I have owned a Kindle since 2010. The Kindle was my primary reading device from 2010 to 2015. The Kindle lost to physical books from 2015 to 2024, when I rebuilt a small physical library. The Kindle has won again in 2025 and 2026.
The shift happened because the 2026 e-readers fixed the things that made me leave in 2015. The fixes were: color, note-taking, library integration, and battery life. The fixes were enough to make me switch back.
Here is what changed and what I am using.
What was wrong with the 2015 e-reader
The issues that pushed me back to paper.
No color. The black and white screen was fine for novels. The black and white was limiting for non-fiction with charts, graphs, and images. The non-fiction is what I read most. The non-fiction with charts was the issue.
Note-taking was clunky. The on-screen keyboard was slow. The annotations were hard to organize. The annotations were hard to export. The notes were not as good as margin notes on paper. The paper was what I preferred.
No library integration. The e-readers did not integrate well with public libraries. The integration was where the physical books had an advantage. The advantage was the deciding factor for many books.
Closed ecosystem. The Kindle was locked to Amazon. The locked ecosystem was a deal-breaker for some books. The deal-breaker was what pushed me to physical.
Battery was good but not transformative. The battery lasted weeks. The weeks were fine. The weeks were not enough to overcome the other issues.
What the 2026 e-reader fixes
The improvements in the latest generation.
Color e-ink is finally good. The Kindle Colorsoft and Boox Page Plus have color e-ink that is usable. The usable means charts, graphs, and images display correctly. The color is not as vibrant as an iPad. The color is enough for reading. The reading is the use case.
Note-taking is now excellent. The reMarkable, Boox, and Kindle Scribe all have stylus support with low latency. The latency is what makes the writing feel natural. The feeling is what makes the notes usable. The notes can be organized into notebooks and exported as PDFs. The export is what makes them portable.
Library integration is seamless. The Libby app integrates with Overdrive, which is what most public libraries use. The integration allows borrowing e-books directly from the library. The borrow is one click. The one-click is what made the library advantage disappear.
Open ecosystems are available. Boox runs Android and supports multiple bookstore apps. The Kobo supports multiple file formats. The openness is what removed the deal-breaker.
Battery life is now measured in weeks or months. The battery on a Kindle or Kobo lasts 4-6 weeks with regular use. The weeks are what makes the e-reader always available. The availability is what encourages reading.
The current device landscape
What I am using in 2026.
For fiction: Kindle Paperwhite. The Paperwhite is the best fiction reader. The screen is sharp. The battery lasts 6 weeks. The integration with the Kindle store and library is seamless. The price is €160. The value is excellent.
For non-fiction: Boox Page Plus. The Boox is the best for non-fiction with charts and graphs. The color display is usable. The note-taking is excellent. The open ecosystem supports multiple bookstores and file formats. The price is €400. The value is high.
For note-heavy reading: reMarkable 2. The reMarkable is the best for books I need to study. The note-taking is the best of any device. The focus mode removes distractions. The export to PDF is clean. The price is €400. The value is for specific use cases.
For everything: iPad mini with Kindle and Kobo apps. The iPad is what I use when I need color, video, or full web access. The iPad is not an e-reader. The iPad is a tablet that runs e-reader apps. The apps are what I use.
What I actually read on each
The split after two years.
Kindle Paperwhite: 70 percent of my reading. The Paperwhite is what I read fiction on. The Paperwhite is what I read most non-fiction on. The Paperlight is what I use most. The most is what the value is.
Boox Page Plus: 20 percent of my reading. The Boox is what I read non-fiction with charts and graphs. The Boox is what I use for textbooks and reference. The reference is what the Boox is for.
iPad: 10 percent of my reading. The iPad is what I use for graphic novels, manga, and books with heavy color content. The iPad is what I use for PDFs that need full color. The full color is what the iPad is for.
reMarkable: The reMarkable is what I use for the books I am studying deeply. The deep studying is what the reMarkable is for. The use is occasional.
What I gave up to make the switch
The trade-offs I accepted.
The physical library. The physical library is what I built from 2015 to 2024. The library was 200+ books. The library is now in storage at my parents’ house. The storage is what I had to do. The doing was the trade-off.
The aesthetic of bookshelves. The bookshelves were a design feature. The feature is gone. The gone is the aesthetic loss. The loss is small.
The resale value. The physical books were an asset I could sell. The sell is no longer possible. The impossible is the trade-off.
The gift-giving tradition. The gift-giving of physical books is what I used to do. The doing is now mostly Kindle gift cards. The cards are less personal.
What I gained from the switch
The benefits that made it worth it.
Read more books. The 2026 total was 47 books. The 2024 total with mostly physical was 31 books. The increase is the reading volume. The volume is what the e-reader enables. The enablement is the value.
Read anywhere. The Kindle weighs 200 grams. The grams are what I carry everywhere. The everywhere is what makes the reading happen during small pockets of time. The pockets add up to hours per week.
Try before buying. The library integration lets me try books before buying. The try is what reduced my bad purchases. The reduction is what saves money.
Annotate everything. The note-taking on the Boox and reMarkable is better than margin notes. The better is what makes the books more useful. The useful is what I value.
Search across all books. The search across all books is what I use constantly. The use is what makes the e-reader a research tool. The tool is what I value.
No clutter. The physical books accumulated. The accumulation was the clutter. The clutter is gone. The gone is the value.
What the 2026 e-reader still does not do well
The honest limitations.
Graphic novels and manga. The grayscale is still limiting for comics. The comics on a color e-reader are usable but not great. The great is what an iPad provides. The iPad is what I use for comics.
Picture books. The picture books are best on a tablet. The tablet is what I use for children’s books. The children’s books are what the tablet is for.
Reading in bed with one hand. The Kindle is fine for this. The Boox and reMarkable are heavier. The heaviness is what makes them harder to use in bed.
Multiple books at once. The e-readers can hold thousands of books. The thousands is what I have. The having is what makes it hard to choose what to read next. The choosing is what I am working on.
The honest summary
The 2026 e-readers are the best they have ever been. The best is what fixed the issues that pushed me back to paper in 2015. The fixed issues are: color, note-taking, library integration, and battery life. The fixes were enough to make me switch back.
The switch is not for everyone. The switch works for someone who reads a lot and wants to read more. The switch does not work for someone who values the physical library or the gift-giving tradition. The values are personal.
The recommendation, if you are considering the switch:
- Try a Kindle Paperwhite first. The Paperwhite is the standard. The standard is the right starting point. The starting point is what most people should use.
- If you read non-fiction with charts, try a Boox. The Boox is more expensive. The expense is worth it for the use case. The use case is what determines the device.
- Keep some physical books. The books for display and reference. The reference is what the physical is for. The for is the role.
The e-reader is the future of reading for most people. The future is what the 2026 devices deliver. The delivered is what the reader benefits from. The benefit is the value.
The reading is what matters. The reading is what the device enables. The enablement is what the technology is for. The technology is what improved in 2026. The improvement is what produced the revival.
