Amazon has led the way with its Kindle lineup when it comes to reading e-books and interacting digitally with our favorite stories. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is one of the most popular e-readers on the market and has been since its release. The best Kindles have a lot to offer, but not everyone wants to go with an Amazon product. If you’re one of those people you may be wondering what the best Kindle alternatives may be. There are quite a few brands out there making quality e-book readers, and we’ve tested them out. In the process we’ve made our selections for the best Kindle alternatives.
The best Kindle alternatives in 2024
- Buy the
if you want the best Kindle alternative overall. - Buy the
if you want the best Kindle alternative for reading ebooks. - Buy the
if you want the best premium Kindle alternative. - Buy the
if you want the best Kindle alternative for all-purpose use. - Buy the
if you want the best Kindle alternative for kids.
Kobo Libra 2
Best Kindle alternative overall
| Pros | Cons |
| Glare-free display | Slow to startup |
| Ergonomic design | |
| Support for audiobooks |
Kobo is a Japanese brand that makes high-quality and stylish e-book readers. The Kobo Libra 2 been among our best e-book readers for some time, and Kobo even manages to place other devices on the list. The Libra 2 comes with a fast display with deep contrast and quick page turns. It’s always glare-free, and it has ComfortLight Pro adjustable brightness and blue light reduction technology to limit eye strain. The Libra 2 is fully waterproof, so you can do your e-reading at the beach, by the pool, or anywhere else you may prefer.
| Display | 7-inch touchscreen |
| Battery life | Up to 21 hours |
Barnes & Noble Nook Glowlight 4e
Best Kindle alternative for reading ebooks
| Pros | Cons |
| High resolution display | Small screen size |
| Glare and fingerprint resistance | |
| Long battery life |
The Barnes & Noble Nook Glowlight 4e is intentionally simple. B&N has left out a lot of the frills you find in the some of the best tablets in order to make an affordable e-book reader, and in the process it has made the best Kindle alternative for reading e-books. This device isn’t going to be that great at anything else, but if you simply want to get lost in a book for hours at a time, this is the Kindle alternative for you.
| Display | 6-inch touchscreen |
| Battery life | Up to 4 days |
Boox Note Air 3
Best premium Kindle alternative
| Pros | Cons |
| Simulates reading on paper | Expensive |
| Note-taking functionality | |
| Large 10.3-inch display |
If you’re looking to treat yourself with a new e-reader, the best premium Kindle alternative is the Boox Note Air 3. It’s sleek and incredibly refined, and it offers a distraction-free reading experience with exceptional black and white contrast for sharper text and better focus. It comes with a ton of power, as it features an 8-core processor. This will come in handy if you plan to use the Note Air 3 for things like note-taking or marking up documents, as it allows you to write on documents in addition to its capabilities as an e-reader.
| Display | 10.3-inch touchscreen |
| Battery life | Up to 4 weeks |
Apple iPad (10th-gen)
Best Kindle alternative for all-purpose use
| Pros | Cons |
| Beautiful display | Poor battery life |
| Colorful lineup | Expensive |
| Large app ecosystem |
If you’re looking for a device that can do more than just e-reading, the Apple iPad (10th-gen) is the best Kindle alternative for all-purpose use. This is much more of a tablet than an e-reader, and as such, you’ll be getting all sorts of additional functionality. You’ll have a plethora of apps at your disposal, and the beautiful display is as immersive when watching movies as traditional e-readers can be when reading books. Apps available include things like the Kindle App and Apple Books, so you can rest assured you’ll have access to e-books with the iPad.
| Display | 10.9-inch Liquid Retina touchscreen |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro
Best Kindle alternative for kids
| Pros | Cons |
| Robust parental controls | Poor battery life |
| Access to books, movies, and more | |
| Full HD screen resolution |
The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro is more than a great e-reader for kids. It’s also one of the best tablets for kids, and we think it’s the best Kindle alternative for kids. It’s made for kids ages 6-12 and has access to thousands of ad-free books, games, videos and apps. It’s also set up for parents to stay in control of the device. Kids can request apps and e-books, while parents must approve purchases and downloads. The web browser has built-in controls to help filter out inappropriate sites and let you block specific ones. The Amazon Fire HD Kids Pro can reach up to 12 hours of life on a single charge, and its 10.1-inch display comes in at Full HD resolution.
| Display | 10.1-inch touchscreen |
| Battery life | Up to 12 hours |
How we chose these Kindle alternatives
We love to read as much as the next bookworm, and we’ve put a lot of e-book readers to use because of it. When considering the best Kindle alternatives we leaned on our knowledge of the Kindle lineup and what makes it so popular. We compared those features to other e-readers, and came away with a the list of the best Kindle alternatives you’ll find above. We placed a strong emphasis on e-readers we’ve used ourselves, with a secondary emphasis on affordability, screen resolution, and battery life, as we feel these competence in these areas are important when it comes to getting yourself an e-reader that makes for one of the best Kindle alternatives.
This article is managed and created separately from the Digital Trends Editorial team.
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