best device to read research papers

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The best reading tablets you can buy: Expert tested

If you're sick and (physically) tired of the perpetual backaches that come with a heavy book load in your backpack, might we suggest an e-reader instead? 

Also:  Best Kindle readers of 2024

E-readers allow you to store entire libraries (including books, magazines, and even newspaper subscriptions) in one sleek and lightweight device. Of course, you can pick up most tablets, like an iPad, to read a book, but not all tablets and e-readers are created equal or are easy on the eyes. That's why we've rounded up the best tablets for reading if you're ready to dive into the next book on your list or conserve space in your backpack.

What is the best reading tablet right now?

We compiled this list by extensively going hands-on with the best tablets for reading on the market, considering price, storage, and special features in our testing. Through this, we named the Kindle Paperwhite the best reading tablet overall for its adjustable lighting, performance, and battery life. However, we also include reading tablets from brands like Apple and Samsung so you can find the right tablet for your needs and reading style. 

The best reading tablets of 2024

Kindle paperwhite (11th generation), best reading tablet overall.

• IPX8 water resistant for reading poolside or in the bath
• Adjustable warm light for nighttime reading
• Fast performance
• Light sensor can be slow to adjust

This Kindle hasn't been updated by Amazon since 2021, but its features, like its adjustable warm light for comfortable reading at night and  a long-lasting battery life of up to 10 weeks make it comparable to most e-readers on the market today. Amazon customers who have purchased this Kindle also like its unique features like creating categories to organize your books, uploading your own fonts to use while reading, and the ability to look up words/phrases mid-text and be able to reference past searches. 

The screen features Amazon's signature e-ink technology, much different than the shiny display you'd find on an iPad. E-ink provides a paper-like, matte display thanks to 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and 17 front light LEDs. 

Review:   Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: A classic, now modern, e-reader thanks to USB-C and wireless charging

ZDNET contributing writer, Jason Cipriani, reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite and said the boos in performance is noticeable in the latest generation. "According to Amazon, the new Paperwhite has 20% faster performance when it comes to turning the page in a book," Cipriani wrote. "There's almost no delay after tapping on the screen before the text refreshes with the next page, ready for action."

It's also waterproof (how many tablets can say that?), so you can read by the pool or in the bath without worrying about stray splashes. If you want to upgrade to have the auto-adjusting light feature and 32GB of storage, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition will cost you $50 more. 

Kindle Paperwhite  specs: Display:  6.8-inch 300 ppi e-ink screen|  Battery life:  Up to 10 weeks (at 30 minutes per day) |  Weight:  7.23 ounces |  Storage:  8 GB or 16 GB

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8.4

Best android reading tablet.

• Bright and sharp screen
• Expandable memory up to 512GB with a microSD card
• Runs on an older Android system

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8.4 is perhaps lesser known compared to its Tab S counterparts, but this small, lightweight Android tablet makes the perfect handheld reading device. 

It comes with a 1,920 x 1,200 pixel display with 270 ppi (close to Kindle's 300 ppi), so images and text look bright and sharp on screen. 

Also: The best Android tablets

Even though it runs on the outdated Android 9 Pie operating system, you'll still get great tablet features like a 5MP front-facing camera, an 8MP rear camera with autofocus, a long-lasting battery, and the ability to expand your storage to up to 512GB with a microSD card (that's a lot of books!). 

One Amazon user who rated this Android tablet 5 out of 5 stars called it the best tablet for its price, saying, "I am an avid Kindle reader and I like to listen to music while I read. Using the Wi-Fi and my Amazon Music Unlimited I have the best of all worlds."

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8.4  specs: Display:  8.4-inch WUXGA Display TFT (270 ppi) |  Battery life:  10 hours |  Weight:  10.93 oz |  Storage:  32GB

Kindle Scribe

Best tablet for reading and note-taking.

• Impressive battery life
• Included pen for handwritten notes
• Compatible with Microsoft Word
• Not waterproof
• Premium pen upgrade will cost you more
• Does not support note-taking on magazines or newspapers

The Kindle Scribe is perhaps the perfect example of part e-reader, part tablet to satisfy your reading and note-taking needs. It has the same functions you've come to know and love in a Kindle, like 300 ppi glare-free screen, weeks of battery life, and adjustable warm light. It's also compatible with Amazon's Basic or Premium Pen, so you can take handwritten notes or underline important quotations within the book you're reading. 

Your notes are automatically organized in one place for every book, so you can browse, review, and export them via email. The Kindle Scribe also comes with preset templates to help you create notebooks, journals, and lists, and you can can create sticky notes in Microsoft Word and other compatible Word documents. 

Review:  Amazon Kindle Scribe

ZDNET contributing writer, Matthew Miller, went hands-on with the Kindle Scribe and called it "close to perfect." "I use my Kindle Scribe daily as my primary note-taking device, and the habit of carrying it has also resulted in me reading more books than I have in years," Miller wrote. "It's an excellent ebook device while also serving as a capable working tablet."

The Kindle Scribe comes with the Basic pen, but for the more advanced features like a dedicated eraser and the shortcut button, you'll need the Premium pen, which costs $30 extra. However, Amazon customers who have reviewed the Kindle Scribe say that the premium pen is worth paying extra for, especially since it has an eraser and a button that lets you switch the nib from writing to highlighting.

Kindle Scribe  specs: Display:  10.2-inch 300 ppi Paperwhite display|  Battery life:  Up to 12 weeks (at 30 minutes per day) |  Weight:  15.3 ounces |  Storage:  16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB

Apple iPad Mini (6th generation)

Best reading tablet for apple users.

• Strong performance in A15 Bionic chip
• Pixel-dense display makes for sharp text
• True Tone technology
• Most expensive option

Of course, you don't have to get a dedicated e-reader in order to read on a tablet. The iPad Mini is a powerful tablet with great applications, and it serves as a great reading device thanks to its light weight and sharp screen. It has an 8.3-inch liquid retina display with 326 ppi, which is a higher resolution compared to the Kindles. As a result, text looks especially sharp on screen, and coupled with Apple's True Tone technology (which adjusts the color and intensity of your display to match the ambient light), it provides a natural reading experience. 

Review:  Apple iPad Mini (6th generation)

Cipriani also tested the Apple iPad Mini and gave it high praise, saying, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely fascinated by it." "With the iPad Mini, which ships with iPadOS 15, I set up a new Focus mode that automatically turns on whenever I open the Kindle app," he wrote. "It blocks all alerts and messages from showing up while I'm reading and then turns off once I leave the app."

Apple's anti-reflective screen coating also makes it less likely to catch a sunlight glare when you're reading outside on a sunny day. One Best Buy reviewer notes that the screen display lighting "is quite soft to the eye -- not to mention versatile as well."

With the iPad Mini, you're also getting Apple's powerful A15 bionic chip, an ultra-wide 12 MP front camera, support for the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil to take notes, 80% faster graphics than the previous model, Touch ID, and more. 

Apple iPad Mini  specs: Display:  8.3-inch Liquid Retina display (326 ppi) |  Battery life:  10 hours |  Weight:  10.4 ounces |  Storage : 64GB or 256GB 

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet (12th generation)

Best kids reading tablet.

• Two-year worry-free guarantee
• Includes a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+
• Amazon Kids+ subscription will cost extra after free trial
• Not as great screen quality as other options

For a kid-friendly reading tablet, Amazon's Fire HD 8 Kids tablet is worth checking out. Not only does it have a kid-proof case built to withstand use by children aged 3 to 7 years old, but it also comes with a free one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The subscription gets you access to thousands of kid-friendly ad-free books, as well as movies, games, and other educational content your child will love.

Review:  I bought this Amazon kids tablet instead of an iPad and wasn't sorry  

ZNDET writer, Maria Diaz, had her kids test out the Fire HD 8 Kids tablet, and called it "a perfect first tablet" built with kids in mind. "Endurance really is the main reason why any parent should buy the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids," Diaz wrote. "I can't tell you how many times my preschoolers have dropped (or thrown) their [Amazon] tablets and stepped on them 'by accident' over the past three years, yet the screens have remained intact."

Parents can control screen time and set educational goals for their children using parental controls built into the tablet to make sure your kid is actually reading or learning something while using it. Plus, it has 2 MP front and rear-facing cameras with 720p HD video recording with the ability to add themed filters and fun frames to photos. 

Overall, 95% of customers who purchased this reading tablet at Best Buy would recommend it to other parents, giving it an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet   specs: Display:  8-inch HD display, 1280 x 800 (189 ppi) |  Battery life:  Up to 13 hours |  Weight:  1.14 pounds |  Storage:  32GB or 64GB

What is the best reading tablet?

The best reading tablet is the Kindle Paperwhite with reading-specific features like adjustable warm light, as well as a great battery life and screen that's easy on the eyes. Below is an overview of how the best reading tablets compare based on price, display size, and battery life: 

Which reading tablet is right for you?

While all of these reading tablets are great options, it ultimately comes down to a few questions. Do you want your tablet to be just for reading, or do you also want it for other things like streaming and web browsing? How big do you want the tablet to be? How much storage space do you need and how much are you willing to spend? 

Here is a look at the unique features for each of these reading tablets: 

Factors to consider when choosing the best reading tablets:

Whether you want to jot notes while reading, have a tablet with water resistance for poolside browsing, or invest in a kid-friendly option, we have you covered. ZDNET considered price, size, and special features when making our final picks.

• Price:  A decent e-reader can range from $100 to $500. You can easily find an e-reader or tablet within your desired price range that serves your reading purposes and offers large memory, long lasting battery life, and a lightweight feel for ultimate portability.  
• Size:  If you are opting for an e-reader instead of physical books, you want that device to be lighter than those novels you're lugging around. We considered how much these e-readers and tablets would weigh in that book bag of yours. 
• Special features:  Some e-readers are water-resistant for those beach day or bathtime reads, while other tablets boast matte screens that are designed for easy reading on a sunny day. 

How did we test these reading tablets?

When choosing the best tablets for reading, I considered my own experience with some of the products, as well as other ZDNET team members who have went hands-on with these products. ZDNET does extensive hands-on testing of reading tablets, including using the tablets both inside and outside, how long battery life lasts when reading a page-turning book, and more. We test these in real-world situations, especially focusing on reading experience and display. 

For the reading tablets we have not gone hands-on with, we do, extensive research into different products and brands, taking into consideration user reviews (both good and bad), competitor analysis, and more.

What is the best tablet size for reading?

The average size book is 6 by 9 inches, so tablets that have a 7 to 10-inch screen are about the same as picking up and reading an actual book. However, pay attention to how much a tablet weighs, since you don't want it to be too heavy for its size. 

Also: The best small tablets you can buy

You can also test out what works for you by visiting a local electronics retailer or bookstore. 

Is it better to read on a tablet or a Kindle?

If you're serious about reading, getting a Kindle over your average tablet is probably your best bet since they come with reading-specific features like adjustable warm light, waterproof designs, and page-turn buttons.

Also: Which Kindle e-reader is right for you? The top models compared

However, if you want an all-in-one type tablet, you can opt for a tablet like the iPad Mini or the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.4 for browsing the web, streaming videos, taking photos, and, of course, reading books.

Is it healthy to read on a tablet?

Like all things, doing something too much or for too long is never good. If you want to use a tablet for reading, be sure to take frequent breaks to give your eyes a rest from the screen. It's also a good idea to invest in a pair of blue light blocking glasses if you plan to read on a tablet at night. 

Other products we've tested:

The e-readers and tablets above suit you're reading (and occasional web-surfing or streaming) need, but read on to find some great e-reader and tablet alternatives that we've also tested. 

ZDNET Recommends

The best kindles you can buy: expert tested, the best tablets you can buy: expert tested, the best e-readers aren't all kindle.

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10 Best Tablets for Reading Scientific Papers in 2024 (Latest Models)

If you are an academic, PhD student or researcher looking to buy the best tablet for reading scientific and research papers, this guide will steer you through the minefield of options available on the market.

We’ve recommended the best tablets for reading, highlighting and adding annotations to PDFs without issues. These tablets offer the best stylus performance.

From Apple iPad Pro to Onyx Boox Note2 we look at the best tablets for reading academic, research and scientific papers in detail. These are the best tablets for academics.

Best Tablets for Reading Scientific Papers at a Glance

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1. apple ipad pro 12.9 (202 2) (editors’ choice)  .

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Our Editors’ Choice for the best tablet for reading scientific papers is the Apple iPad Pro 2022. The iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) is Apple’s top-of-the-line tablet as of 2023, featuring a powerful M2 chipset that gives it laptop-level performance. While some may argue that the M1 from the previous generation is more than enough for most tablet activities, the M2 ensures that this device is future-proof.

Apart from the M2, the iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) shares many similarities with its predecessor, the iPad Pro 12.9 (2021), such as its large 12.9-inch, 120Hz display that utilizes mini-LED technology for superior picture quality compared to smaller iPads. Despite packing all this tech, the tablet is surprisingly slim and lightweight.

Additionally, it features Face ID, capable cameras, and supports accessories like Apple’s Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil 2, which boasts hover-detection that makes it perfect for drawing.

As expected, the iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) comes with a hefty price tag, nevertheless, for those who want a tablet with unbeatable performance, this is the device to go for.

• Lightning-fast performance
• Exceptional display
• Slim and sleek build
• Incredibly durable

Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (202 2) Key Specifications

Display : 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED LCD, 2048 x 2732 pixels Chipset : Apple M2 OS: iPadOS 16 RAM : 8GB/16GB Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB Connectivity:  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, hotspot Size: 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.4 mm Weight: 682 g (Wi-Fi), 685 g (5G) Rear Camera: 12MP, 10MP, TOF 3D LiDAR scanner Front Camera: 12MP Battery: 40.88 Wh

2. Apple iPad Air (202 2 )    

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The Apple iPad Air is for anyone who needs an iPad Pro-like performance from a portable tablet at a fraction of the price. It is a fit for casual users and creators alike.

Its 10.9-inch Liquid Retina multi-touch display looks fine, especially in its color reproduction. You can use the Air comfortably in either portrait or landscape orientations.

The best part of the 2022 iPad Air, however, is its performance. It is fast thanks to the Apple M1 chipset tucked inside it. This tablet delivers at all times. You can watch videos, play games, and read on the Air 2022 with zero performance lag.

Like the 2021 iPad Mini , storage is a bit restrictive. The base model ships with 64GB of storage. Though, there is a variant with 256GB of storage, and we recommend this. If you need more storage, your best bet is the iPad Pro 2021 which comes in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB.

It’s worth noting, as well, that the 2022 iPad Air ships with the outstanding Apple Pencil 2 which attaches magnetically and charges wirelessly. This makes the Air 2022 an ideal pick for writing, drawing, and taking notes without a hitch.

Audio quality from the Air’s two speakers is just ok, while admittedly lacking bass and the staggering audio performance iPad Pro users enjoy.

Then there’s the cameras. The tablet boasts a 12MP rear camera and 12MP ultra-wide selfie camera. One thing Apple’s added to this 2002 Air is the Centre Stage feature which automatically pans the camera to keep everyone in centre view during a video call.

What else should we include? Well, the responsive Touch ID built into the power button is an A+ in our book. How about the Face ID feature? Well, there isn’t one really.

Again, the 2022 iPad Air is 5G compatible.

Plus, it features a remarkable battery life and debatably one of the best we’ve ever come across. The Air 2022 will stay powered up for an entire workday and more.

Oh, and for the record, the 2022 iPad Air has no headphone jack. Not a deal breaker, but worth bearing in mind.

Overall, this is the best tablet for just about everyone. Its performance and price tag make it easy to pull the trigger on a purchase order. Highly recommended.

• Super-fast M1 processor
• Colorful display
• Thin and portable
• Good design
• Compatible with Apple Pencil 2
• Good speakers
• 5G connectivity
• Long battery life
• Storage is restrictive
• Expensive peripherals

Apple iPad Air (2022) Key Specifications

Display : 10.9-inch Liquid Retina IPS LCD display, 1640 x 2360 pixels Chipset : Apple M1 OS: iPadOS 15.4 RAM : 8GB Storage: 64GB/256GB Connectivity:  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, hotspot Size: 9.75 x 7.03 x 0.24 in (247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm) Weight: 1.02 pounds (462 g) Rear Camera: 12MP Front Camera: 12MP Battery: 28.6 Wh

3. Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus’ predecessor, the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus was (heck, still is!) an excellent tablet. However, the Tab S8 Plus is slightly a cut above it and, of course, the rest (Android tablets, that is) out there.

Its internals are nothing to scoff at – Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, more than enough RAM (8GB or 12GB), 128GB or 256GB of storage, and Android 12 operating system.

Performance is on par with what the 2021 iPad Pro 12.9-inch boasts. The sheer amount of power makes the Tab S8 Plus an appealing upgrade.

Samsung nailed it again with the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus’ display. It does keep the same 12.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate from the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, which is not necessarily a bad thing. And it’s bright enough to make reading and watching videos a pure joy.

Just like the 2021 Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch , the Tab S8 Plus’ premium design will blow you away. It sports a flashy metallic finish.

Elsewhere, the AKG speakers with Dolby Atmos tuning on the Tab S8 Plus pump out clear sound. We are pleased with the balanced profile of the sound.

What’s more, using the Galaxy Tab S8’s S Pen is a pure joy. Samsung has reduced the S Pen’s latency making it faster just like a real pen.

There’s also the cameras. The rear holds a pair of 13MP and 6MP ultrawide sensors. Dominating the front is a 12MP ultrawide sensor, perfect for video calls.

Samsung’s class-leading tablet ranks very high for its battery performance. The 10,090 mAh battery tucked inside the Tab S8 Plus offers excellent endurance.

There’s very little to complain about with the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, except for perhaps the price tag. If you want to save money, then the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus isn’t for you. 

If you’ve been an iOS loyalist for years, it’s worth taking a look to see what else is out there.

Overall, this is a great piece of hardware that anyone should be proud to carry around. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus is highly recommended.

• Immersive Super AMOLED display
• Premium design
• Good cameras
• High-performing processor
• Good S Pen integration
• Large battery capacity
• Limited upgrade

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus Key Specifications

Display: 12.4-inch, Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+ 1752 x 2800 pixels Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 OS: Android 12 RAM: 8GB/12GB Storage: 128GB/256GB Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Size: 11.22 x 7.28 x 0.22 inches (285 x 185 x 5.7 mm) Weight: 1.26 pounds (572 g) Rear Camera: 13MP, 6MP Front Camera:  12MP Battery: 10090 mAh

4. Apple iPad Mini 6 (2021)

The Apple iPad mini 6 (2021) is an outstanding iPad with impressive specs.

Built on Apple’s speedy A15 Bionic processor and featuring 4GB of RAM, along with an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina IPS LCD screen, it has specs that rival other flagships.

The A15 Bionic processor that powers the 2021 iPad mini can handle everything you throw at it.

Aside from its super fast processor, the screen stands out, too. Text looks sharp on the screen as do photos and videos.

Storage is a bit restrictive. Available internal storage includes 64GB and 256GB only. If that’s your main concern, you should probably lean toward the 2021 iPad Pro 12.9-inch which comes in 128GB, 256 GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB.

As far as sound goes, what comes out of the tablet speakers is actually decent.

You can write, draw, annotate PDFS, and take notes with the Apple Pencil (2nd generation). The Apple Pencil 2 attaches magnetically to the iPad mini 6.

Apple says the 19.3Wh battery in the iPad mini 6 provides an all-day battery life, however, in truth, the battery will last up to 10 hours on a single charge.

On the negative side, the 2021 iPad mini has no headphone jack. That’s slightly painful.

You’ll be hard-pressed to be disappointed with the iPad mini 6 performance. Overall, this is an exceptional iPad you can take anywhere and one of the best tablets for reading scientific papers without a hitch.

• Super-fast performance
• Beautiful design
• Light and portable
• Very good webcam
• USB-C charging
• No multiuser support
• No headphone jack

Apple iPad Mini 6 (2021) Key Specifications

Display : 8.3-inch Liquid Retina IPS LCD display, 1488 x 2266 pixels Chipset : Apple A15 Bionic OS: iPadOS 15 RAM : 4GB Storage: 64GB/256GB Connectivity:  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, hotspot Size: 7.69 x 5.31 x 0.25 in (195.4 x 134.8 x 6.3 mm) Weight: 0.65 pounds (293 g) Rear Camera: 12MP Front Camera: 12MP Battery: 19.3 Wh

5. Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus

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Like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus is one of Samsung’s best tablets you can buy now. It packs as much oomph as the Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch).

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus’ screen is a nice, large, 12.4-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate, bolstering its gaming credentials. Its Super AMOLED display is super responsive, amazingly bright, colorful to boot and delivers a stunning picture quality thanks to its HDR10+ feature. You won’t have problems using it in direct sunlight.

The Galaxy Tab S7 Plus’ credentials are further established with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset, which is complemented by 6GB or 8GB of RAM.

Samsung has made available three storage/RAM variants on the Tab S7: 128GB/6GB, 256GB/8GB, or 512GB/8GB.

What’s more, it supports 5G connectivity.

As for the sacrifices one has to make, the optional book cover keyboard case isn’t a chart-topper, however, it makes the Tab S7 Plus a viable laptop replacement.

Looking for a tablet that can last all day? This is it.

But overall, this is one of the best tablets money can buy for those willing to pay a premium and one of the best tablets for reading scientific papers by and large.  

• Beautiful super AMOLED 120Hz display
• Excellent battery life
• Stunning display
• Very good build quality
• 5G Connectivity option
• Fast performance
• Thin and Portable
• Excellent audio
• Limited port offerings

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus Key Specifications

Display: 12-inch, Super AMOLED, 1752 x 2800 pixels Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ OS: Android 10, upgradable to Android 11 RAM: 6GB/8GB Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Size: 11.22 x 7.28 x 0.22 inches (285 x 185 x 5.7 mm) Weight: 1.27 pounds (575 g) Rear Camera: 13MP, 5MP Front Camera:  8MP Battery: 10090 mAh

6 . Samsung Galaxy Tab S8

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is juiced up with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage.

Performing like a pricier machine without skimping on build quality or features, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 8 delivers excellent value.

Like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and Tab S8 Plus , one of the main appeals of the Tab S8 is its performance. In fact, the speedy performance of the Galaxy Tab S8 firmly shoves it up the class ladder.

The Tab S8’s 11-inch thin-film transistor display is impressive.

At 11 inches and 1.1 pounds, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is a lightweight and easy travel companion. The tablet comes in three colour options – Graphite, Silver or Pink Gold.

An A+ for the Tab S8’s S Pen which feels like a real pen while writing.

The speakers on the Tab S8 are not your typical tin cans. They deliver dramatically superior sound.

We are always happy to see a headphone jack on phones, tablets, and laptops — there’s simply no excuse to leave it off the spec sheet. Sadly, there is no headphone jack on the Galaxy Tab S8.

Samsung packed in a reasonable 8,000 mAh of battery capacity into the Tab S8’s chassis.

The one flaw with this tablet, though, is the absence of an in-screen fingerprint reader. It’s a shame, but not a dealbreaker.

The Galaxy Tab S8 (as well as the Tab S8 Ultra and Tab S8 Plus) still beats the heck out of any Android tablet on the market.

• Best Tablets for Annotating PDFs
• Impressive performance
• Beautiful 120Hz display
• Excellent S Pen integration
• No in-screen fingerprint reader

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Key Specifications

Display: 11-inch, TFT 120Hz, HDR10+ 1600 x 2560 pixels Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 OS: Android 12 RAM: 8GB/12GB Storage: 128GB/256GB Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Size: 9.99 x 6.51 x 0.25 inches (253.8 x 165.3 x 6.3 mm) Weight: 1.10 pounds (503 g) Rear Camera: 13MP, 6MP Front Camera:  12MP Battery: 8000 mAh

7. Onyx Boox Note Air

Another terrific tablet for reading scientific papers is the Onyx Boox Note Air. This tablet is for academics and students seeking a good tablet that can handle reading as well as annotating scientific papers on the fly.

Built on a Snapdragon 636 processor and featuring 3GB of RAM, along with a 10.3-inch screen and 32GB of storage, it has specs that provide real value for money.

With the Onyx Boox Note Air, you can read, write, draw and take notes just like on real paper. Unlike some tablets for reading scientific and academic papers on our list, the Onyx Boox Note Air is distraction-free.

The Note Air’s pen works great. It has excellent pressure sensitivity which helps you better control the stroke width.

You can install lots of Android apps on the Note Air to enhance your efficiency.

Again, unlike some conventional e-readers on the markets, the Note Air has a split screen feature, so you can increase your productivity by opening two applications at once. You can take notes while reading a journal or book.

On another important front, the display is always easy on the eyes.

Being able to support more than twenty file formats is an A+ in our book.

As you would expect, this tablet is a little stingy on port offerings. As a matter of fact, the Note Air has only a USB-C port, located on the left side.

One aspect that won’t bother everybody, but still bears mentioning, is that Note Air lacks a fingerprint scanner, however, you can use a password or passcode if you wish.

If you’re worried about battery life, however, Note Air’s 3000 mAh battery has you covered. The battery lasts weeks, depending on usage, of course.

Overall, the Onyx Boox Note Air is a solid tablet for reading scientific papers that won’t strain the purse strings.

