NewsBeat
Best Kindles for 2026, tried and tested by a tech expert
Ereaders are one of the greatest inventions for bookworms. Ideal for homes overflowing with books or your summer holiday luggage allowance. And there’s a reason Amazon’s Kindles dominate our guide to the best ereaders: because, well, they’re the best.
With displays that cause no glare and storage for hundreds of books (a book shelf could never compete), a Kindle is as comfortable to read as any book or magazine, while still retaining all of the most useful features of reading on a tablet. You can download books to read instantly and read for weeks without needing a recharge. They also allow for customising your reading experience, from highlighting passages to adjusting the font size. You can even look up the definition of words you come across.
I’ve been a tech writer for a decade and I’ve had a Kindle the entire time, so I’ve tried and tested multiple generations of Kindle tech. I’ve watched as buttons have been replaced with touchscreens and fancy styluses, and storage went from a few thousand books to tens of thousands. I’ve even seen the beloved ereader transform into a digital notebook with the release of the Kindle Scribe.
Amazon offers a variety of Kindles at different price points, each tailored to different types of readers. There are also kids’ editions, which are essentially the same as the standard models but include a children’s book subscription and a kid-friendly cover. However, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, the tiny distinctions all blend together, so I put a range of Kindles to the test to see which is the best for most people.
Read more: ReMarkable 2 vs Kindle scribe: Our tech expert’s review and verdict
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: £379.99, Amazon.co.uk
How I tested
I’ve used a Kindle for a decade, and I have been testing some of these Amazon Kindle devices for six years. I took these ereaders on planes, trains and automobiles, and I’ve used them in broad, direct sunlight as well as in the middle of the night. I also tested the built-in Audible functionality, which lets you switch between reading and listening to a book. You can find my full testing criteria at the end of this guide.