Books take up a lot of space, but an e-reader can allow you to carry hundreds of books (along with audiobooks) in a small, convenient form factor.
Also, unlike smartphones and tablets, e-readers are fitted with e-ink displays and look — and even feel — like paper. They're glare-free and are suited to both indoor and outdoor reading. E-ink displays even feature a subtle backlight, which means that you can read in bed without needing a light on.
Combine this with a battery life measured in weeks, and you have the perfect device to replace your big, chunky books.
Amazon's newest e-reader offers the ultimate e-reader experience.
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A modern twist on the e-reader experience. It offers pretty much everything that the Signature Edition Paperwhite but comes with 8GB of storage.
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This is a great e-reader for those who want a cheap and cheerful device to throw into a bag for travel or keep next to the sofa for a quick read in the evening.
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Everything you get with the Amazon Kindle, with a few special options aimed at kids.
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An alternative for those who don't want to be in the Amazon ecosystem.
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This is an e-reader with some significant differences compared to Amazon's Kindle line. A huge “tablet-sized” display and a stylus help set it apart.
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The Amazon Kindle Fire 10 Plus is an e-reader that doubles as a multipurpose tablet. You can choose between 32 or 64GB of internal storage, which is more than enough space for an impressive digital library, but you can also expand that with a microSD card up to 1TB. With that much storage, you can also download movies, music, and photos to round out your entertainment options.
With Alexa built-in, you can take advantage of the hands-free controls to play audiobooks over smart speakers while you do other things around the house. The tablet has built-in ambient light sensors that automatically adjust screen brightness to suit your environment, allowing you to enjoy your books in almost any lighting. And with accessibility features like a screen reader and magnifier and high contrast text, the Kindle Fire 10 Plus ensures that everyone can enjoy their favorite books.
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The Apple iPad Mini is an excellent alternative to the Kindle e-readers. Not only does it let you read digital books from multiple sources like the Kindle store and Audible, it's the perfect tablet for entertainment on-the-go. The 8.3-inch body is small and lightweight enough to slip into a tote, backpack, or carry-on bag to keep you busy on long flights or your morning commute to the office.
You can get up to 256GB of internal storage, which is massive when dealing with digital books. It supports Wi-Fi 6 for ultra-fast browsing and downloads, and you can even choose an LTE-capable version to stay connected to the internet without a Wi-Fi connection. The battery gives you up to 10 hours of use on a full charge, and with USB-C or MagSafe wireless charging, you can quickly top up your iPad Mini when you need to reach just one more chapter.
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Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is the best e-reader due to its display and lighting options, as well as its battery life and user-friendliness.
If you like books, then an e-reader gives you the closest “book reading” experience while using an electronic device.
Also, if you're someone who likes to have multiple books on the go, then an e-reader helps to lighten the load — whether you have one book or a hundred, the e-reader stays the same size and weight.
I also like the ability to change the page layout to suit me — I can tweak the page layout and the font size, and I can even change the font to suit me.
My only remaining wish is that e-readers could smell like paper books!
I read a lot, and that's allowed me to test all the devices in this listing.
Each product has been chosen because it offers a good reading experience:
Well, maybe. I do read a lot on my iPhone or iPad, but I find that e-readers have three huge advantages:
I don't find them to be annoying, but if you think that they will be, you can pay extra to make them go away.
It depends. 8GB is cavernous for books but can fill up quickly if you start to add audiobooks. Also, if you want to keep every book and audiobook, you can find your storage getting full after a couple of years.
I find that books with a lot of diagrams or color images are better suited to smartphone or tablet viewing.