❌

Normal view

The best Kindles in the UK for every bookworm and budget – tested

21 October 2026 at 15:00

Whether you want a colour screen, somewhere to scribble notes or a child-friendly model, here’s what we recommend from Amazon’s e-reader range

• The best e-readers

From that fresh paperback smell to the wrinkles in the spine, nothing beats a real book. But if you’re sick of the space they take up in your home, or the weight they steal from your holiday luggage allowance, it might be worth considering an Amazon Kindle. It can fit thousands of weighty reads into as little as 158g, and as tech goes, it’s almost immune to the sort of pathological time-wasting features that come with modern phones and tablets.

Amazon Kindles have been available in the UK for more than 15 years, so they’re an old-school gadget at this point. But in 2024, the biggest update yet arrived: colour, which added an important extra option to the existing Kindle lineup, alongside readers for children, for note-taking and for tighter budgets.

Continue reading...

© Composite: PR Image

© Composite: PR Image

© Composite: PR Image

Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, and Kindle Colorsoft 2026

2 October 2026 at 19:45

Amazon (Hacker News, Slashdot):

The all-new 6-inch Kindle is the most pocket-sized Kindle we’ve ever made. With 16GB of storage, up to 6 weeks of battery life, and 30% faster book opening than the previous release, it is lighter and features a new seamless flush-front design. This required rethinking how the display, front light, and touch layers are assembled and bonded. We’re also introducing edge-to-edge color across the entire family. The housing is made from recycled materials with a 100% recycled cobalt battery. Starting at $149.99 and available in Ube and Graphite.

[…]

The all-new Kindle Paperwhite is thinner and lighter than the previous lineup, waterproof with an adjustable warm light for comfortable reading at any hour, and up to 12 weeks of battery life on a single charge. The Paperwhite display uses an oxide-thin film transistor backplane and is the largest Kindle Paperwhite display with the highest contrast ratio—delivering deep blacks and crisp text, and images that pop off the screen, whether you’re reading in bright sunlight or under the covers at night. The Signature Edition adds aluminum rear housing, 32 GB of storage, an auto-adjusting front light, pogo pin dock charging, and double tap to turn pages—all while remaining thinner than the previous version.

Lauren Forristal:

Kevin Keith, Amazon’s vice president of devices, said the company is using “Cap” (capacitive) touch technology and haptics to create what he describes as a “dead zone.” As a reader grips the Kindle, the device detects where a finger is resting and adjusts the touch-sensitive area accordingly.

Lauren Forristal:

Amazon announced a range of new accessories on Thursday. And one of them, a $34.99 remote called the Kindle Click, caught our eye.

The Kindle Click is a compact Bluetooth remote designed to let readers turn pages without touching their Kindle.

[…]

Amazon also announced other accessories as part of the new Kindle family, including a magnetic cover with physical page-turn buttons and a charging dock stand for the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and Colorsoft Signature Edition.

I still wish for the return of built-in page-turn buttons, but the new Page Turn Cover is the best news on this front in a while. Unfortunately, it adds bulk, costs $80, and doesn’t work with the base Kindle or the regular Paperwhite.

The Paperwhite Signature Edition is $249.99, and Amazon is offering me $50 off if I “Upgrade” my old Oasis by October 8. This isn’t explained very well, but it sounds like you keep the old device, and it doesn’t get bricked. There’s a separate 20% + $5 offer for a “Trade-In” where you do give up the old device. There’s a bundle with the Page Turn Cover and the Sling Bag, but there doesn’t seem to be a bundle with just the cover.

Jason Snell:

I admit that I find it somewhat shocking that even a basic e-reader costs $170 these days, but here we are.

[…]

I gotta say that I don’t love that Amazon has decided that to use page-turn buttons, you need to pay $80 and keep your Kindle in a case. But at least they’re finally offering an option. (For the record, Kobo’s Libra Colour is priced similarly to the Paperwhite Signature Edition and has buttons right on it, no case required. It’s the e-reader I use the most these days.)

