The best ebook readers for 2019

Best overall

Amazon Kindle Oasis (2017)

If you’re heavily invested in Amazon’s ecosystem and have Kindle ebooks, the Oasis is the perfect ebook reader.

Best Kindle alternative

Kobo Forma

It has anything and everything you’d want in an ebook reader, especially the fact that it supports the open source EPUB format.

Best budget ebook reader

Kindle Paperwhite (2018)

There are more affordable ebook readers, but the Paperwhite delivers the best bang for your buck.

Amazon’s dominance over ebook readers may have slowed as Rakuten’s Kobo started putting up a strong fight, but the best ebook reader you can buy remains the Kindle Oasis. Digital Trends has reviewed dozens of ebook readers, and has spent weeks with them to pass judgment and find the best. The Kindle Oasis not only delivers the best reading experience, but Amazon’s ecosystem and perks add tremendous benefits.

But what if you don’t want in on Amazon’s ecosystem? What if you want a blue-light filter on the E Ink screen? Well, there are other formidable options, and at varying price ranges too. Here are the best ebook readers money can buy.

Best ebook readers at a glance:

The best ebook reader: Amazon Kindle Oasis (2017)

Why you should buy this: You already have a library of Kindle ebooks, use your ebook reader for audio books, or just love the WhisperSync feature.

Who it’s for: The hardcore reader who’s heavily invested in the Amazon ecosystem.

Why we picked Amazon’s Kindle Oasis (2017):

The original Kindle Oasis was tough to beat, but the 2017 Kindle Oasis built upon its outstanding features. It’s currently the best Kindle available, though it’s also the most expensive. So what makes it such a great device? Featuring a beautiful 7-inch display, a pixel density of 300 pixels per inch, and well-placed navigation buttons, the Kindle Oasis revels in an excellent design.

While the 2017 Oasis doesn’t come with a battery cover, the battery life has improved and can last up to six weeks on a single charge. That is assuming you’re only reading half an hour a day and not extensively using the Bluetooth or backlight functions, but it only takes about an hour to fully charge. This type of battery life is still impressive, especially given how thin the device is. There are also built-in ambient light sensors, which adapt to your surroundings so that you don’t have to constantly adjust the screen.

Ebooks are pretty lightweight, so internal storage isn’t generally as important for an ebook reader as it is for a tablet or smartphone. The Kindle Oasis offers 8GB of storage, which is enough for thousands of books. It’s possible to get library books on your Kindle, too. Overdrive has a simple interface that lets you send ebooks to your Kindle over the internet — no plugging in required. You can also highlight passages from your favorite books and share them on social media.

As far as new features go, the 2017 Kindle Oasis delivers the long-awaited water resistance with an IPX8 rating, which means it’s protected against immersion in up to 6.5 feet of fresh water. It also supports audiobooks from Audible; just pair Bluetooth earbuds to the device to listen. If you own both the audiobook and ebook of a certain title, you can easily switch back and forth between formats.

Sadly, it still only accepts select ebook formats — you can read EPUB files, but it requires some manual work. Regardless, it’s our favorite Kindle and the one you should buy if you don’t mind shelling out extra money for this ebook reader.

Read our full Kindle Oasis review

The best Kindle alternative: Kobo Forma

Why you should buy this: You want a waterproof ebook reader with a big screen that supports more ebook formats.

Who it’s for: Readers who buy books, use EPUB ebooks, borrow ebooks from the library, or like to read near water.

Why we picked the Kobo Forma:

The Kobo Forma boasts a massive 8-inch E Ink display with a 300-pixels-per-inch (PPI) resolution. Since even ebook readers cast blue light, which can keep you up at night, Kobo created ComfortLight Pro to minimize blue-light exposure. When it’s all the way up, the display takes on a warm, yellow hue that minimizes the impact of blue light at night.

The Forma is fully waterproof, with an IPX8 rating, so you can read in the bath or at the beach. Depending on your reading preferences, you should only need to recharge its battery every few weeks to a month. The Kobo Forma can even handle a large number of ebook formats, so you can download your books from Google Play, your public library, or elsewhere. OverDrive library borrowing is built right into the Kobo store, so getting library books on your ebook reader has never been easier. You can add thousands of books to the Forma, too, thanks to an impressive 8GB of storage.

