Kindle Paperwhite vs Kobo Clara BW (2026): Which Should You Buy?

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The Kindle Paperwhite and the Kobo Clara BW are both waterproof e-readers with a warm light, and the choice between them comes down to screen size, where your books come from and price.

Get the Paperwhite if you buy from Amazon or want the bigger 7-inch screen. Get the Clara BW if you borrow library books, read EPUB files or want the smaller, cheaper reader with no ads.

Side by side

Paperwhite vs Clara BW at a glance

Screen and size

Screen: 7 inches vs 6 inches

The Paperwhite’s bigger screen is the clearest hardware difference. The extra inch fits more words on each page, which matters most if you read with a large font, because a 6-inch screen at a big text size means turning pages often.

Amazon says the 2026 Paperwhite has the highest-contrast display of any Kindle and is thinner and lighter than the previous model. Kobo promises faster page turns and deeper contrast from the Clara BW’s E Ink Carta 1300 screen, at 1448 x 1072 on 6 inches. Kobo also lists the Clara BW at 174 g and 112 x 160 x 9.2 mm; Amazon hasn’t published the new Paperwhite’s weight yet.

Size is what owners who moved from a Paperwhite mention first on MobileRead. One owner who switched from a Paperwhite Signature Edition in March 2025 found the Clara BW easier to use one-handed and said the Paperwhite’s corners “tended to dig into my palm”. Another found the bare Clara BW slippery and judged its screen a little sharper but lower in contrast than their older Paperwhite. Neither was comparing it with the new 2026 model.

Verdict: the Paperwhite if you want more text on each page; the Clara BW if you mostly read one-handed or carry your reader in a small bag.

Your books

Books and library loans

For most people, this decides it. The Paperwhite is built around Amazon’s Kindle Store and Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited), which costs $11.99 a month in the U.S. The Clara BW uses the Kobo Store and Kobo Plus, which starts at $7.99 a month in the U.S.

Both can borrow library ebooks, but in different ways. On the Clara BW, you add your library card and borrow on the e-reader itself. On the Paperwhite, you borrow through Libby or your library’s website and send the book to your Kindle, and OverDrive supports that for U.S. libraries only.

Our Kindle vs Kobo guide covers the two stores, the subscriptions and switching in more detail.

Day to day

Reading features and your own files

Kobo gives you more control over how a page looks. The Clara BW has 13 fonts and more than 50 font styles, plus adjustable margins and line spacing, and owners on MobileRead regularly name typography as the thing Kobo does better. The Paperwhite has Amazon’s reading extras instead: X-Ray for characters and places, Story So Far recaps when you come back to a book, and support for Kindle Click, Amazon’s wireless page-turn remote, sold separately.

Your own files are easier on the Clara BW. It opens 15 formats directly, including EPUB, PDF, MOBI and the CBZ and CBR comic formats, and it can pull books from Dropbox and Google Drive. The Paperwhite takes EPUB, PDF and Word files through Amazon’s Send to Kindle service, which converts them for you.

Listening

Audiobooks

Both play audiobooks through Bluetooth headphones or a speaker, and neither has a headphone jack, but each one only plays its own store’s audiobooks. The Paperwhite plays Audible, and Whispersync for Voice lets you switch between reading and listening to the same book. The Clara BW plays audiobooks bought from Kobo or included in Kobo Plus Read & Listen.

If you already listen on Audible, that alone points to the Paperwhite. New to Audible? See the current Audible deal.

Battery and build

Battery, build and repairs

The Paperwhite has the longer battery rating: up to 12 weeks, according to Amazon. Kobo rates the Clara BW at up to 53 days, based on 30 minutes of reading a day with the light at 10% and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off. The two makers don’t test the same way, so treat the numbers as a rough guide rather than a head-to-head result.

Owner reports on the Clara BW’s battery are encouraging. In a MobileRead thread about weak battery life on older Kobos, one owner got a little over four weeks from a new Clara BW’s first charge, and others suggested the Clara BW to people unhappy with older models.

Both are built to be kept for years. The 2026 Paperwhite’s back panel opens for a battery swap, according to Amazon. Kobo says the Clara BW is repairable and that its exterior is at least 85.5% recycled material, including 10% ocean-bound plastic.

Price

Price, ads and Black Friday

Today on Amazon, the Clara BW costs $159.99 and the Paperwhite $199.99. That Paperwhite price includes lockscreen ads; the version without ads costs $219.99. Kobo doesn’t sell ad-supported readers, so the Clara BW price is the whole price.

Neither has been discounted in our price tracker this fall. The Clara BW has stayed at the same price on Amazon since late September, and the 2026 Paperwhite hasn’t dropped since it went on sale on October 28. Black Friday is November 27 this year, and our Kindle deals page shows whether either one is actually on sale.

Verdict

Which should you buy?

• You buy from Amazon or use Kindle+ or Audible: the Paperwhite. Your books, subscription and audiobooks all work on it, and the Clara BW can’t open Kindle Store books.
• You borrow library books, especially outside the U.S.: the Clara BW. You borrow on the reader itself, with no detour through Amazon.
• You read with a large font or for hours at a time: the Paperwhite, for the 7-inch screen and the longer battery rating.
• You read one-handed or want the cheapest of the two: the Clara BW. It’s smaller, costs less and has no ads.
• You want a reader for the bath or the beach: either one, since both are waterproof. Our waterproof e-readers guide covers the other options.

Kindle Paperwhite (2026)

Kobo Clara BW

Still comparing? Our guide to the best e-readers of 2026 covers every brand, our best cheap e-readers list covers readers for less, and Kindle vs Kobo vs Boox adds Android e-readers to the comparison.