8 best e-readers for long flights, beach reads, and more
Bring as many books as you want while traveling light.


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Reading material is essential for any trip, whether you’re lounging by the ocean or enjoying a scenic train ride. Books, magazines, and newspapers are all wonderful—no argument from us—but they’re heavy and eat up precious luggage space. Save yourself room and weight with an e-reader.
Some are simply electronic books; others are closer to tablets. All are light (around 7 ounces or less for e-readers; around 10 ounces for tablets), have a battery life way longer than your phone’s, have backlights and adjustable font sizes, and hold a library of thousands of books. Note that e-readers using e-ink are easy on the eyes but are also black and white. If you’re reading lots of graphic novels or magazines, opt for a tablet with a color screen.
All public libraries offer e-books, so although the upfront investment in an e-reader is higher than in a single book, it certainly pays for itself over time, and the reading possibilities are truly infinite. Here, some top e-reader picks for your next vacation.
$110
Weight: 6 oz.
Kobo's Nia e-reader is a simple, solid choice with a 6-inch e-ink touchscreen that mimics paper and won’t strain your eyes, adjustable brightness, and 8GB of storage (1,500-plus books). If you lean more towards audiobooks, upgrade one level to the 16GB Clara 2E, which is made from recycled plastic, is waterproof, and has Bluetooth so you can listen to books wirelessly. All Kobos have Overdrive integration, so you can connect your library card and easily borrow books.
From $100
Weight: 6 oz.
Barnes & Noble’s latest e-book contender has a smart 6-inch, 8GB e-reader that’s scratch-, glare-, and fingerprint-resistant. Turn the page with physical buttons or by swiping. Barnes & Noble has a slew of e-books for $3, but note that its library integration is more complicated than most. You’ll need Adobe Digital Editions on your computer and to sign into Adobe on your Nook to transfer books over.
From $499
Weight: 10 oz.
This tablet delivers on function and form in one sleek, elegant, lightweight package, though it comes at a high price. The iPad isn’t as gentle on the eyes as an e-ink e-reader, but the 8.3-inch screen is in P3 color (translation: colors pop so it’s ideal for highly visual reads) and has an antireflective coating to boot. Flip through graphic novels, magazines, and newspapers and take as many notes as you please with the Apple Pencil, which you can then back up to the Cloud. Borrowing library books is super easy with apps like Libby.
From $220
Weight: 10.93 oz.
A mid-range tablet and e-reader in one, this Samsung model has a 10.5-inch screen, much larger than standard e-readers and the aforementioned iPad. This works for someone who tends to read more large-format books (think graphic novel or coffee table tome), magazines, or newspapers. Streaming and games are also well-supported. As with the iPad, the Libby or Overdrive apps allow library book borrowing in mere seconds.
From $100
Weight: 5.56 oz.
There’s a reason Amazon’s Kindle has such staying power: It’s rock solid, priced lower than its competitors, and starts at 16GB storage (around 3,000 books). Read for an hour a day and the battery holds its charge for three weeks. Voracious readers can sign up for Kindle Unlimited ($10/month) and borrow to their hearts’ content; likewise it’s no sweat to borrow library books via Kindle.
From $120
Weight: 9 oz. with cover
The kid-specific Kindle costs $20 more than the entry-level Kindle but comes with a protective cover, a two-year guarantee (a godsend for parents), and a year’s subscription to 1 year of Amazon Kids+—thousands of books and hundreds of audiobooks for kids ages 3-12 (with bluetooth for wireless headphones). This is for reading only and there are parental controls—no games, no videos, and no apps—and the 6-inch e-ink screen is gentle on the eyes.
From $60
Weight: 9.9 oz.
At the intersection of lightweight, versatile, and moderately priced is this device, which has a 7-inch screen and either 16 or 32GB of memory. It can function solely as an e-reader or do double duty as a tablet with all the necessary apps, including Libby to connect to your local public library. Note that the Fire does not have an e-ink screen like traditional e-readers, so your eyes may feel the screen time.
From $200
Weight: 6.4 oz.
Lesser-known Boox, whose e-reader and tablets run on Android, wins when it comes to supporting varying e-book files—PDFs, EPUB, MOBI, TXT, and CBR can all be added without being converted. Available in black or white, the Leaf2 has a 7-inch screen, page-turning buttons, and auto rotates like a tablet. One of the coolest features is that you can share highlighted text and notes. Storage is 32GB plus 5GB of free Cloud storage.