttons on the front of a Kindle or a keyboard, don't shell out money for it. If properly updated it may still work, but you're going to enjoy the experience much more with a newer device. Your ebook collection with Amazon is saved in the cloud and accessible from any tablet, phone, or Kindle. If you do get your hands on an older non-working one, you can also trade it in for credit toward a newer model.

Jeffrey Van Camp is an editor for WIRED, specializing in personal technology reviews and coverage. Previously he was the deputy editor of Digital Trends, helping to oversee the site’s editorial operations, and before that, its mobile editor. He’s covered tech, video games, and entertainment for more than a decade, and... Read more
Reviews Editor
Adrienne So is a senior writer for WIRED and reviews consumer technology. She graduated from the University of Virginia with bachelor’s degrees in English and Spanish, and she worked as a freelance writer for Cool Hunting, Paste, Slate, and other publications. She is currently based in Portland, Oregon.
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