The Best Ereaders for 2026

Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite was last updated in 2024 and remains one of the fastest and most advanced ebook readers available. It's waterproof, the battery lasts for weeks, and the 7-inch 300ppi E Ink display is sharp and easy to read.

Most readers: The Kindle Paperwhite is the best Kindle for most people. It's compact, affordable, and features an auto-adjusting front light that matches the ambient lighting conditions, making it easy on your eyes.

Poolside loungers and bath readers: The Paperwhite is waterproof, so it can take a quick dip in fresh water. That means it's the best ereader to have on hand if you like to read in the bath or near the pool.

The Kindle Paperwhite Kids uses the same great waterproof hardware as the regular Paperwhite, but has a protective case and an extended warranty. It also includes a six-month subscription to the Amazon Kids+ service, which offers a wide selection of age-appropriate books for them to read.

Young readers: The Paperwhite Kids is one of the least expensive ways to get your tech-savvy kids reading. It's affordable, comes with a case, and includes a trial subscription to Amazon's content library.

Parents: If you want to encourage your kids to read, the Paperwhite Kids is a great place to start. Its foolproof warranty means it's a sound investment, and the age-appropriate selections mean you can relax knowing they won't come across the wrong stuff. Oh, and it's waterproof, making it a great travel companion.

The iPad's color LCD is more suitable for watching movies, playing games, and browsing online than most ebook readers' grayscale E Ink displays. Its eyestrain-inducing backlight isn't ideal for long reading sessions, but its vast selection of apps means you can access all your digital books, regardless of your preferred platform.

Entertainment seekers: Because the iPad features a standard LCD and a powerful processor, it's far more capable than many e-readers and can support gaming, movies, shows, and even productivity apps.

The second-generation Onyx Boox Go Color 7 is small and impressive. Its 7-inch display uses the same color E Ink tech as more expensive Boox models, and its two physical page-turn buttons on the side make for easy one-handed reading. It also boasts fast performance, intuitive software, and broad app compatibility through the Google Play Store, making it more versatile than most e-readers. Lastly, it adds support for a stylus, making it a fine tool for taking notes on the go.

People who want it all: The Go Color 7 (Gen II) is designed for avid readers who seek broad app compatibility and physical page-turning buttons in a compact, portable design.

Note-takers: More and more ereaders are adding note-taking capabilities, and the Go Color 7 is among them. Boox's new software is powerful enough to make the Go Color 7 (Gen II) a powerful ereader and notebook hybrid.

The Kobo Clara Color is a compact, waterproof color ebook reader with deep library integration that makes borrowing books simple. It doesn't support Kindle content, but you can access your local library's digital collection through Kobo's partnership with OverDrive. In testing, it worked flawlessly with the New York Public Library system.

Library enthusiasts: Consider buying this ebook reader if you primarily read through your local library using OverDrive.

Tinkerers: The Clara Colur is one of the very few ereaders that owners can self-repair. Kobo's partnership with iFixit allows you to buy spare parts and replace them yourself if needed.

Comic and magazine readers will want to reach for the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft, which has less storage than the Signature Edition and drops the wireless charging, but costs $30 less. We appreciate its sharp, full-color display, waterproof design, wireless charging capabilities, and ad-free experience.

Comic lovers: There's something to be said for color E Ink. If reading in grayscale doesn't do it for you, or you're a big fan of comic books or graphic novels, you'll want the additional razzle-dazzle afforded by the Colorsoft's display.

The Amazon Kindle Scribe is the company's large-screen E Ink tablet for reading and writing notes. It was updated last year with a slightly larger 11-inch screen and a sleeker design, but little else to justify the pretty big price hike it received over its predecessor. The 10.2-inch 2024 version is still available, and for a good $100 less. It remains the best way to add handwritten notes to your Kindle books.

Note-takers: The 2024 Kindle Scribe includes a premium pen stylus, a textured screen that offers a paper-like feel when writing on it, and AI enhancements include the ability to sum up your own notes. It's for notetakers who enjoy reading and annotating on the go.

This is Amazon's most affordable ereader, and it has everything you need to carry your library with you. It features an even front light, ample storage, and a compact design. These all make it an easy item to toss in your bag and take with you for a no-hassle reading experience.

Readers on a budget: If you're looking to grab an ereader with a minimal investment, this is the ereader to pick. It's Amazon's most affordable model, and it still provides a good reading experience despite its limitations.

The Kindle Colorsoft for Kids is a shrewdly repackaged version of the Kindle Colorsoft, which includes a case, a trial subscription to Amazon's kid-focused content service, and a bulletproof warranty against damage. It is also among the only color ereaders available for kids, and if your young reader prefers comics and other visual books to long reads, this is the Kindle to get.

Kids who love comics: Most comics are colorized, and reading them on grayscale screens is simply no fun. The Colorsoft for Kids has a color E Ink display that brings comics to life in a way that gray screens simply cannot.

Parents who want peace of mind: This ereader's age-appropriate content, preinstalled case, and warranty all mean parents can rest easy. Not only will your kids be able to find the content they want, but the device itself is protected from breakage.

The ReMarkable Paper Pro is expensive, but its color E Ink display gives it an advantage over grayscale competitors. It also has a stylus for handwriting notes and annotating unprotected ebooks and PDFs. Although it’s not compatible with many file formats, it has some of the best digital note-taking templates and features we’ve seen on a color E Ink device.

Note-takers who prefer color: If you are looking for a robust E Ink tablet for marking up PDFs and taking handwritten notes in color, then the ReMarkable Paper Pro is the ereader for you.