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Best Kindles you can buy in 2023

All the help you need to power through your reading list this year.

By Simon Cocks
best kindles
Amazon

So, you're thinking of picking up an Amazon Kindle but don't know where to start? If you're trying to read more books this year, one of the best Kindles can help. There are a lot of good reasons to pick one up – if you want to bring books with you on a trip then an ebook reader won't weigh you down, and we can all agree that binge-watching adaptations like Bridgerton, Conversations with Friends and Heartstopper won't count towards your reading list.

Kindles are the most popular e-reader models for good reason. They all come with features that make it easier to get started and to keep going, with a massive library of titles at lower prices than their paperback counterparts. When it comes to picking the best Kindle for your needs, though, there are a few key differences to consider between the models in the range.

No matter which you end up going for, all of them are lightweight and thin with loads of room for thousands of books. It's just worth knowing that the fancy £200+ Kindle Oasis is probably a bit excessive if all you want is a simple device for a bit of reading before bed.

TL;DR? Here's a quick rundown of our favourites:

      How Digital Spy tests Kindles

      We test out the best Kindles by using them just as you would in your own home. We check out how they are to use and set up and make sure they've got enough battery to get through all the books in The Witcher series. We try out the adjustable backlight to see if it makes reading more comfortable, and we assess how easy it is to navigate around the interface and buy new books.

      Best lightweight Kindle
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle (2022)
      £84.99
      £74.99 (12% off)
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      The long wait is over, Amazon finally released a new basic Kindle model. It has an even smaller and lighter form factor than the previous one, and we can't get enough of the bright high-res screen, extra battery life, and, thankfully, USB-C charging! Since House of the Dragon wrapped up its first season, we've been delving deep into Targaryen histories by reading George RR Martin's Fire & Blood on the new model, and we've been finding this model a great size to bring in our bag. If you need waterproofing or a stronger backlight, though, you'll still want to go for the more expensive Paperwhite model. It's also worth noting that this new Kindle starts from £84.99, rather than the old £69.99 starting price of the previous basic Kindle.

      • Storage space: 16GB
      • Battery life: Up to six weeks based on 30 minutes of reading a day
      • Screen size:       6-inch
      • Screen resolution: 300 ppi
      • Waterproofing: Not waterproof
      • Connectivity:       Wifi-only
      • Backlight: Built-in light with 4 LEDs

      Best Kindle overall
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)
      £129.99
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      In 2021, Amazon launched its updated Kindle Paperwhite, with longer ten-week battery life, a bigger screen and USB-C for faster charging. This is the upgrade pick we'd recommend if you want your e-reader to last for a long time. It's one of the most future-proof picks, the waterproofing makes it more robust than the basic Kindle, and we love the adjustable warm display that makes it great for reading at night.

      • Storage space: 8GB
      • Battery life: Up to 10 weeks based on 30 minutes of reading a day
      • Screen size: 6.8-inch
      • Screen resolution: 300 ppi
      • Waterproofing: IPX8-rated to withstand immersion in two metres of water for up to an hour
      • Connectivity: Wifi-only
      • Backlight: Built-in light with 17 LEDs

      Best Kindle Paperwhite bundle
      amazon.co.uk
      Kindle Paperwhite Essentials Bundle
      £172.97
      £122.97 (29% off)
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      This bundle gets you a Paperwhite, Amazon's 5W wall charger and a handy fabric cover (pick from pink, blue or black) for a fiver less than the cost of buying all the items separately.

      Best Kindle for graphic novels
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle Scribe
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      If you're looking at a Kindle for reading graphic novels or manga (several volumes of Battle Angel Alita and Attack on Titan are on Kindle Unlimited, just fyi), we'd recommend going for the biggest screen available on a Kindle – a large backlit 10.2-inch display (roughly the same size as the entry-level Apple iPad). This tablet-sized model isn't the most convenient option for travel, due to its size, but it is surprisingly light and its interface is easy to use – although it comes at a high price, starting from £329.99. It's also the first device in Amazon's e-reader lineup that's designed for writing as well as reading. It comes with a stylus that attaches magnetically, and we'd recommend it for taking notes, and jotting down thoughts while reading and annotating PDF files.

      • Storage space: 16GB, 32GB or 64GB
      • Battery life:       Up to 12 weeks based on 30 minutes of reading a day
      • Screen size:       10.2-inch
      • Screen resolution:       300 ppi
      • Waterproofing:       None
      • Connectivity:       Wifi
      • Backlight:       Built-in light with 35 LEDs

      Best Kindle upgrade
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition
      £179.99
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      The Signature Edition is a very slight upgrade over the Paperwhite, but those improvements make it the absolute best Kindle if you need all the top specs. If you like the sound of additions like an auto-adjusting front light, wireless charging (we've never heard of anyone putting a Kindle on a charging pad, but it's now possible), and a slightly ridiculous 32GB of storage – you better be hoarding audiobooks with this much room!) – go for this version for £179.99.

      • Storage space: 32GB
      • Battery life: Up to 10 weeks based on 30 minutes of reading a day
      • Screen size: 6.8-inch
      • Screen resolution: 300 ppi
      • Waterproofing: IPX8-rated to withstand immersion in two metres of water for up to an hour
      • Connectivity: Wifi-only
      • Backlight: Built-in light with 17 LEDs

      Best premium Kindle
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle Oasis
      £229.99
      £199.99 (13% off)
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      The Oasis is Amazon's high-end e-reader, typically selling for over £200. It's got an adjustable light that you can make a warm white, waterproofing, and an impressive six-week battery life. What makes this different from some of the other models in the range is its design. It's meant to be slightly more "ergonomic", with a chunkier section to grip on one side, and it's also the only one with physical buttons that many will find more intuitive than the touchscreen for turning pages. It's hardly affordable, but if you want the best Kindle out there for readers, this is the one.

