Is There Any Point In Buying A Kindle After The Price Hikes?

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Amazon hardware was always on the cheap end, courtesy of its robust delivery network and the tech giant's goals of selling you subscriptions and other extras. However, the unthinkable happened, and insane memory prices (thanks to AI) have put Amazon's amazing hardware prices on pause. Almost all products, from Echo smart speakers to Kindles, saw a massive 60% price hike. If you were about to embark on your e-reader journey (or just wanted to update your reading gear), tough luck. You'll have to pay around $50 extra. So, is there any point in buying a Kindle right now?

Short answer: probably not. The earlier part of 2026 was the best time to snag a Kindle, as the memory shortage hadn't taken full hold on the market. Now, things are wildly different, and you'll just end up overpaying. Plus, Amazon hinted at running occasional promotions, so there's a high possibility its e-readers will get a hefty discount (which might slash that $50 off). This might happen even sooner than you expect.

History has a knack for repeating itself, so it's realistic to expect Amazon to hold its annual Prime Big Deal Days event around October 7. With that considered, it's best to hold off on buying stuff until that sale materializes.

Can't wait? No problem. Many bookworms already complained about the disadvantages of owning a Kindle, which, even before the price hike, were arguably a bit too costly. Now, the situation is bordering on crazy: the $159 Kindle Paperwhite jumped from $159 to $199. Even the cheapest Kindle added an extra $40 to its asking price and is now $149 (though the ad-free version is $169). That said, there are a few affordable alternatives you should check out before they too get forced to raise prices.

A good example is the no-frills PocketBook Verse Lite, which goes for $125 on Amazon. That's the cheapest you can get at the time of writing. If you don't mind paying $10 extra, a well-reviewed Kobo Clara BW eReader is a safe bet. Granted, its $159 asking price is higher than the basic Kindle with ads, but at the same time, it costs 10 bucks less than the ad-free Kindle model — a good way to both escape the Amazon ecosystem and avoid the price hike.

Still too much? Then, it might be a good time to go back to reading normal, paper books. Paper is unlikely to feel the RAM crisis, but if you're still itching for an e-reader for convenience's sake, some older Kindles are still worth buying. For instance, you can get a legacy Kindle Paperwhite for under $100 second-hand, or even less if you don't mind digging through eBay listings. If the alternatives are a complete no-go, then wait a few months until Amazon likely puts various Kindles on sale.