• Best Tablets for OneNote
• Large 10.3 inch screen
• Perfect for editing PDFs
• Excellent note taking setup
• Android 10 OS
• Good for reading PDF files
• Excellent pen
• No fingerprint scanner
• Not waterproof

Onyx Boox Note Air Key Specifications    

Display : 10.3-inch HD Carta Screen Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 OS: Android 10 RAM : 3GB Storage: 32GB Size: 9.02 x 7.69 x 0.23 inches (229 x 195.4 x 5.8 mm) Weight:  0.93 pound (420g) Battery: 3000mAh

8. Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) 

The Apple iPad Pro 2021 is stacked with so much power. Packed with Apple’s powerful M1 chipset and 8GB of RAM, the iPad Pro blazes through apps, browser tabs and videos without any sign of slowdown. 

You can opt for the model with 16GB of RAM. For reading scientific papers and annotating PDFs, the 8GB RAM variant is pretty OK.

But before you get swept up by all that power, let’s not forget that beautiful new Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED display. The 2021 iPad Pro’s gorgeous display is on the level of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. Pictures look more intense, expressive and realistic.

As for audio, you’d be equally impressed. The iPad Pro’s audio is respectable.

New for the iPad Pro is a USB-C port with USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 support. This means you can connect compatible devices and accessories effortlessly.

As you would expect, the iPad Pro isn’t filled with the kind of bloatware that manufacturers usually lade cheap tablets and phones with.

Elsewhere, it offers a ton of storage. Available internal storage includes 128GB, 256 GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB.

Apple isn’t skimping on the battery with the iPad Pro; the 40.88 Wh cell offers excellent endurance.

Sure, the iPad Pro 2021 12.9-inch is still a bit out of range for some people, price-wise. However, it gives a lot.

Using the Apple Pencil 2 while annotating PDFs and reading scientific papers on the iPad Pro 2021 is a pure joy.

On the negative side, the colour options are a bit restrictive. Like its predecessors, the  iPad Pros 2021 come in Silver and Space Gray colour options.

• Outstanding display
• Incredible battery life
• USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 support
• Limited colour options

Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) Key Specifications

Display : 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR Mini LED display, 2048 x 2732 pixels Chipset : Apple M1 OS: iPadOS 14.5.1 RAM : 8GB/16GB Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB Connectivity:  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, hotspot Size: 11.05 x 8.46 x 0.25 in (280.6 x 214.9 x 6.4 mm) Weight: 1.50 pounds (682g) Rear Camera: 12MP, 10MP Front Camera: 12MP Battery: 40.88 Wh

Notable Mentions

The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 and Onyx Boox Note2 are very good tablets for reading scientific and academic papers deserving of note.

9. Microsoft Surface Pro 8

• Good display
• Works well with external devices
• Excellent Windows 11 integration
• Impressive webcam
• Stylus and keyboard sold separately

Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Key Specifications

Display: 13-inch display, 2880 x 1920 pixels CPU: 11th Gen Intel i5-1135G7- Intel i7-1185G7 OS: Windows 11 RAM: 8GB/16GB/32GB Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics Storage: Up to 1TB Size: 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches (287 x 208 x 9.3 mm) Weight: 1.96 pounds Rear Camera: 10MP Front Camera: 5MP Battery: 51.5Wh

10. Onyx Boox Note2

• Very good pen
• Can serve as secondary monitor
• Complete Google Play support
• Good for reading and writing
• Not compatible with some third-party apps

Onyx Boox Note2 Key Specifications        

Display : 10.3-inch, 1872 x 1404 pixels Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 OS: Android 9.0 RAM : 4GB Storage: 64GB Size: 9.84 x 7.0 x 0.27 inches (249.9 x 177.8 x 6.9 mm) Weight:  0.83 pound (378g) Battery: 4300mAh

Bottom Line

The tablets we’ve recommended are perfect for reading scientific papers and journals without a problem. These tablets are fast, durable, portable, and ship with good internals.

Our picks for the best tablets for reading scientific papers provide the best bang for your buck and they will help reduce the heavy paper and ink expenses associated with printing lots of research papers and journals.

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9 Best Tablets For Research That Any Academic Should Have

Last Updated January 4, 2023

Are you looking for some of the best tablets for research?

If yes, then look no further than this article. In this article, I will provide the complete list of tablets that will surely help in your research if you are a researcher or even a research student.

When talking about academicians or researchers, one begins to visualize a person drowning in papers, books, and journals all around them.

Saying this with my experience, as I am a researcher myself, due to the number of papers I have to read, analyze and critically evaluate, the paper load sometimes gets pretty hectic, and bookmarking everything here and it is very tiresome for me. It is for this reason that tablets make professional’s lives easier in this day and age.

My guide to the best tablet for researchers like you and me outlines the features that make them ideal for academic papers.

Using the right tablet for your work is beneficial to your research and career, thus you simply need to choose one that best suits your work style, and presto, so that your workflow is faster, more efficient, and more productive.

Taking notes, sketching , reading , and bookmarking on tablets are easier than on paper. Even if you use it for 4 or 5 years, the cost spread out over that period doesn’t even amount to much.

Now, without any further delays, let’s get directly into the best tablets for researchers that will be perfect for you.

Table of Contents

List of Best Tablets That Are Great For Research And Academic papers:-

To help researchers and academicians choose the best tablets for their work, I have assembled this list. Now let’s look at each one in more detail:

1. Apple iPad Air

In Apple’s tablet lineup, the iPad Air is the newest model. I would recommend you go for the iPad Air if you want the latest offering from Apple.

This tablet has the A14 Bionic chipset under the hood. In my opinion with the updated design, it now looks more like an iPad Pro, but it’s a little lighter and thinner so it’s easier for researchers and research students to carry around in a backpack.

Taking the tablet out of the box I found that the iPad Air has a 10.9-inch display, which is an upgrade over its predecessors’ 9.7-inch display and I appreciate that.

The Liquid Retina display has TrueTone and a P3 wide color gamut, which ensured that colors were rich and vibrant when I was watching a movie or a TV show.

It has excellent brightness and gives me the right amount of brightness in dark and daylight conditions. The Apple Pencil is supported and works very smoothly, which makes note-taking very convenient.

Now I must speak about its performance and in that regard, the iPad Air houses Apple’s latest A14 Bionic, giving me plenty of horsepower for my daily tasks.

Regardless of whether I was doing a basic task or something heavier like editing videos, it had the power I needed. The tablet never lagged and appeared to be able to handle any task I threw at it, so yes, it is a powerful tablet for modern computing.

• Elegant thin and light design.
• Bright, colorful and sharp display.
• Excellent webcam.
• Magic Keyboard.
• No face id.
• No headphone jack.
• Expensive accessories.

Apple ditched Touch ID in favor of Face ID, which proved to be a very bad move. As a result, Apple reintroduced Touch ID in the iPad Air, but on the side this time. This model finally comes with a USB C port for charging and accessories, which is fantastic.

Besides that, the iPad Air comes with the latest Wi-Fi 6 so it will be easier, faster, and more secure to connect to wireless networks.

Overall, the iPad Air is a great tablet for anyone who is looking to use it for his or her research purposes.

2. Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Since it was launched in the global market, the Surface Pro 7 has earned global awards and has been adorned with numerous awards. The device’s powerful specifications combined with its compact and ergonomic form factor have made it a global pioneer in the field of convertibles.

Let me talk about the specifications, it is powered by the 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and also available with an Intel i7 processor on higher-end variants.

The tablet comes with 8GB of RAM for multitasking, which is more than sufficient for researchers like me, however, there is an option for 16 GB RAM if one needs more flexibility.

I really like the fact that the device has 128 GB of SSD storage, which is faster and more efficient than the previous generation. In terms of software, the tablet runs on Windows 10 Home, which in my opinion is the most productive operating system ever created.

Researchers like me and research students would appreciate the fact that the tablet has a convertible form factor and can be used as a powerful desktop replacement.

With the 12.3-inch PixelSense screen, the tablet also features extremely high contrast and low glare so that research students can work throughout the day without straining their eyes. There is also a long list of compatible peripherals available, including Type covers, surface docks, wireless display adapters, and more.

• A keyboard is included in the package.
• All PC apps are supported.
• The display is bright and vivid.
• Batteries that last longer.
• Processor with high performance.
• The quality of the camera is poor.
• Very expensive.

Lastly, the device provides 10.5 hours of continuous use on a single charge, making it an ideal device for researchers, students, and anyone who needs to be productive on the go.

Overall, I feel that the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is a great tablet for research students who want to have a device that is portable and versatile, much like a laptop.

3. Microsoft Surface Go 2

The Microsoft Surface Go 2 is an excellent budget-friendly tablet making it a perfect choice for research students.

By offering Surface Pro features at a much lower price, the company hopes to attract a broader audience and in my opinion, this is a clever step by Microsoft. In terms of performance and productivity, the Surface Go 2 has never let me down in my daily usage for research work.

The front of the tablet consists of a bright and colorful 10.5-inch screen and if you like to draw digital sketches and paintings, you can take notes and draw with the Surface Pen, but the only downside I feel is that the pen must be purchased separately.

This Surface Go 2 has a kickstand on the back, so it works great with S-Pen, allowing for a comfortable, hands-free position for taking notes or browsing the web.

In terms of battery life, I would like to state that the Surface Go 2 has one of the best capabilities in its segment. When I was taking notes and working on documents, it lasted for 10 hours on a single charge.

Despite the budget price, performance is still good, better than its predecessor and 64% faster than the Surface Pro. This is what makes the tablet an absolute value-for-money product in my eyes.

Surface Go 2 is also highly portable, lightweight, and can easily fit inside a small sleeve, making it ideal for those who need to carry their tablets on vacations.

In addition to its keyboard cover, the tablet weighs only 544 grams, which is significantly less than the weight of an iPad with the Apple Smart Keyboard .

Because the Microsoft Surface Go 2 comes with a USB Type-C port, it is future-proof and compatible with many accessories. There is a front-facing HD camera on the tablet, so video chatting and attending lectures felt effortless to me.

So let me talk about the verdict for this device. Can research students benefit greatly from buying the Microsoft Surface Go 2?

• Bigger screen.
• Core M3 processor option.
• Runs any Windows app.
• Very low performance ceiling.
• Battery Life.
• Keyboard Flex.

Well, it’s a good device for the price, and with a lightweight design and a Windows-based operating system built in, I feel it’s one of the best tablets for research students on a budget and

I can definitely recommend this one to you without any hesitation. If you wanted to know more about this device, you can check out its comprehensive article .

4. Samsung Galaxy Tab S7

I would recommend the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 as it is the best tablet for researchers and is yet another keyboard attachable tablet I reviewed that has a long list of features and specifications.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 has an 11-inch IPS LCD display which felt amazing to my eyes. With a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, the tablet’s display provides cinematic vividness, detailed gradations, and deep contrast from a very small form factor.

From the perspective of intensive multitasking and intensive app handling, I faced no problems as the device is powered by a Snapdragon 865+ Octa-Core Processor coupled with 6GB / 8GB of RAM.

With the device’s internal storage of up to 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, microSD cards can be inserted up to 1TB of storage space. Running on Android 11, the tablet runs the latest and most commonly used mobile operating system.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 comes with a 13-megapixel primary rear camera and in my opinion, it is also among the best tablets for editing photographs and taking photos , as it can capture moments with outstanding details when I took photos with it.

On one charge, the tablet gets fully charged in just over two hours and provides approximately fifteen hours of backup time according to my usage.

• Powerful Processor
• Storage space
• Updated S pen stylus.
• Keyboard need to buy seperately

There are several other productivity features included on the tablet, including multitasking mode, seamless Samsung connectivity, and DeX , which transformed my tablet into a PC.

In conclusion, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is a great tablet regardless of the age or major of the research student, thus making it one of the best tablets for note-taking in 2022.

You can also find out more about this tablet’s other features and its pro model’s specifications in our other article.

5. Apple iPad Pro 11″

In the world of tablets, Apple iPads need no introduction. Apple iPads run on the most advanced, cleanest, and most sophisticated operating systems ever created.

This iPad tablet runs on the iPad OS and comes with a large 11-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2388 x 1668 pixels. In my daily usage, I felt that the display offers the brightest and least reflective screen because it uses Apple’s most advanced display technology with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Apple claims that the new iPad Pro is faster than 92% of portable notebooks sold within the last year, which is insane considering the form factor of the device, and all that’s possible due to the A12Z Bionic chip , which is hidden under the hood of the iPad Pro.

I would also like to mention that the new iPad Pro provides incredible responsiveness and is powerful enough to handle multitasking and complex actions like editing 4K video.

With 6GB of RAM and a huge 1TB of storage space, the device is another huge plus for researchers who easily run out of storage space.

There is a single USB Type C port, and it comes with a lot of Apple’s proprietary features including FaceID. If you opt for the cellular version, it also includes a SIM card slot or choose some with SIM cards and LTE support tablets.

As a result, the tablet made it to my list of best tablets for research students with a wide selection of apps for all productivity and entertainment purposes.

With regard to note-taking, the iPad Pro supports the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil , which is more practical and easier to use than the previous generation.

In comparison with its predecessor, the 2nd Gen Pencil sticks to the side of the iPad and charges wirelessly when placed there. Apple Pencil now seamlessly switches between pen and eraser with just a tap on the Apple Pencil, so you don’t have to constantly reach for the eraser tool.

• Trackpad Support.
• Gorgeous Display.
• Faster Chipset.
• Better Cameras.
• LiDAR Scanner.
• Processor Is Not A Major Upgrade.

Now it is time for me to speak the truth, that is if you have $700 on hand to spend then you cannot find a tablet that even comes close in terms of performance and usability to the new iPad Pro. The best tablet for taking notes for research in 2022 goes to this one for sure. Apple iPad 10.2″

The Apple iPad 10.2” is a smaller, more compact, and cheaper alternative to the mentioned Apple iPad Pro and iPad Air in this list. This tablet comes with a 10.2-inch Retina Display with a resolution of 2160 x 1620 pixels that felt quite refreshing to my eyes.

As the tablet has a smaller screen size, the display has a vivid and bright viewing angle and generates very accurate colors which is a boon when you want to watch a movie after a tiring day of research and studies.

In terms of the iPad’s internals, it comes with Apple’s A13 Bionic chipset with Quad Core graphics and 3GB of RAM which helped me to multitask and handled my apps with ease.

There are also a pair of excellent cameras included with the tablet. An 8MP iSight primary camera can record 1080p Full HD video, and a 12MP secondary front-facing camera can record video in 720p.

You can choose storage options ranging from 32GB to 128GB. When I held the tablet in my hands it felt just so right thanks to its great ergonomics and pleasing aesthetics making it ideal for everyday use for research students as they can carry it around in their hands easily.

A final selling point of the iPad is its battery, which lasted me for 10 hours with continuous usage on a single charge.

In conclusion, the latest iPad is a great alternative to the iPad Pro for research students if they are not willing to burn a hole in their pockets.

Check out its other review done by our experts.

6. Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is Samsung’s latest offering, and it’s an excellent cheap tablet for students looking for a tablet without spending a lot.

On the front of the device, there is an 8.7-inch HD screen that seems spacious and big enough. At this price point, it’s excellent to have an LCD screen .

Samsung has not yet announced its stylus support for this tablet, but research students can use an aftermarket one to take notes.

The metal design gives the tablet a premium feel in my hand, and it has a boxy form factor. As a result of the tablet’s lightweight design and slim profile, it was easy for me to slip it into a bag or sleeve, and carry it around without feeling burdened.

On the base model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, I found an octa-core processor and 3GB RAM that power the tablet and are capable of running all the multitasking tasks I had on my mind.

Despite being excellent, the base variant has relatively low power output. My recommendation for researchers would be to go for the 4 GB RAM model because most of you need to deal with multiple documents while taking notes at the same time.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a great tablet for research students on a budget since it has a big screen, a nice build, and a long-lasting battery. It receives a green flag from my side.

7. Samsung Galaxy Tab A7

Located in the budget tablet category, the Samsung Tab A7 is the manufacturer’s newest product. For entertainment purposes, the Tab A7 is a great choice because it comes at an affordable price and has a gorgeous 10” screen and Dolby speakers.

I would recommend this tablet to research students who want a 10-inch tablet but don’t want to spend too much. We have sorted the best 10-inch tablets for research as well. It features a Snapdragon 662 processor along with 3GB of RAM, offering decent performance for light users, according to my usage ratings.

The tablet doesn’t come with a stylus, although one can buy it separately if they plan on taking notes.

• Vibrant, colorful display.
• Great-sounding speakers.
• Reliable battery life.
• Build quality.
• Limited RAM.
• Camera quality.

In spite of being a budget tablet, the Tab A7 offers a microSD card slot, and the storage can be expanded up to 1TB, so running out of storage is not an issue.

This tablet is a made-in-heaven choice for professional gamers. However, you can also check some other tablets that are good for XCloud gaming.

Coming to the conclusion, I think that the Tab A7 is one of the best cheap tablets for researchers like me, who are looking for a large tablet without spending a lot of money.

8. Fire HD 10

Amazon’s Kindle is famous for its feature-rich and affordable performance-based tablets, but this time the brand has introduced a much stronger and more versatile line of tablets under the Fire series.

One such offering from the company is the Fire HD 10, one of the best tablets in Amazon’s Fire line. Its soft-touch finish and decent build make it a good tablet in my opinion.

On top of the 10-inch HD IPS LCD, the Fire HD 10 has an anti-glare coating which helped me because I used this tablet to read under direct sunlight. I feel that the 1920×1200 pixel Full HD screen of this tablet makes it stand out from most other tablets in its class.

Depending on the model, the tablet can be connected to either 32GB or 64GB of storage, but microSD cards can be added up to 512GB. Because Fire OS 5 comes pre-loaded on it, it’s perfect for research students both for everyday use and for reading.

• Multitasking.
• Eye-friendly screen.
• Some time size may be an issue.
• RAM is just 3GB.

The customizable voice assistant under Alexa lets users ask questions and give commands via voice for quick and accurate answers.

It is also known for being one of the best tablets for web surfing. However, if you want to know more about tablets that are good for web surfing, you can check out our other article which is primarily based on this. 

As a whole, I would rate the Fire HD 10 as one of the best tablets for research students who are temporarily looking for a tablet for notes and E-reading, along with binge-viewing the Amazon Prime video library.

9. Lenovo Chromebook Duet

Students and research people who need to carry their daily driver to class or lectures can benefit from the Lenovo Chromebook Duet.

Moreover, it houses a detachable keyboard design that allows this tablet to double as a laptop. The keyboard connects with the tablet using a magnetic mechanism, so whenever you need to type anything, you connect it with the tablet for laptop-like functionality.

You get 10 hours of screen time, so yes the battery life needs to last. It’s built for productivity, so yes, the battery life has to last.

Design-wise, it is sleek and minimal as you would expect from a device that is intended for productivity. It looks quite similar to the iPad Pro because the bezels are thin and the corners are rounded.

As for the back, it’s unique seeing as it’s got a dual-tone design that’s made of aluminum alloy, so it does evoke a feeling of luxury.

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet is designed to perform light workloads such as presentations, spreadsheets, internet browsing, and entertainment without experiencing any lag. The machine serves its purpose perfectly, and it has all the right specifications to make it a great tool for researchers and students.

• Cheaper device.
• Weight may be an issue.

The computer boots up within a few seconds and seems to be ready whenever you need it. A Google One membership for one year, inclusive of 100GB of storage, is also included with the Lenovo Chromebook Duet.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What tablet is best for studying?

The Surface Pro 7 is a great option to check out. With a very thin laptop design and a detachable keyboard, it feels more like a laptop when you are typing on it than a tablet when you are holding it in your lap.

It has a much more powerful processor, so you can run your applications much more quickly. With its 12.3-inch display and full Windows 10 operating system, the Surface Pro 7 is a very powerful tablet.

Other tablets do not come with CPU options like the Core M3, Core i5, or Core i7 for the Surface Pro 7. Also, it has up to 32GB DDR4x RAM in comparison to other tablets with only 8GB or less.

• What is the best way to study on a tablet?

Here are a few ways to maximize your tablet’s capabilities for studying :

1. Take a look at some apps, such as the free BrainPop and the paid Crash Course, to learn more about what you are studying. In Seymour’s Science Adventure, I particularly like the interactive nature of the game.

2. It’s one of the coolest things about tablets that they have cameras that let you film yourself and then upload your videos for everyone to see. If it is a new technology for your parents as well, you can ask them to teach you.

3. Tablets are great for when you would like to do something different but still want easy access to your studies

• What is the best tablet to use every day?

The best tablet for everyday use is the iPad Air because it has many useful features that one would want to be able to do on their tablet, such as watching movies, sending emails, and playing games.

Watching shows or movies on the iPad Air is also possible thanks to its big screen. Moreover, the iPad Air has a high-resolution screen, so the movies or shows you are watching will have a lot of visual clarity..

• How do you choose between a laptop and a tablet for studying?

A laptop is best for studying because of its larger screen, which means your eyes won’t be strained.

A laptop also comes with a keyboard, so typing information on it is easier. Because a laptop display is larger than a tablet, you won’t need to strain your eyes when studying with one.

• What is the benefit of using a tablet over keeping physical notes and books?

There are a lot of messy and cumbersome things about books and papers. It can also be quite a tedious and stressful experience to carry them all day long. Over time it will cause distress to your shoulders and even worse, it may affect your career if anything goes missing.

With tablets, you can organize your entire research life into a slim, lightweight device that will store all your notes, books, and other documents in one single location. With cloud technology, you can also check them from any other device.

Giant backpacks and broken backs are a thing of the past. At least, as long as you make sure you don’t damage the tablet or let it go missing.

• What is the ideal amount of storage space for a tablet?

I have emphasized above that it really comes down to what you need. Although this is true, you should note that some tablets with less storage space are far more affordable.

If you are planning to use an external storage device or cloud storage, then you will have the opportunity to save money (apart from any subscription fees).

It should be fine to choose something like a 32GB device. For those planning not to use anything extra, I recommend you to go for the most storage space you can. Presentations, notes, and lectures have a tendency to pile up.

When you consider how research programs can last anywhere from three to five years on average, you can be sure that your devices will be clogged with data sooner or later.

Congratulations! You have reached the end of my review. I have now provided you with the best options for making your research working days as effortless and pleasant as possible for you.

Now that you know what would work best for you, it’s up to you which one would fit your needs the best. I hope you choose the best tablet according to your needs and reach the very heights of your career.

Ben Scott is a prominent technology journalist and reviewer, specializing in tablet devices. He is known for his comprehensive and unbiased reviews of tablets from various manufacturers. With a deep understanding of tablet technology, including hardware components, operating systems, and software applications, Scott provides clear and informative reviews accessible to readers of all levels of technical expertise. His attention to detail and in-depth analysis have earned him a loyal following of readers.

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The best ereader for 2024: top ebook readers from Kindle, Kobo and more

The best ereaders are perfect for reading and productivity too

• Best overall
• Best budget
• Best mid-range

Best Kindle

• Best large screen
• Best premium
• Best compact
• Best durable

Best for kids

• Best Android
• How we test

The list in brief 1. Best overall 2. Best budget 3. Best mid-range 4. Best Kindle 5. Best large screen 6. Best premium 7. Best color screen 8. Best compact 9. Best durable 10. Best for kids 11. Best Android

When it comes to choosing the best ereader for you, you are no longer restricted to Amazon 's Kindles. There are more choices to explore, with competition from Kobo, Onyx Boox and PocketBook.

There was a time when ereaders did one thing – let you read without any distractions from other apps. Today, however, you get ereaders that do more, and not just jot notes. For example, most of the higher-end Onyx Boox devices give you access to the Google Play Store, so you can use a plethora of apps on the e-paper tablet. So how do you choose the best ereader for you?

You do that by answering a few questions, questions like: is waterproofing important to you? Do you prefer to hold and operate your ereader in one hand? Do you need to borrow library books (particularly if you live outside the US)? Do you read a lot of comics and graphic novels that are better on a color screen? Do you scribble notes in margins or require something for research and journaling?

Once you've figured out what exactly you want from your reading device, you can use our list of the best ereaders below to find what's right for you and your budget. We also have suggestions for the best tablets and best Kindles , if you have a more specific idea in mind.

Whatever your needs, all ereaders use similar E Ink technology which, at the time of writing, is the Carta 1200 screen for black-and-white models, although the next-gen E Ink Carta 1300 display is making it to market. This display is responsive, and text on the screen has good contrast to make reading in any lighting condition easy. The best color display is the E Ink Kaleido 3 screen technology, although colors appear slightly muted compared to what you'd see on your phone or tablet. A new display called E Ink Gallery 3 was supposed to debut a while back that would add more saturation and sharpness, but that seems to have run into issues unknown. Until then, below are your best options.

Recent updates

May 1, 2024: With new products hitting the market, we've updated some of the categories in this buying guide with the latest ereaders where necessary. This means we have a new pick for the best overall ereader, and we've added a couple of new categories for the best compact and best large-screen ereaders too.

Sharmishta is TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor and spends most of her free time buried in a good book. It's how she got into ereaders in the first place – going digital due to a lack of space to store her books and being able to carry her entire library with her wherever she went. She's been testing ereaders for about six years now and has appeared on Singaporean radio twice to speak about these underrated tablets.

The quick list

Want to cut to the chase and find out which ereaders are the absolute best? Take a look below. You can also jump to a more detailed review of each ereader further down the page, and our price comparison tool will help you find the best deals.

