While many people are hesitant to turn from physical books to ebooks in fear of losing the experience of flipping the crispy pages of a book, a Kindle is the perfect choice for busy readers to have all their books just a reach away.

Personally, I never believed I would ever get a Kindle. As an avid reader I was loyal to my physical copies. However, the windy summer beaches of Cape Cod made me realize that sometimes ebooks are a more convenient choice for reading on the go. 

Often, Kindles are described as a digital library. When you turn the device on, you are faced with a wide variety of books to browse as well as your own personal library of the books you have bought or borrowed. Since Kindles are linked to your Amazon account, it recommends books for you based on your previous purchases. You can open up your book and start reading, and when you turn it off, the Kindle saves your position in the book. 

Kindles have battery life measured in weeks and glare-free screens. It also features highlight and annotation options, as well as automatically saving your place in the book based on what page you leave off on. It also provides how much time you have left of the book and per chapter. 

There are a wide variety of Kindles for readers to choose from depending on their price range and ideal features. The options include the Amazon Kindle ($109.99), the Kindle Paperwhite ($159.99) and the Kindle Colorsoft ($249.99).

For those who prefer a smaller model of Kindle that they can bring anywhere in a purse or bag, the Amazon Kindle is the best choice. It features a smaller sized 6-inch screen and is the lightest Kindle model at 5.5 ounces. Although this Kindle is best for travel, it is an older model, and therefore does not include features such as adjusting brightness or warmth. It also includes ads unless you purchase a subscription.

The Kindle Paperwhite is the most popular model because of its balanced price between the other two models and features an adjustable warm light and brightness. The model also works more efficiently and operates faster than the Amazon Kindle. The only cons of this model are that it only has black and white pages, and ads are featured on the home screen without a Kindle Unlimited subscription, although they are not very prominent.  If I were to recommend one Kindle, it would definitely be this one. It features a 7-inch screen and the longest battery life at 20 to 35 hours.

The third, and most expensive product, is the Kindle Colorsoft. The Kindle Colorsoft is perfect for fans who enjoy annotating their books and reading graphic novels since it is the only model that features color and doesn’t include ads. However, it may seem like a let down for the extreme jump in price as the only updated features are the colored screen and ad-free browsing even without Kindle Unlimited.

Although Kindles could never beat the experience of reading a physical book, they are definitely more convenient and easy to use. For busy readers or those who prefer reading comfortably at night, a Kindle is the ideal choice. Holding one is as easy as holding an iPad or a phone, whereas a physical book has pages that need to be kept in line and need light to navigate. They are also perfect for travel due to their smaller size and instead of trying to cram multiple books in your bags, Kindle’s can carry your whole library.

Kindles may be more accessible but they have an obvious flaw. Most popular books still require purchase: some are available with Prime or other memberships like Kindle Unlimited, but on top of the original purchase price. At $11.99 a month, Kindle Unlimited feels like too much for many buyers. The subscription takes away all ads on the homepage and allows readers access to more, but not all books, for free. In addition to the monthly costs, many readers miss the experience of reading a physical book.  

Kindle’s problems also have solutions. Libby is a free app where you connect your library card and can borrow whatever books your library has available and download them onto your Kindle. However, popular titles often have a long wait.

Saying goodbye to physical books can be hard, but overall Kindles are more convenient and much simpler for both new and seasoned readers.