If you’re a book lover, eReaders are one of the best things to invest in. There are so many benefits to owning an eReader, but perhaps the biggest is that they’re convenient for travel, taking up far less space (and weight) in your suitcase. Plus, eBooks are cheaper than paperbacks and hardcovers, meaning you can indulge in your hobby without feeling the pinch in your wallet.
There are plenty of eReaders on the market these days, from Kindle and Kobo to Boox. Some display in black and white only, but you can also get full colour displays. And if you’re like me and are constantly borrowing eBooks through your library, some will even allow you to read borrowed eBooks on your eReader!
Here is The Weekly‘s guide to the best eReaders for book lovers.
2025’s top eReaders:
- Kindle Paperwhite, $299, Amazon (here’s why)
- Kobo Libra Colour, $359.95, Booktopia (here’s why)
- Kindle Scribe, $649, Amazon (here’s why)
The best eReaders 2025
01
Kindle Paperwhite (12th Generation)
from $299 at Amazon
Best for: binge-readers
For most people, when they think “eReader”, they will think “Kindle”. And fair enough!
The entire Kindle range is a solid option for readers, but this Paperwhite is a slightly elevated version of the standard Kindle, with a longer battery life and larger display. Amazon brands their Paperwhite as “our fastest Kindle ever”, and the latest Kindle Paperwhite (12th Generation) boasts 25% faster page turns. When you’re racing through to the end of a gripping read, that can be so important.
An ultra-thin design makes this eReader a perfect choice for travelling. Plus, with one charge, you get up to 12 weeks of reading time. 12 weeks! There is also a dark mode setting which can be useful for reading at night or in dimmed aeroplane cabin lighting, and can help reduce eye strain.
From your Kindle eReader, you can directly access the Kindle Store and purchase books to download. With over 15 million titles to choose from, you’ll never run out of books to read.
Colours: Black
Key features:
- 7″ glare-free screen display
- 16 GB
- Adjustable font size, font face, line spacing and margins
- Adjustable screen brightness and warmth, with a dark mode option
- Access to the Kindle Store, which has more than 15 million titles
- Waterproof
02
Kobo Libra Colour
from $359 at Amazon
Best for: books with imagery and illustrations, and readers who enjoy annotating their books
Do you judge books by their covers? Or do you read a lot of books with beautiful imagery – coffee table books, fashion or architecture books, graphic novels, picture books, etc? Then the Kobo Libra Colour eReader could be the eReader for you. It brings books to life with a full-colour display.
But this eReader isn’t just great for covers and book imagery, the Libra Colour also allows coloured highlighting of eBooks, and coloured annotations directly on screen with a Kobo Stylus 2. So if you curate a BookTok or Bookstagram account, you’ll be able to take plenty of stunning photos of your Kobo Libra Colour eBooks.
Some more great features of the Kobo Libra Colour include the ability to borrow library books on the eReader, access to the Kobo Store and exclusive Kobo Original stories, and an integrated notebook for all your journaling needs. Plus, you can rotate your Kobo and use it in landscape orientation, as well as use it to listen to Kobo Audiobooks. One charge will get you up to 40 days of reading.
Colours: Black; White
Key features:
- 7″ glare-free coloured screen display
- 32 GB
- Adjustable font size, font style and margins
- Adjustable screen brightness and warmth, with a dark mode option
- Buttons for page turning
- Access to the Kobo Store
- Waterproof
- Borrow library books on your eReader through Libby and OverDrive
Available at:
- $359.95 from Booktopia
- $414.81 from Big W (white)
- $373.99 from Big W (black)
03
Kindle Scribe
from $649 at Amazon
Best for: note-taking, educational texts, reviewing PDFs
If you’ve not heard of the Kindle Scribe before, prepare to be amazed. This eReader offers all the standard features of a Kindle, but it’s for so much more than only reading – it’s like a combination eReader and notebook with AI capabilities. The Kindle Scribe comes with a Premium Pen that allows you to write directly on the Scribe, so you can notate in the margins of your text. The Active Canvas feature will automatically resize the document as needed to fit in as many annotations as you need.
