Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 16GB (2024 model) – 7" glare-free display and weeks of battery life – Black

The 2024 Kindle Paperwhite is Amazon's mid-range e-reader. This listing is the 16GB model in black, for about $200, with a 4.6-star average from around 23,000 reviews. For anyone trying to replace bedtime scrolling, it's interesting less for what it does than for what it leaves out.

What you get

A 7-inch glare-free e-ink display. Amazon says it has higher contrast than the previous Paperwhite and 25% faster page turns. You can adjust the display from white to amber, which suits reading in a dark bedroom. It's waterproof, charges by USB-C, and Amazon rates the battery at up to 12 weeks per charge.

The part that matters most at bedtime is in Amazon's own description: the Kindle doesn't have social media, notifications or other distracting apps. You can't drift from a chapter into a news feed.

E-reader or paper book?

The Paperwhite is front-lit e-ink, not a bright backlit phone screen, and the amber setting cuts blue light further. It's still a device, though. If you're trying to break a phone habit, some people find a paper book with a warm book light a cleaner break. If you read a lot, borrow ebooks from the library, or want to read in bed without a separate light, the Kindle is the more practical choice.

Who it's for

• Heavy readers who want a big library on one device
• People who want to read in bed with no extra lamp or clip-on light
• Anyone swapping late-night scrolling for reading

Who should skip it

If you only read a book or two a month, a paper book and the Glocusent clip-on book light (about $13) do the same job for a fraction of the price.

Where it fits

Our wind-down routine without your phone builds reading into a one-hour evening routine. For why screens affect sleep in the first place, see screen time and sleep, and for practical steps, how to stop scrolling before bed.