While you can do almost anything with your smartphone or tablet, there are times when a dedicated device is a better choice. Opting for an e-reader will reduce eye strain compared to staring at a smartphone screen for hours, it will also last longer with a battery, and you won’t get distracted by notifications popping up. If you enjoy reading digital books but don’t yet have an e-reader (or are tired of carrying around bulky paperbacks), Amazon’s entry-level Kindle is worth considering.
The Kindle has been reduced from $100 to $85, which isn’t the lowest price ever, but it does match the prices we saw during Amazon’s Prime Day sale in July.
Amazon
Amazon’s basic Kindle is currently $15 off, which is a pretty good deal for our favorite budget e-reader.
$85 on Amazon
The standard Kindle is our pick for the best budget e-reader. It has a 6-inch, 300dpi E Ink display and is the lightest and most compact model in Amazon’s lineup right now.
Your Kindle comes with 16GB of storage, perfect for audiobooks. Buy both eBooks and audiobooks on Amazon and your Kindle makes it easy to switch between them. Thanks to the Whispersync feature, you can read a little at the park, then continue reading the narrated version on your way home.
You can customize your reading experience by adjusting elements like margins, fonts, and text size, and even save your preferences as themes or presets. Page turning is fast, but I found the touchscreen gestures didn’t always do what I intended. Also, unlike other Kindles, this one isn’t waterproof, so be careful at the beach or pool.
Meanwhile, there’s one other thing worth noting here: This model will debut in 2022, and Amazon is set to hold its annual fall hardware event in the coming weeks. The Kindle is due for an update, so we might see an updated model there. That said, if you’re just looking for a relatively cheap e-reader, this is a bargain.
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