Kindle (2024) Review: The Smallest Kindle Is Still the Smart Buy

By Editorial Team | April 2026

Amazon’s base Kindle is the one to buy if you want reading to stay simple. It’s the lightest Kindle, it’s cheap enough to feel sensible, and it does the one job that matters: makes books easier to get through without turning your nightstand into a gadget pile. If you want the best Kindle for everyday reading, this is the starting point.

Our pick: Kindle (2024)

Kindle (2024) — £104.99

The 2024 Kindle is the easiest e-reader to recommend if you read in bed, on the commute, or in short bursts between work and life. Its 6-inch, 300 ppi glare-free screen keeps text sharp, the front light is 25% brighter at the top end, and the 5.56-ounce weight makes it genuinely easy to hold one-handed. Our score: 7.4/10.

Why it works:

• It’s small enough to disappear into a bag, which matters if you carry it every day rather than treat it like a weekend-only device.
• The 300 ppi display keeps text crisp, so long reading sessions feel closer to paper than to a cheap tablet screen.
• Faster page turns and up to 6 weeks of battery life make it feel low-maintenance instead of needy.

The honest trade-off: no waterproofing and no adjustable warm light, so it’s not the Kindle you want if you read in the bath or are picky about night reading.

Buy the Kindle (2024) if you want the most portable Kindle and you’re happy to skip the extras.

Best upgrade: Kindle Paperwhite (2024)

Kindle Paperwhite (2024) — £159.99

The extra money buys you the better all-rounder. The Paperwhite adds a larger 7-inch screen, waterproofing, and adjustable warm light, which makes it the smarter pick if you read by the pool, in the bath, or late at night and hate cold screen light. It’s the model that fixes the base Kindle’s main omissions.

Worth it if: you want one Kindle that handles travel, evening reading, and the occasional splash without compromise.

Best budget pick: Kindle (2024)

Kindle (2024) — £104.99

There isn’t a cheaper new Kindle that does this job better. You still get the sharp 300 ppi display, the brighter front light, and the ultra-light body that makes it easy to read for longer than you planned. The trade-off is obvious: you give up the nicer feature set of the Paperwhite.

Worth it if: you want the lowest-cost way into Amazon’s e-reader ecosystem and mostly read indoors.

How we chose

For a Kindle, the real questions are simple: does it feel easy to hold, is the screen comfortable for long reads, and does the battery last long enough to stop being a chore? We also checked whether the price gap to the Paperwhite was justified, using current product specs and recent comparison coverage to ground the verdict.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Kindle (2024) good for first-time e-reader buyers?
Yes. It’s small, light, and uncomplicated, which is exactly what first-time buyers usually want.

Is the Paperwhite worth the extra money?
Yes if you read a lot at night or near water. If you only want the cheapest Kindle that still reads well, the base model is the better buy.

Does the Kindle (2024) have waterproofing?
No — that’s one of its main compromises, and it’s the reason the Paperwhite exists.