The best reading tablets of 2024: Expert tested and recommended

This Kindle hasn’t been updated by Amazon since 2021, but its features, like its adjustable warm light for comfortable reading at night and a long-lasting battery life of up to 10 weeks make it comparable to most e-readers on the market today. Amazon customers who have purchased this Kindle also like its unique features like creating categories to organize your books, uploading your own fonts to use while reading, and the ability to look up words/phrases mid-text and reference past searches. 

The screen features Amazon’s signature e-ink technology, much different than the shiny display you’d find on an iPad. E-ink provides a paper-like, matte display thanks to 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and 17 front light LEDs. 

Review: Kindle Paperwhite (11th generation)

ZDNET contributing writer Jason Cipriani reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite and said the boost in performance is noticeable in the latest generation. “According to Amazon, the new Paperwhite has 20% faster performance when it comes to turning the page in a book,” Cipriani wrote. “There’s almost no delay after tapping on the screen before the text refreshes with the next page, ready for action.”

It’s also waterproof (how many tablets can say that?), so you can read by the pool or in the bath without worrying about stray splashes. If you want to upgrade to have the auto-adjusting light feature and 32GB of storage, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition will cost you $50 more. 

Kindle Paperwhite specs: Display: 6.8-inch 300 ppi e-ink screen| Battery life: Up to 10 weeks (at 30 minutes per day) | Weight: 7.23 ounces | Storage: 8 GB or 16 GB

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8.4 is perhaps lesser known compared to its Tab S counterparts, but this small, lightweight Android tablet makes the perfect handheld reading device. 

It comes with a 1,920 x 1,200 pixel display with 270 ppi (close to Kindle’s 300 ppi), so images and text look bright and sharp on screen. 

Also: The best Android tablets

Even though it runs on the outdated Android 9 Pie operating system, you’ll still get great tablet features like a 5MP front-facing camera, an 8MP rear camera with autofocus, a long-lasting battery, and the ability to expand your storage to up to 512GB with a microSD card (that’s a lot of books!). 

One Amazon user who rated this Android tablet 5 out of 5 stars called it the best tablet for its price, saying, “I am an avid Kindle reader and I like to listen to music while I read. Using the Wi-Fi and my Amazon Music Unlimited, I have the best of all worlds.”

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8.4 specs: Display: 8.4-inch WUXGA Display TFT (270 ppi) | Battery life: 10 hours | Weight: 10.93 oz | Storage: 32GB

The Kindle Scribe is perhaps the perfect example of part e-reader, part tablet to satisfy your reading and note-taking needs. It has the same functions you’ve come to know and love in a Kindle, like a 300 ppi glare-free screen, weeks of battery life, and adjustable warm light. It’s also compatible with Amazon’s Basic or Premium Pen, so you can take handwritten notes or underline important quotations within the book you’re reading. 

Your notes are automatically organized in one place for every book so that you can browse, review, and export them via email. The Kindle Scribe also comes with preset templates to help you create notebooks, journals, and lists, and you can create sticky notes in Microsoft Word and other compatible Word documents. 

Review: Amazon Kindle Scribe

ZDNET contributing writer Matthew Miller went hands-on with the Kindle Scribe and called it “close to perfect.” “I use my Kindle Scribe daily as my primary note-taking device, and the habit of carrying it has also resulted in me reading more books than I have in years,” Miller wrote. “It’s an excellent ebook device while also serving as a capable working tablet.”

The Kindle Scribe comes with the Basic pen, but for the more advanced features like a dedicated eraser and the shortcut button, you’ll need the Premium pen, which costs $30 extra. However, Amazon customers who have reviewed the Kindle Scribe say that the premium pen is worth paying extra for, especially since it has an eraser and a button that lets you switch the nib from writing to highlighting.

Kindle Scribe specs: Display: 10.2-inch 300 ppi Paperwhite display| Battery life: Up to 12 weeks (at 30 minutes per day) | Weight: 15.3 ounces | Storage: 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB

Of course, you don’t have to get a dedicated e-reader in order to read on a tablet. The iPad Mini is a powerful tablet with great applications, and it serves as a great reading device thanks to its lightweight and sharp screen. It has an 8.3-inch liquid retina display with 326 ppi, which is a higher resolution than the Kindles. As a result, text looks especially sharp on screen, and coupled with Apple’s True Tone technology (which adjusts the color and intensity of your display to match the ambient light), it provides a natural reading experience. 

Review: Apple iPad Mini (6th generation)

Cipriani also tested the Apple iPad Mini and praised it highly, saying, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely fascinated by it… With the iPad Mini, which ships with iPadOS 15, I set up a new Focus mode that automatically turns on whenever I open the Kindle app,” he wrote. “It blocks all alerts and messages from showing up while I’m reading and then turns off once I leave the app.”

Apple’s anti-reflective screen coating also reduces the likelihood of catching a sunlight glare when reading outside on a sunny day. One Best Buy reviewer notes that the screen display lighting “is quite soft to the eye — not to mention versatile as well.”

With the iPad Mini, you’re also getting Apple’s powerful A15 bionic chip, an ultra-wide 12 MP front camera, support for the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil to take notes, 80% faster graphics than the previous model, Touch ID, and more. 

Author’s Note: The Apple iPad Mini (6th generation) is currently on sale for $380 (save $120) on Amazon.

Apple iPad Mini specs: Display: 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display (326 ppi) | Battery life: 10 hours | Weight: 10.4 ounces | Storage: 64GB or 256GB 

Amazon’s Fire HD 8 Kids tablet is worth checking out for a kid-friendly reading tablet. It has a kid-proof case built to withstand use by children aged 3 to 7, and it also comes with a free one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The subscription gives you access to thousands of kid-friendly, ad-free books and movies, games, and other educational content your child will love.

Review: Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet (12th generation) 

ZNDET writer Maria Diaz had her kids tested the Fire HD 8 Kids tablet and called it “a perfect first tablet” built with kids in mind. “Endurance is the main reason why any parent should buy the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids,” Diaz wrote. “I can’t tell you how many times my preschoolers have dropped (or thrown) their [Amazon] tablets and stepped on them ‘by accident’ over the past three years, yet the screens have remained intact.”

Parents can use parental controls built into the tablet to control screen time and set educational goals for their children. This ensures that your kid is actually reading or learning something while using the tablet. Plus, it has 2 MP front and rear-facing cameras with 720p HD video recording and the ability to add themed filters and fun frames to photos. 

Overall, 95% of customers who purchased this reading tablet at Best Buy would recommend it to other parents, giving it an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet specs: Display: 8-inch HD display, 1280 x 800 (189 ppi) | Battery life: Up to 13 hours | Weight: 1.14 pounds | Storage: 32GB or 64GB