If your bookshelves are at breaking point or your suitcase is already bursting, the best ereaders are a smart investment. And when it comes to choosing one, Amazon's Kindle range remains hard to beat.

With a glare-free screen, weeks of battery life and room for hundreds of books, Kindle makes reading more convenient without losing the feel of a physical book. You can even customise your experience with adjustable fonts, highlights and built-in definitions.

I’ve been a tech writer for 10 years and have used Kindles throughout, watching the range evolve from simple ereaders with physical buttons to touchscreen devices with huge storage, stylus support and the Kindle Scribe’s notebook features.

Amazon’s Kindle range includes models for every type of reader and budget, from basic ereaders to premium options. There are also kids’ editions, which add a child-friendly case and book subscription. But with so many small differences between models, I tested a selection of Kindles to find the best option for most people.

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The best Kindles for 2026 are:

  • Best overall– Kindle Paperwhite: £159.99, Amazon.co.uk
  • Best budget buy– Kindle: £94.99, Amazon.co.uk
  • Best premium model– Kindle Paperwhite signature edition: £189.99, Amazon.co.uk

  • Best for note-taking– Kindle Scribe: £449, Amazon.co.uk

  • Bestkindle overall

  • Why we love it- Great 7in display
  • Warm lighting

  • Noticeably faster than the base model

  • Take note- Plasticky design

The 12th-generation Kindle Paperwhite is the premium version of the basic Kindle (see below) and the best choice for most readers. The key differences are a bigger 7in screen, adjustable colour temperature, a faster operating system, smoother and more comfortable front-lighting, and waterproofing.

The boost to the screen size might look marginal, but in practical terms, it makes a big difference on the Kindle Paperwhite. You can either read more comfortably with a larger font size or keep the regular font size and see more words on each page. That means fewer page turns and a better reading experience, especially as physical buttons no longer exist on Kindle.

The Kindle Paperwhite uses more LEDs around the display, compared with the basic Kindle, so illumination is brighter and smoother across the page. It can also adjust from a cold, blue daylight to a warmer amber colour for more comfortable reading in low light.

Otherwise, you get all the upgrades that arrived with the 2021 edition. USB-C charging means you’re more likely to have the right cable at hand when that weeks-strong battery finally dies, while waterproofing means you can confidently read while you soak in the bath.

Key specifications

  • Screen size:7in
  • Storage:16GB
  • Resolution:300dpi
  • Weight:211g
  • Battery life:Up to 12 weeks

  • Waterproofing:IPX8

  • Bestbudget Kindle

  • Why we love it- Lovely new matcha green colourway
  • Compact design

  • Most affordable in the range

  • Take note- Big price increase

  • No waterproofing

The 11th-generation Kindle launched in late 2024 and, despite a price hike from £70 to £94.99, remains the cheapest ereader in the new range, and a great choice for most readers.

So, what do you get when you opt for the most affordable Kindle? Everything you need in a modern ereader with none of the frills: a decently sharp, 6in, 300dpi e-ink display; around six weeks of battery life; USB-C charging; front-lighting using LEDs; and around 12GB of useable storage. That’s more than enough for thousands of ebooks, but it could be restrictive if you use your Kindle for audiobooks, too.

The 2024 Kindle is slightly brighter than the previous edition, but there’s still no colour temperature option on the basic model. That means the lighting remains a stark blue-white when reading in the dark, rather than the warm and fuzzy amber mode found on more expensive Kindles. You also don’t get any waterproofing, so be careful when reading by the pool. As a point of comparison, warm light and waterproofing appear on the superior Kobo Clara BW (£129.99, Amazon.co.uk), which costs £35 more than the basic Kindle without ads.

Key specifications

  • Screen size:6in
  • Storage:16GB
  • Resolution:300dpi
  • Weight:158g
  • Battery life:Up to six weeks

  • Waterproofing:Not rated

  • Bestkindle for kids

  • Why we love it- Perfect for young readers
  • Comes with a durable case
  • Six months of Amazon Kids+ included

  • Two-year worry-free guarantee

  • Take note- Big price increase since previous model

This ereader is the same as the regular Kindle Paperwhite, but with a few key additions that make it a great choice for younger readers.