You will still prefer the Kindle Oasis (see the above entry) if you’re deeply embedded in Amazon’s Kindle ebook system, but if you’re not, the Kobo Forma is objectively a better ebook reader. It stifles blue light, supports more ebook formats, has a larger screen, and has built-in borrowing from your public library. It used to be our top pick, but we’re seeing reports of issues with quality control online, and have knocked it down (we double-checked our unit, which still works without issue).

Read our full Kobo Forma review

The best budget Kindle: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018)

Why you should buy this: You have a lot of Kindle ebooks, but you want a cheaper Kindle.

Who it’s for: The person who’s looking for an inexpensive ebook reader with all the bells and whistles.

Why we picked the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018):

The Kindle Paperwhite finally got a face-lift in 2018. While it has long been one of our favorite ebook readers, some minor updates to the Kindle Paperwhite make it an even better option for the average reader.

First off, the Kindle Paperwhite offers a beautiful high-resolution display with a 300-pixel-per-inch pixel density — the same as its predecessor. The raised bezel has been replaced with one that is flush with the display. The change makes the new Paperwhite a little more sleek, and ever-so-slightly thinner. This 6-inch ebook reader is light and easy to hold with one hand while reading. There aren’t any page turn buttons, sadly, but if you prefer using the touchscreen instead, you won’t be bothered.

There are also a few new features that make the Paperwhite even more attractive. It has an IPX8 rating, meaning you can use it in the pool or tub without worry. There’s also Bluetooth connectivity, meaning you can pair headphones with the Kindle and listen to your favorite Audible titles. The 2018 Kindle Paperwhite is available in 8GB and 32GB storage configurations. As far as battery life goes, the Paperwhite will last for several weeks on a single charge.

While the Paperwhite’s design may be so familiar that it’s uninspired, it’s still the best Kindle for most people. Keep in mind, there’s a cheaper model you can get — the basic Kindle which was refreshed in 2019. The price difference between it and the Paperwhite is so small, which is why we recommend it’s worth shelling out. You can read more information about in on the right sidebar.

Read our full Kindle Paperwhite review

The best alternative budget ebook reader: Kobo Clara HD

Why you should buy this: You’re looking for an inexpensive ebook reader with a front-lit HD display and plenty of storage.

Who it’s for: The reader on a budget who enjoys purchasing media in multiple formats.

Why we chose the Kobo Clara HD:

The Kobo Clara HD features a gorgeous 300 ppi screen and 8GB of storage — just like the Kindle Paperwhite. The battery is large enough that you should get around a month of reading from a single charge. It also offers an innovative illumination feature called ComfortLight Pro that uses red and orange LEDs to illuminate the screen without the need for blue light, which can cause trouble sleeping. This is a feature you won’t find on any Kindle, and it’s a major plus for Kobo’s devices as it does make reading at night feel a little more natural.

Just like the Forma, the Kobo Clara HD is compatible with many more formats than Kindle ebook readers, giving you the freedom to purchase your ebooks directly from the publisher, as well as dozens of other third-party retailers.

Read our full Kobo Clara HD review

How we test

Testing ebook readers is one of the best parts of the job. It’s every bookworm’s dream to get paid to read. Testing is about more than just reading, though. To put an ebook reader through its paces, we test the screen’s brightness in different lighting conditions, we test its toughness in a variety of environments, and if it is waterproof, we dunk it in the tub to see how it handles a spill into a bubble bath.

We go through the process of buying ebooks from the provided stores, borrowing ebooks from public libraries, and transferring existing ebook files onto the ebook reader itself. We’ve also gone through the pain of converting ebook files to different formats to fully understand just how annoying exclusionary ebook file types are for readers.

But most of all, we read, just like you would at home, so we can tell you what it’s like for a book lover to go digital.

Which ebook reader support which ebook formats?

One of the most annoying things about ebooks is that there are many file types, and certain ebook readers don’t support certain formats. Here’s a breakdown of which ebook readers support which formats.

Kindle

HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, EPUB and BMP files are only supported through conversion. Amazon has a free downloadable software called Kindle Previewer, which you can use to upload and convert these files into a readable format on your Kindle. You’ll need to manually plug your Kindle into a computer to transfer them.

Kobo

Kindle files and Apple iBooks are not supported, but Kobo supports the most file formats natively of any ebook reader.