How to Read Manga on the Kindle 8 and Kindle 10

Yes, the basic Kindles of 2016 and 2019 read manga, with one caveat: their 600 x 800 screens are 167ppi, about half the sharpness of a Paperwhite. Convert for that exact size and the pages look as good as the screen allows.

The Kindle 8 and Kindle 10 at a glance

What that screen means for manga

A printed manga volume has a page of roughly 5 by 7 inches. At 6 inches this screen shows that page at about 69% of its printed size. At 167ppi the screen has about half the sharpness of a current e-reader. Bold art holds up; small dialogue is where it struggles.

This is why the device profile matters more than any other setting. A scan is drawn at print resolution, far larger than this screen. Left alone, the reader shrinks each page on the fly, slowly and without care for the lettering. A file converted for the Kindle 8 and Kindle 10 already has every page at exactly 600 x 800, with the greyscale tuned for e-ink, so nothing is resized on the device.

Getting manga onto the Kindle 8 and Kindle 10

First, convert:

1. Open Manga for Kindle 8/10 and drop in your files. CBZ and CBR are the usual inputs; ZIP, RAR, 7Z, PDF and EPUB also work.
2. Check that the device is set to Kindle 8/10. That is the exact name in the picker.
3. Leave manga mode on for right-to-left titles. Turn it off for webtoons and Western comics.
4. Look at the preview, then convert and download.

Then, transfer:

• Choose EPUB and send it with Send to Kindle: the website, the desktop app or the Kindle email address all work.
• Or choose MOBI, connect the Kindle over USB and copy the file into the documents folder.
• The email route stops at about 50MB per file. USB has no limit, which matters for long volumes. More in Send to Kindle file size limit.

Can it open a CBZ without converting? No. A Kindle does not open CBZ or CBR files, whichever way they arrive. They have to be converted first.

How many volumes fit

A volume converted for this screen comes to roughly 15 to 25MB, depending on page count. That figure is scaled from our own conversions by pixel count, so treat it as a guide. With 4GB (later Kindle 10 units: 8GB), that works out to about 150 volumes on the device at once.

Settings worth changing

• Crop the white margins when you convert. On a 167ppi screen every bit of extra panel size helps with small text.
• The Kindle 10 added a front light. On the Kindle 8, read in good light or the greys look muddy.
• For double-page spreads, keep splitting on. A whole spread squeezed onto a 6 inch screen is too small to read, so each half gets a screen of its own, right half first for manga.

Is the Kindle 8 and Kindle 10 good for manga?

Fine for series with large lettering, tiring for dense ones. The 2022 basic Kindle (300ppi) is the upgrade that fixes it.

For the wider picture, including where to get manga legally and how the other models compare, see Manga on Kindle.

Frequently asked questions