The Kindle Scribe also has an in-built notebook which you can use to write whatever you like, such as meeting notes and to-do lists. The Scribe can then convert your handwritten text and email it to you. There are also AI notebook tools which can help refine your notes. The Scribe is available with 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB of memory, and like the Kindle Paperwhite has a battery life of up to 12 weeks.
Colours: Tungsten; Metallic Jade (available in the 64 GB size only)
Key features:
- 10.2″ glare-free screen display
- 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB
- AI notebook, Summarisation and Refine Writing tools
- Adjustable font size, font face, line spacing and margins
- Adjustable screen brightness and warmth, with a dark mode option
- Access to the Kindle Store, which has more than 15 million titles
Available at:
- $751.33 from Big W
04
Boox Palma
from $419 at Amazon
Best for: pocket-sized eReader, phone-like experience
If you find eReaders uncomfortable to hold for long periods, then the Boox Palma is a great option. This one is phone-sized, designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand and slip easily into pockets. Like a smartphone, it includes customisable side buttons and a customisable home screen. You can download third-party apps onto it from the Google Play Store, including library apps. It even has a camera for document capture, and can take screenshots.
If you’re asking yourself, “Why not just use a reading app on my phone?” the answer is because the Boox Palma doesn’t come with all those distractions you’ve got on your phone (your work email, for example), so you can fully immerse yourself in the book you’re reading. You can also listen to Audiobooks and podcasts with your Boox Palma (through the speaker or via Bluetooth headphones), which not every eReader offers.
Colours: Black; White
Key features:
- 6.13″ screen display
- 128 GB
- Adjustable font size, font style and margins
- Buttons for page turning
- Water-repellent
- Brightness settings automatically adjust to match surroundings
- Links to Google Play Store
05
Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition
from $329 at Amazon
Best for: voracious readers, ease of use
The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has all the same features as the standard Kindle Paperwhite, with some extra add-ons that appeal to readers. Firstly, there is more storage space (32 GB compared to 16 GB), which is great for the more voracious readers – that’s space for around 24,000 books! Secondly, this eReader has a front light sensor so it can auto-adjust the display settings, like brightness, to suit your surroundings.
With the Signature Edition – currently up to 12th Generation – you can also charge your Kindle wirelessly if you’d like (or via USB-C), and you’ll get that same up to 12 weeks of battery life.
Colours: Metallic Black; Metallic Jade
Key features:
- 7″ glare-free screen display
- 32 GB
- Adjustable font size, font face, line spacing and margins
- Adjustable screen brightness and warmth, with dark mode option
- Access to the Kindle Store, which has more than 15 million titles
- Waterproof
06
Kobo Clara BW
from $249 at Amazon
Best for: classic eReader option
The Kobo Clara BW is a great basic eReader option from Kobo. Like most of the other eReaders on the list, it comes with adjustable text settings so you can alter how books display to best suit your needs. There is also a Kobo Clara Colour option ($269 from Amazon) available with all the same features, plus a gorgeous full-colour display.
With a Kobo eReader, you get access to books on the Kobo Store, which includes Kobo-exclusive Kobo Original reads. You can also join the Kobo Plus eBook and audiobook subscription service, and access both formats with your Kobo Clara, which has Bluetooth embedded. And if that isn’t enough books for you, the Kobo Clara eReader lets you borrow library books through Libby and OverDrive.
Compared to the Kobo Libra Colour, this eReader has less storage space and is not compatible with the Kobo Stylus.