Best for most people

Keeping everything that made the Kobo Libra line our pick of the best ereader for years, the Kobo Libra Colour adds a color screen to mix, plus stylus support. And at a price that's not all that much more than its predecessor, it's excellent value for a full-featured ereader.

Read more below

Best budget ereader

The 2022 edition of the Amazon Kindle base model ereader is lighter than any previous iteration. But it's not as cheap as its previous siblings. Still, despite a small markup in price, it's the best ereader for anyone on a tight budget or looking for a small, pocketable Kindle.

Best mid-range ereader

With a body made mostly from recycled plastic and a 6-inch screen that's clear, crisp and responsive, this ereader also offers waterproofing that the base Kindle model doesn't. There's also audiobook support here. In fact, it's a very worthy upgrade to the original Kobo Clara HD.

Released in 2021, the latest Kindle Paperwhite is bigger and better than any that came before. It boasts a bigger 6.8-inch screen and a bigger battery. It was also the first Kindle to get a USB-C charging port. And, if you have the extra cash, the Signature Edition also gets you wireless charging.

Best large-screen ereader

A 10.3-inch note-taking ereader is expensive, but a large screen is not just great for reading, but writing on as well. You'll find it useful if you're a student, researcher or do a lot of journaling. You can scribble in the margins of books or create notes from scratch, with a plethora of writing tools at your disposal.

Best premium ereader

It's that screen! Amazon has used the same E Ink Carta 1200 screen on its first ever note-taking ereader and yet made it look brighter than any others. It's got a 300ppi resolution as compared to the 227ppi on competing ereaders. A metal finish rounds up the luxurious reading experience on a large screen. 

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Best color ereader

It may not have all the bells and whistles of some of the other ereaders on this list, but if it's a color screen on a budget you're after, the Kobo Clara Colour is it. This compact 6-inch package is arguably the cheapest color ereader on the market, but you won't get any writing features here.

Best compact ereader

It looks remarkably like a phone but it won't make any calls. It will, however, allow you to download Android apps from the Google Play Store and read in black and white without as much eye fatigue. It's not cheap, but there's really nothing like it on the market right now.

Best durable ereader

It's got a great design that makes it stand apart from the crowd and boasts a speaker too. While the latter doesn't have great sound quality, it's the screen that's the standout here. It's got an anti-scratch coating that not a lot of other ereaders boast, in addition to the IPX8 waterproofing rating.

While the obvious choice for a kid-friendly ereader would be the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids, it isn't available in all markets. The Kobo Nia, however, is more widely available and is cheaper too. Borrowing books is easy if OverDrive support is available at your local library, but keep in mind the Nia is not waterproof.

A 7.8-inch color display, a stylus in the box and full access to the Google Play Store makes the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C one heck of an e-paper tablet. It's heavy, but that's only because of its massive battery. It's also expensive, but this Android 11 tablet will let you take notes, read and even play mobile games.

The best ereader for 2024

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Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best ereaders in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.

The best ereader overall

1. Kobo Libra Colour

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

✅ You want a mid-range ereader with plenty of features:  The balance between price and feature set is really good, offering good bang for buck.

✅ You want to operate your ereader in one hand:  The page-turn buttons and asymmetrical design makes it easy to hold and use the Libra Colour in one hand. 

✅ You want a relatively open ecosystem:  Other than its audiobooks, Kobo doesn't lock you into its own platform, allowing you to easily sideload files or borrow from a library.

❌ You plan to make a lot of notes:  The 7-inch screen feels too small to take full advantage of Kobo's Advanced Notebooks. A larger screen would be better for that.

❌ You don't need a color display: You can save money by opting for a grayscale ereader if color content isn't important to you.

Announced in April 2024, Kobo has replaced its Libra 2 ereader with a color version and also added stylus support. Launching at a price not all that much more than its predecessor, the Kobo Libra Colour takes over as our best overall ereader by offering a good balance between price and feature set.

Like the previous two Libra ereaders before it, the Libra Colour is the right size for the average reader – not too small, not too large – and it retains the asymmetric design that makes it handy to use single-handed. In fact, it's a touch lighter than its predecessor, coming in at 199.5g compared to the Libra 2's 215g.

The color screen is the headline here, though. Even if you don't read much color content like comics or graphic novels, just seeing a book cover displayed the way it's meant to be can enhance the reading experience. 

Plus you now get writing features on Kobo's mid-range ereader. You need to buy the Kobo Stylus 2 separately though, but considering the Libra Colour is launching at a price only slightly higher than the previous model, we'd say that's a fair bargain.

And not only is 85% of the ereader body made with recycled plastics, the packaging it ships in is fully recycled and recyclable, with the ink used to print the images and text on the box made from soy, which makes it biodegradable. It's also IPX8-rated waterproof.

Kobo is also hoping to make this device repairable in the near future, partnering with iFixit to provide users with repair kits and guides to extend the lifespan of the device. There's still no information on how this will work or what kind of kits are going to be available, but it's still a change in the right direction.

Everything else we love about the more premium Kobo devices is here – 32GB of storage, access to OverDrive, Pocket and Kobo Plus directly from the tablet, plus cloud file transfer via Google Drive and Dropbox. File and font support is also still pretty good.   

Read our full Kobo Libra Colour review

• ^ Back to the top

The best budget ereader

2. Amazon Kindle (2022)

✅ You want a compact ereader:  At 6 inches, the Kindle can fit into any bag, even a large pocket, so you can take it anywhere.

✅ You're budget-conscious:  It might be more expensive than its predecessor, but it's still well priced considering it's got more features than the older model.

❌ You want a larger screen:  As portable as it is, you may find a 6-inch screen too small as you could be turning pages frequently, thus eating into the battery life.

❌ You don't want to spend extra on a case:  There's not a lot of grip here, which could make this small ereader feel insecure in your hand. A case will help add that grip.

It took Amazon about five years to update the base Kindle model, but what an absolutely fantastic upgrade the 2022 edition is! A different blue color than the usual black is an option and, like the Kobo Clara 2E, is partially made from recycled plastics. 

A slight design refresh aside, the screen is way better now than the older Kindle models, with the E Ink Carta 1200 tech adding snappier responses, clarity and, more importantly, a 300ppi resolution (a massive jump from the older 167ppi) that really makes everything on screen pop. The display even supports a dark mode.

However, there's still no way to change light temperature here, and it also misses out on any kind of waterproofing. We also found that the smooth rear panel makes the 2022 Kindle a little insecure in the hand, and you'd likely want a case to get some grip. Plus the 6-inch screen could be too small for anyone who likes the font size on the larger side, which means you're turning pages quite often, eating into the battery life. Still, the small size makes it very portable indeed.

While we think the waterproofing and the additional features of any Kobo ereader make the Clara 2E a more worthwhile option for a small-sized ereader, the Kindle is cheaper in comparison and it would be remiss of us to leave it out of this buying guide.

Read our full Amazon Kindle (2022) review and find out how it compares in our Amazon Kindle (2022) vs Kobo Clara 2E guide

The best mid-range ereader

3. Kobo Clara 2E

✅ You like eco-friendly products:  Environmentally-conscious readers will be glad to know this ereader is made from a lot of recycled plastic, including some that were bound for our oceans.

✅ Features matter to you:  It might be another 6-inch ereader, but you get waterproofing, Pocket and OverDrive support, and much more for your money. 

❌ You want good battery life:  While you can get up to four weeks of battery life between charges, its performance can be a little inconsistent.

The Kobo Clara 2E is a worthy upgrade over its predecessor, the Clara HD, getting the E Ink Carta 1200 screen tech, plus double the internal storage space to 16GB. Where the predecessor had no waterproofing, the 2E carries an IPX8 rating, so you can read in the bath or the pool and not worry too much. 

Kobo says the body is made out of recycled plastic, 85% of it to be precise, 10% of which were ocean-bound plastics. It was the first eco-conscious ereader to hit shelves.

Other updates over the older model include the now standard USB-C charging port and Bluetooth connectivity so you can listen to audiobooks (albeit only those purchased from the Kobo Store).  All the other usual Kobo perks are here: adjustable light temperature, OverDrive support for library books, wide font and file support, and a very streamlined user interface that makes it easy to navigate through the device's features.

While we found the battery life a little inconsistent, it could just have been teething issues on our review device only, or easily fixable via a firmware update. Overall, though, it's a huge upgrade over the older Clara HD and worth every penny if you're after a very portable and capable ereader that isn't caught up in a closed ecosystem like Amazon's.

Read our full Kobo Clara 2E review

The best Kindle

4. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)

✅ You predominantly source titles from the Kindle Store:  If you're already locked into Amazon's ecosystem, the Paperwhite offers a good balance between price and feature set.

✅ Screen size matters:  A bright and larger screen means your reading experience is better any time and anywhere. 

❌ You have your own collection of ePUBs:  While you can sideload the epub file format now to a Kindle, you still have to jump through a hoop or two.

❌ You've got a tight budget:  Opting for a smaller screen will save you money and get you similar features too.

We still think the Kindle Paperwhite is the best Kindle you can buy, thanks to its water-resistant design and crisp, bright E Ink display. The basic Kindle 2022 is catching up fast, but the Paperwhite's 6.8-inch display is a great size for reading on as compared to a 6-inch tablet.

We like the adjustable warm light for reading in the dark, and the slim design with a flush screen is appealing and easy to read.

At launch this only had 8GB of storage, but in 2022 Amazon added a 16GB model to the mix, making it all the more desirable. Or you can shell out for the 32GB Paperwhite Signature Edition if you have the cash to spare. The Signature Edition also adds wireless charging, a unique ereader feature. We don't think that's terribly necessary though, so we rate the standard Paperwhite higher once you factor in the price. 

Even the standard Paperwhite is a little pricey for a Kindle, but perhaps a refreshed model will see more features added without the price hiking up, thus adding more value for money. Even so, the Paperwhite is an excellent ereader, and our pick of the best Kindle, particularly if you're already embedded in Amazon's ecosystem (aka already subscribed to Kindle Unlimited and Audible).  

Read our full Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review

The best large-screen ereader

5. Kobo Elipsa 2E

✅ You take a lot of notes or are into journaling:  The note-taking features here are par excellence, particularly the Advanced Notebook option, which makes it the perfect replacement for pen and paper.

✅ You want your scribbles exported as typed text: While handwriting recognition is available on other models, Kobo does it well... just as long you're not scribbling badly.  

✅ You want a rechargable stylus: Kobo's updated stylus can be charged via USB-C, making it lighter and longer lasting.

❌ Writing is a superfluous feature:  Considering its feature set, the Elipsa 2E offers good value for money, but only if you will make full use of its writing capabilities.

❌ Looks matter:  It might have great features, but the Elipsa 2E is just another plastic tablet.

If you can't decide between a tablet or an ereader, the Amazon Kindle Scribe might be a tempting option, but Kobo Elipsa 2E wins here for a few simple reasons.

It offers a bit more open ecosystem than a Kindle, with plenty of file and font support, plus the usual Kobo perks of Dropbox connectivity (to transfer your notes and ebooks wirelessly), OverDrive support (to borrow library ebooks) and the baked-in Pocket app to read long-form web articles offline. 

And, if you will make full use of its extensive writing tools, there's a lot more value for money here than the Kindle Scribe or the Onyx Boox Note Air series tablets.

Its 10.3-inch screen is great for reading, particularly if you're into comics and graphic novels (albeit displayed in black and white), and an upgraded processor means it's a lot faster and more responsive than its predecessor (we're replacing the original Kobo Elipsa with the new model on our best ereader list for that reason).

Our only gripe with the new Elipsa 2E is that it no longer ships with a sleepcover like the older model did, meaning you're spending a little extra to ensure the redesigned Kobo Stylus 2 – which is also better than the older pen Kobo made – is stowed away securely at all times.

Read our full Kobo Elipsa 2E review

The best premium ereader

6. Amazon Kindle Scribe

✅ You want a bright screen:  With an ambient light sensor on board, the Scribe's screen is hands-down the best ereader display on the market.

✅ You deal with a lot of MS Word and PDF files:  You can edit both Microsoft Word files and PDFs easily, then export back to your computer. 

❌ You need a full writing suite:  As lovely as the screen is to write on, the Scribe's writing features are comparatively limited.

❌ Money is tight:  Getting the best reading experience possible means shelling out a decent chunk of change, especially if you throw in the optional sleepcover too.

If money is no object and you want the most luxurious reading experience a digital ebook reader can give you, then the Amazon Kindle Scribe takes over from the Kindle Oasis . That's because the Oasis is now aging, lacking the speed of the newer, larger model.

The metal body of the Kindle Scribe is reminiscent of the Oasis, but lacks the two page-turn buttons on the larger bezel, but that 10.3-inch screen is just beautiful to read on. Admittedly it's not quite as portable and can feel heavy when held in one hand, it's still marvelous to use... and write on.

Yes, like the Kobo Elipsa 2E, the Scribe ships with a stylus for writing and drawing. At launch, its writing capabilities were very limited, but Amazon has slowly but steadily been expanding its flagship ereader's features, so much so that you can actually read Microsoft Word documents on it. Signing on documents in PDF format is a breeze – just email it to your associated Kindle email address. And the stylus glides beautifully over that bright screen – it's hands-down the best writing experience according to our review. That said, we'd still recommend the Kobo Elipsa 2E as the better writing tablet because of its Advanced Notebook feature.

No matter how wonderful the writing experience and how great it is to read on, the Scribe is expensive. So you could still opt for the Kindle Oasis for a premium reading experience if your main criteria is digital reading and portability, but there's no getting away from the fact that the large screen has some serious oomph.

Read our full Amazon Kindle Scribe review

The best color ereader

7. Kobo Clara Colour

✅ You want an affordable color ereader: Arguably cheaper than any other color ereader out there, the Clara Colour is making color content more accessible.

✅ You want to borrow library books:  Whether ebooks or digital magazines, if your local public library supports OverDrive, you can save money by borrowing titles.

❌ You want a stylus:  This is an entry-level ereader, with no writing features.

❌  You need a larger screen:  A 6-inch display isn't for everyone. If you think you need more screen real estate, opt for a 7-inch ereader instead.

When it comes to color ereaders, it's hard to recommend any particular one as the displayed colors on all of them look slightly washed out. That's not the fault of the ereader; that's just the tech. However, if you ask us, we'd pick the Kobo Clara Colour as arguably the cheapest mainstream color ereader available right now.

While the 6-inch color display may not be ideal for comics or graphic novels, it's still a good entry point to making color content accessible. In fact, we think it would be a good first ereader for someone looking to get started with digital reading. Sure, there are cheaper grayscale options available, but something has got be said about seeing a book cover displayed in color on an ereader.

And, as a Kobo ereader, it's got a lot more going for it with a relatively more open ecosystem than Amazon's Kindle, plus good file and font support. 16GB of onboard storage, Bluetooth connectivity to pair wireless headphones for audiobook enjoyment and IPX8 waterproofing rounds up its other important features. 

Importantly, it gets an upgraded processor that improves performance over the Clara 2E and the Kindle base model significantly.

Like the Libra Colour (listed above) it was launched alongside, the Clara Colour has also been made with recycled plastic and comes in fully recycled and recyclable packing. It's also supposed to be repairable but we're still waiting on confirmation on how exactly Kobo's new partnership with iFixit will work.

Read our in-depth Kobo Clara Colour review

The best compact ereader

8. Onyx Boox Palma

✅ You want a phone-sized ereader: The only e-paper device to mimic the look and size of a phone, the Palma easily slips into a pocket.

✅ You want access to Android apps:  From reading apps to mobile games, you get full access to the Google Play Store as the device runs Android 11.

❌  You need a larger screen:  A 6.13-inch display with a 2:1 aspect ratio isn't for everyone.

❌  You want something cheaper: Being an unique device and boasting a lot of features makes this a rather expensive – and novel – purchase.

The Onyx Boox Palma is a unique device that can easily be mistaken for a phone. Except it won't make any calls and it's got an e-paper screen. It's even lighter than some of the phones it mimics, making it the perfect device for anyone looking to move away from reading on an LCD or OLED screen to a more comfortable E Ink display.

It also has a lot of onboard storage, but if 128GB isn't enough for you, there's also a microSD tray to expand the capacity. That means you can load up thousands of ebooks, several audiobooks, music files (yes, there's a player app built in) and anything else you can think of to take on your travels without affecting your baggage allowance. It lacks waterproofing, though.

Like any phone today, there's a built-in speaker and, also like a phone, it sounds better if you use the Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity to pair wireless headphones to enjoy your music and audiobooks.

Running a fat-free version of Android 11, the Palma gets you access to the Play Store and, with a pretty powerful CPU and decent graphics, you can actually play some mobile games – it really is impressive how well the screen handles graphics... albeit in black and white only.

There really is a lot to recommend the Palma, but it would have been a better device if Onyx had added stylus support too. It would also make it easier to justify the high price tag as there are 6-inch ereaders that are a lot cheaper than it. However, there's nothing quite like it on the market and that alone could be justification enough for some users.

Read our in-depth Onyx Boox Palma review

The best durable ereader

9. PocketBook Era

✅ You want a good-looking ereader:  With cut-off corners and a metallic trim, the Era is a fine-looking tablet with a design that no other brand can offer.

✅ You don't want to spend on a case:  Sleepcovers can protect your screen from scratches, but this ereader allows you to save that little bit of money.

✅ You don't like wearing headphones:  There's a built-in speaker that can be useful for listening to audiobooks without pairing a set of Bluetooth headphones.

❌ You live outside of the European Union:  Purchasing content from the device is difficult if you live outside of select European countries, so you will need to source your books from elsewhere and sideload.

❌ You want a streamlined UX:  PocketBook's user interface can be a little clunky if you've experienced setups on other ereaders before.

The PocketBook Era is our favourite ereader from the brand. It looks gorgeous and far nicer than other ereaders. And although it feels heavier than other 7-inch ereaders, the weight is well-distributed. The display looks good with an additional layer on the latest E Ink Carta 1200 display also adding scratch-resistance to its IPX8 waterproofing. Low on-screen contrast is a downside but you learn to live with it and, honestly, it won't bother you for the most part.

Elsewhere, the PocketBook Era has a built-in speaker that you'll probably rarely use, although Bluetooth connectivity will let you pair a set of wireless headphones if you're listening to audiobooks (or music – yes, you can load it up with MP3 files but this takes up a lot of storage). We're big fans of its long-lasting battery life, although decent performance is mildly hampered by a clunky interface. 

There are four physical buttons on this device, sitting right at the edge of the larger bezel, and they're snappy enough to work well. However, the positioning of the buttons can be a little tiring on the fingers when used one-handed.

Its unique chassis shape and metallic trim make PocketBook Era an attractive ereader, even if it's flawed, and it would be remiss of us to not include it here as an alternate to the likes of the Kobo Libra 2 or the Kindle Oasis. 

Read our full PocketBook Era review

The best ereader for kids

10. Kobo Nia

✅ Affordability is important:  It's one of the cheapest ereaders on the market today.

✅ You live outside the US:  Considering the Kindle Paperwhite Kids can be purchased in some markets and will allow you to borrow books from an American library, the Nia is the better choice where the Amazon option isn't available. 

❌ Waterproofing is important:  Accidents can happen and if you think that's a big possibility with your kids, you might want to get an ereader with an IPX8 rating.

It might be getting a little long in the tooth now but the Kobo Nia is a good option if you want your kids to get into digital reading. While Amazon has a Kindle designed specifically for kids, our pick goes to the Kobo as it's more widely available. Moreover, like with any Kobo ereader, the option to borrow library books is built in, as long your local public library has OverDrive support.

With Amazon having replaced its base Kindle model in 2022 with a more expensive (but improved) upgrade, it makes the Kobo Nia one of the more affordable ereaders on the market today. 

That said, the Nia isn't as full featured as new ereaders. It lacks waterproofing, which could be an important consideration if you're shopping for your kids (you could opt for the Kobo Clara 2E if this is important), and there's no Bluetooth support for audiobooks.

It also has older screen technology, but don't hold that against it. It still boasts a decent 212ppi resolution with good contrast, so text is clear. And, if you'd like to get your kids access to Kobo Plus, that can be done directly from the device itself as well.

The best Android ereader

11. Onyx Boox Tab Mini C

✅ You read a lot of comics and graphic novels:  Sometimes you really just need a color screen to appreciate a particular title.

✅ You want access to the Google Play Store: Running Android 11, you can download apps from the Google Store, including mobile games and other reading applications. 

✅ Note taking is important to you: It might be overkill but Onyx's note-taking native app is arguably the most full-featured option available.

❌ You want an easy-to-use interface:  There's a plethora of customizations available here and that can get overwhelming.

❌  You already own a multimedia tablet:  Fans of comics and graphic novels who already own an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab won't enjoy a color ereader as much.

With a color screen, stylus support and running slimmed-down version of (the now dated) Android 11, there's a lot going on with the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C. But it's the operating system that makes it easy to recommend. Not only does it come with some decent native apps for reading, note-taking and browsing the internet, you can download any Android app you deem useful onto the device. This includes YouTube if you want to watch videos... in black and white and looking like the moving pictures from a newspaper in the Harry Potter movie franchise.

You can always download the Kindle or Kobo app to read your existing library if you already have one, or opt to use any note-taking application you might like. 

The 7.8-inch display is a good size for comics and graphic novels, although the device itself is rather heavy to hold for long reading sessions. And it gets heavier if you opt to use a sleepcover for it, which you will need to ensure the stylus is securely stuck to the side of the tablet as the magnet isn't very strong.

The weight, though, is mostly due to the 5,000mAh battery pack that gives you 8-10 weeks of use on a single charge – that's a lot! Even when multitasking with it, the battery performance is quite impressive. 

The one thing to note here is that because of its larger screen size compared to the two other color ereaders on this list, the pixel density is lower, meaning the colors appear less saturated. If you already own a multi-media tablet like an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab, you're better off using those instead if saturated colors are important to you.

There's even built-in speakers here, so you can listen to music – there's a native player here too – or audiobooks. The sound quality isn't great, but there aren't too many ebook reading tablets with speakers.

As good as the Tab Mini C is as an e-paper tablet, it is expensive and not widely available, which is a real shame. But we appreciate how wonderful the contrast on screen is, making it a pleasure to read, even in the brightest of sunlight.

Read our in-depth  Onyx Boox Tab Mini C review

Ereader FAQs

What is an ereader.

It might look like a boring tablet, but an ereader is designed specifically only for digital versions of books, whether novels or comics, fiction or non-fiction. All ereaders – also called ebook readers – use a special display that makes reading in any kind of ambient lighting condition easy. These displays have a look that resembles the texture of paper (not the feel), and that's easy on the eyes.

Since they perform only a single task – display ebooks – they don't use powerful processors and can be slow to refresh. However, this doesn't affect the performance of an ereader and, in fact, allows the battery life to go on for weeks on a single charge.

An ereader typically comes with 8GB of storage, if not more, and can store hundreds of titles. That means you can carry your entire library with you on holiday.

Do you really need an ereader?

Whether you need a dedicated ereader will depend on how much you read books and whether you're comfortable spending the extra money on a reading device. If you're an avid reader and keep buying new titles, you'll find that going digital can help you save on storage space for your books as well as save you money in the long run as ebooks are typically cheaper than the printed versions. Admittedly you'll be spending a decent chunk of change on the ereader itself, but you'll find that it pays for itself soon enough. Moreover, some ereaders allow you to borrow library books, which can save you even more. 

And if you have the habit of reading during your morning commute, an ereader is a lot lighter than carrying an actual book.

It can be argued that reading on your phone or tablet is just as good, and while that's true for the most part, the e-paper screen on an ereader is designed to reduce eye strain. So if you read a lot before bed, it's definitely worth considering an ereader, particularly one that allows you to adjust its frontlight's temperature to warmer hues.

Kindle vs Kobo: what is the difference?

While the devices themselves are largely similar, there are a few differences between Kindles and Kobo ereaders. For starters, the former is widely available in any market Amazon operates in, but Kindles can lock you into Amazon's ecosystem by pushing you to purchase titles only from the Kindle Store.

Kobo also has its own bookstore accessible via its ereaders, but the ecosystem is a lot more open and sideloading books you already own is a lot easier. Kobo's file support is wider, as is its font support. In fact, you can even sideload Amazon's dedicated fonts like Bookerly and Ember if you prefer them. 

Then there's borrowing library books – while both devices give you that option, Kindle users can only do so if they live in the US. If you happen to reside elsewhere, you might want to consider a Kobo, provided your local library has OverDrive support (you can ask them before you decide to buy an ereader). 

Kobo devices are typically a little more expensive, but then you also get more device choices from the Japanese-Canadian ereader brand. And if you're after a note-taking device, we think Kobo is the way to go.

Find out more about how to choose between a Kindle and a Kobo ereader . 

Kindle vs Kobo: which one should you buy?

Pretty much everything about the two platforms is competitive, including pricing, so the choice of device ultimately rests on where you live and how you plan on getting your books. 

If you plan on buying books from the device maker's service, both are great. We like the Kobo hardware and software a bit better here at TechRadar, but the Amazon Kindle Store is much larger. 

If you'd like to borrow free books from your library, the Kobo is the better choice for more regions. Kindle devices can borrow from public libraries, but that service only works in the US currently. Kobo devices can borrow in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore (be sure to check with the library of choice first though). 

Moreover, at the time of writing, there are more Kobo models to choose from than Kindle, although there's no arguing that the latter is, hands down, the most popular brand and is synonymous with the word 'ereader'.

