The Kindle brand has been going through a rough patch lately. Its Colorsoft e-reader was plagued with hardware issues affecting screen quality. Also, its parent brand, Amazon, is removing the ability to download and back up purchased e-books from its website. Despite this, a Kindle e-reader is still one of the best e-reader purchases for the casual user. Which Kindle should you get? Of all the Kindles you can currently buy, which reigns supreme?
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Kindle Scribe
Before I get into the Scribe, let me say that it’s a fine device, but it’s specialized and expensive, making it the lowest-ranked Kindle for the average user. At its most affordable, the Kindle Scribe is $400 for the model with 16GB of internal storage, and it rises to $420 and $450 for the 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. That’s too much money for the casual user.
The Kindle Scribe isn’t made for the casual user. The Scribe is a handwriting-first E Ink device. It’s the only Kindle device with stylus input. If document or book annotation is important, the Scribe is your only option while staying within the Amazon ecosystem. The Scribe also has the largest screen on a Kindle device, so it will be superior to other Kindles when it comes to viewing comics or PDFs.
The current Scribe (this is its second incarnation) is better than its predecessor, allowing you to annotate in books and incorporating OCR and AI tools to power up its note-taking capabilities. However, the competition in the A5-sized e-reader space has become fierce in the past year, meaning it’s impossible to recommend the Scribe without a few caveats. Thus, it’s at the bottom of the list.
Kindle Scribe (2024)
The Kindle Scribe (2024) is a step up from the original Scribe, with an improved pen and notebook experience. With additional features like note margins, annotations, and AI notebook tools, it’s a decent e-reader option, but a bit pricey for what you get.
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Kindle Colorsoft
Amazon made big waves last year when it announced its first color e-reader. However, the hype train came to a halt when a significant hardware issue came to light after launch. It affected enough devices that Amazon recalled and stopped selling the Colorsoft for a month. Things seem to be settled, but the new Colorsoft isn’t exactly on stable ground.
The Kindle Colorsoft may be the e-reader you’re looking for, but again, with some caveats. The first is that this device uses a Kaleido 3 screen, so the colors are the same as most other color devices, albeit they’re a bit more saturated on the Colorsoft at the cost of HDR. The other big caveat is that all Kaleido 3 E Ink devices come with the same limitations, the most important of which are reduced resolution for color (typically 150ppi vs. 300ppi for black and white) and lower contrast due to the color filter array.
If you have $280 to burn and want to see what the color hype is about, it’s not a bad e-reader, but that price is a big ask for the casual reader. Likewise, if you want to read comics and manga in color, this is an okay device, but it’s not hard to find a comparable e-reader for a lower price from a different OEM.
Kindle Colorsoft
$50
The Colorsoft is Amazon’s first foray into color E Ink devices. You can finally highlight your favorite books in multiple colors which should be great for students and will add new depth for fans of Kindle’s social highlighting features.
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Kindle Basic
The OG Kindle comes out on top of more niche devices like the Scribe and the Colorsoft because of its broader appeal. While you can do more with a Scribe and see more colors with a Colorsoft, most people don’t need stylus input or color pictures when reading. And at $110, it’s more affordable.
Kindles, in general, are underpowered compared to their competition, and the base-model Kindle is no exception. Kindle overcomes this lack of computational horsepower by having a limited OS that only does a few things. Kindles can’t download apps, but they’re responsive machines that never feel like they’re slowing down.
Even though the Kindle Basic is a good e-reader, the biggest thing keeping me from putting it at the top of my list is the needlessly absent warm light. If you’ve never had a warm light on your e-reader, this may sound like a petty gripe. Still, if you have had an evening reading session softly illuminated by the amber glow of your device, it’s not something you want to let go of.
Amazon Kindle (2024)
The newest Kindle is just a small step up from its predecessor, but if you’re due for an upgrade, this is a solid choice with its higher contrast and faster page turns. Plus that new Matcha color looks good.
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Kindle Paperwhite/Signature Edition
Not everyone is a fan of the latest iteration of the Kindle Paperwhite. However, if you are determined to buy a Kindle device, this would be the one I would tell you to get. It doesn’t have color. You can’t write on it with a stylus. Still, it has the most bang for the buck of anything else in the lineup.
In terms of size, the Paperwhite sits between the Basic and the Scribe at 7 inches, which is large enough for reading manga but not so large that it loses its portability. It’s also the Kindle that comes closest to the size of a traditional paperback, which makes it feel better in my hand than the smaller Basic model.
The Paperwhite Signature Edition has a few more quality-of-life perks that make it the best of the Amazon bunch. At the top of my list is the auto-adjusting front light. Imagine manually adjusting the brightness on your smartphone every time you go outside. That’s what it’s like without this feature. Some may scoff at splurging for the Signature Edition, but considering it only costs $20 more than the base Paperwhite, it’s worth it.
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Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (2024)
The new Paperwhite Signature Edition has everything you love about the Paperwhite, but more of it. Along with a bigger and brighter screen and quicker response, it offers 12 weeks of battery life and premium wireless charging. But just because the specs sound good doesn’t mean Amazon nailed the manufacturing, as there are some screen issues reported on the Amazon storefront.
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Kindle Paperwhite (2024)
$130 $160 Save
$30The new Paperwhite (2024) doesn’t dramatically outshine its predecessor, with its sharper contrast, faster page turns, and flashy new colors. But the larger screen size at 7 inches might be worth the upgrade if you have an older model.
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There are a lot more Kindles out there
Currently, Amazon has four Kindle models available for purchase in the US, but that doesn’t mean you should sleep on the second-hand market. Some of the best e-readers Amazon has made are no longer available, chief among them the recently discontinued Oasis. I’m also partial to my Kindle Keyboard from 2010, which is as good as new after replacing the battery. If you get a new Kindle, check out websites where you can find thousands of free e-books for your Kindle e-reader.
