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E-reader reviews

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Last updated: 03 February 2023
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Checked for accuracy by our qualified fact-checkers and verifiers. Find out more about fact-checking at CHOICE.

The latest e-readers, or ebook readers, deliver improved processing speeds and faster touchscreen performance with less lag as well as a more 'booky' look and feel.

Our experts assess the latest e-reader models from Amazon Kindle, Kobo and more to tell you:

  • which ones are easy to use and navigate
  • how easy it is to buy ebooks online and transfer them to each e-reader
  • their performance under three different types of lighting: normal indoor lighting, normal outdoor lighting, and normal bedroom night-time lighting
  • which ones have Wi-Fi support and touchscreens. 
 

We've also partnered with Shop Ethical on this update to show the rating that the Ethical Consumer Group gives to each company.

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Several discontinued products (including Kindle, Apple and Kobo tablets) are also included in our test results. To see these products, select the 'Discontinued' filter on the left under 'Related products'. 

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Brand

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List of brands we tested in this review.

    Price

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    Recommended retail price at the time of testing.

    enter value/s in increments of 1 between 99 and 749

    Recommended products

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    Member only

    This test score is for members only. Join now to unlock our expert results.

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    Claimed screen size (inches)

    enter value/s in increments of i between 5.9 and 10.2

    Screen type

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    An e-reader with e-ink doesn't need a backlight (although some of the latest models do have a backlight if required) and can last for weeks on a single charge, compared to a tablet device using an In Plane Switching (IPS) LCD screen which operates in a similar way to a laptop computer.

      USB connection

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      All e-readers are charged via the USB connection with the older micro USB option being replaced by USB-C, allowing faster charging and the ability to operate USB-C headphones. 

        OverDrive library support

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        Some e-readers, notably Kobo e-readers, allow the user to enter their library card number into the OverDrive app to borrow ebooks from their local library. Kindle does support this feature, but it isn't available for Kindle Australia users. 

          Shop Ethical rating

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          Shop Ethical rates the environmental and social impact of the company (not the product) using independent sources. This rating is not included in our total score. N/A means there is no rating for that company.

            Included in this review

            Members-only access
            • Recommended
            • CHOICE Expert Rating
            • User interface score
            • Online ebook purchasing score
            • Indoor readability score
            • Outdoor readability score
            • Bedroom (low light) readability score
            • Ease of holding score
            • Audiobook support
            • Good points
            • Bad points
            • Price
            • Type
            • Waterproof
            • Bluetooth support
            • OverDrive library support
            • USB connection
            • Claimed screen size (inches)
            • Screen size (cm)
            • Shop Ethical rating
            • Screen type
            • Touchscreen
            • Stylus support
            • Stylus included
            • Adaptive lighting
            • Multiple font types
            • Stated battery life
            • Landscape/portrait mode
            • Text to speech
            • Wireless
            • Built-in speakers
            • Headphone jack
            • Web browser
            • EPUB file format
            • AZW file format
            • MOBI file format
            • RTF file format
            • DOC file format
            • PDF file format
            • Dictionary
            • Removable storage (microSD)
            • Weight (g)
            • Dimensions (mm, H x W x D)
            • Country of origin
            • Resolution (pixels)
            • Internal storage (GB)

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