Which ereader is better for library books?

If your main source of reading material would ebooks from your local library, then it's best to opt for a Kindle or a Kobo device. Both with allow you to access your local library's ebook catalogue from anywhere (as long as you are connected to a Wi-Fi network), but keep in mind that Kindles only support borrowing from American libraries. If you live outside of the US, a Kobo would be a better option.

Kobo devices work with the OverDrive service that lets you borrow in regions including the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore (amongst others). If you want to own your books, the Amazon marketplace is much larger than Kobo, and has a huge self-publishing component for finding independent authors. 

Can I listen to audiobooks on an ereader?

As long as an ereader has Bluetooth connectivity, you should be able to pair a set of wireless headphones to listen to supported audio files. While brands like Onyx and PocketBook will allow you to sideload audio files, including audiobooks, Kindle and Kobo devices only support those purchased from their respective stores.

In fact, some Onyx and PocketBook ereaders have built-in speakers, so you may not even need headphones to listen. However, don't expect great sound quality from them because, like your phone, they're small drivers and the sound would be better via a connected pair of headphones.

Also keep in mind that audio files are typically larger than ebook formats, so if you're storing a lot of these on your device, you'll need to keep an eye on how much space you've got left. 

What fonts can my ereader support?

Most ereaders will support some basic fonts natively and you won't need to tinker with them at all. However, if you do want to change things up, a Kindle or a Kobo is a good idea as they both make it easy to change fonts on the device.

You'll find that the Kindles have some custom fonts designed by Amazon, with Bookerly and Ember being the most popular ones. We found that the list of fonts on Kindles is extensive enough that we didn't find the need to sideload more, but you can if you need to.

Kobo devices also have their own set of default fonts, but there's no rule against sideloading more, including Amazon's own custom ones like Bookerly. And sideloading is as easy as plugging your Kobo ereader into a computer and moving your desired font to the device's fonts folder.

What is the difference between an ereader and a tablet?

If you already own a tablet – whether an iPad or an Android – do you really need another device for reading digital books? An ereader has limitations, but for reading it can be far superior to a more extensible tablet.

1. E Ink technology The main difference between an ereader and an iPad you will notice immediately. The ereader screen is almost always grayscale, using special E Ink technology that is very crisp and specialized for fonts and text. It refreshes relatively slowly and it sometimes leaves a trace (ghosting) that needs to be refreshed. 

E-ink screens also don't flicker like a normal screen, making it more comfortable to read for a longer period of time.

2. Battery life While you might hope to get a day of use out of your iPad, an ereader tablet measures battery life in weeks. Because the screen only refreshes when you turn the page, it draws very little power. Our favorite ereaders have a backlit screen, but those LED lights don't use much battery. If you read for 30 minutes a day or so, you can get a few months of battery life with our top pick devices. 

3. Blue light filter While dark mode has become quite common in recent times and many modern electronic screens automatically adjust their displays depending on ambient lighting, there's no filter to reduce blue light. The best ereaders, however, use front lights with a white to yellow hue that's  better for the eyes (and your sleep pattern) as compared to phones and tablets.

4. Affordable and convenient If you are mostly reading books, an ereader tablet is a bargain over an iPad. The base model Amazon Kindle 2022 is a bare fraction of the price of an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab, while large-screen ereaders like the Kindle Scribe and Kobo Elipsa can be had for an equivalent price or for not that much more than a base model iPad (depending on where you live). If books are your main thing, stick with an ereader and save money versus a tablet. 

How we test the best ereaders

There might be ereaders aplenty in some markets, but not all of them are available extensively. So our first step in testing an ereader is to determine whether it can be purchased by a wider audience than just a single market, even if it's an import. 

If an E Ink tablet meets that criteria, we then test ereaders based on the display and specs – aka the responsiveness of the touchscreen as well as clarity, plus things like storage and Bluetooth connectivity. This, in combination with its price tag, will determine its value-for-money rating, which is quite important in our books.

We follow that up with how user-friendly the interface is and whether there's easy access to ebooks and audiobooks via a native store or third-party apps. We also take into consideration file support for each device, which is necessary if you already have an existing library of digital books.

With several years under the belt in testing ereaders in all shapes and sizes, we're confident that our star-rated reviews are the best indication of quality and usefulness of the ereaders in this list. There are no sales/marketing teams involved in our verdicts, which means if we don't like it, we simply won't recommend it. 

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While she's happiest with a camera in her hand, Sharmishta's main priority is being TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor, looking after the day-to-day functioning of the Australian, New Zealand and Singapore editions of the site, steering everything from news and reviews to ecommerce content like deals and coupon codes. While she loves reviewing cameras and lenses when she can, she's also an avid reader and has become quite the expert on ereaders and E Ink writing tablets, having appeared on Singaporean radio to talk about these underrated devices. Other than her duties at TechRadar, she's also the Managing Editor of the Australian edition of Digital Camera World, and writes for Tom's Guide and T3.

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The Best Ebook Readers

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Best Overall Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021, 11th Generation) Read more

A Color Kindle Alternative Kobo Libra Colour Read more

A Cheaper Color Screen Without Notes Kobo Clara Colour Read more

The Most Affordable Amazon Kindle (2022, 11th Generation) Read more

I dearly love a paperback book that I can bend, touch, smell, and display on my bookshelf when I’m done. But there’s no doubt that ebook readers (also called e-readers) make life easier—they might just make you read more too . E-readers let you carry thousands of books or dozens of audiobooks in a single, slim, rectangular tablet; they have paper-like screens that are easy on the eyes; and they won’t inundate you with distracting notifications. Books can also be expensive and take up a lot of physical space, but that’s not a problem with ebooks. Even better, you can check out digital books from a library without leaving your house.

Naturally, when you hear “e-reader,” you might think Kindle. Amazon makes the best ebook reader, which is why we have a separate Best Kindles guide that breaks down the entire lineup. But there are a few Kindle alternatives out there in case you don’t want to support Amazon or you just want a different set of features. WIRED’s Gear team has spent months, if not years, reading on these tablets—these are our favorites.

Updated May 2024: We've added Kobo's new color E Ink readers, the Libra Colour and Clara Colour. We're also currently testing Nook's newest Lenovo reading tablet.

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Best Overall

Amazon's Kindles are the best e-readers around. It's dead simple to get new ebooks from Amazon directly, and the Overdrive integration makes it easy to check out books from a local library instantly. E Ink screens in most ebook readers are a little slow when you interact with them, but Kindles are some of the most responsive devices on the market. It's worth noting that Kindles almost always see steep discounts a few times a year, particularly on Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday , so try to wait for a sale.

Any of the models in Amazon's current lineup are better than the competition, but the Kindle Paperwhite is my favorite. I reviewed the Signature Edition ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ), but the standard $150 model is quite capable too. I recommend paying a little extra for no ads. Both are waterproof, so you can read in the pool or tub without worry, and the 6.8-inch screens also have adjustable warm lighting so you can read in bed. The Signature supports wireless charging, has a front light that can adjust automatically, and has more storage at 32 gigabytes. But the 16 GB on the standard Paperwhite is plenty—it can hold thousands of books. There's a Paperwhite Kids Edition too, which we recommend below.

Check out our Best Kindles guide for more advice and recommendations.

A Color Kindle Alternative

Kobos have always been a close second to Kindle. The newest Libra Colour ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ) brings it even closer, thanks to a fun color E Ink screen. You can highlight and mark up book pages, and also utilize the notebook section for notes, to-do lists, or doodles. It's pricey, and you'll need the $70 Stylus 2 for writing. It's still cheaper than the brand's Elipsa 2E and the Kindle Scribe, which are both meant for note-taking.

The Libra Colour is waterproof, has physical page-turn buttons (a feature I really like), and is made from recycled materials. There's Bluetooth support so you can connect headphones and listen to audiobooks, and Kobo slates have Overdrive integration, which makes reading library books simple. You get 32 gigabytes of storage and a speedy 7-inch screen, which has an adjustable front light and even a dark mode that offers up white text on a black background to make reading in the dark easier on the eyes. If you prefer, you can even read it in landscape mode. It's also repairable .

A Cheaper Color Screen Without Notes

If you like the idea of a color screen but aren't going to write or doodle on an e-reader, consider Kobo's Clara Colour. It's more affordable, but you still get to see book covers or graphic novels in full color and you can highlight in color too. Some books weren't as easy on the eyes, like the blue and yellow color scheme of Curious George , but that was one small gripe in an otherwise seamless reading experience.

The Clara lacks page-turn buttons, but the 6-inch screen size is comfortable for one-hand use. It has 16 gigabytes of storage rather than 32, but that's still about 12,000 books. There's Overdrive integration and Bluetooth support. It's also waterproof, made from recycled materials, and is repairable . There are several other Kobo devices available too, including a new black and white Clara.

The Most Affordable

If you want to spend the least amount of money, you'll still get a great e-reader with the 16-gigabyte base Kindle. It's 6-inch screen is the smallest of its lineup, but that means it's easy to hold and read with one hand while sipping an ice tea with the other. It's not waterproof, however, so no ice teas on a pool float. And there's no warm lighting or auto-adjusting light option here. Otherwise, you get the same ease of use as with any Kindle, and you can listen to audiobooks if you connect headphones or a speaker via Bluetooth.

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Nooks Work Too

Barnes and Noble now has three Nook Glowlights available and a new Nook tablet made in collaboration with Lenovo (we're testing that one now). The 4 Plus is the only waterproof option, and it has the biggest screen at 7.8-inches, with 32 gigs of storage. That screen size is a pleasure to read on. I love the physical page-turn buttons, and there's a headphone jack for listening to audiobooks—you can also connect a Bluetooth pair. It was often slower than my Kindle, though, and it had moments of freezing too.

Barnes and Noble has a large library with cheap and even free ebooks, but it isn't as good a selection as Kindle Unlimited—if you're following recommendations on #booktok, you might not find everything here. Also, the process of trying to get a book from the library on a Nook is beyond frustrating. Depending on what type of computer you have, you'll need to download either Adobe Digital Editions or Android File Transfer , before connecting the device to your computer physically, and then transfer the files. It feels very old-school when Kindle makes this process instantaneous.

You don't necessarily need a kid-specific e-reader, so you should go with whichever one you can afford. However, if you're like us and prefer Kindle's interface and ease of use, the brand has two specific models for tots. Both come with a free cover, a year of Amazon Kids+ , and a two-year worry-free warranty—if your kids are particularly accident-prone, you may appreciate this. A parent dashboard lets you adjust age filters and monitor reading progress too. Both come with their internet browsers restricted by default, and you can disable it if you’d like.

The Paperwhite Kids ($170) is waterproof and has the same adjustable warm light that the standard Paperwhite has—it also gets bright, with 17 LEDs. The newest base Kindle Kids ($120) is $50 less for the same 16 gigabytes of storage, but it isn't waterproof and doesn't have adjustable warm light.

For Heavy Note Taking

We’ve tried a few e-ink tablets meant for taking “handwritten” notes that can be organized and searched digitally. E-readers with that capability still prioritize reading. If the Kobo Libra Colour isn't big enough for your note-taking needs, you might prefer these two. The downside is the prices.

The $340 Kindle Scribe ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ) and $400 Kobo Elipsa 2E ( 7/10, WIRED Review ) are just plain fun, thanks to the included styluses that allow you to mark up PDFs, create notebooks, and doodle. Both have whopping 10.3-inch screens for easy reading and writing. Kindles generally have nicer interfaces, but Kobo has one big advantage—it lets you mark up books directly, while the Scribe only allows you to make sticky notes.

You Can Use Your Phone or Tablet

You don't have to buy a separate device to read ebooks. Smartphones and tablets are perfectly viable for this purpose. You can use Amazon's Kindle app to read ebooks ( iOS , Android ), and even download OverDrive's Libby app ( iOS , Android ) for library book access anywhere as well. However, the E Ink screens found in e-readers are just plain nicer to look at—there's no getting around that fact. I also like that these devices are one-trick ponies; there are no notifications to be distracted by or social media feeds to doomscroll through .

If you'd still rather have one smart device you can read on and use for other purposes, take a look at our Best Tablets and Best iPads guides for recommendations.

How to Get Ebooks for Free

Ebooks can be cheap, but the cost can add up if you're rapidly flying through the digital pages. You should take advantage of your library card and check out ebooks instantly from the comfort of your home. We have a detailed guide that explains how to get free library books , but most library branches use OverDrive , often through the Libby app, making it quite simple. These ebooks are automatically removed from your device and returned to the library when they're due.

There are a few Kindle-specific ways to get free ebooks too, if that's the device you end up with. You can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for $12 a month , which includes millions of titles, including audiobooks and magazines. Amazon's Prime Reading also offers a handful of free books every month, which is good to know if you already have a Prime account . You can even lend books to friends and family for a short while (or have them share a book with you).

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The best eReaders in 2024, tested and reviewed

By Amanda Reed , Brandt Ranj , Stan Horaczek

Posted on Sep 7, 2021 4:30 PM EDT

20 minute read

Best overall

Kindle Oasis

Best for pdf.

Kindle Paperwhite

Best budget.

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›

An eReader is more than a convenient way to carry an entire collection of James Paterson novels onto an airplane. Today’s eReader screens are stunning, with sharp text that looks just like real ink and paper. These displays separate eReaders from tablets, making them the best way to read digital books. Modern eReaders are friendly and inviting. They encourage reading and provide services and apps you won’t find on traditional smartphones and tablets. With the best eReaders, you’ll access books, audiobooks, magazines, and more in a format dedicated to useability and your eyes.

• Best overall: Kindle Oasis
• Best for kids: Kindle Kids
• Best for seniors: Amazon Kindle
• Best for PDFs: Kindle Paperwhite
• Best for manga: Kobo Sage
• Best for library books: Kobo Clara 2E
• Best for students: Kindle Scribe
• Best color eReader: BOOX Note Air 3 C
• Best Kobo eReader:   Kobo Libra 2
• Best budget: Kobo Nia

How we chose the best eReaders

The writers and editors working on this article have spent thousands of hours reading on paper books and electronic devices. We’ve felt the sting of tired eyes and are glad to leave the world of papercuts behind. 

Taking a critical look at eReaders starts with display clarity. These devices are designed for easy reading, and the best of the bunch must have an impressive, crisp look as close to analog ink and paper text as possible. 

Most eReaders on the market offer similar stats for battery life and storage space, so we focused on the factors that separate the readers—namely screen lights, screen size, and file options. An eReader must be as easy to see as it is to navigate, and generic budget-priced eReaders are notoriously clunky with interfaces that look more like a calculator screen than a soothing, inviting digital library. We ran through the eReader menus, checking for speed and intuitiveness. If we hit a roadblock and had to click the “help” function to figure out what to do, it was a big red flag for casual readers. 

Lastly, we considered price. Devices over $250 must have something special to offer (like a color display), or why spend the money? And devices less than $70 seem sketchy from the start and will likely crash regularly. 

The best eReaders: Reviews & Recommendations

Today’s eReaders are sophisticated tablets capable of displaying text and images in a wide variety of eye-friendly ways. But with so many eReaders on the market, finding the device that suits your needs and reading habits can be difficult. Do you want an eReader with a clean, simple interface? Do you want an eReader with a lot of file options? Do you want an eReader for teens or younger children? One of the choices below should check all your boxes so you can spend more time ereading and less time searching the internet for the best eReaders.

Waterproof champ

Why it made the cut : Amazon’s newest Kindle Oasis eReader is the best eReader overall because it adds even more lighting options for a variety of color temperatures and displays crisp text on a big screen ideal for tired and weary eyes. 

• Screen size: 7-inch screen 
• Waterproof: Yes
• Resolution: 300 ppi
• Front light: 25 LED lights
• Storage: 8 or 32 GB
• Big, beautiful screen
• More LED lights than any other eReader
• Controls feel great
• No speaker or headphone jack (Bluetooth headphones only)
• Price is steep
• Not a huge upgrade from the previous Oasis eReader

The latest Kindle Oasis might be the best eReader overall. The screen is bigger than the standard 6-inch display of most Readers, with a resolution of 300 ppi (pixels per inch)—the sweet spot for crisp text. And the new LED lights can be automatically adjusted to suit your eyes and environment. The result is a stunning display that looks just as good in a dark room as on a sunny beach. 

The Oasis is not cheap, costing twice as much as a Kindle Paperwhite. The bigger, brighter screen is worth the money if you spend a lot of looking at screens, and the physical controls make it the best Kindle if you prefer a more tactile experience . Page-turning is instant; even switching from book to menu screen is done with surprising speed and smoothness. Highlighting passages is also fast and simple. 

Audiobook fans will need to provide their own Bluetooth speakers or true wireless earbuds , as there is no speaker or headphone jack on the device. But if you want a device to listen to audiobooks, your smartphone is probably better equipped for the job. At just under $250 for the 8 GB version, this luxury Kindle is for serious readers who want the best design for a professional, high-quality text-based experience. 

Best for kids

Kid-friendly reader.

Why it made the cut : The Amazon Fire 7 Kids tablet has a colorful rubber case and reinforced body that makes this an easy pick as the best eReader for kids. 

• Screen size: 6-inch screen 
• Waterproof: No
• Front light: Yes; 4 LED
• Storage: 16GB
• Long-lasting battery
• Amazon Kids+ subscription
• Two-year warranty
• Expensive for a kid-themed gadget

Finding an eReader that’s kid-proof can be tough, but Amazon has made it easier by introducing the Kindle Kids, a more child-friendly version of its entry-level eReader. On a technical level, the Kindle and Kindle Kids are identical. Both have a six-inch 300ppi e-ink display, four LED backlights, and a battery that can last for weeks at a time without needing to be plugged in.

The difference is that Amazon offers the Kindle Kids with a case, a two-year warranty, and one year of access to its Kids+ subscription service. Kids+ functions similarly to Amazon Kindle Unlimited: Children get unlimited access to a library of age-appropriate titles, which they can download and read at their leisure. Major titles that are available via Kids+ are the entire Chronicles of Narnia, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter series. This service costs $4.99 per month, so getting a free year cuts the Kindle Kids’ up-front cost in half.

The Kindle Kids also has friendly features like Word Wise, which shows synonyms and definitions above difficult words, and Vocabulary Builder, which allows kids to highlight words they don’t know and create flashcards from them. These features allow children to build their reading skills independently rather than asking an adult. The Kindle Kids is pretty pricey as far as kids tech goes, but it’s less expensive (not to mention distracting) than most tablets.

Best for seniors

A classic ereader.

Why it made the cut : The iconic Amazon Kindle is still one of the best eReaders for any age, but seniors will especially love the reading light, the user-friendly text options, and the low price. 

• Screen size: 6-inch screen
• Front light: 4 LEDs
• Storage: 16 GB
• 4-week battery life when used for 30 minutes a day
• Simple design with no screen clutter
• Robust text size, spacing, and style options
• Front lights not as bright or bigger than others on this list
• No video features

The Amazon Kindle has come a long way since the first generation of eReaders. The most recent model added front lights for easy reading in the dark. The e-ink screen looks great even in sunlight, and the fonts can be adjusted to suit the reader’s needs, making it the best eReader for seniors. 

Seniors will love the simplicity of the basic Kindle. The menu screens are barebones, and browsing the library is straightforward. Buying books is also a breeze, but make sure the readers understand how it works before they unknowingly rack up thousands of dollars in John Grisham debt.  

The Amazon Kindle can also be used as an audiobook player, and a subscription to Audible makes listening to books cost-effective. But there is no internal speaker, so you need some noise-canceling Bluetooth earbuds (or a wireless speaker if you’re in a quiet place). We wish the screen were a bit bigger, as some seniors will still have trouble seeing the 6-inch display even when the size of the text is blown up. The next biggest Kindle size would be the Oasis, an upscale device that costs more than double the price of the standard Kindle. Save your money and stick with the affordable option. 

Thin and light

Why it made the cut : The Amazon Paperwhite is not only thin, it has enough storage to load up thousands of PDFs, and the little eReader has no problem displaying PDFs on its gorgeous e-ink screen. 

• Screen size: 6.8-inch screen
• Front light: 17 LEDs
• Storage: 8 or 16 GB
• Easy to add and read PDFs without lag
• Lightweight and thin enough for pockets
• Screen looks good even in sunlight
• Can’t read every file format, such as EPUB
• Easy to lose
• Must connect to a computer for file transfer

The Kindle Paperwhite represents a sweet spot for readers with a bit more cash to spend on an Amazon eReader for a few noticeable creature comforts. The 6.8-inch, 300 ppi screen may not seem like a huge improvement over the base model’s 6-inch display, but that extra fraction of an inch actually translates into more words on screen and fewer page turns during each reading session. That translates into thousands or even millions fewer turns over the device’s lifespan. The screen is still exceptionally sharp and clear—there’s just more of it (as I go into in my full detailed review ).

The Paperwhite relies on 17 LEDs for its illumination, compared to just four in the standard Kindle. You can also adjust the color temperature of the Paperwhites LEDs to give either warm or cool tones.

For readers who want to consume their literature (or pulp) in the bath or at the beach, the Paperwhite’s IPX8 rating allows it to survive full submersion in fresh water (up to an hour) or seawater (up to three minutes). The standard Kindle doesn’t offer any real weatherproofing.

The Paperwhite generally offers a fairly great reading experience. The pages turn quickly, the navigation has been streamlined from previous versions, and it finally offers USB-C charging. Hence, you’re one step closer to finally recycling all those old MicroUSB cables.

I personally opted for the ad-supported version, which shows advertisements on the lock screen in exchange for a $20 discount on the device itself. That may not be worth it for you if your brain hasn’t become as hopelessly desensitized to ads as mine has.

Best for manga

Versatile compatibility.

Why it made the cut : The Kobo Sage can handle just about every file format you want, a huge plus for Manga readers whose taste goes beyond Amazon’s limited offerings. And the big display makes art and text look great.

• Screen size: 8-inch screen
• Front light: Yes; LEDs unknown
• Storage: 32 GB
• Big 8-inch screen
• Looks good in wide landscape mode
• Supports multiple file formats
• Nice, tactile buttons for easy page-turning
• Buttons can feel a little slow
• Black and white only

Japanese graphic novels (manga) come in every genre imaginable from a wide variety of sources, so you’ll want an eReader that can handle every type of file format to read it all. The Kobo Sage’s large e-ink screen makes black-and-white manga look great, almost as good as physical paper. And holding the Kobo Sage sideways in landscape mode adds to the feeling of reading a real graphic novel. 

The Kobo Sage is the best eReader for manga because it can read comic book files CBZ and CBR, plus ebook files EPUB, EPUB3, MOBI, FilePub, and PDFs. Navigating through a comic is easy, thanks to the side buttons. And the front lights allow for nighttime reading. It’s also waterproof for those who love to read at the beach or pool.

The biggest drawbacks are the price and the lack of color. For reading colorful American comics, you’ll be better off with a standard tablet like an iPad . However, this eReader does look better in sunlight than the glossy screen of an iPad . And manga fans will love the Koba Sage, even with the limitations. 

Best for library books

Library mouse.

Why it made the cut : For accessing and reading library books, the Kobo Clara 2E has a seamless interface with the library app Overdrive. If you love the library, this ebook reader gives you access to near-limitless free books. 

• Comes ready for Overdrive library app
• Great screen looks like a real book
• A lot of text and display options
• Title offerings may be limited based on what your local library has available
• No cloud storage or syncing to other devices

OverDrive and its Libby app make it easier than ever to borrow books from your local library, and the Kobo Clara 2E eReader is the best eReader for library books. Sure, the Kindle can also link up to OverDrive and Libby, but if the library has a book incompatible with the Kindle, you’re out of luck. Kobo eReaders are better suited for displaying a variety of file formats. 

Simply search for your library in the app or the online OverDrive website, plug in your library card info, and you’ll be set. The Kobo Clara 2E is ready to borrow books from your library of choice … assuming your library participates in the OverDrive program. (Most libraries do, and more are added every month.) 

Besides the library functionality, the Kobo Clara 2E is a big improvement over older Kobo products. The display is crisper, and the touchscreen is responsive. Kobo may lack the streamlined UX design of the sleek and simple Kindle, but you’re getting more options and greater freedom to buy, borrow, and read the books of your choice. 

Why it made the cut: An easy-to-use interface and note-taking abilities mean you can use this eReader in and out of class.

• Screen size: 10.2-inch screen
• Front light: 35 LEDs
• Storage: 16, 32, or 64 GB
• Big, beautiful display
• High refresh rate
• Easy-to-use interface
• Only available with a stylus

The Scribe is Amazon’s first big-screen Kindle in over a decade, and this return to form should be welcomed by digital readers everywhere. The Scribe’s 10.2-inch display has the same 300 ppi screen density as its smaller siblings, making text look as crisp as ever. The screen also refreshes at the same rate, which means you can turn pages quickly without seeing long-lasting artifacts from the previous one on your screen. 

Similarly, the Scribe has the same intuitive, gesture-based user interface as other Kindles, so you’ll be right at home if you’re familiar with any of Amazon’s eReaders. If you already have a collection of Kindle books, they’ll be available on the Scribe from the moment you first activate it, which is very helpful. 

