What new e-readers will come out in 2025? Several brands will release new devices like clockwork, such as Pocketbook, Onyx Boox, Meebook, iFlytek, iReader, Hyread, and others. These guys, on average, issue 3-4 new devices each and tend to mix traditional black-and-white e-paper with Kaleido 3-color e-paper. What about the other guys in the e-reader market, such as Kindle, Kobo, Nook, or Remarkable? There will be some big new releases this year and is sure to grab major headlines everywhere.
2024 was the year that major companies, such as Kobo and Amazon released color e-readers, and they will expand on their offerings and have some exciting new products.
Rakuten Kobo
Kobo released their first color e-readers in 2024, the Clara Colour and Libra Colour; they also had the Kobo Clara BW, proving to be a popular device due to the price. The company will likely release a new Kobo Sage and a 3rd generation Elipsa. At least one of these will be color, likely the Elipsa. The Sage has a good form factor, and the page-turn buttons are great, but it’s getting old and suffers from battery life issues. Things were so bad that Kobo released a power case with an independent battery.
Amazon
Amazon had a very busy 2024. The e-commerce giant refreshed their e-readers: the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Signature Edition, Kindle Scribe, and their first color e-reader, the Kindle Colorsoft. The Colorsoft was poor on the initial release and suffered some screen defects. However, this issue has been worked out.
I do not see Amazon developing any new Kindles in 2025. Instead, they plan to release Colorsoft outside the USA in Europe, Japan, Canada, and other international markets. The other Kindle e-readers have already been released in key markets, but their overall reach and stockpiles should be plentiful. Expect sales in the US and Canada for occasions like Mother’s Day.
Barnes and Noble
Barnes and Noble, the largest bookseller in the United States, did not release any new e-readers in 2024. The only thing that came out was an Android tablet with Google Play, the Nook 9 by Lenovo. They also discontinued the Nook Glowlight 4e. Their only e-readers are the Nook Glowlight 4 and the Nook Glowlight 4 Plus.
The bookseller plans to release at least one new e-reader in 2025, maybe two. The regular Nook Glowlight 4 is a few years old and getting long in the tooth, so this could be refreshed. I would not rule out a new color model either since they can’t let Amazon and Kobo have all the fun in the critical US market.
Onyx Boox
Onyx Boox released a bevy of new products in 2024; sometimes, it’s hard to keep up. These include the Note Max, Note Air4c, Palma 2, Go 6, Go 10, and Go 7 Color. I expect them to release the Note Air 4, Page 2, and Poke 6 and refresh a few devices of their Tab Ultra line, which they tend to do at the beginning of the year.
Increasingly, Onyx has been focusing more on the domestic market in China and less on international releases. They sell way more devices in their home country, so it would make sense for them to make a significant push there. In China, their products don’t have Google Play, but they do have an online bookstore where customers can purchase digital content.
Remarkable
Remarkable is on a three-year cycle for new products, and in 2024, they released their first color e-notebook, but instead of using the Kaleido 3 system like everyone else, they decided to embrace Gallery 3, which can display close to 50,000 different colors, however Remarkable claims their device can handle half of that.
The Remarkable 2 is still being sold, and it will be close to four years old in 2025, so I can expect them to revise this model. It will likely have better hardware, a front-lit display, and maybe a more recent screen tech. Expect a larger battery and more device storage. This will result in the company having a new black-and-white model and a color to appeal to both market segments.
Pocketbook
Pocketbook had a busy 2024; the company primarily focused on color e-readers. The Era Color, EO Color, and Verse Pro Color are good examples, while the Inkpad X Pro was their first black-and-white e-notebook.
In 2025, Pocketbook will refresh its more affordable e-readers, such as the Verse, InkPad 5, and Basic Lux 5. These models have page-turn buttons and black-and-white e-paper and tend to appeal to more people who want an e-reader that runs Linux and doesn’t lock them into a specific ecosystem. One of Pocketbook’s greatest strengths is that it reads most e-book formats in the business.
I can also foresee some premium models in Pocketbook, such as the Era 2 and InkPad Lite 2. They will also likely refresh some of their color models too.
Bigme
Bigme released so many new products in 2024 that it is tough to keep up with them all. They have monitors, e-notebooks, color e-notebooks, color e-readers, and now a new verticle, smartphones. Bigme released the Hibreak BW and Hibreak color, two competent phones with e-paper screens. The company has also released exclusive products for the domestic Chinese market and has partnered with JD Read.
The company will release the Pro versions of Hibreak in 2025, with better hardware and faster processors. It should also refresh its entry-level e-reader, the Bigme Read 2. Expect refreshes of 5-6 of their other products, too, but not many are notable.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
