Remember when Amazon exclusively sold books and operated out of a small, suburban garage? Nearly three decades later, its Kindle e-reader family is one of the best tablets for getting your fix of the written word. Even the latest, highly affordable base model Kindle offers a remarkably comfortable, user-friendly experience. And if you opt for one of the more premium versions, you’re looking at easily some of the best e-readers around.
Depending on how much you’re willing to spend and what kind of high-end features you’ll use, one of these Kindles will make reading more comfortable and inviting.
Which version of Amazon Kindle is right for you?
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition
A nearly top-of-the-line choice
A few choice upgrades over the standard Paperwhite make the Signature Edition the perfect choice for folks who just can’t put their books down. Wireless charging, premium backlighting, and plenty of storage deliver a premium experience on top of the already excellent battery life and streamlined operation we’ve come to expect from Amazon’s e-readers.
- Consistent backlighting
- Auto-adjusting brightness
- Wireless charging
- A bit pricey for some people
Voracious readers need look no further than 2021’s Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. It’s an excellent all-around e-reader that offers plenty of screen real estate without becoming unwieldy for travel and portability. While its display is only 0.8″ bigger than the base models, that goes a lot further than it might seem in terms of fitting words on the page at a comfortable, readable size.
Speaking of comfort, its 17 LEDs promise consistent lighting at your choice of white warmth and can even automatically adjust themselves to account for ambient lighting. You’re also looking at improved hardware, including more storage and faster processing, the latter of which makes for less waiting around and fewer choppy animations.
Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: Polished to perfection
Finally, a USB-C Kindle
No, it’s not perfect — it’s still too small for manga lovers to comfortably enjoy their favorite books, and there’s an unsurprising lack of physical audio solutions, so without an onboard speaker or 3.5mm jack audiobook lovers are a bit left out. However, its few faults are unfortunately all too common among today’s e-readers. What you do get, though, is a device that’s solidly in line with other high-end tablets, including improved ergonomics, a grippy back panel, and two new (if somewhat muted) colors that help to keep things interesting.
Amazon Kindle Scribe
Exclusive features, but a very high price tag
A decade after the discontinuation of the Kindle DX, the Scribe delivers the large-screen experience that’s since been lacking from the Kindle lineup. Not only is its 10.2-inch screen great for visual novels like manga, it incorporates a Wacom layer that lets you take notes and even draw, so you can create visual novels of your own (in theory).
- The first Wacom drawing display on a Kindle
- Stylus included
- Has a whopping 35 backlights
- Slightly unwieldy ergonomics
- Drawing experience is still being refined
- Awfully costly for an e-reader
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen one as big as the Kindle Scribe, and this somewhat unexpected device offers several novel features that you’ll appreciate if you spend long hours reading text or visual content like comics. It sports an increasingly familiar pixel density of 300 ppi, which can put quite a bit of ultra-clear text on its 10.2-inch display.
But the most interesting feature is the Wacom drawing layer nestled in the display. Wacom is well-known as a go-to for drawing tablets for hobbyists and professional artists alike, and the Kindle tries to capture that lightning in a bottle that’s normally meant for reading.
Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Great for reading manga, not drawing it
We finally get a Kindle DX successor, but taking notes and drawing feels tacked on
After a rocky start at launch when the initial drawing experience was underwhelming and needed some refinement, the Scribe does now offer a good drawing and note-taking experience. The notebook templates and productivity features like document sharing and exporting make the Scribe an appealing e-ink tablet for students and professionals who take a lot of notes. There are higher-end 9+ inch e-ink tablets out there if you are shopping with a greater budget, but the Scribe is an affordable option within the Kindle ecosystem that remains lightweight enough to be practical for everyday book reading.
Amazon Kindle (2022)
High resolution at a reasonable price
A long-awaited update to the base model, the 2022 Kindle sports some much-needed upgrades compared to its three-year-old predecessor. Its high resolution, extended battery life, and USB-C port bring it in line with today’s most popular devices, and its low price makes it a great choice even for anybody whose e-reader is starting to show its age.
- No more blurry text
- Plenty of storage space
- USB-C charging
- Uneven front lighting
- Backlighting can’t self-adjust
Three years after the last one, the 2022 Amazon Kindle has been very much worth the wait, and even two years later, it’s one of our favorite entry-level e-readers. The jump to the now-common 300ppi display makes the most obvious difference and ensures you won’t be encumbered with lingering e-ink ghosts, but the improvements don’t stop there.
A minimum of 16 GB of storage means you can keep a massive collection of literature, and a greatly increased battery life gives you plenty of time to read it all. We’re also relieved to see the inclusion of a USB-C port, now that the industry’s adopting the standard across the board.
Amazon Kindle (2022) review: Edging out the Paperwhite as a must-buy
The new Kindle for 2022 brings some big upgrades, including USB-C
Of course, as the most affordable option, you can’t expect it to boast a ton of high-end features. It’s still limited to four backlight LEDs, which makes the lighting less than perfect even from edge to edge. It also lacks a headphone jack, but that’s something we’re begrudgingly beginning to accept about a lot of devices these days. (One of the only e-readers we’ve seen is the 2023 Nook Glowlight 4 Plus, so check that one out if a 3.5mm jack is important to you.) With that said, most people won’t miss all the bells and whistles it lacks, but will appreciate its compact size and low cost.