If all you want is a big-screen Kindle, you’re in luck: The Scribe gets full marks in this regard. Unfortunately, Amazon designed this eReader with a secondary purpose: note-taking. The Kindle Scribe is bundled with a basic or premium stylus, depending on how much you pay. Tapping the screen with your stylus allows you to create digital, handwritten notes, which you can refer back to later. You can annotate e-books and PDFs synced to your Kindle Scribe or create original notes on a blank canvas that can be accessed through the cloud. 

Annotation on the Kindle Scribe works well enough, but it feels like this feature should be optional rather than mandatory. A Kindle Scribe with 16GB of storage and the Basic Pen runs costs $340. That’s tough to swallow if you don’t see yourself using the Scribe to write very often, if at all. A $300 basic Scribe with no pen would be easier to recommend. Still, if you have a library of Kindle books and want a large-screen eReader, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Read in color

Why it made the cut : While color e-ink technology is still in its infancy, the BOOX Note Air 3 C eReader is leading the pack with a good color display and responsive touchscreen, making it the best of this limited marketplace. 

• Screen size: 10.3-inch screen
• Resolution: 150 ppi
• Storage: 64 GB
• Paper-like texture
• Handles all standard file types
• Stylus is good for taking notes
• Costs as much as an iPad but does less

Color e-ink displays are still a niche technology, but the BOOX Note Air 3 C is the best option yet, thanks to BOOX’s continued investment in improving its displays. Besides its display, the big differentiator with this eReader is that it runs Android, a much more capable operating system than the one found on Kindles and Kobos. You can download apps to read books from different digital libraries and even browse the web. The tradeoff is that e-ink displays don’t refresh information nearly as quickly as an LCD screen on your phone or tablet , so the experience will be a lot more limited.

The Kaleido 3 color screen of the BOOX Note Air 3 C uses light filtering to create colors, not actual color microcapsules. You’re looking at monochrome microcapsules through a layer of filters to create color. This latest generation of the technology has 30% better color saturation and 50% more pixels per inch than the one used on previous Boox tablets. The BOOX Note Air 3 C is capable of displaying up to 4096 different colors, which will cover many of the hues and shades of primary colors. If you’re expecting the vividness of an Android or Apple tablet, you will be disappointed, but it’s still really impressive for an eReader. 

As a regular, black-and-white eReader, the BOOX Note Air 3 C does a good enough job, but you’re paying extra for the color functionality. If you’re not interested in the color, there’s not much else this eReader offers that you can’t find in cheaper devices like the Kindle or the Kobo products. The only other benefit of this device is the stylus; it’s responsive and a good eReader for annotations and jotting notes. The color ink Kaledio 3 technology was introduced recently, and it’s the cream of the crop in terms of color variety and speed. We don’t know when or if color e-ink will ever be perfected, so this is the best color eReader of the bunch as of now and the best splurge. 

Best Kobo eReader: Kobo Libra 2

Why it made the cut : The Kobo Libra 2 is the best Kobo eReader and the biggest Kindle competitor on the market, with a stunning display and responsive controls worthy of any digital bookworm.

• Screen size: 7-inch screen
• Physical page-turning buttons
• Bright screen in the dark
• Text looks fantastic
• Not as user-friendly as Kindle
• Feels a bit slow

The Kobo Libra 2 is the company’s flagship device, the best Kobo eReader for casual reading or intense studying. It feels good in your hand, not like a cheap, knock-off product you buy at a drugstore. Page-turning feels great, and while the touch screen is nice, the buttons are nicer. We wish more eReaders offered the tactile feel of real, physical controls.

The 32 GB internal storage is massive and has enough room for about 24,000 books. The adjustable screen light is a great addition to the Kobo eReaders and can be used to pick the perfect amount of illumination for night readers. 

Browsing the Kobo library is simple, though not as intuitive as the Kindle store. But the Kobo does support more file types than the Kindle, which is a plus for those who love EPUB books. And the Kobo Libra 2 easily connects to your local library through OverDrive. 

Why it made the cut: Access to ad-free reading and flexible file access is only a little over $100.

• Resolution: 212 ppi
• Storage: 8 GB
• Thin and lightweight
• Glare-free screen
• Connects to OverDrive
• Syncing issues
• Not waterproof

Technically, this eReader costs around $10 more than the base model of the Amazon Kindle. However, on-screen ads are a different price to pay if you want that sweet $99.99 Kindle. You’ll have to fork over $119.99 to enjoy your books sans lock screen advertising. Enter the Kobo Nia, a little less expensive than the adless Kindle with more flexibility. You can download EPUB and PDF files or connect this eReader to OverDrive to easily access books from your local library. And, with the Kobo Desktop App, syncing your library has never been easier. You may not be able to read it in the bathtub or at the beach (it’s not waterproof), but you can enjoy it in your own backyard thanks to the glare-free screen.

Another downer? Unlike the Sage, Libra 2, and Clara 2E—which come with ComfortLight PRO to adjust brightness and color temperature—the Nia has plain ol’ ComfortLight, which allows you only to change the brightness.

My Kobo Nia can be stubborn: it occasionally forgets my WiFi network, and I’ve had problems syncing my device with the Kobo Desktop App. Both problems have easy fixes: I re-enter my WiFi password or turn the device on and off; I use Adobe Digital Editions to get the EPUB files and put them on the eReader locally. As someone who refuses to see ads on a device I already paid money for, it’s a minor problem I’m willing to deal with.

What to consider when buying the best eReaders

With advances in e-ink tech and touch screens, the problems of first-generation eReaders are all but gone. There are no more weird visual artifacts and lag when turning a page. You won’t need to struggle with dark screens that are impossible to see at night. And unlike the early 2000s, you have more than one or two eReaders to choose from.  Here’s what to know when starting a new chapter with your eReader adventure:

The benefits of reading on an eReader over a tablet

Tablets have become affordable options for casual computing. So why would you need a separate eReader when your tablet (or phone) can access all the popular ebook apps? In a word: Readability. As colorful and bright as LCD tablet screens have become, grayscale e-ink displays are gentler on the eyes. The gray contrast lets the eye relax and focus on the text. And because eReaders are made for books, the page-turning controls are more responsive and text options are more varied than tablets and smartphone apps. Plus, eReaders are generally smaller and more travel-friendly than tablets.  

Grayscale vs. color displays

Most eReaders only display text and images in simple monochromatic grays. While there are a few color eReaders available, the technology of color e-ink has yet to be perfected. In the past few years, Kaledio has led the way for color eReaders like the BOOX Note Air 3 C, and the results are pretty good—but not great. The color of these eReaders is dull, like a photo viewed through sunglasses. And when you look at the screen from certain angles, the color all but vanishes. This is fine for reading some books and PDFs, but those looking for slap-you-in-the-eye colors are better off with a full-color iPad or Microsoft Surface tablet.

Supported file types

Amazon’s line of Kindles loves the proprietary AZW file type, but they can also handle PDFs, MOBI, standard doc files, and more. However, Kobo eReaders are versatile and can digest more types of saved files. Kobo has more options if you want to access a wide variety of books and comics. The downside: Not all file types will work as smoothly as the standard PDF and EPUB files. When moving files over to the eReader, some formatting may shift. This isn’t a deal-breaker but can impact the reading experience. 

An eReader costs between $99-$450 depending on size, features, ppi, waterproofing, on-screen ads, and more.

The best size for an eReader is a 6-inch screen. That has become the industry standard for Kindles, Kobos, and more. It’s roughly the size of a typical mass-market paperback book. You can always adjust the text size if needed. For storage sizes, anything bigger than 2 GB will house at least a thousand books or more, enough for the typical reader. Currently, 8 GB seems to be the norm for all popular eReaders, and most offer a 32 GB model at a higher price point.

Kobo can read Kindle books, but you need to convert the file to do so, which can be a hassle. Kobo and Kindle don’t like to play together for obvious reasons. But a program like Calibre can transform the Amazon file into a Kobo-friendly file. It requires file juggling, exporting, and importing, but it can be done. 

The Kindle Paperwhite is the easiest eReader to use. The menus are simple and user-friendly. There is no background clutter or extra apps to worry about. And the interface is quick and responsive. The Kindle Oasis is also a good choice, but the light options and sensors can confuse those new to eReader features. Amazon also provides high-quality customer service if you need help. For simply reading books, the Kindle Paperwhite is the easiest Reader. 

The e-ink display built into eReaders doesn’t create light like the LCD on a smartphone or tablet, which puts less strain on your eyes. Rather than competing with other sources of light in your room—like lamps or the sun—it uses them to illuminate what’s on its screen, much like a paper book. Using an eReader with backlights on will put more strain on your eyes, but still not as much as an LCD screen would.

This depends on the operating system the eReader runs on. Some eReaders allow you to access the internet, but the experience will be slow because of an e-ink display’s relatively low refresh rate compared to phones or tablets. This feature will be useful in a pinch but don’t expect an eReader to replace a tablet fully.

If you read regularly but travel often or don’t have enough space on your shelf, an eReader is a great investment. You can take thousands of books with you and read them anytime, anywhere.

Nearly all eReaders today offer simple WiFi connectivity .  And most books will download to your device in seconds. WiFi-only models should give you enough internet juice for the average reader to load up on books at home before a long vacation or trip into a world without internet (perish the thought). If you want a 4G cellular connection to download books anywhere, you’ll need to spend more for a 4G-ready eReader. And you’ll need a data plan. Those extra expenses are only worth it if you absolutely, positively need internet access wherever you travel. Because no matter where you are, sometimes you need a quick dose of Jack Reacher’s unique brand of justice.

Final thoughts on the best eReaders

Digital books are more than a fad. And an eReader with a gorgeous e-ink display helps you get the most out of your reading experience. They have come a long way since the days of built-in keyboards and glitchy page-turning lag. These sleek, simple readers are gentle on the eyes and fast on the fingers. With the best eReaders, staying up to date on reading is as easy as tapping a screen. 

Why trust us

Popular Science  started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.

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• CAREER COLUMN
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What is the best e-Ink device for academic paper reading and hand annotation? [closed]

Having just started my PhD, my academic paper reading and review has ramped up dramatically and so far I've tried the two predominant methods of doing so: on a laptop or with physically printed papers. I soon found both methods to have their respective pros and cons:

• Laptop reading allows for highlighting and text annotations, which I can always easily return back to on different devices (e.g. by annotating the papers in Mendeley and syncing the Mendeley app across all my devices) without the need to maintain a physical copy of the paper I originally annotated. On the major downside, the eye-strain is significant to the point that I have to take regular breaks and consequently struggle to maintain focus.
• Physical copies do away with the eye-strain and are more comfortable to annotate by hand (relative to using the mouse for highlighting and keyboard for added notes) but present organizational ( Now where did I put that paper I marked with an important insight...? ) and traveling challenges (I travel a lot and carrying a stack of papers with me is becoming less and less feasible).

Therefore I decided it is time to try and find a tablet/e-reader solution which incorporates the best of both worlds. Specifically, I would sort the features from most to least important as follows:

• Eye-friendly reading experience supporting paper and textbook PDFs,
• with low-latency writing for easy and natural highlighting and hand-written notes directly on the paper PDFs,
• long-term and regular software support and
• a device which would double as a classic e-reader for leisure-time reading, such as a Kindle (if I already have a PDF reader, why not also have an e-book reader in one device).

The first point brought me within the e-Ink device sphere and two major contenders cropped up: the reMarkable 2 and the Onyx Boox Note Air. However it seems pretty difficult to decide between the two; specifically:

• reMarkable 2 : while reportedly boasting very low latency and a great writing experience, several reviews have pointed out it becomes very laggy with large PDF files (so I am not certain if it can handle textbooks or even very long, ~30-page articles with plenty of figures), saves very large annotated PDFs (since apparently all the hand-annotations are saved as an added image layer on top of the original PDF), requires regular pen-tip replacements (which could get pricey on the long run) and is reportedly very limited as an e-reader.
• Onyx Boox Note Air : while again reportedly having a low latency, containing powerful hardware (which should deal nicely with large files), and serving as an excellent e-Book reader (thanks to its Android OS which supports a variety of Google store apps), the writing feeling is supposed to be much poorer (like writing on glass, which I wonder how I would get used to) as well as serving as a full tablet - most people would consider this a perk, however I am quite happy with the narrow focus of the reMarkable; I am not looking for a standard tablet and believe all the added features (music, video, email, etc..) are not only redundant, but could also prove distracting.

Does anyone have any experience using the above two devices (or perhaps any other, better ones) for the purposes described above? Would such e-Ink devices even be a good long-term investment, or is the technology still in its infancy (meaning that the technological advancement could make these quite pricey devices obsolete in a couple year's time)?

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The best Kindles in 2024 — our top picks

These are the best Kindles and e-readers you can buy, based on our testing and hands-on use.

• Best overall
• Best for kids

Best for wireless charging

Best premium kindle, best kindle alternative.

• Battery life compared
• How to choose
• How we test

The quick list 1. Best overall 2. Best value 3. Best for kids 4. Best for wireless charging 5. Best premium Kindle 6. Best Kindle alternative 7. Battery life compared 8. How to choose 9. How we test

The best e-readers are usually Amazon Kindles these days, because the tech giant has sunk lots of money and effort into designing affordable, durable e-readers that last for days.

But finding the right Kindle for you can be tricky, because Amazon now sells not only basic Kindles but the fancier Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Scribe, as well as a kids edition of the Kindle. What once was simple as reading a page-turner is now not so easy.

Luckily, we can help! We've reviewed all the major Kindles and e-readers for years, so we know how the latest models stack up to the competition because we've used them ourselves. No matter your budget, these are the best Kindles on the market.

If you want something to read on your new Kindle, check out our tips for how to get free ebooks . And if you absolutely, positively have to start reading right now (or just want an option to keep reading while your e-reader is charging) we've curated the best e-book reader apps for those who want to read on a smartphone or tablet.

The quick list

In a hurry? Here's a brief overview of the tablets on this list, along with quick links that let you jump down the page directly to a review of whichever tablet catches your eye.

Best Kindle overall

Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite (2021) strikes a nice balance of price and performance, offering you a dependable e-reader with a nice screen for under $200.

Read more below

Amazon's basic Kindle is a good e-reader that can be yours for $99 if you're willing to put up with lockscreen ads. The latest model has great battery life and USB-C charging at last, but it's still not waterproof.

Best Kindle for kids

The Amazon Kindle Kids Edition is a simplified version of the basic Kindle with good enough resolution, a kid-friendly interface, cute colorful cases and a 2-year warranty for peace of mind. 

Best Kindle for wireless charging

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is like the Paperwhite but $50 more expensive. In return, you get support for wireless charging, which is a luxury worth splurging on for some.

The Amazon Kindle Oasis costs nearly twice as much as a Paperwhite, but you're paying for a more comfortable chassis with a rounded back, the ease of physical buttons and a waterproof rating high enough to survive an hour-long bath.

The Nook GlowLight 4 is a great alternative to Kindles if you'd rather not enter Amazon's ecosystem. It looks very similar and while it's not waterproof the way great Kindles are, we think the Nook interface is a little more usable than what you'll find on a Kindle.

The best Kindles you can buy today

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

The best Kindle overall

1. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Small changes lead to great products staying great, and such is the case with the new Kindle Paperwhite (2021). It's got the same basic look as previous Kindles and Kindle Paperwhite models, a matte black shell and an e-ink screen, but this time it's larger, with a 6.8-inch panel. The bezels are also smaller, so the device didn't have to grow too much to accommodate the growth from a 6-inch panel. 

While it's still a super-sharp 300-ppi display, it's now supported by an array of 17 LED backlights, for incredibly even lighting. And it's still got a great waterproofing (IPX8-rated) protection. 

After the larger display, the big change this year is the move from microUSB charging to USB-C. It's a welcome change if only for the reversible port. Faster charging doesn't appear to be on the table, but the microUSB port has been around for way too long, and is often fragile, so we're happy to see it go.

The Paperwhite costs slightly more than half as much as the $250 Kindle Oasis, coming in at $139 ($10 more than in previous years). That said, it's gained one of the Oasis' once unique features: display warmth. Our testing of the Paperwhite 2021's waterproofing included a 20 minute bath in our sink. It worked just as well as it did before when we took it out. 

Read our full Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review .

The best value

2. Amazon Kindle (2022)

The Amazon Kindle (2022) is a great e-reader that meets every need by being bright, long-lasting and comfortable to carry on long trips. The fact that you're locked into Amazon’s ecosystem is a drag, but you can’t knock the Kindle itself for Amazon's customer-unfriendly business practices.

That's not to say it's perfect, of course. There's room for improvement, like the fact that it's still not waterproof. This remains the biggest differentiator between it and the more expensive Paperwhite, and it feels like a slightly arbitrary difference intended to justify charging more for the Paperwhite. 

Also, our reviewer missed having the option adjust the warmth of the display light, another minor but meaningful Paperwhite feature — though if you’re fine with using dark mode it’s easy to move past that shortcoming. Admittedly, if Amazon fixed those things there would be no reason to get the Paperwhite, so while we're disappointed, we aren't shocked that the base Kindle doesn't get these useful features.

Ultimately though, the Kindle 2022 is probably the best Kindle for most people. It’s lightweight and comfortable to hold, the display is bright and crisp — a massive improvement over earlier models — and the battery lasts for ages. Unless you really need a waterproof Kindle, it’s tough to advocate spending more than the $100 you'll pay for a new Amazon Kindle (2022).

Read our full Amazon Kindle (2022) review .  

The best Kindle for kids

3. Amazon Kindle Kids Edition

Amazon's latest Kindle improves on the $90 Kindle by adding what's missing and chipping away at the cruft that fills up a regular Kindle. Kids will like it for the colored cases, while parents will love Amazon's 2-year no-questions-asked warranty. Even better, there are no lock screen ads. In fact, the Kids Edition is so close to our ideal Kindle interface, we wish Amazon would offer it as a mode for adults who just want to read the book, and not dabble in the Goodreads community.

Otherwise, the Kindle Kids Edition is the same tablet as the 2019 Kindle. You get the same 6-inch, 167 ppi display and front lighting, and the display is still inset, not flush with the frame. Oh and it's even got helpful vocabulary building tools and a free year (a $60 value) of Amazon's Amazon Kids+ (fka FreeTime Unlimited), which has thousands of titles. The Kindle Kids Edition was so popular that Amazon's making a Kindle Paperwhite Kids Edition, which we will review soon. 

Read our full Amazon Kindle Kids Edition review .  

4. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

What if you're tired of small, incremental change? Yes, the Kindle Paperwhite (2021) has lighting warmth and USB-C and a slightly larger screen, but for those who think this update's a bit slight, Amazon has the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. It's got the same 6.8-inch, 300-ppi panel as the regular Paperwhite, with smaller bezels and fantastically-even backlighting plus IPX8-rated waterproofing protection. But there's more on top.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition can be charged via Qi-based wireless chargers, plus its backlighting is automatically-adjusting. Plus, 4x as much storage and no on-screen ads. Not all of those features may be huge for everyone, but we're betting at least one is interesting for all. But at $189, it's a pretty pricey tablet. It's sitting right between the normal Paperwhite and the Oasis, and a good option if you have the money.

Read our full Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review .

5. Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019)

The new Kindle Oasis still offers Amazon's most luxurious reading experience, with its machined aluminum back, larger screen, physical buttons, automatic lighting adjustments and very well-lit screen (using 25 LEDs) — screams "first class." Its Oasis moniker is earned from its IPX8-rated water resistance, which allows it to survive hour-long baths. The device also supports Audible's audiobooks, as long as you've got a Bluetooth device handy.

The Oasis's curved back and physical buttons give you an easier way to get a grip and a way to read your book without tapping the screen. While the Oasis is the best Kindle for those who can splurge, we just wish it didn't cost nearly twice as much as the Kindle Paperwhite. It's the Kindle with more effort put into its design, losing the simple and utilitarian aesthetic of the regular Kindle and the Paperwhite.  

Read our full Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019) review .

6. Nook GlowLight 4

Amazon doesn't run the whole e-reader world, so we occasionally test competitors' e-readers. And while the Nook Glowlight 4 isn't better than any Kindle, it's got minor tweaks and updates that give us reason to give it some attention here. One of its best features is it's no-fuss reading interface, which gets out of your way when it's time to read (Amazon could do this, and we wish it would).

That said, for a $140 e-reader, it's lacking waterproofing, which the Paperwhite offers. Oh, and loading up library books, proved to be a frustrating process. But for the reader who doesn't want to use an Amazon-made device? The Glowlight 4 may be the best Kindle alternative for them. We're looking into testing more competitors to find them a better option.

Read our full Nook GlowLight 4 review .

Battery life claims compared

E-readers are built to go weeks between charges, a clear advantage these pint-sized slates offer over bigger, brighter, more capable tablets like the iPad . Sure, you can read ebooks on any tablet with the right apps, but an e-reader will last a week-long vacation in your bag without needing to be plugged in—can your iPad do that?

In fact, the lengthy battery life of these slates makes them challenging for us to test, because we have to use them for months at a time to see if the battery claims are accurate. We have done that on occasion, and we've found that in general manufacturer claims are pretty close to what we actually see in real-world use.

Since battery life is a key data point that can help some people choose between e-readers, we've compared the advertised battery life of all the tablets on this page below so you can quickly see which last the longest.

As you can see, the Kindle Paperwhite is the clear leader of the pack with an advertised battery life of up to ten weeks. Note that Amazon typically couches these recommendations with the caveat that it's based on you using the tablet to read for about 30 minutes per day, with the brightness set a few pegs lower than max. If you tend to read more often, you'll likely need to charge more often too.

How to choose the best e-reader for you

Let's start with your budget, as that's the easiest way to make this call. If you're running tight right now, the $90 Kindle is a solid recommendation. Its lighting is good enough for a handful of situations and its battery life is nothing to sneeze at. 

If money is no option, then you're going to be choosing between the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Oasis, and this is sort of tough. If you prefer your devices to be built with a harder plastic, that still feels reliable, then you've probably got the Paperwhite in mind. It offers the same water resistance as the Oasis, and is similar in many regards.

But if you're tired of futzing with menus, and changing brightness, you will probably want the Kindle Oasis. Its display automatically adjusts to ambient lighting situations, maybe its best unique feature overall — as its metallic, not-symmetrical design is a bit divisive in our office.

How we tested these e-readers

To start, we read a lot on these Kindles. We don't just do that to see how much battery life is drained in a set of time (and to then compare against the estimations these manufacturers provide), but to discover what we like and don't like about a given Kindle. We then keep reading. At home, on the bus, in the park and anywhere else where the lighting changes. 

In addition to evaluating e-readers' size, weight, claimed battery life and design choices, we test their brightness using our light meter. The experience of reading on the device also plays a huge role in these reviews. For instance, we look at the intuitiveness of the interface, the size of the available library and how well the special features (such as web browsers or dictionaries) work. 

We've also tried alternatives to the Kindle, such as the Kobo Nia . While it's not one of our best picks, its interface is great for those who want to stay focused on books, and isn't as focused on supplementary content as Amazon's Kindles are.

We even drop water-proof Kindles into our makeshift dunk tank, and watch as they survive — the first time it was surprising, and now it's become something we expect. Lastly, we try and see if Amazon's changed anything about how Kindles work with public libraries. It's the one thing we prefer about competitors.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong journalist who's spent over a decade covering tech, games and entertainment. He oversees the computing department at Tom's Guide, which includes managing e-readers coverage and reviewing man himself every year.

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Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Developer, Black Hat, and PC World magazine. A lifelong PC builder, he currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice. 

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Best E Ink Tablets for 2024: Devices Made for Reading and Writing

The ReMarkable 2, Kindle Scribe and other E Ink tablets help you save paper and keep you organized all in one place.

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An environmentally friendly way to keep your notes is here. With an E Ink tablet, you can take all your notes in one place and even store them on an online cloud so you don't lose them. A good E Ink tablet will be as light as an e-reader and feel natural to write on. While there are ways to write on Apple ,  Microsoft ,  Samsung  and  Amazon tablets, E Ink tablets are made with gray-scale tech so they won't die as quickly, helping them last all day.

E ink devices aren't going to replace an iPad as they're mostly just meant for reading and writing. You won't be able to stream your favorite show or watch the latest TikTok video on these tablets, but they are the best E Ink tablets for taking into the classroom without disturbing the professor or your classmates. Whether you're looking for a top-of-the-line E Ink device with all the bells and whistles or a cheap E Ink tablet that gets the note-taking job done, you might just find what you're looking for below.

I've recently spent time with the newest E Ink tablet on the market, the Amazon Kindle Scribe . Like other E Ink tablets on this list, the Kindle Scribe comes with a stylus and offers note-taking and annotation support for PDFs. Additionally, you can take handwritten notes on Kindle titles via a sticky-note application that pins your notes to the text. In keeping with Amazon tradition, the Scribe won't directly support ePub files, which means you'll need to send them to your Kindle via Amazon's Whispersync service for conversion. The Scribe features a 300-dpi touchscreen and starts at $340 for the 16GB model, although it also comes in 32GB and 64GB versions and is available now .

So how does the new Kindle Scribe compare to other E Ink tablets? Let's break it down.

Best for writing and note-taking

Remarkable 2.