      • Storage space: 8GB or 32GB
      • Battery life: Up to six weeks based on 30 minutes of reading a day
      • Screen size: 7-inch
      • Screen resolution: 300 ppi
      • Waterproofing: IPX8-rated to withstand immersion in two metres of water for up to an hour
      • Connectivity: Wifi-only or wifi and mobile connectivity
      • Backlight: Built-in light with 25 LEDs

      Best Kindle Oasis bundle
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle Oasis Essentials Bundle
      £297.97
      £247.97 (17% off)
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      If you know you definitely want a case to protect your Kindle Oasis, this bundle gets you the e-reader itself, a 9W wall plug and the leather case for £20 less than it'd cost if you bought these all separately.

      Best Kindle for kids
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids
      £139.99
      £109.99 (21% off)
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      We'd pick this new kid-friendly option if you're getting a Kindle for a teen or a child who really loves books, as it bundles in the features of the new Paperwhite (that great sharp display and battery life) along with a year's subscription to Amazon Kids+. That gives them access to over a thousand books for different ages, whether they're into Greek mythology or The Princess Diaries.

      • Storage space: 8GB
      • Battery life: Up to 10 weeks based on 30 minutes of reading a day
      • Screen size: 6.8-inch
      • Screen resolution: 300 ppi
      • Waterproofing: IPX8-rated to withstand immersion in two metres of water for up to an hour
      • Connectivity: Wifi-only
      • Backlight: Built-in light with 17 LEDs

      Best lightweight Kindle for Kids
      amazon.co.uk
      Amazon Kindle Kids (2022)
      £104.99
      £89.99 (14% off)
      SHOP NOW

      The new Kids variant is a version of the 2022 basic Kindle marketed for Kids, coming with a protective cover and a one-year membership to Amazon Kids+, along with the same improvements on the standard model including a better screen, more space, more battery life and USB-C connector. It's a great option if you want a smaller Kindle for a young reader, as it's only 256g (including the weight of the cover) which makes it a lot lighter than the 321g of the Paperwhite Kids.

      • Storage space: 16GB
      • Battery life:       Up to six weeks based on 30 minutes of reading a day
      • Screen size:       6-inch
      • Screen resolution:       300 ppi
      • Waterproofing:       Not waterproof
      • Connectivity:       Wifi-only
      • Backlight:       Built-in light with 4 LEDs

      How to pick the best Kindle
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      Weighing up the main differences? Here's what to pay attention to:

      Storage space: The main thing to know is that every Kindle has more than enough room for most of us to stock up our virtual bookshelves. An average Kindle book is just 2-3MB, so you can fit around 2,000 to 3,000 of these on the standard Kindle or the newest Paperwhite, which have 8GB of space. The older Paperwhite or the Oasis come with either 8GB or 32GB. Let's be honest, you'll only need that larger size (enough for 15,000 books) if you're planning to keep a lot of audiobooks or graphic novels on your device.

      Battery life: One good thing about Kindles is that battery life is measured in weeks rather than hours, so you won't be reaching for your power bank to keep it topped up while you're on the go. There are a few differences to watch out for. The standard one should give you about four weeks of life based on half an hour of reading per day, while the new Paperwhite models last up to 10 weeks.

      Screen size: Most Kindles are just a little smaller than an iPad Mini or comparable to physical paperbacks while being a lot thinner. They'll either come with a six-inch or 6.8-inch touchscreen – and the smaller ones are going to be the easiest to use one-handed. You may want to consider whether you'll need a case for it and how it'll fit in your bag when commuting.

      Screen resolution: No matter which one you pick, they all have glare-free screens that show clear text in direct sunlight. None of these models is hard to read in bright conditions, but Paperwhite and Oasis versions do have a higher resolution with more "pixels per inch" (ppi). This makes the text in books noticeably sharper and less effort to read. Depending on your font size, though, the difference in resolution may not be obvious to every reader.

      Waterproofing: If you want to feel confident that your device isn't going to die if you drop it in the bath or the pool when on holiday, pick a Kindle with waterproofing. Some models are IPX8-rated, which means they're sealed enough to withstand immersion in two metres of water for up to an hour.

      Backlight: Amazon used to sell Kindles that you couldn't see in the dark, but that's not something you need to worry about with today's lineup. Every model comes with a built-in backlight. But there are still differences, and the more premium Kindles use more lights to get brighter. Also, the lights on the Oasis and the new Paperwhite Signature will automatically brighten or dim as light levels change, so it won't blind you when you turn it on after dark. And, on the Oasis and new Paperwhite models, you can also change the tone from cool to warm, which is kinder on your eyes over longer reading sessions.

      Connectivity: Amazon does sell the Kindle Oasis with what it calls "free" mobile connectivity, but these versions are more expensive. Every Kindle connects to wifi for you to get your new books and since there are hotspots everywhere nowadays, we'd recommend going with the wifi-only variants anyway.

      What's Kindle Unlimited?
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      It's a bit like Netflix for books – Kindle Unlimited gives you access to over a million ebooks, thousands of audiobooks, and a wide selection of magazine subscriptions for £7.99 a month. It's technically a borrowing service, so you'll be able to hold onto ten titles in your own library at any one time. If you read a lot or want to listen to audiobooks more often, it sounds like great value, but it's worth knowing that most bestsellers won't be on this service so you'll find that it's mostly self-published books.

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