Colours: Black
Key features:
- 6″ glare-free coloured screen display
- 16 GB
- Adjustable font size, font style and margins
- Adjustable screen brightness and warmth, with a dark mode option
- Access to the Kobo Store
- Waterproof
- Borrow library books on your eReader through Libby and OverDrive
Available at:
07
Boox Go Color 7
from $479 at Amazon
Best for: all the bells and whistles
The Book Go is also a combined eReader and notebook device that lets you highlight and annotate your eBooks, though you’ll need to buy yourself an InkSense stylus to use the Notes app feature. The colour display helps bring texts to life, and since this eReader can be rotated to portrait or landscape, it’s a great option for reading graphic novels, magazines, coffee table books, etc. There is also a Boox Go 7 black and white ereader ($399 from Big W).
With an in-built speaker plus Bluetooth connectivity, you can listen to audiobooks with your Boox eReader. And since you can download third-party apps onto the device, you can also use the eReader to listen to podcasts and music, the latter of which can help create a more immersive reading experience. And if you love to press buttons, one thing the Boox Go offers that some of the other eReaders don’t is physical buttons for page turning.
Colours: Black; White
Key features:
- 7″ screen display
- 64 GB
- Adjustable font size, font style and margins
- Adjustable screen brightness and warmth, with a dark mode option
- Buttons for page turning
- Water-repellent
- Links to Google Play Store
Available at:
- $449 from Big W
08
Kindle
from $199 at Amazon
Best for: a lighter, more compact option
The original eReader from Amazon, the Kindle, is now on Generation 11. Updated features on the latest model include 25% brighter front light and a higher contrast ratio.
The standard Kindle has a battery life of up to 6 weeks, which is half of what you’d get with the Kindle Paperwhite. But if that longer battery life isn’t a concern, and you aren’t after a colour display, the Kindle has everything you’d expect an eReader to offer, including customisable font style and adjustable brightness. The smaller screen size (6″ compared to the Paperwhite’s 7″) can make this eReader an easier one to handle as well, and potentially a better option for slipping into a handbag or even a pocket.
Colours: Black; Matcha
Key features:
- 6″ glare-free screen display
- 16 GB
- Adjustable font size, font face, line spacing and margins
- Adjustable screen brightness and warmth, with a dark mode option
- Access to the Kindle Store, which has more than 15 million titles
Available at:
- $199 from Big W
Should I get a Kobo or Kindle?
Both the Kobo and Kindle are great options for eReaders, but they do have different benefits, which may help you decide which is the right choice for you.
A Kobo eReader will allow you to sync your library account to your eReader through Libby or OverDrive, so you can read borrowed eBooks on your Kobo device. At the time of writing, this is something Kindle doesn’t allow in Australia. So if you borrow a lot of eBooks through your library, the Kobo may be a better option for you.
With a Kindle eReader, you’ll be able to access Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service. This is a subscription service, where a small monthly fee gives you access to a library of over 4 million free reads that you borrow like you would from a library. This is particularly great for genre fiction, including romance, thriller and crime. As Kobo is not an Amazon product, you won’t be able to access Kindle Unlimited on your Kobo eReader. However, Kobo has its own subscription service – Kobo Plus – with a slightly smaller range than is offered by Kindle Unlimited, with around 2 million eBooks.
If you like to switch between eBooks and audiobooks when you read, Kindle also offers “Whispersync”. This clever feature means that if you own the eBook and audiobook of a title, it will automatically sync your reading location between the formats as you read, allowing for a seamless reading experience.
What are the benefits of eReaders?
There are so many benefits to eReaders! They’re convenient for travel, storing thousands of books in one lightweight device. Unlike a paperback, you can use an eReader in low-light situations, as well as turn on dark mode to help reduce eye strain. You can also adjust font size and style easily, and use the search function to search within texts. Plus, eBooks are more affordable than paperbacks or hardbacks, so after the initial investment, you’ll be saving money in the long run.
eReaders also offer a streamlined shopping experience, with the ability to buy books directly on the device, so if you’ve finished book one in a series, you can move straight on to book two. eReaders are also great for allowing you to highlight text, whether that’s a beautiful line in a book or important pieces of information in a non-fiction text.
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