The ReMarkable 2 is the best E Ink tablet for students who love to take lots of handwritten notes. It is only 0.19 inches thick and 0.88 pounds, which makes it light and easy to carry in your backpack. This 10.3-inch tablet uses a monochrome digital display with a resolution of 226 DPI. The writing and text look clear and sharp, and you can choose from over 40 different page templates for notes, including seven options just for musical notation. The software is easy to use, with clear buttons at the top for you to add notebooks and folders. It has 8GB of internal storage and now includes handwriting conversion and Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive integration. Those services used to be part of ReMarkable's Connect subscription, but are now included for free with every device. The Connect subscription itself still exists, but now costs $3 a month instead of $8. It offers a ReMarkable 2 protection plan, along with unlimited cloud storage and the ability to add notes in your notebooks when you're on mobile and desktop devices.

The included stylus doesn't require pairing or charging but supports tilt detection and the standard 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. Practically speaking, it offers the most realistic writing experience of any tablet I've ever used. The screen has a paper-like feel, which gives the pen a level of friction that feels incredibly true to life. 

The ReMarkable 2 also shines with PDFs. Highlights automatically straighten themselves and turn a legible shade of gray without any needed adjustment. You can add pages to PDFs for extra notes or write in the margins with ease. The ReMarkable's thinness, two-week battery life, pen input and PDF management capabilities made this E Ink tablet my favorite. 

The ReMarkable 2 isn't without faults. The biggest issue is that it lacks any kind of backlight, which could be a deal breaker. Much like an actual book or notebook, this device requires an external light source to use in the dark. Even the cheapest Kindle now has front-light illumination for nighttime use. It also doesn't function particularly well as an e-reader, as the only formats it supports are PDF and unprotected epub. That means that you won't be able to access your Kindle content or any other epub books with digital rights management software, which includes almost all legally purchasable ebooks on the market. 

Ultimately, I found this tablet to be incredibly useful. This is the cheapest E Ink tablet on our list, but it's still essentially just a PDF and note-taking device. 

Best E Ink tablet for Amazon content

Kindle scribe.

The Kindle Scribe comes with a fantastic 300 ppi, 10.2-inch display that is evenly lit and perfect for large-format reading. The writing experience is also very pleasant and natural, but the Scribe's software limitations keep this device from soaring.

The Scribe looks and feels like an extra-large Kindle Paperwhite or Oasis, although it lacks the physical page-turning buttons of Amazon's premium e-reader. Words look crisp and clear, while the device itself is fast and responsive.

The Scribe's notebooks are easy to use, but lacking in features compared to other E Ink Tablets. You can export your notebooks via email, but there's no Dropbox or any other third-party support. There are 18 notebook templates available, including six lined options, graphing paper, musical notation, and to-do lists. All of that is great, but these notebooks lack any smart features. For example, there's no way to insert equations or convert your handwriting to text.

Similarly, writing in books and documents is too limited to be useful to serious highlighters and doodlers. That's because Amazon doesn't actually let you write directly on the page in anything other than a PDF. Instead, you'll need to write on "sticky notes" if you want to handwrite a note in a book or even a Word Doc. Not only does this prevent you from scribbling in the margins of books, but it also means you'll need to take a separate action to start writing at all.

The sticky notes are then collected automatically in your Notes and Highlights section, where they are presented without any of the context in which you wrote them. It does allow you to jump to the page on which a note was written by tapping on your markings. This is great in theory but is confusing if you have more than one note on each page, as it doesn't pinpoint the exact location where the note was created. The Scribe also doesn't let you write any kind of notes at all on manga, comics, graphic novels, magazines, or newspapers.

Currently, you are allowed to write directly on the page in PDFs, but the experience isn't great. The pen itself works well, but dealing with documents is more difficult than it should be. When you're in a PDF, you aren't able to adjust the font size or layout, so instead you have to pinch to zoom to enlarge or reposition the document. That part works well, and it's not too hard to find a level that works best for you. Once you're positioned in your PDF, you can't stay there. The Scribe makes it impossible to maintain your current zoom levels from one page to the next. Instead, you have to zoom all the way out again to swipe to the next page, just to reposition it all over again. This is a huge pain and makes reading long PDFs cumbersome and frustrating.

Ultimately, the Scribe is great if you want a large-screen e-reader or are eager to handwrite sticky notes in Amazon books. It just isn't quite good enough at either PDFs or in-line note-taking to recommend it as anything other than a gigantic, but excellent, Kindle.

Best E Ink tablet for reading

Kobo elipsa.

Kobo might be a smaller company than Amazon, but it's been making e-readers for just about as long. While Amazon once made a 9.7-inch Kindle, the product never offered natural input with a touchscreen or stylus and was discontinued in 2014. More recently, Kobo was the first with a waterproof e-reader and it's the first of the major e-reading players to make a 10.3-inch device with a stylus. 

Like most Kobos, the Elipsa is an excellent e-reader and offers battery life measured in weeks, depending on use. Unlike Kindles, Kobos has a seemingly limitless ability to customize the reading experience. You can play continuously with margins, line spacing, fonts and font size to get a page that looks exactly how you want it to, no matter the size of the screen. The included stylus can be used on any PDF or Kobo ePub, so it works just as well on library books as it does on books from the Kobo store.

Speaking of the library, Kobo is known for its deep integration with the ebook library service OverDrive. You can easily access, browse and download library books directly from your device, so long as your local library uses OverDrive. Borrowing an ebook from the New York Public Library was a seamless experience and one that makes all Kobos a must-have for library lovers. 

Unfortunately, the Elipsa's note-taking capabilities are lacking. There is a noticeable lag when writing with the stylus for any length of time, and the notebook features are fairly basic. Only four templates are available in the basic notebooks and only a single lined template in the advanced notebooks. Advanced notebooks do let you insert drawings, diagrams, math equations and a free-form section, while also offering the ability to convert your handwriting to text. There are only a few pen types to choose from and only five pen brush sizes. 

I wasn't able to use the notebook feature for anything other than the most basic scribbles and wouldn't recommend it for anything more than that. 

The Kobo Elipsa has 32GB of storage, a resolution of 227 DPI, and a blue front light, but it lacks the warm light of the Boox. While this E Ink tablet misses the mark on long-form writing, it excels as a large-screen, library-friendly e-reader with the ability to scribble in the margins. 

Most versatile E Ink tablet

Onyx boox note air 2 (update: currently unavailable).

The Boox Note Air 2 is the most tablet-like E Ink device I tested. This 10.3-inch tablet features a resolution of 227 mph, runs on a customized version of the Android 11 operating system and even has its own app store, where you can download third-party apps that have been optimized for the device. While it doesn't come pre-baked into the system, you can access the full Google Play store. I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than downloading an e-reading app, as the Boox still has an E Ink display and isn't made for games or video. A step-by-step on how to get the Google Play store installed is in this hands-on review of a previous model . 

Also, the Boox comes with only 64GB of non-expandable storage, so you don't want apps filling up your system. The company does offer 5GB of cloud storage from its own service for free to help transfer documents to the device, although you can also use Dropbox, Evernote and OneNote.

The biggest benefit of the app store is that you'll have access to your entire collection of books from your Kindle, Nook and Kobo libraries. You can also download the Libby app for library books, and Marvel Unlimited users can download the app and read comics, although not in color. The Note Air 2 includes speakers and a microphone, allowing you to listen to audiobooks from Audible or other audiobook apps. 

This is a great selling point of the device, but I found the in-app experience to be less than ideal. Many of the features that make the Note Air 2 unique are disabled in third-party apps. For example, you won't be able to use the pen to take notes or make highlights in books on the Kindle app. Instead, you'll have to type in notes you want to take, like using the app on any other tablet. To write directly onto books, you'll need to have them in DRM-free ebook format. Luckily, the Boox supports a wide range of formats including PDF, epub, DOC, and Mobi. 

Note-taking and PDF management are strong on the Note Air 2 but not as seamless as on the ReMarkable 2. Highlights aren't automatically straightened, and users have to choose the color and width of the marker. The Note Air 2 provides 16 options of grayscale color, but they all look the same on the device, leaving highlights looking dark and messy. The included stylus also features 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity but lags ever so slightly when writing across the page. On the plus side, you can include audio recordings for more accurate retention. The Note Air 2 also lets you open a PDF and notebook at the same time in a split-screen view, giving you the ability to read and take notes all at once. 

Like the Kindle Paperwhite and Oasis, the Boox Note Air 2 comes with a warm and cold front light to help make the screen easier on the eyes and give it a more paperlike look. You can easily adjust both lights with a swipe-down menu. Plus, it also measures its battery life in weeks, not days.

While this tablet is by far the most expensive on our list, it's also the most versatile of the E Ink tablets and does a lot well but nothing great. 

You might see that the company has recently announced a Note Air 2 Plus. I haven't tried that one, but it's almost identical to the original Air 2 -- just with a bigger battery, which also makes it very slightly heavier. They also make the Tab Ultra, which I've tested and enjoyed, but ultimately found too expensive to recommend to most people. 

Other E Ink tablets we've tested

Onyx Boox Tab Ultra : The Tab Ultra arrived as a souped-up version of Boox's own Note Air 2, with an impressive 128GB of storage, almost double the battery, a built-in 16-megapixel rear camera for document scanning and an optional keyboard case for typing notes on the go. Like the Note Air 2, Tab Ultra uses Android 11 software, which means that you can easily access apps from the Google Play store. The refresh modes on the Ultra's E Ink display can easily be changed to a Fast mode or an Ultra Fast mode, which will cause some loss of detail in the images, but are great for typing in Google Docs using the keyboard case, or for scrolling through a website on the internet (although to be honest, this doesn't look good on an E Ink screen).

The typing experience was a lot better than I anticipated and I was able to effectively use the keyboard to write my notes. The included keyboard was a little small for truly comfortable typing -- especially for those with larger hands -- but the case itself is cleverly constructed in a way that lets you switch from typing to handwriting with minimal fuss. Unfortunately, using the camera for scanning documents into PDFs is a complete mess. The OCR software doesn't do a very good job of reading text on the image and the resulting PDFs are utterly unusable. If you need to scan a doc, you're much better off using your phone.

Ultimately, the Ultra is just too expensive to recommend with its $500 list price, especially considering that the keyboard case costs an additional $109. You can't use a keyboard or take pictures on the Boox's Note Air 2, but that's more than okay. The Note Air 2 offers many of the best functions of the Tab Ultra for hundreds of dollars less.

How we test E Ink tablets

Every E Ink tablet undergoes extensive hands-on testing. In this case, each tablet was used for one week of rehearsal in a professional theatrical production. This involved evaluating the set-up process, loading PDFs and books onto the devices, and using both the device and the included stylus as a script during full six-hour days of rehearsal. Tasks included highlighting, taking notes in the margins and creating and taking detailed notes in notebooks. We also downloaded ebooks onto the device and used it as a recreational e-reader.

Anecdotally, we considered the hardware design and features, stylus capabilities, overall ease of use, effective UI layouts, notebook settings, E Ink settings, PDF markup capabilities, e-reading settings and format compatibility, app support and performance, and the overall speed and reliability of the system.

E Ink tablet FAQ

How is an e ink tablet different from an e-reader.

Both e-readers and E Ink tablets use E Ink technology to render words and images on the page. They both offer a distraction-free experience that's easier on the eyes than a traditional LCD color screen.

E-readers tend to be smaller than size and focus only on the experience of reading a book or PDF. E Ink tablets offer e-reading features but also include the ability to use a stylus to write notes in a digital notebook and/or in the margins of PDFs and ebooks. Since handwriting is integral to the E Ink tablet experience, the devices themselves tend to be bigger to more closely approximate the size of a sheet of paper.

Who are E Ink tablets for?

E Ink tablets are best suited for people who enjoy writing notes or sketching by hand and who need to read and mark up lots of PDF or DRM-free ebooks. They could be a particularly good fit for students, lawyers or any other professional in need of a digital, distraction-free note-taking device.

They aren't for people who want constant notifications and fast processing speeds to watch videos or play games.

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• E-Reader Reviews

The best ebook reader to buy right now

From reading in the bath to scribbling notes in the margins, from diving into the amazon ecosystem to avoiding it outright, there’s an e-reader for everyone..

By Sheena Vasani , a writer covering commerce, e-readers, and tech news. She previously wrote about everything from web development to AI at Inside.

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Any ebook reader will let you cram a Beauty and the Beast -sized library’s worth of books in your pocket, but so will your phone. An ebook reader offers a more book-like reading experience, with fewer distractions and less eye strain, and many include extra features, like adjustable frontlighting. Some really are pocketable. Others are waterproof or offer physical page-turning buttons, while a few even let you take notes.

What I’m looking for

How easy is it to use and read on? A sharp display and relatively fast performance are essential to an enjoyable reading experience, as are size and weight.

Build quality

Some e-readers come with different features, like waterproofing, which means you really can read anywhere. Others offer buttons that make using the e-reader more intuitive to use. 

Supported content types

There must be easy, direct access to a wide selection of digital titles, which includes audiobooks as well as various file formats.

Affordability

Is the price justified, given what the e-reader offers?

I’ve been using ebook readers for nearly a decade, and I’ve gone hands-on with dozens, from the Kindle Paperwhite to lesser-known rivals like the Pocketbook Era. Whether you want something your kid can throw against the wall or a waterproof, warm-glow Kindle that won’t ruin your spa ambiance, these are the best ebook readers for everyone. 

The best Kindle

2021 Kindle Paperwhite (8GB, with ads)

Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite has a 6.8-inch E Ink display with adjustable color temperature for nighttime reading. It also boasts a fast processor, months-long battery life, IPX8 waterproofing, and a USB-C port.

Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.9 x .32 inches / Weight: 205 grams / Screen area and resolution : 6.8-inch screen, 300ppi resolution / Storage: 8GB or 16GB / Other features: IPX8 waterproofing, Bluetooth audio support 

If you mostly buy ebooks from Amazon, you’ll want a Kindle, and the 11th-gen Kindle Paperwhite is the best choice for most people. Starting at $139.99, it’s cheaper than the Kobo Libra 2 — my top non-Amazon ebook reader, which I’ll dive into later — for many of the same features. Those include a large 300pi display and an adjustable warm white frontlight, which make for a clear and enjoyable reading experience. The latter also conveniently improves sleep by cutting down on blue light that interrupts melatonin production. 

That warm white frontlighting is an advantage over the cool white of the $99.99 base-model Kindle, and unlike the base Kindle, the Paperwhite has IPX8 water resistance. The $189.99 Signature Edition Paperwhite also has an auto-adjusting frontlight and no lockscreen ads. It also has wireless charging, which is a rare feature to find in an e-reader.

Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world, and it dominates the US ebook market, so Kindle owners have access to advantages owners of other ebook readers don’t. Much of Amazon’s hardware strategy depends on offering cut-rate discounts to pull you into its content ecosystem. If you have Prime and buy a lot of Kindle ebooks, the Paperwhite is the best choice because Amazon makes it incredibly easy to buy and read its stuff. Its ebooks and audiobooks are often on sale, and Prime members get more free content through Prime Reading. Rivals like Kobo offer sales, too, but it’s hard for them to offer discounts as steep as Amazon does.

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There are downsides, though. The Paperwhite has lockscreen ads unless you pay $20 extra to get rid of them. It’s also too big to hold comfortably with one hand. Perhaps the Kindle Paperwhite’s biggest flaw, though — which it shares with all Kindles aside from Fire tablets — is that it’s not easy to read books purchased outside of Amazon’s store. Kindle ebook formats are proprietary and only work on Kindle. Unlike Kobo and other ebook readers, Kindles don’t support EPUB files, an open file format used by pretty much everyone except Amazon. So, for example, if you often shop from Kobo’s bookstore (or Barnes & Noble or Google Play Books or many other ebook stores), you can’t easily read those books on a Kindle without using a workaround. There are ways to convert and transfer file formats so you can read on the Kindle and vice versa, but it’ll take a couple of extra steps.

However, if you don’t buy your books elsewhere or you don’t mind shopping from Amazon, you’ll be more than happy with the Kindle Paperwhite.

Read our full review of the Kindle Paperwhite .

The best non-amazon ebook reader.

Kobo Libra 2 (32GB of storage, ad-free)

The Kobo Libra 2 features physical page-turning buttons along with a sharp 7-inch E Ink display free of ads. It also boasts IPX8 waterproofing and 32GB of storage.

Dimensions: 5.69 x 6.36 x 0.35 inches / Weight: 215 grams / Screen area and resolution : 7-inch screen, 300ppi / Storage: Up to 32GB / Other features: Physical page-turning buttons, waterproofing, Bluetooth audio support 

The Kobo Libra 2 is an excellent alternative to an Amazon ebook reader, especially for readers outside the US. It’s just as nice as the Paperwhite, with many of the Paperwhite’s standout features, like waterproofing, USB-C support, and a 300ppi display. It doesn’t work as well with Amazon’s ecosystem, of course, but it offers a few extra perks that make the e-reader, in some ways, even more enjoyable to use.

The Kobo Libra 2 is my favorite ebook reader to use

For one thing, it supports more file formats, including EPUB. It’s also much easier to directly borrow books from the Overdrive library system, while native support for Pocket means you can read your saved articles offline. The Libra 2 also comes with easy-to-use physical buttons and starts at 16GB of storage, double the capacity of the base Paperwhite. There are no annoying lockscreen ads to contend with, either. Plus, instead of a flat-front screen, the display is slightly recessed into the frame. I loved that as it meant I didn’t accidentally tap the screen and skip a page, as I often did with the Paperwhite. It also kept the screen cleaner and — combined with the wide side bezel — made the Libra 2 more comfortable to hold.

The Kobo Libra 2 is my favorite ebook reader to use. I kept having to restrain myself from using it all the time to give the other e-readers on this list a fair chance.

However, at $189, it costs $50 more than the ad-supported Paperwhite, though it’s only $20 more than the ad-free Paperwhite. That gap widens even more when the Paperwhite is on sale, which it regularly is. Plus, as somebody whose digital library consists mainly of Amazon ebooks, I found the fact that I couldn’t easily and quickly read my vast collection of Kindle books frustrating. You can do it, but you’ll have to convert file formats using third-party apps, which can take time, especially if you have a large library. But if those things don’t matter or apply to you, the Kobo Libra 2 will give you the best digital reading experience of all the e-readers on this list.

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The best cheap ebook reader

2022 Amazon Kindle (with ads)

Amazon’s new entry-level Kindle is essentially the budget-friendly, 6-inch version of the Kindle Paperwhite. It lacks waterproofing but otherwise is similar with the same sharp display and USB-C support.

Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.3 x 0.32 inches / Weight: 158 grams / Screen area and resolution : 6-inch screen, 300ppi resolution / Storage: 16GB / Other features: USB-C support, Bluetooth audio support 

The base-model Kindle ($99.99 with ads) is the best cheap ebook reader. Its 300ppi resolution makes text clearer and easier to read than the lower-resolution screens on other ebook readers in its price range, and its 16GB of storage is double even that of the Paperwhite. It even has USB-C for relatively fast charging. 

Reading on its six-inch screen feels a little more cramped than it does on the larger displays of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Libra 2. However, the flip side is that its small size makes it pocketable, light, and easy for small hands to hold. Combined with its relatively affordable price, the Kindle is also the best ebook reader for kids — especially in the kids version Amazon sells for $20 more. It shares the same exact specs but is ad-free with parental controls, a two-year extended replacement guarantee, and a case. It also comes with one year of Amazon Kids Plus, which grants kids access to thousands of kids books and audiobooks for free. After that, though, you’ll have to pay $79 per year.

The base Kindle doesn’t have extra conveniences like the physical page-turning buttons found on Barnes & Noble’s entry-level e-reader, the Nook GlowLight 4e . However, you do get something more important: snappier responses. On most of the other entry-level ebook readers I tested, including the GlowLight 4e, I had to wait a few seconds after tapping the screen for the page to turn. The Kindle, in comparison, offered no perceptive lag.

There are other tradeoffs. There’s no water resistance, unlike the Paperwhite, and battery life is good, but it’ll last you three weeks tops — not months, like the Paperwhite. And because it’s an Amazon ebook reader, you’re also locked into the Amazon ecosystem and have to pay extra to get rid of ads. But if you can do without all of that, the Kindle delivers the essentials for under $100.

Read my full review of the Kindle .

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The best ebook reader for taking notes

Kobo Elipsa 2E

The Kobo Elipsa 2E is an ad-free 10.3-inch e-reader you can write on with the included stylus. It offers a whole host of useful features, like the ability to convert handwriting to typed text and a great selection of pen types.

Dimensions: 7.6 x 8.94 x 0.30 inches / Weight: 390 grams / Screen area and resolution : 10.3-inches, 227ppi resolution / Storage: 32GB / Other features: Handwriting to text conversion, magnetic stylus, Bluetooth audio support 

Of all the large ebook readers I tested, the Kobo Elipsa 2E stood out the most because of its excellent note-taking abilities. You can directly write on pages, and the notes will not disappear, which makes for a more intuitive note-taking experience than the Kindle Scribe , which only supports on-page notes on select Kindle titles. Otherwise, you’re limited to making annotations on cards that are like disappearing sticky notes. 

You can also sync your notes with Dropbox or view them online, and Kobo can even convert handwriting to typed text. Amazon rolled out a similar capability for the Kindle Scribe, but it can only convert handwriting to typed text when you export notebooks and not as accurately. By contrast, Kobo lets you convert your handwriting not just while exporting but also from within a notebook itself.

The Elipsa 2E also offers other helpful note-taking tools. It’s even capable, for example, of solving math equations for you. You can also insert diagrams and drawings, and it’ll automatically snap it into something that looks cleaner and nicer. There’s also a great selection of pen types and ink shades. 

True, the Kindle Scribe starts at $60 less, but the Kobo Elipsa 2E comes with twice the storage. You can step up to the 32GB Kindle Scribe if you want the same storage capacity, but that puts it at essentially the same price as the Kobo. I recommend just forking out the money on the Elipsa 2E instead.

I also recommend the Elipsa 2E over the Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus, even though it, too, offers much better writing tools than the Kindle Scribe. That’s because it costs a whopping $449 and also isn’t as readily available in the US market. The Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus also comes with too many distracting extras, like an easy-to-access music player and the Google Play app store preinstalled so you can download multiple reading apps, including both the Kindle and Kobo apps. However, Kindle and Kobo notes didn’t show up on the Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus — and you can’t annotate their books anywhere as easily as you can on their respective devices.

Note-taking capabilities aside, the Kobo Elipsa 2E is also a good e-reader, but it comes with the same strengths and weaknesses as other Kobo e-readers. There’s support for a wide range of file formats, but you can’t easily read Kindle books without converting them first. Its 227ppi display is also slightly less sharp than the 300ppi screen found on the Kindle Scribe and the Kobo Libra 2. However, the 10.3-inch screen does balance things out a bit and makes text easier to read, so it’s not really a noticeable drawback.

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Other ebook readers that didn’t make the cut

There are some other ebook readers I tested that I didn’t feature above but are still worth highlighting. Here are the most notable:

Kobo Clara 2E

If you’re looking for a non-Amazon alternative that’s more affordable than the Kobo Libra 2, the Kobo Clara 2E is worth a look. It sells for $139.99 and also offers waterproofing as well as a sharp, 300ppi display, but it lacks buttons. As I mentioned in my review , I also liked that it doesn’t come with ads but found it’s not as fast as the Kindle Paperwhite. However, now that I’ve used the e-reader for quite some time, I find it’s snappy enough, and the occasional lag isn’t as distracting as I imagined it’d become. The Libra 2 is still faster, though.

Nook Glowlight 4 Plus

In 2023, Barnes and Noble released the new Nook Glowlight 4 Plus . If you own a lot of digital books from Barnes and Noble, this could be a good Kindle alternative. Otherwise, I’d still recommend the Kobo Libra 2 to everybody else. The $199.99 Nook Glowlight 4 Plus is a good e-reader with a lot to offer, including a lovely 300ppi screen, waterproofing, physical page-turning buttons, and even a headphone jack. However, it’s just not as snappy, which makes setting it up, buying books from the device itself, and navigating the interface a slow ordeal. It didn’t help that the screen sometimes froze, too, which meant I had to restart the device while in the middle of a book.

Kindle Oasis and Kobo Sage

Finally, I didn’t mention the Kindle Oasis , which has physical page-turning buttons, a larger screen, and was considered a high-end device when it launched in 2019. Amazon no longer lists the aging e-reader in its official Kindle lineup , however, and it lacks some features even the base model offers, including USB-C. That makes it less appealing at $249.99 — that is, assuming you can even find it in stock.

If you are willing to pay that much for a high-end reader, I’d take a look at the Kobo Libra 2 or the Kobo Sage instead. The latter is $239.99 ($30 off) , yet not only does it come with buttons, USB-C, and a larger screen, but you can also use it to take notes. The eight-inch screen feels very cramped to write on, though, so I wouldn’t recommend it as a primary note-taking device. 

Update March 6th, 5:17PM ET:  Adjusted prices, added new related links, and noted that the Kindle Oasis is no longer included in Amazon’s official Kindle lineup.

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Reader for scientific papers - what should I look for?

I use a Hanvon ewise reader. While I'm mostly happy with using it for novels, I have several difficulties with reading scientific texts:

• Some figures are not displayed
• Reflowing (displaying 2 column text as one column) does not work where there's formulas or graphics
• The display is too small to read many pdfs in fulltext, and the zoom function works erratically

The problem is that, before buying the reader, I could not have known of these problems. How do I translate "none of the quirks above" into specs to shop for a new reader?

I want to stick with an e-ink device. Edit to add: Practically all papers and science textbooks I have are pdf.

