We’re less than a month out from the best deal-shopping time of the year — Cyber Week. Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we tend to see the biggest price drops ever on big ticket items, from laptops and TVs to headphones and e-readers. As far as e-readers go, Kindles are our favorites. And we’re hoping to see some record-low prices in time for the holidays.
I actually bought my very first Kindle last year during Amazon’s Black Friday sale and have never looked back. The basic Kindle retails for just $109.99, but we saw the price plummet to only $89.99 last Black Friday. Then, during Amazon’s Prime Day event in October, it dropped even further to just $84.99. Could we see a new best price ever come Black Friday 2025?
Why we love the basic Kindle
My Kindle is basically like a security blanket at this point — I bring it everywhere.
Credit: Christina Buff
The Kindle Paperwhite is Mashable’s resident e-reader expert’s top pick. And while it’s certainly a wonderful device, I would go to war for my basic Kindle. It’s my pride and joy and I carry it with me everywhere. It’s tiny enough to fit in my purse and whip out whenever there’s a quiet moment in my day. Plus, it’s the cheapest option, which is very important to me in a time when everything is outrageously overpriced. On a normal day, it’s just $109.99, while the Paperwhite is $159.99 and the Colorsoft is $249.99. We’re not even going to mention the prices of the new Kindle Scribe and Scribe Colorsoft.
The basic Kindle comes with 16GB of storage, which is plenty of room for thousands of books. It’s the smallest Kindle in the bunch, which I personally find delightful for one-handed reading and portability (like I mentioned, it slips in my purse easily). It has the same screen resolution as the Paperwhite and the same sort of magic that makes you read at lightning speed. It’s only downsides are that it’s not waterproof and there’s no warm light option. I personally haven’t had an issue with the light — my eyes never feel strained from reading on the paper-like screen. As for the waterproof issue, you just have to be extra careful.
The Black Friday deal we hope to see on the basic Kindle
Earlier in October, during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event, we saw the basic Kindle drop to $84.99 — a new record-low for the matcha color option and just the second time ever for the black option. I think Black Friday could beat that, at least by a few bucks. Sure, it may be wishful thinking, but I think we might see the budget-friendly e-reader drop to just $79.99 for the first time ever this holiday season. If that’s the case, we will certainly let our readers know ASAP.
Mashable Deals
In any case, if you’re in the market for an e-reader and want to follow my lead and grab the best budget Kindle, we recommend waiting until it’s at least down to $84.99. Here’s hoping for even less.