Amazon Kindle Kids (2022)
Includes an Amazon Kids+ subscription
Young bookworms need a tablet to keep up with both their hungry minds and their often less-than-gentle handling. The 2022 Kindle Kids (and its included kid-approved case) is a rugged reader built to withstand small hands. It cuts through the distractions (no ads, videos, or games) to ensure that kids are only engaged in age-appropriate reading material. The Kindle Kids also features a rich 300PPI screen, a 6-week battery life, and a handy Parent Dashboard to monitor reading progress or set age-appropriate filters.
- As good as the standard Kindle
- Six-week battery life
- Rugged case for drop safety
- Doesn’t add much in terms of features
Granting children access to technology is a matter that most parents take seriously. We don’t want young minds consuming too much material at once, or material that’s inappropriate. There’s also the fact that most electronics are pretty pricy, and thus not an easy replacement when dropped by young hands.
Fortunately, Kindle offers a tablet that’s kid-friendly both in affordability and child-friendly material. If most people are happy with a vanilla Kindle, most kids will be, too. That’s the prevailing theory behind the 2022 Amazon Kindle Kids. In contrast to the top general-purpose kids’ tablets, it doesn’t have an ultra-rugged case or any advertisements to block. The 2022 Kindle Kids looks much like any other Kindle.
Instead, it comes with a year of Amazon Kids+, a hand-curated selection of kid-friendly reading materials. (Amazon Kids+ also offers kid-friendly shows and games, so it can be used on a Fire TV or tablet!) There’s also your choice of three fun, brightly colored case designs to choose from: space whale, ocean explorer, or unicorn valley. And in case any adults ever want to use it, you can simply log the kids’ account out and log in as an adult for the normal Kindle experience. Except, you know, with a pink sparkly unicorn case.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)
Better lighting an a bigger screen than standard
A major step up from the entry-level version, the Kindle Paperwhite is bigger, brighter, and packed with more powerful components that make for a more streamlined experience. In particular, we love the adjustable white warmth of its 17 backlight LEDs and slim form factor that’s easy to hold onto.
- Bigger screen than the base model
- Plenty of backlight LEDs for even lighting
- IPX8 water resistance
- More affordable version contains ads
- Backlight doesn’t automatically adjust
As a three-year-old, but still very popular, entry in the long-running midrange Kindle category, the 2021 standard Paperwhite sports a 6.8-inch screen with 17 separate LEDs, which makes for a notably more comfortable reading experience than the smaller model. The LEDs also offer temperature adjustment, so you can switch from a blue-white to a warm white backlight as the ambient light changes.
This large screen is great for manga and comic readers; it’s big enough to appreciate illustrated books in full detail, without being a size that makes travel impractical. It’s also built to withstand submersion in water, so it’s great for a relaxing day on the beach (but don’t try to use it underwater).
Most people will find it well worth a $40 premium compared to the latest Amazon Kindle. It doesn’t have the wireless charging, optional high storage capacity, or self-adjusting lighting of the Signature edition, but those features might not be worth another $50 to you. If you love to read but want something moderately sized, the Paperwhite is worth a look.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids
Bigger and faster than the standard Kids model
This one’s identical other than the included case, which protects from the damage that some kids are prone to doing, and the bundled Amazon Kids+ subscription. Kids+ gives your young reader one year of access to a vast range of content that’s guaranteed to be age-appropriate.
- Includes a folding cover
- Two fun colors to choose from
- Bundled with Amazon Kids+
- Up to only 16 GB of storage
- Not the best value
If you want to encourage a teenager to read books, get them a tablet, but one that can’t play games and is comfortable to read on. That perfectly describes the Kindle Paperwhite Kids, which is bigger than the base model Kindle and has a much better backlighting situation. In addition to the fun protective case, it comes with a year of curated Amazon Kids+ content and otherwise works exactly like a normal Kindle Paperwhite.
Which Amazon Kindle is right for you?
If you want a good reading experience, plenty of storage, and excellent portability, but you don’t want to spend much, it’s hard to argue against the 2022 update to the base model Kindle. It doesn’t sport the most advanced features like white warmth adjustment, but it’s a major upgrade over its predecessor and will serve you well for several years to come.
On the other hand, if you read a lot and want to do so with the utmost comfort, the Paperwhite Signature Edition is absolutely worth a look. The water resistance makes it great for reading poolside or in the tub, and the 17 backlights and adjustable warmth keep your eyes comfortable while you turn page after page.
Finally, if you want to do more with your e-reader than just read, the Kindle Scribe delivers exactly that next-level experience. It’s the first with a touchscreen meant for precise note-taking and drawing, and Amazon’s done a decent job of ensuring it’s good at both.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition
A powerful processor, self-adjusting backlighting, variable white warmth, and plenty of storage come together to make this the most balanced Kindle yet. It even offers helpful features like wireless charging and a fully ad-free experience, making it an easy choice for our Best Overall pick.