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• feature-comparison

5 Answers 5

It's hard to tell exactly what is going wrong without being able to at least poke around inside the files you're having problems with, unfortunately. Just as not all ebook readers are created equal, not all ebook files are created equal. Images not showing up could be conversion errors as much as they could be problems with your device. It might not be a bad idea to check out the files on other reading systems (there are a myriad of free desktop reading systems, like the Chrome extension Readium , the Firefox EPUBReader add-on, and good old Adobe Digital Editions ). If the images don't show up in those systems either, it's probably a problem in the ebook file rather than with your device.

For scientific texts, I would advise that you check to be sure the reading system supports MathML, which will allow properly formatted equations to show up as readable, searchable text. Note that for MathML to work, the manuscript must have been formatted properly, and since not all reading systems support MathML, not all publishers necessarily bother with it. Since this is a chicken/egg problem, I'd advocate picking up a MathML reader and making sure to harass publishers that don't use MathML until they do. You can use the support grid at epubtest.org to find MathML-capable systems, but most of that information is geared toward tablets.

For reflowing not working where there are formulas or graphics—do you mean that the images (and formulas that aren't MathML are frequently just images, to preserve formatting) aren't expanding in size when the font is increased, for example? That's something that you'll see in any ebook reader, I'm afraid. The best you can do there is get something with a good zoom feature, which unfortunately argues against eInk devices.

Display size is probably the easiest single criteria to look into, though it's also fairly subjective—what's fine for you to read my be too cramped for me. As mentioend above, zooming is going to be somewhat problematic on any eInk device, as the refresh rate for eInk is much slower than for a tablet screen. If tablets are absolutely not an option, you might want to look around for eInk readers with large displays; a quick search found me this article .

Best of luck with your search!

EDIT: Here's a good summary of which reading systems support MathML: http://www.mathjax.org/resources/epub-readers/

• reflowing not working means the page is not reflowed, but only displayed as a normal page. together with the zoom issues this can make it hard to read at all. All my textbooks and science papaers are pdf. Great answer, thanks! –  mart Apr 17, 2014 at 19:41
• I know that a reflowable PDF format exists, but that's about the extent of my familiarity with it--I'm afraid I won't be of much help as far as those not reflowing properly goes. Hope the rest is helpful! –  Tom Apr 17, 2014 at 19:47
• @Tom the link to mathjax.org is out of date -- it was moved to the documentation docs.mathjax.org/en/latest/misc/epub.html –  Peter Krautzberger Feb 28, 2016 at 9:28

I had similar problems since most of the (physics-related) articles I read have two columns of text and lots of equations and figures. I can recommend a free software tool called " k2pdfopt " written by William Menninger. It re-arranges the text flow of PDFs and optimizes them to the size of the e-reader screen. I'm really impressed by the results. Most importantly for me, it renders equations correctly and it automatically detects and reflows text in columns (even from scanned PDFs). It's not a perfect world, though, e.g. it sometimes misinterprets a hyphen that happens to appear at the end of a line for a dash, so when the positions of line breaks change due to text reflow then the two words that should be separated by a hyphen are merged into a single word.

You would run k2pdfopt on your computer and feed it with an article that you want to read. It outputs an optimized version of that article, which you can then transfer to your e-reader. As I use this tool a lot I wrote a browser extension that makes the conversion process a bit easier. It works with Chrome and Firefox and it adds a small button to your browser whenever you're navigating to the download page of a scientific article. If you click this button, the extension downloads the article, runs it through k2pdfopt, and optionally sends it to your e-reader. If you're interested, you may download the extension from my website (since I just know that some people are going to complain about alleged advertisement: please note that I'm not making any money with this browser extension and I'm just offering it to others because I find it useful and I don't see a point in keeping the program for myself. Also, I really think it's relevant to this question. So please, holster your weapons).

In addition to what Tom said, a few suggestions for your consideration. PDFs on e-ink readers gain greatly by being tightly cropped so you don't waste screen space. For that, the free software BRISS works very well as it selects crop areas close to the text, areas that you are free to adjust. As far as reflowing and zooming I can only speak about the Kindle DX. Out of the box the Kindle DX, now a four-year-old device, is low on features, but its large screen and built-in keyboard make it an attractive contender. When I read a PDF that puts too much strain on the standard Amazon software, I read the document in Librerator, which is alternate software for the DX. It has wonderful zooming and shortcuts, but I'm not sure the reflowing will be adequate for your needs. It is a bit tricky to install and will probably void the warranty.

The best would be if you could test a document on various readers already owned by people in your local area.

In my personal opinion, pdf and e-ink do not go together well. The problem is that pdf is not really reflowable, so you must stick with the page format of the paper.

Besides the suggestions already made (try Kindle DX which has a larger screen, crop as much as possible the page so that you won't waste screen estate with blank margins) try and see if it is possible to rotate the screen so that you read in landscape mode half a page at a time. It's a bit of a mess with two-column text, but the higher resolution could help you.

• The Kindle DX, which I have already recommended, does include an accelerometer to sense when you rotate it, and allows a PDF to be read a half page at a time in landscape mode as you suggest. –  tcrosley Apr 18, 2014 at 17:01

The Kindle DX was specifically designed to render PDF files in their native format (including multi-column material, tables and graphics) and was designed to be used in an academic environment. It has a 9.7" e-ink screen, which I believe is the largest of any e-reader (the Kindle Fire HD has a 7" screen). You can also zoom in to 200% of the original text.

It is available through Amazon for $300 .

It includes a full keyboard, 3G free "whispernet" connection for downloads, runs up to three weeks on a battery charge with the wireless off, and is one of the thinnest e-readers out there (1/3 inch).

It also includes an accelerometer to sense when you rotate it, to allow a PDF to be read a half page at a time in landscape mode with much larger type.

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How to Thrive as You Age

Got tinnitus a device that tickles the tongue helps this musician find relief.

Allison Aubrey

After using the Lenire device for an hour each day for 12 weeks, Victoria Banks says her tinnitus is "barely noticeable." David Petrelli/Victoria Banks hide caption

After using the Lenire device for an hour each day for 12 weeks, Victoria Banks says her tinnitus is "barely noticeable."

Imagine if every moment is filled with a high-pitched buzz or ring that you can't turn off.

More than 25 million adults in the U.S., have a condition called tinnitus, according to the American Tinnitus Association. It can be stressful, even panic-inducing and difficult to manage. Dozens of factors can contribute to the onset of tinnitus, including hearing loss, exposure to loud noise or a viral illness.

There's no cure, but there are a range of strategies to reduce the symptoms and make it less bothersome, including hearing aids, mindfulness therapy , and one newer option – a device approved by the FDA to treat tinnitus using electrical stimulation of the tongue.

The device has helped Victoria Banks, a singer and songwriter in Nashville, Tenn., who developed tinnitus about three years ago.

"The noise in my head felt like a bunch of cicadas," Banks says. "It was terrifying." The buzz made it difficult for her to sing and listen to music. "It can be absolutely debilitating," she says.

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Tinnitus bothers millions of americans. here's how to turn down the noise.

Banks tried taking dietary supplements , but those didn't help. She also stepped up exercise, but that didn't bring relief either. Then she read about a device called Lenire, which was approved by the FDA in March 2023. It includes a plastic mouthpiece with stainless steel electrodes that electrically stimulate the tongue. It is the first device of its kind to be approved for tinnitus.

"This had worked for other people, and I thought I'm willing to try anything at this point," Banks recalls.

She sought out audiologist Brian Fligor, who treats severe cases of tinnitus in the Boston area. Fligor was impressed by the results of a clinical trial that found 84% of participants who tried Lenire experienced a significant reduction in symptoms. He became one of the first providers in the U.S. to use the device with his patients. Fligor also served on an advisory panel assembled by the company who developed it.

"A good candidate for this device is somebody who's had tinnitus for at least three months," Fligor says, emphasizing that people should be evaluated first to make sure there's not an underlying medical issue.

Tinnitus often accompanies hearing loss, but Victoria Banks' hearing was fine and she had no other medical issue, so she was a good candidate.

Banks used the device for an hour each day for 12 weeks. During the hour-long sessions, the electrical stimulation "tickles" the tongue, she says. In addition, the device includes a set of headphones that play a series of tones and ocean-wave sounds.

The device works, in part, by shifting the brain's attention away from the buzz. We're wired to focus on important information coming into our brains, Fligor says. Think of it as a spotlight at a show pointed at the most important thing on the stage. "When you have tinnitus and you're frustrated or angry or scared by it, that spotlight gets really strong and focused on the tinnitus," Fligor says.

"It's the combination of what you're feeling through the nerves in your tongue and what you're hearing through your ears happening in synchrony that causes the spotlight in your brain to not be so stuck on the tinnitus," Fligor explains.

A clinical trial found 84% of people who used the device experienced a significant reduction in symptoms. Brian Fligor hide caption

A clinical trial found 84% of people who used the device experienced a significant reduction in symptoms.

"It unsticks your spotlight" and helps desensitize people to the perceived noise that their tinnitus creates, he says.

Banks says the ringing in her ears did not completely disappear, but now it's barely noticeable on most days.

"It's kind of like if I lived near a waterfall and the waterfall was constantly going," she says. Over time, the waterfall sound fades out of consciousness.

"My brain is now focusing on other things," and the buzz is no longer so distracting. She's back to listening to music, writing music, and performing music." I'm doing all of those things," she says.

When the buzz comes back into focus, Banks says a refresher session with the device helps.

A clinical trial found that 84% of people who tried Lenire , saw significant improvements in their condition. To measure changes, the participants took a questionnaire that asked them to rate how much tinnitus was impacting their sleep, sense of control, feelings of well-being and quality of life. After 12 weeks of using the device, participants improved by an average of 14 points.

"Where this device fits into the big picture, is that it's not a cure-all, but it's quickly become my go-to," for people who do not respond to other ways of managing tinnitus, Fligor says.

One down-side is the cost. Banks paid about $4,000 for the Lenire device, and insurance doesn't cover it. She put the expense on her credit card and paid it off gradually.

Fligor hopes that as the evidence of its effectiveness accumulates, insurers will begin to cover it. Despite the cost, more than 80% of participants in the clinical trial said they would recommend the device to a friend with tinnitus.

But, it's unclear how long the benefits last. Clinical trials have only evaluated Lenire over a 1-year period. "How durable are the effects? We don't really know yet," says audiologist Marc Fagelson, the scientific advisory committee chair of the American Tinnitus Association. He says research is promising but there's still more to learn.

Fagelson says the first step he takes with his patients is an evaluation for hearing loss. Research shows that hearing aids can be an effective treatment for tinnitus among people who have both tinnitus and hearing loss, which is much more common among older adults. An estimated one-third of adults 65 years of age and older who have hearing loss, also have tinnitus.

"We do see a lot of patients, even with very mild loss, who benefit from hearing aids," Fagelson says, but in his experience it's about 50-50 in terms of improving tinnitus. Often, he says people with tinnitus need to explore options beyond hearing aids.

Bruce Freeman , a scientist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says he's benefitted from both hearing aids and Lenire. He was fitted for the device in Ireland where it was developed, before it was available in the U.S.

Freeman agrees that the ringing never truly disappears, but the device has helped him manage the condition. He describes the sounds that play through the device headphones as very calming and "almost hypnotic" and combined with the tongue vibration, it's helped desensitize him to the ring.

Freeman – who is a research scientist – says he's impressed with the results of research, including a study published in Nature, Scientific Reports that points to significant improvements among clinical trial participants with tinnitus.

Freeman experienced a return of his symptoms when he stopped using the device. "Without it the tinnitus got worse," he says. Then, when he resumed use, it improved.

Freeman believes his long-term exposure to noisy instruments in his research laboratory may have played a role in his condition, and also a neck injury from a bicycle accident that fractured his vertebra. "All of those things converged," he says.

Freeman has developed several habits that help keep the high-pitched ring out of his consciousness and maintain good health. "One thing that does wonders is swimming," he says, pointing to the swooshing sound of water in his ears. "That's a form of mindfulness," he explains.

When it comes to the ring of tinnitus, "it comes and goes," Freeman says. For now, it has subsided into the background, he told me with a sense of relief. "The last two years have been great," he says – a combination of the device, hearing aids and the mindfulness that comes from a swim.

This story was edited by Jane Greenhalgh

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The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value

If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI (gen AI) , 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology. In the latest McKinsey Global Survey  on AI, 65 percent of respondents report that their organizations are regularly using gen AI, nearly double the percentage from our previous survey just ten months ago. Respondents’ expectations for gen AI’s impact remain as high as they were last year , with three-quarters predicting that gen AI will lead to significant or disruptive change in their industries in the years ahead.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Alex Singla , Alexander Sukharevsky , Lareina Yee , and Michael Chui , with Bryce Hall , representing views from QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and McKinsey Digital.

Organizations are already seeing material benefits from gen AI use, reporting both cost decreases and revenue jumps in the business units deploying the technology. The survey also provides insights into the kinds of risks presented by gen AI—most notably, inaccuracy—as well as the emerging practices of top performers to mitigate those challenges and capture value.

AI adoption surges

Interest in generative AI has also brightened the spotlight on a broader set of AI capabilities. For the past six years, AI adoption by respondents’ organizations has hovered at about 50 percent. This year, the survey finds that adoption has jumped to 72 percent (Exhibit 1). And the interest is truly global in scope. Our 2023 survey found that AI adoption did not reach 66 percent in any region; however, this year more than two-thirds of respondents in nearly every region say their organizations are using AI. 1 Organizations based in Central and South America are the exception, with 58 percent of respondents working for organizations based in Central and South America reporting AI adoption. Looking by industry, the biggest increase in adoption can be found in professional services. 2 Includes respondents working for organizations focused on human resources, legal services, management consulting, market research, R&D, tax preparation, and training.

Also, responses suggest that companies are now using AI in more parts of the business. Half of respondents say their organizations have adopted AI in two or more business functions, up from less than a third of respondents in 2023 (Exhibit 2).

Gen AI adoption is most common in the functions where it can create the most value

Most respondents now report that their organizations—and they as individuals—are using gen AI. Sixty-five percent of respondents say their organizations are regularly using gen AI in at least one business function, up from one-third last year. The average organization using gen AI is doing so in two functions, most often in marketing and sales and in product and service development—two functions in which previous research  determined that gen AI adoption could generate the most value 3 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. —as well as in IT (Exhibit 3). The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled. Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15 percent or more of respondents.

Gen AI also is weaving its way into respondents’ personal lives. Compared with 2023, respondents are much more likely to be using gen AI at work and even more likely to be using gen AI both at work and in their personal lives (Exhibit 4). The survey finds upticks in gen AI use across all regions, with the largest increases in Asia–Pacific and Greater China. Respondents at the highest seniority levels, meanwhile, show larger jumps in the use of gen Al tools for work and outside of work compared with their midlevel-management peers. Looking at specific industries, respondents working in energy and materials and in professional services report the largest increase in gen AI use.

Investments in gen AI and analytical AI are beginning to create value

The latest survey also shows how different industries are budgeting for gen AI. Responses suggest that, in many industries, organizations are about equally as likely to be investing more than 5 percent of their digital budgets in gen AI as they are in nongenerative, analytical-AI solutions (Exhibit 5). Yet in most industries, larger shares of respondents report that their organizations spend more than 20 percent on analytical AI than on gen AI. Looking ahead, most respondents—67 percent—expect their organizations to invest more in AI over the next three years.

Where are those investments paying off? For the first time, our latest survey explored the value created by gen AI use by business function. The function in which the largest share of respondents report seeing cost decreases is human resources. Respondents most commonly report meaningful revenue increases (of more than 5 percent) in supply chain and inventory management (Exhibit 6). For analytical AI, respondents most often report seeing cost benefits in service operations—in line with what we found last year —as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales.

Inaccuracy: The most recognized and experienced risk of gen AI use

As businesses begin to see the benefits of gen AI, they’re also recognizing the diverse risks associated with the technology. These can range from data management risks such as data privacy, bias, or intellectual property (IP) infringement to model management risks, which tend to focus on inaccurate output or lack of explainability. A third big risk category is security and incorrect use.

Respondents to the latest survey are more likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider inaccuracy and IP infringement to be relevant to their use of gen AI, and about half continue to view cybersecurity as a risk (Exhibit 7).

Conversely, respondents are less likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider workforce and labor displacement to be relevant risks and are not increasing efforts to mitigate them.

In fact, inaccuracy— which can affect use cases across the gen AI value chain , ranging from customer journeys and summarization to coding and creative content—is the only risk that respondents are significantly more likely than last year to say their organizations are actively working to mitigate.

Some organizations have already experienced negative consequences from the use of gen AI, with 44 percent of respondents saying their organizations have experienced at least one consequence (Exhibit 8). Respondents most often report inaccuracy as a risk that has affected their organizations, followed by cybersecurity and explainability.

Our previous research has found that there are several elements of governance that can help in scaling gen AI use responsibly, yet few respondents report having these risk-related practices in place. 4 “ Implementing generative AI with speed and safety ,” McKinsey Quarterly , March 13, 2024. For example, just 18 percent say their organizations have an enterprise-wide council or board with the authority to make decisions involving responsible AI governance, and only one-third say gen AI risk awareness and risk mitigation controls are required skill sets for technical talent.

Bringing gen AI capabilities to bear

The latest survey also sought to understand how, and how quickly, organizations are deploying these new gen AI tools. We have found three archetypes for implementing gen AI solutions : takers use off-the-shelf, publicly available solutions; shapers customize those tools with proprietary data and systems; and makers develop their own foundation models from scratch. 5 “ Technology’s generational moment with generative AI: A CIO and CTO guide ,” McKinsey, July 11, 2023. Across most industries, the survey results suggest that organizations are finding off-the-shelf offerings applicable to their business needs—though many are pursuing opportunities to customize models or even develop their own (Exhibit 9). About half of reported gen AI uses within respondents’ business functions are utilizing off-the-shelf, publicly available models or tools, with little or no customization. Respondents in energy and materials, technology, and media and telecommunications are more likely to report significant customization or tuning of publicly available models or developing their own proprietary models to address specific business needs.

Respondents most often report that their organizations required one to four months from the start of a project to put gen AI into production, though the time it takes varies by business function (Exhibit 10). It also depends upon the approach for acquiring those capabilities. Not surprisingly, reported uses of highly customized or proprietary models are 1.5 times more likely than off-the-shelf, publicly available models to take five months or more to implement.

Gen AI high performers are excelling despite facing challenges

Gen AI is a new technology, and organizations are still early in the journey of pursuing its opportunities and scaling it across functions. So it’s little surprise that only a small subset of respondents (46 out of 876) report that a meaningful share of their organizations’ EBIT can be attributed to their deployment of gen AI. Still, these gen AI leaders are worth examining closely. These, after all, are the early movers, who already attribute more than 10 percent of their organizations’ EBIT to their use of gen AI. Forty-two percent of these high performers say more than 20 percent of their EBIT is attributable to their use of nongenerative, analytical AI, and they span industries and regions—though most are at organizations with less than $1 billion in annual revenue. The AI-related practices at these organizations can offer guidance to those looking to create value from gen AI adoption at their own organizations.

To start, gen AI high performers are using gen AI in more business functions—an average of three functions, while others average two. They, like other organizations, are most likely to use gen AI in marketing and sales and product or service development, but they’re much more likely than others to use gen AI solutions in risk, legal, and compliance; in strategy and corporate finance; and in supply chain and inventory management. They’re more than three times as likely as others to be using gen AI in activities ranging from processing of accounting documents and risk assessment to R&D testing and pricing and promotions. While, overall, about half of reported gen AI applications within business functions are utilizing publicly available models or tools, gen AI high performers are less likely to use those off-the-shelf options than to either implement significantly customized versions of those tools or to develop their own proprietary foundation models.

What else are these high performers doing differently? For one thing, they are paying more attention to gen-AI-related risks. Perhaps because they are further along on their journeys, they are more likely than others to say their organizations have experienced every negative consequence from gen AI we asked about, from cybersecurity and personal privacy to explainability and IP infringement. Given that, they are more likely than others to report that their organizations consider those risks, as well as regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, and political stability, to be relevant to their gen AI use, and they say they take steps to mitigate more risks than others do.

Gen AI high performers are also much more likely to say their organizations follow a set of risk-related best practices (Exhibit 11). For example, they are nearly twice as likely as others to involve the legal function and embed risk reviews early on in the development of gen AI solutions—that is, to “ shift left .” They’re also much more likely than others to employ a wide range of other best practices, from strategy-related practices to those related to scaling.

In addition to experiencing the risks of gen AI adoption, high performers have encountered other challenges that can serve as warnings to others (Exhibit 12). Seventy percent say they have experienced difficulties with data, including defining processes for data governance, developing the ability to quickly integrate data into AI models, and an insufficient amount of training data, highlighting the essential role that data play in capturing value. High performers are also more likely than others to report experiencing challenges with their operating models, such as implementing agile ways of working and effective sprint performance management.

About the research

The online survey was in the field from February 22 to March 5, 2024, and garnered responses from 1,363 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 981 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one business function, and 878 said their organizations were regularly using gen AI in at least one function. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.

Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky  are global coleaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and senior partners in McKinsey’s Chicago and London offices, respectively; Lareina Yee  is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, where Michael Chui , a McKinsey Global Institute partner, is a partner; and Bryce Hall  is an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office.

They wish to thank Kaitlin Noe, Larry Kanter, Mallika Jhamb, and Shinjini Srivastava for their contributions to this work.

This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, a senior editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office.

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Prompt engineering guide.

Prompt engineering is a relatively new discipline for developing and optimizing prompts to efficiently use language models (LMs) for a wide variety of applications and research topics. Prompt engineering skills help to better understand the capabilities and limitations of large language models (LLMs). Researchers use prompt engineering to improve the capacity of LLMs on a wide range of common and complex tasks such as question answering and arithmetic reasoning. Developers use prompt engineering to design robust and effective prompting techniques that interface with LLMs and other tools.

Motivated by the high interest in developing with LLMs, we have created this new prompt engineering guide that contains all the latest papers, learning guides, lectures, references, and tools related to prompt engineering for LLMs.

🌐 Prompt Engineering Guide (Web Version)

We've partnered with Maven to deliver the following live cohort-based courses on prompt engineering:

LLMs for Everyone (Beginner) - learn about the latest prompt engineering techniques and how to effectively apply them to real-world use cases.

Prompt Engineering for LLMs (Advanced) - learn advanced prompt engineering techniques to build complex use cases and applications with LLMs.

Happy Prompting!

Announcements / Updates

• 🎓 New course on Prompt Engineering for LLMs announced! Enroll here !
• 💼 We now offer several services like corporate training, consulting, and talks.
• 🌐 We now support 13 languages! Welcoming more translations.
• 👩‍🎓 We crossed 3 million learners in January 2024!
• 🎉 We have launched a new web version of the guide here
• 🔥 We reached #1 on Hacker News on 21 Feb 2023
• 🎉 The Prompt Engineering Lecture went live here

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You can also find the most up-to-date guides on our new website https://www.promptingguide.ai/ .

• Prompt Engineering - LLM Settings
• Prompt Engineering - Basics of Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Prompt Elements
• Prompt Engineering - General Tips for Designing Prompts
• Prompt Engineering - Examples of Prompts
• Prompt Engineering - Zero-Shot Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Few-Shot Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Chain-of-Thought Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Self-Consistency
• Prompt Engineering - Generate Knowledge Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Prompt Chaining
• Prompt Engineering - Tree of Thoughts (ToT)
• Prompt Engineering - Retrieval Augmented Generation
• Prompt Engineering - Automatic Reasoning and Tool-use (ART)
• Prompt Engineering - Automatic Prompt Engineer
• Prompt Engineering - Active-Prompt
• Prompt Engineering - Directional Stimulus Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Program-Aided Language Models
• Prompt Engineering - ReAct Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Multimodal CoT Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Graph Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - Function Calling
• Prompt Engineering - Generating Data
• Prompt Engineering - Generating Synthetic Dataset for RAG
• Prompt Engineering - Takling Generated Datasets Diversity
• Prompt Engineering - Generating Code
• Prompt Engineering - Graduate Job Classification Case Study
• Prompt Engineering - Classification
• Prompt Engineering - Coding
• Prompt Engineering - Creativity
• Prompt Engineering - Evaluation
• Prompt Engineering - Information Extraction
• Prompt Engineering - Image Generation
• Prompt Engineering - Mathematics
• Prompt Engineering - Question Answering
• Prompt Engineering - Reasoning
• Prompt Engineering - Text Summarization
• Prompt Engineering - Truthfulness
• Prompt Engineering - Adversarial Prompting
• Prompt Engineering - ChatGPT
• Prompt Engineering - Code Llama
• Prompt Engineering - Flan
• Prompt Engineering - Gemini
• Prompt Engineering - GPT-4
• Prompt Engineering - LLaMA
• Prompt Engineering - Mistral 7B
• Prompt Engineering - Mixtral
• Prompt Engineering - OLMo
• Prompt Engineering - Phi-2
• Prompt Engineering - Model Collection
• Prompt Engineering - Factuality
• Prompt Engineering - Biases
• Prompt Engineering - Overviews
• Prompt Engineering - Approaches
• Prompt Engineering - Applications
• Prompt Engineering - Collections
• Prompt Engineering - Tools
• Prompt Engineering - Notebooks
• Prompt Engineering - Datasets
• Prompt Engineering - Additional Readings

We have published a 1 hour lecture that provides a comprehensive overview of prompting techniques, applications, and tools.