Firstly, this kids’ version comes with a colourful, child-friendly cover. There are two design options: “starfish” in pink and “cyber city” in blue. Not only do they look good, but they also help to protect the device from bumps and scratches. On top of that, there’s a two-year guarantee.

Secondly, this model comes with a six-month subscription to Amazon Kids+, which gives little ones access to thousands of age-appropriate books, Audible audiobooks, and educational apps. The subscription auto-renews, so be sure to cancel it if you don’t want to continue paying.

The Kindle Paperwhite kids’ ereader is also ad-free, so your child won’t be bombarded with banners for air fryers and sponsored content while they’re trying to read. Parental controls also let you curate the reading libraries of up to four mini readers; view their progress; adjust age filters, and set a device bedtime. But who’d discourage a bit of reading under the covers at night?

Key specifications

  • Screen size:7in
  • Storage:16GB
  • Resolution:300dpi
  • Weight:211g
  • Battery life:Up to 12 weeks

  • Waterproofing:IPX8

  • Bestpremium Kindle

  • Why we love it- Wireless charging

  • Extra storage

  • Take note- Minimal update since previous model

Since the brilliant (and expensive) Kindle Oasis has been discontinued, the decadent-sounding signature edition of the Kindle Paperwhite is the best premium Kindle Amazon makes in 2025.

The £189.99 ereader is almost identical to the regular £159.99 Paperwhite, but with a few convenient additions – namely, wireless charging, double the storage and an auto-adjusting light that dims or brightens to suit your surroundings.

The price difference here will be tough for most readers to justify, particularly as the battery life on Kindles is extensive enough that wireless charging isn’t a huge convenience add. The 32GB of storage will benefit fans of audiobooks, if you’re one of the few people who prefer not to use your phone for audio. The auto-adjusting light is a neat addition, however, and means less faffing around with brightness settings when you move from the hotel bedroom to the sun lounger.

Whether that’s worth the extra £30 depends on how much of a bookwork you are but, for most people, the regular Kindle Paperwhite will do everything you need it to.

Key specifications

  • Screen size:7in
  • Storage:32GB
  • Resolution:300dpi
  • Weight:214g
  • Battery life:Up to 12 weeks

  • Waterproofing:IPX8

  • Bestkindle for note-taking

  • Why we love it- New notetaking features work well
  • Fast and responsive writing experience

  • Big screen is great for reading

  • Take note- As expensive as an iPad

The Kindle Scribe is a spacious, 10.2in ereader you can take notes on, thanks to the included stylus. For its sheer size alone, it offers the best possible reading experience of any Kindle and, despite being larger, the Kindle Scribe retains its sharpness and legibility, with a premium-looking 300dpi display. The ability to be scribbled on means you can leave handwritten notes on ebooks, sketch and doodle, jot down lists and sign PDFs.

Updated for 2025, the new Kindle Scribe gets a massively improved note-taking experience. Previously, your notes on ebooks would be hidden behind highlighted text, which felt oddly digital and stilted, given the physicality of the form factor. Now, with Active Canvas, your notes appear in boxes alongside the text, which shifts around the page to make room for your scribbled thoughts.

You also get AI-powered handwriting recognition, which promises to turn even the worst of chicken scratches into regular, searchable text, as well as AI-generated summaries of your notes – though neither AI feature has rolled out in the UK yet. There’s a huge library of paper types to write on, too, from plain and ruled paper to day planners, to-do lists and gratitude diaries.

All of this wizardry comes at a price, however. The new Kindle Scribe has an RRP of £379.99 for the lowest 16GB storage option, fully £50 more expensive than the 2022 Kindle Scribe, which is functionally the same device. More damningly, it’s £50 more expensive than an entry-level iPad, which won’t offer you a paper-style reading and writing experience but will let you watch movies when that new novel isn’t grabbing you.

Key specifications

  • Screen size:10.2in
  • Storage:16GB / 32GB / 64GB
  • Resolution:300dpi
  • Weight:443g
  • Battery life:Up to six weeks
  • Waterproofing:Not rated