I tested every new Kindle in 2024 – this is the one I'd buy, and why

December is a great time of year to curl up with a good book, whether it's a classic you've enjoyed many times or a new page-turner you're exploring. A Kindle might not be the old-fashioned way to do that reading, but it's a brilliant option to keep your shelves a little more clear as you collect books.

This year, Amazon refreshed its Kindle lineup in a big way, with new versions of some of its most popular Kindle devices. I've tested and reviewed every single one of those new additions, and that's left me uniquely placed to be able to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each. So, if you sat me down and demanded to know which of the 2024 Kindles you should buy, what would my answer be? Well, things aren't often simple, but read on and you'll see that on this occasion I feel pretty confident in my answer.

The best Kindle around right now

Figuring out the best Kindle that launched in 2024 isn't rocket science if you check out the scores I gave to each model. All of the base Kindle, Kindle Scribe and Kindle Colorsoft offered great experiences, and they all ended up with four-star verdicts.

The 2024 Kindle Paperwhite, though, impressed me that little bit more, earning it a coveted Platinum Award and a five-star score. In some ways, the simplest way of talking about which Kindle is best is to just point to those scores, and confirm that the Paperwhite is the best for most people, in my view.

It offers the best mixture of value and quality, with a seven-inch display that now turns pages as quickly as ever before, and has the best contrast of any Kindle ever. That means reading is a joy, and if you pick up the Signature Edition you'll also get the bonus of brightness that automatically adjusts to your lighting.

It's nice to hold in the hand, and its pricing is fairly reasonable for an upgraded experience. Frankly, there's very little to criticise here, which makes it a shoo-in as the best Kindle for most people.

Some impressive alternatives

That said, if you're on the fence about whether you want a bit more from your Kindle, or if you have a lower budget, there's plenty to be said for each of the other 2024 Kindles.

Starting at the lower end of the cost spectrum, the standard Kindle impressed me with its extreme portability and value. It's the most affordable new option, has a gorgeous Matcha colour to pick if you want something a little more tasteful, and does everything you need from a simple e-reader.

If you do have more to spend, though, and your eye's been caught by the Kindle Colorsoft, it's also a terrific option. It rightly grabbed headlines for being the first ever colour Kindle, and that new display is a game-changer for reading comics or almost any colour content. It matches the Paperwhite in most other ways, albeit at a higher cost.

Finally, for those who love to take notes and want an all-in-one e-reader and note-taking machine, the new Kindle Scribe is hard to ignore. It packs in a giant 10.2-inch display that can be perfect for larger content, but the real key is its included stylus, which lets you take notes whenever and wherever you like.

Still, I can't pretend they're all on an even footing. The Scribe, for example, can be unwieldy for normal reading thanks to its large size, and I personally don't take notes much, so it's not as useful. The standard Kindle, meanwhile, is a little flimsy-feeling, and its smaller display is a little more challenging to read with at times.

Finally, the Colorsoft represents a huge step forwards, but its colour display isn't the finished article quite yet. It's not as vibrant as a traditional tablet and lacks a bit of sharpness when displaying colour content compared to black and white.

All of which shouldn't obscure the fact that each has a lot going for it, but it leaves them all in the wake of the more inarguably impressive Paperwhite. Thanks to a light-touch update for 2024, it's the best e-reader I've used in ages, and definitely the Kindle I'd recommend over the holidays. Frankly, it's up there as perhaps the best device I reviewed all year.