• Video Lecture
• Notebook with code

Running the guide locally

To run the guide locally, for example to check the correct implementation of a new translation, you will need to:

• Install Node >=18.0.0
• Install pnpm if not present in your system. Check here for detailed instructions.
• Install the dependencies: pnpm i next react react-dom nextra nextra-theme-docs
• Boot the guide with pnpm dev
• Browse the guide at http://localhost:3000/

Appearances

Some places where we have been featured:

• Wall Street Journal - ChatGPT Can Give Great Answers. But Only If You Know How to Ask the Right Question
• Forbes - Mom, Dad, I Want To Be A Prompt Engineer
• Markettechpost - Best Free Prompt Engineering Resources (2023)

If you are using the guide for your work or research, please cite us as follows:

MIT License

Feel free to open a PR if you think something is missing here. Always welcome feedback and suggestions. Just open an issue!

Sponsor this project

Contributors 190.

• Jupyter Notebook 4.4%

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The Best Toilet Paper

By Nancy Redd

Nancy Redd is a writer who covers health and grooming. She has tested dozens of hair dryers, toothbrushes, and pairs of period underwear.

The average American uses an astounding 141 rolls of toilet paper a year . If you’re going through that much tissue, we think it’s worth settling on a brand you actively like (you could also consider cutting back, with the help of a bidet ). Over the course of 10 months, we tushy-tested 36 varieties of toilet paper. And we concluded that Unilever’s Seventh Generation 100% Recycled Extra Soft & Strong Bath Tissue and Procter & Gamble’s Charmin Ultra Strong are the most likely to please the most people. Amazon’s Presto! Ultra-Soft Toilet Paper , our budget pick, is great for folks looking for soft-enough toilet paper that costs less.

Everything we recommend

Seventh Generation 100% Recycled Extra Soft & Strong Bath Tissue

The best sustainable toilet paper.

Seventh Generation 100% Recycled toilet paper is a soft, strong, low-lint offering. And it’s economically as well as environmentally friendly.

Buying Options

Charmin Ultra Strong

The best traditionally produced toilet paper.

One of the plushest of the toilet papers we tested, the strong, soft, low-lint Charmin Ultra Strong left all other traditional toilet papers … behind.

Budget pick

Amazon Presto Ultra-Soft Toilet Paper

A reliable budget toilet paper.

Amazon Presto! Ultra-Soft Toilet Paper is a tad lintier and almost imperceptibly rougher than our top picks. But our testers liked it best of all the lower-cost toilet papers we tested.

How we picked

We looked for toilet paper that felt cushy on our tushies.

Many toilet papers leave crumbles and dust on bottoms and bathroom floors—yuck.

Toilet paper that maintains its composition during wiping is critical: No one likes rips.

If a toilet paper brand is hard to find, it doesn’t matter if it’s great.

Seventh Generation 100% Recycled Extra Soft & Strong Bath Tissue is made with 100% recycled materials, but you’d never know it by the look and feel of this soft, sturdy, and lint-free toilet paper. Its price is on a par with that of traditional papers, and it was unanimously liked by testers.

Charmin Ultra Strong is a strong, low-lint, readily available toilet paper that’s slightly plusher than the Seventh Generation paper. But the Charmin paper is usually more expensive than our Seventh Generation pick, and it’s not made from sustainable or recycled materials. Of the traditional toilet papers we tested, this one was judged to be the most durable and comfortable to use.

Amazon Presto! Ultra-Soft Toilet Paper is soft and serviceable, especially for the price. Unlike our Seventh Generation pick, this one is not made from recycled materials, nor is it super-plush or extra-strong like our pick from Charmin. But Amazon’s paper gets the job done well: It’s not scratchy, doesn’t rip too easily, and doesn’t leave much lint behind.

The research

Why you should trust us, how we picked and tested, what is sustainable toilet paper, what about bamboo toilet paper, our pick: seventh generation 100% recycled extra soft & strong bath tissue, flaws but not dealbreakers, our pick: charmin ultra strong, budget pick: amazon’s presto ultra-soft toilet paper, what to look forward to, other good toilet papers, what about bidets, what about “flushable” wipes, the competition.

Wirecutter has been testing toilet paper for nearly a decade. Combined, the previous author of this guide (Kevin Purdy) and I (Nancy Redd) have spent more than 50 hours reading about and researching the paper-manufacturing industry, paper recycling, toilet paper sustainability, and how paper products are produced—and dissolved.

In 2021 and early 2022, I personally compared 36 toilet papers at home, also taking into account feedback from my husband and two kids. After I narrowed the field considerably, I recruited nine additional Wirecutter staffers and their family members. Some of them compared top sustainable brands side by side; others compared only the top-two sustainable options with favorite traditional toilet papers. All testers ranked toilet papers in terms of softness, strength, and lint levels.

I also interviewed two industry experts: Shelley Vinyard , from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a not-for-profit environmental group, and Chris McLaren , chief marketing officer at the US Forest Stewardship Council.

As Wirecutter’s senior staff writer for health, I’m not new to bathroom-related comparison testing, having written guides to tampons , toilet stools , period underwear , and portable pee funnels .

We’ve been recommending toilet papers for nearly a decade. But after the great toilet paper shortage of 2020 —and with more consumer interest and tremendous strides in the number and quality of sustainable toilet papers available—we decided to give this guide a complete overhaul. Beginning in summer 2021, we called in 36 types of toilet paper from all of the major manufacturers. These included our three existing picks (from Charmin and Cottonelle), several smaller brands, and store-brand (generic) options.

Eleven of the 36 toilet papers we tried were made from what the toilet paper industry calls “ sustainable materials ,” like recycled paper. The rest were traditional toilet papers, made from trees cut down specifically to be ground into pulp for making toilet paper. We did test some three-ply toilet papers and one-ply toilet papers. But most of the papers we tested—and all of our eventual picks—were two-ply (two thin layers of paper lightly pressed or glued together).

Our initial testing examined various factors for each entrant:

Comfort: We judged softness subjectively during wiping. Our blind tushy testing had initial testers (my family members and me) rating all 36 toilet papers on a scale of 1 (those that felt like sandpaper or looked transparent like facial tissue) to 10 (opaque toilet papers that felt obscenely plush).

Lint factor: I wiped the sheets on velvet to test how much lint or dust was left behind, dismissing toilet papers that shed large amounts of residue.

Sturdiness: I poked and pulled sheets in multiple directions and with varying levels of pressure to test strength and “rippiness,” noting the ones that held up.

Once the testing pool was whittled down considerably, I sent rolls to nine additional staffers, who judged each toilet paper without knowledge of which had performed best in the first round of testing. Several testers were sent the papers sans packaging, so they were unaware of the brand or whether a roll was made from recycled paper, bamboo, or traditional trees. The staffers (and, in some cases, their families) ranked the contenders in terms of softness, lintiness, and strength. After those results came in, I also considered secondary factors, including:

• Certification: Toilet papers that bear a certification label from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) have been evaluated by the organization and found to be manufactured with responsibly sourced fibers. Though there are other certifications available, such as from the Swiss Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC, which certifies our budget pick), FSC is considered by environmental leaders (such as the World Wildlife Fund ) to have the most rigorous universal standards. Although we didn’t consider FSC certification to be a requirement, we did weigh papers with FSC certification more favorably.
• Additives: Most toilet papers have “proprietary” formulas of chemicals and conditioners that companies typically won’t disclose. We asked the manufacturers of our top picks whether their toilet paper contained any animal ingredients or byproducts (because some do), and we also asked about what they use to purify and whiten their toilet papers. In 1998, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began requiring most paper mills to limit elemental chlorine from being used in toilet paper production, due to carcinogenic concerns. Today almost all toilet papers are still purified and whitened using chlorine-based disinfectants and other undisclosed chemicals. Our Seventh Generation pick’s manufacturing process is completely free of chlorine. But its toilet paper is made from recycled papers that may have once been bleached, so it can’t be considered totally chlorine-free (which is most ideal ). The use of additives did not make or break our toilet paper picks, but they did inform our evaluation.
• Availability: I searched stores (online and in person) regularly to check fluctuations in price and availability, noting whether brands were frequently out of stock.

Until our March 2022 update, we recommended only toilet papers made from virgin wood pulp—also referred to as “traditional” toilet paper—because none of the environmentally friendlier toilet papers we’d tested came close in softness and strength. Since our original testing for this guide began, nearly a decade ago, there have been tremendous strides in the area of “sustainable” toilet paper. Sustainable toilet paper is made from either recycled fibers or from more environmentally friendly primary sources, such as responsibly sourced bamboo. We found several of the sustainable toilet papers we tested in 2021 and 2022 to be comparable in comfort and strength to traditional toilet papers, as well as comparatively much less dusty.

With growing concerns about climate change and deforestation , there is an increasing push to eliminate the “tree to toilet pipeline,” which is the cutting down of forests full of trees just to make toilet paper, said Shelley Vinyard, co-author of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s The Issue With Tissue (PDF) report. Since 2019, the NRDC —a not-for-profit environmental group—has evaluated dozens of toilet papers and ranked them, taking into consideration factors such as whether potentially carcinogenic chlorine is used to purify or whiten the fibers and the type of certifications held by the fiber suppliers to demonstrate their commitment to responsible sourcing. The latest report ranked toilet paper made from recycled fibers higher than toilet paper made from other sustainable materials, such as bamboo. “What we want most is circular solutions to avoid sending waste to the landfill, so, with toilet paper, that means post-consumer recycled content is the gold standard,” Vinyard said.

Chris McLaren, chief marketing officer at the US Forest Stewardship Council, agreed with Vinyard’s assessment, with the caveat that it’s not always possible to incorporate circular solutions because there isn’t as much used paper to recycle as there once was. “The digitalization of society (such as online media instead of newspapers and magazines) has caused there to be fewer recycled papers to utilize in the making of sustainable paper products,” he explained. McLaren said this issue of sustainability goes far beyond toilet paper, and that without enough recycled paper to use, some toilet paper will always need to come from new materials “to keep up with demand.” FSC certification is one way to ensure that, as McLaren put it, “forests are well-managed to stay healthy."

The toilet paper you decide to use is obviously a personal choice. Seventh Generation’s 100% Recycled Extra Soft & Strong is FSC-certified to be made from 100% recycled materials. Charmin Ultra Strong has a lesser type of FSC certification that guarantees at least 70% of materials are from FSC-approved forests; the other 30% of materials are considered acceptable but are not FSC-certified. Amazon Presto! Ultra-Soft is not FSC-certified, but it is PEFC -certified (an industry certification considered to have less-rigorous standards than those of FSC). As of February 2022, the PEFC certification does not appear anywhere on Presto! Ultra-Soft’s new packaging, though an Amazon spokesperson confirmed it was PEFC-certified.

Bamboo has become an increasingly popular alternative source material for toilet paper, and we tested several bamboo brands for this guide, including Betterway , Who Gives A Crap , and No. 2. Toilet paper made from bamboo is often promoted as an eco-friendly solution since bamboo grows so quickly and can be easily replenished, unlike a boreal forest . But bamboo toilet paper isn’t necessarily better for the environment, and it’s generally more expensive and not as soft as other papers.

When bamboo toilet paper is FSC-certified to be sourced responsibly—that is, ecosystems aren’t being wiped out and forests aren’t being clear-cut to plant homogenous swaths of bamboo—it is a great alternative option, McLaren and Vinyard both said. But few bamboo toilet paper companies have pursued certification. Two exceptions are Betterway and Cloud Paper , which are both FSC-certified to source 100% of their bamboo from suppliers committed to responsibly managing their crops and surrounding environments.

Seventh Generation 100% Recycled Extra Soft & Strong Bath Tissue is the cubic zirconia of toilet paper: With close scrutiny, an astute toilet-paper user might notice something’s different. But we think the average person would be hard-pressed to guess that this one is formulated with 100% recycled paper, instead of traditional virgin tree pulp. This soft, supple, nearly lint-free toilet paper is manufactured without bleach or any animal byproducts. And it was a true diamond in the rough among our testing pool of 11 environmentally friendly toilet papers.

Although we found many of the sustainable bath tissues we tested to be scratchy, Seventh Generation’s toilet paper is not. It also held its own against traditional toilet papers in softness and strength—testers found it to be durable and dependable, with no reports of accidental ripping during use. During the velvet rub tests to check for crumbling, pilling, and lint, the paper remained intact and left behind almost no residue.

Like traditional toilet paper (but unlike many of its sustainable competitors), Seventh Generation’s Extra Soft & Strong toilet paper is white in color. Yet this is due only to the color of the recycled papers used to make it; there is no chlorine used in the manufacturing process. This toilet paper is two-ply, and both sides are soft, but only one side features an embossed pattern (which is meant to help with wiping, though its usefulness is debatable). Seventh Generation says this paper is safe for septic systems and low-flush-volume toilets, and that no animal ingredients or byproducts are used in the manufacturing process.

Seventh Generation toilet paper is readily available in stores and online. Its largest offering, a 24-pack (240 sheets per roll), is normally about $22, or 0.38¢ ($0.0038) per sheet. Since it’s often on sale for less, Seventh Generation toilet paper is one of the most economical of the sustainable papers, and it’s similar (or even cheaper) in price to many traditional toilet papers.

Princess and the Pee types may notice that Seventh Generation is slightly less soft and a tad less strong than Charmin, our traditional toilet paper pick. However, one of our testers of sustainable toilet paper didn’t even realize that it was a recycled option, mistaking the Seventh Generation paper as a “control” traditional roll.

Price: about 0.38¢ ($0.0038) per sheet (depending on pack size and store sales)

Options: four, 12, or 24 rolls (240 sheets per roll)

Manufactured in: USA and Canada

FSC certification: Yes, certified to be 100% recycled.

Chlorine used in processing: No. Only hydrogen peroxide is used for the purification process. However, the recycled office paper and newspaper used may have been initially processed with chlorine, so the toilet paper cannot be called totally chlorine-free.

Ingredients: recycled paper fibers, hydrogen peroxide, “proprietary ingredients to control microbial growth and to aid in the wet strength of the product,” according to a Seventh Generation spokesperson (the company says this paper contains no animal ingredients or byproducts)

Of the 36 toilet papers we tested, the supple Charmin Ultra Strong stood out as the one with the best combination of strength and softness, with the added bonus of being low-lint and crumble-free. As bathroom tissue goes, our testers found this one to be foolproof—it tackled the toughest of toilet trips with nary a breakthrough finger rip, but it also felt pampering on our most delicate body parts. Our velvet rub tests found that Charmin Ultra Strong left behind very little lint, with no pilling or crumbling.

Charmin Ultra Strong is two-ply, and though only one side features an embossed pattern (like the Seventh Generation toilet paper), our testers confirmed that both sides felt super-soft. A Charmin spokesperson told us that it’s safe for septic systems and low-flush-volume toilets.

This toilet paper is available almost everywhere bathroom tissue is sold, in-store and online, and it has rarely been out of stock.

This traditional toilet paper is formulated from virgin tree pulp, but it is FSC-certified to have the majority of its materials sourced responsibly. It is manufactured using a purification/whitening process that is elemental chlorine-free but not totally chlorine-free.

When not on sale, Charmin Ultra Strong is slightly more expensive per sheet than Seventh Generation’s paper. The largest pack you can buy is a Mega roll 30-pack (264 sheets per roll) for about $31.50, or 0.39¢ ($0.0039) per sheet. That’s more than our other picks cost, but this paper is often on sale, and manufacturer coupons abound.

Charmin could not confirm whether animal ingredients or byproducts are used in the manufacturing process.

Price: about 0.39¢ ($0.0039) per sheet (depending on pack size and store sales)

Options: six, 12, 18, 24, or 30 Mega rolls (264 sheets per roll); eight, 12, or 18 Super Mega rolls (396 sheets per roll)

Manufactured in: USA

FSC certification: Yes, certified to be FSC-Mix, meaning at least 70% of the tree fibers used are responsibly sourced.

Chlorine used in processing: Yes. The purification/whitening process is elemental chlorine-free, but not totally chlorine-free.

Ingredients: wood pulp, water-based adhesive, and proprietary conditioners (a spokesperson for Charmin said it may contain animal ingredients or byproducts)

Although it isn’t quite as soft as our top picks from Seventh Generation and Charmin , Amazon’s Presto! Ultra-Soft Toilet Paper is a reliable traditional toilet paper that’s comfortable to use. However, it comes only in a large box of 24 rolls (four packages of six), so this may not work well for people with very limited storage space. At around 0.31¢ ($0.0031) per sheet, Presto! paper costs at least 25% less than our top picks—and using Amazon’s Subscribe & Save service could bring the price down by an additional 5% to 15%.

In our velvet rub test, we found Amazon Presto! left behind more lint than our other picks—but not too much. It also did not pill or rip easily while wiping. Most testers noticed only that it was less soft than our other picks, when they were asked to compare them side by side. The Amazon paper is two-ply, and both sides are soft (though, as with our other picks, only one side features the embossed pattern). Amazon says this tissue is safe for septic systems and low-flow toilets.

Amazon! Presto is rarely out of stock, but you can purchase it only online (on Amazon, of course). And it can be purchased only in a set of 24 Mega rolls (308 sheets per roll). This is a traditional toilet paper that is formulated from virgin tree pulp, and it is not FSC-certified. The pulp used to make the toilet paper is purified/whitened through a process that utilizes chlorine dioxide, making it elemental chlorine-free but not totally chlorine-free. Amazon confirmed that no animal ingredients or byproducts are used in the manufacturing process.

Price: about 0.31¢ ($0.0031) per sheet (less if you use Amazon’s Subscribe & Save service)

Options: Amazon’s Presto! Ultra-Soft comes in only one size: 24 Mega rolls (308 sheets per roll)

FSC certification: No, though it is certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

Chlorine used in processing: Yes. The purification/whitening process uses chlorine dioxide and thus is elemental chlorine-free, but it is not totally chlorine-free.

Ingredients: wood pulp and proprietary process chemicals “to help deliver properties like wet strength to the product,” according to an Amazon spokesperson (a spokesperson for Amazon said it contained no animal ingredients or byproducts)

We’re currently testing the premium version of celebrity-backed Cloud Paper, a well-liked, if slightly expensive, 100% FSC-certified bamboo toilet paper bleached using a TCF (totally chlorine free) method.

If you’re looking for a budget toilet paper and prefer to shop in-store: Walmart’s Great Value Ultra Strong and Target’s Up & Up Premium Ultra Soft are both extremely similar to our budget pick, Amazon’s Presto! Ultra-Soft . In fact, until late 2021, all three products had the same manufacturer license from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative on their packaging, as did other toilet paper made by white-label company First Quality Enterprises Inc. Although Presto! Ultra-Soft changed its packaging to omit this license number, the new packaging links to www.prestopaperpatents.com , which discusses First Quality Tissue at length. If you find either of these on sale, they’re both a good inexpensive option. But we found that Amazon’s Presto! Ultra-Soft was generally less expensive.

If you want a super-soft toilet paper and don’t mind a little butt dandruff: Cottonelle Ultra ComfortCare (our previous top pick) and the brand’s Ultra GentleCare (an aloe-infused cult favorite) are the softest toilet papers we’ve tested. However, they are also the dustiest and lintiest of all the papers we’ve tested, shedding tiny little lint bits and other residue everywhere the toilet paper touches, from bathroom cabinets to human bottoms. These are still super-comfy, super-cushy, and super-sturdy choices if you’re okay with tp residue.

If you’d prefer a toilet paper made of bamboo: Testers liked Betterway , which is soft (for bamboo toilet paper) and FSC-certified to have 100% of its fibers sourced responsibly (the best of the certifications available to bamboo papers). It comes at a higher cost than our picks, however, and it feels a lot rougher.

As an alternative to toilet paper, or as a means to reduce the amount of toilet paper you use, consider the bidet . A bidet is, essentially, a powerful water fountain in your toilet that’s meant to spray your bottom clean, hands-free, with only a square or two of toilet paper needed to dry off. (Some bidets even incorporate a bum-drying fan, potentially cutting out the need for toilet paper altogether.) Bidets have been a bathroom-hygiene staple in many parts of the world, such as Japan and Italy, for decades, and they’re gaining popularity in the US. Wirecutter testers have found bidets to be life-changing devices that can be more economical in the long run and cut your toilet paper needs by at least half. “We’re not saying people should throw out their toilet paper,” Shelley Vinyard said. “But bidets take much less water to use than the water required to make a roll of toilet paper, and they save money.”

Don’t buy wipes, unless you’re willing to put used wipes in your bathroom trash can or maintain a separate can for them. By flushing them down your toilet, you’re passing on a huge problem to your sewer system, as evidenced by sewer crises in New York City and London , and recurring problems in Miami , Ottawa , and Lake Charles, Louisiana , among other cities. For those who think they need to use wipes, we suggest they consider a bidet instead.

Sustainable toilet paper

Bamboo No. 2 Toilet Paper rolls come individually wrapped in colorful, Instagram-worthy tissue, and the packaging doesn’t use any plastic. But this toilet paper is not FSC-certified, and it’s also not as soft as our sustainable pick .

​​ Who Gives A Crap Premium Bamboo Toilet Paper also comes individually wrapped in pretty, plastic-free packaging. But it’s not as soft as our sustainable pick, nor is it FSC-certified.

Caboo Bamboo Bath Tissue was polarizing. Some testers thought it was perfectly serviceable, but others found it to be rough and not strong enough.

Tushy’s bamboo toilet paper also comes individually wrapped in pretty, plastic-free packaging, but it is very thin and scratchy.

Reel Tree-Free bamboo toilet paper feels rough compared to other bamboo toilet papers we tried.

PlantPaper bamboo toilet paper is FSC-certified, but it’s also rough and thin, and it ripped too easily.

Who Gives A Crap 100% Recycled Toilet Paper is extremely popular among sustainability-minded butt wipers, and it comes individually wrapped in attractive, plastic-free packaging. But it felt rough to us.

Neither Whole Foods’ 365 Sustainably Soft recycled toilet paper nor its 100% recycled toilet paper felt as strong or as comfortable to use as our picks.

A spokesperson from Seventh Generation told us its Natural Unbleached Bathroom Tissue (also made from recycled paper) had been discontinued.

Traditional toilet paper

Aria Premium Earth Friendly Bath Tissue scored very high in comfort among test tushies, but it’s expensive and dusty.

Neither Amazon’s Presto! Ultra-Strong nor its thicker three-ply option were worth the additional expense over our budget pick , the same brand’s Ultra-Soft.

Costco’s Kirkland Signature was the widest toilet paper in our test pool (the rolls often don’t fit on regular holders). But that was the most impressive feature of this otherwise-mediocre paper. It was neither the softest nor the strongest in our testing pool, and it was rather dusty. This was surprising given the longstanding reputation of this toilet paper; diehard Costco toilet paper users on Reddit theorize that pandemic-related supply-chain issues have caused the company’s bath tissues to devolve.

Charmin Essentials Strong and Charmin Essentials Soft felt scratchy and seemed to require a lot more paper to finish the task than our picks.

When directly compared with our top picks, Charmin Ultra Soft , Quilted Northern Ultra Soft & Strong , and Quilted Northern Ultra Plush were not ultra-soft, ultra-plush, or ultra-anything to our testers.

Charmin Ultra Gentle and Scott ComfortPlus were linty and ripped too easily.

Scott 1000 was translucent and easily ripped.

Great Value’s Soft & Strong , Walmart’s Cascades , Cottonelle Ultra CleanCare , Virtue , and  Angel Soft were not as soft or sturdy as our picks.

Amazon Solimo , Kirkland Signature Ultra Soft , Scott Extra Soft , Scott Naturals Tube-Free, and White Cloud Ultra Strong & Soft were tested (and dismissed) in an earlier round of testing. They have since been discontinued.

—additional reporting by Kevin Purdy

This guide was edited by Ellen Lee and Kalee Thompson.

Emily Flitter, My Tireless Quest for a Tubeless Wipe , The New York Times , February 28, 2020

Olivia Young, Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper: Bamboo vs. Recycled , Treehugger.com , December 6, 2021

Shelley Vinyard, co-author of The Issue With Tissue report (PDF) , phone interview , December 1, 2021

Chris McLaren, chief marketing officer at the US Forest Stewardship Council , phone interview , February 9, 2022

Meet your guide

Nancy Redd is a senior staff writer covering health and grooming at Wirecutter. She is a GLAAD Award–nominated on-air host and a New York Times best-selling author. Her latest nonfiction book, The Real Body Manual , is a visual health and wellness guide for young adults of all genders. Her other books include Bedtime Bonnet and Pregnancy, OMG!

Further reading

There’s a Toilet Paper Calculator That Cuts Through ‘Mega’ and ‘Jumbo’ Marketing Claims

by Elissa Sanci

Frustrated by confusing toilet paper marketing language, these amateur deal finders created a calculator to help sort the deals from the duds.

The Best Toilet Seat Risers

by Anna Wenner

If you or a loved one find it hard to stand up after using the toilet, it may be time to add one of these toilet seat risers to the bathroom.

Out of Toilet Paper? You Have Other Options. Just Don’t Flush Them!

by Doug Mahoney

Here’s how to handle TP scarcity without ruining your local water treatment systems.

Are Bidets Better for You Than Toilet Paper?

by Shannon Palus

Bidets are often marketed for their so-called medical benefits. They’ll clean your butt, sure. Can they—and should they—really do any more than that?