I love it very much a paperback that I can bend, touch, smell, and display on my bookshelf when I’m done reading. But there’s no doubt that e-readers (also called e-readers) make life easier—they can just also makes you read more. 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 flood you with distracting notifications. Books can also be expensive and take up a lot of physical space, but that’s not a problem with e-books. Even better, you can check out digital books from the library without leaving your home.
Of course, when you hear “e-reader,” you probably think of Kindle. Amazon makes the best e-readers, which is why we have a dedicated e-book reader Best Kindle The guide breaks down the entire squad. But there are some Kindle alternatives in case you don’t want one Amazon support or you just want a different feature set. WIRED’s Gear team spent months, if not years, reading on these tablets—they’re our favorites.
Updated June 2024: We’ve added the latest Lenovo Nook reading tablet.
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How we test e-readers
The most important thing we do when testing e-readers is read on them! We spend hours reading a variety of books downloaded directly from the brand’s store and from our local library via OverDrive/Libby. If there were additional features, such as book annotations or separate notebook sections for writing and drawing, we’d spend a few extra hours using those tools as well, paying attention to duration extended battery.