Previously:

Update (2026-10-05): Tony Polanco:

It replaces standard Qi wireless charging with a pogo pin dock system[…]

I’ve been looking at various options with page-turn buttons and not really finding anything that I like compared with my dying Oasis:

  • The Oasis has built-in buttons and weighs 131g. (This doesn’t count the cover; I don’t like reading with the cover attached.)
  • The 2026 Paperwhite Signature is 229g without the buttons. I couldn’t find the weight for the Page Turn Cover, but it’s got to be at least 100g.
  • The BOOX Palma 2 is 170g and has a weird phone shape, with the buttons on the side.
  • The BOOX Go 7 is 195g. It looks OK hardwarewise (a bit wide), but I’ve read mixed stuff about the software. Its Kindle app experience may be a bit worse, but you also get access to other apps.
  • The Kobo Libra Colour is 200g. I don’t want color and would prefer something narrower.

I want page-turn buttons, but probably not as much as I’d prefer a smaller size. I’m leaning towards just getting the base 2026 Kindle at 140g. It has the same size screen as the Oasis but with warmer color.

I’ve perhaps made the mistake of purchasing most of my content from Amazon. But their system does work very smoothly across all my devices, and the hardware alternatives are not as compelling as I expected.

Update (2026-10-15): I ended up getting the base Kindle, and it’s been great. It’s a bit heavier than the Oasis, but the shape is easier to fit into a pocket. It’s much faster than I was used to, and I no longer have to think about battery life.

Users find a weird issue with the Kindle 2026: Amazon says it was 'expected'

What you need to know

  • Early Kindle 2026 owners report a "light bleeding" problem with the device when in dark mode.
  • Users state that the edges of the device experience a bright glow while in dark mode, and Amazon says this "was expected."
  • In a statement, Amazon said this "issue" was expected to "achieve a color bezel." Users can limit this problem by lowering the brightness in dark mode.

We're about eight days into Amazon's new line of Kindles, and users are already reporting problems with its display.

While the 2026 Amazon Kindles bring notable improvements over previous iterations, users have started reporting display oddities (via Android Authority). One user on Reddit provided a photo of their basic Kindle, showcasing the "light bleed" effect they're experiencing. The post reads, "I wanted to ask if you think these very bright lights around the edges of the new basic Kindle are normal."

The problem only seems to appear when the Kindle is in dark mode. This "light bleed" is most apparent along the edges of the device's bezels. Since it's in dark mode, the glow mirrors the white text that you'd read. As the user states, their other device doesn't have such an issue, as the black background presses against the bezels. However, this 2026 edition falters in this regard.

Others believe this is not normal, as they recount experiences with a Paperwhite 2024, which didn't have this problem. Users report similar problems with their 2026 Kindle; however, some haven't noticed an issue. Many call for those with this light bleed issue to contact Amazon for a replacement, but that might be easier said than done.

Amazon delivered to Android Authority: "It’s correct that when a device is in dark mode with brightness at max in a dark setting, customers may see a glow around the edges of the book. However, this was expected in order for us to achieve a color bezel, and only appears in certain conditions like when in dark mode with high brightness."

If the light bleed becomes too much of an eyesore, Amazon recommends lowering your brightness in dark mode.

New Kindle problems

Light bleeding in new basic 2026
 from r/kindle

Many users on Reddit have voiced their frustrations with this development. Amazon's 2026 Kindle lineup is its most redesigned series in years. The company overhauled its display, delivering a reverse-stack that drops the raised bezels so everything sits flush. As a result, Amazon made the Kindle lighter and thinner.

The six-inch Kindle for $150 delivers 16GB of storage, six weeks of battery, and quickens its book-opening speed by 30%. Consumers will also find a $200 Kindle Paperwhite and a $250 Signature Edition. Another major announcement was the Bluetooth page-turner remote. Amazon calls this the Kindle Click. Many of the current Kindles are available now for shipping.

If you're looking at the Paperwhite and Colorsoft models, you'll have to pre-order them.

❌