There’s nothing quite like the feeling of settling down in the evening with a cup of tea and a good book, but if you find yourself unable to find the time in your day to enjoy the latest page-turner, audiobooks are a brilliant alternative. These narrated versions of physical titles help you enjoy a novel while commuting, travelling or cooking, and are ideal if you’re visually impaired.
Amazon’s Audible is one of the best ways of accessing a trove of audiobooks and podcasts. Each one you buy is saved to your account and an app that you can download onto phones, Kindles, tablets, laptops, smart speakers and TVs.
And there’s one great way to test it out: taking advantage of the 30-day trial gets you one credit (so you can download a single audiobook), while Amazon Prime members using the free trial for the first time get two credits, and that gets you two titles for the month.
How does Audible work?
If you only want a one-off audiobook, then you can simply download the Audible app onto your device and buy the chosen title from the online store. It will be saved to your account forever in a space known as the Audible Library and it will appear there no matter what device you log in from. You have two options when it comes to listening. You can stream the audiobook or download it to your device so you can still access it offline, such as while you’re on a flight or commuting to work. Just be aware that larger titles take up space on your device, and if you’re not on wifi you may be charged for using data.
Audiobooks are larger file sizes than music, and it’s not uncommon for them to go upwards of 250MB each – roughly the same as 30 minutes of standard-definition video. Kindles are limited when it comes to built-in storage so make sure you check how much room you have before filling them with titles. If your device supports it, you may want to use a microSD card to save audiobooks larger in size.
Much like Kindle Unlimited for ebooks, the second option is to sign up for an Audible subscription. This is ideal if you plan on becoming a heavier listener as it gives you one credit every month to spend on a title of your choice (the length of membership changes depending on the tier) plus unlimited access to the thousands of titles in the Audible Originals category, including the Jane Austen Collection, a 45 hour-long epic with narration performed by Claire Foy, Florence Pugh and Emma Thompson, plus an audiobook dramatisation of Little Women that’s narrated by Laura Dern.
The basic tier, with one credit/book in the month, is a recurring £7.99. If you want to buy audiobooks that aren’t in Audible Originals you have to purchase them separately. Each title is priced depending on length and amount of extra production value, but they typically range from £10 to £30, and stretch to more than 15 hours of total listening time.
How to get Audible
You can download the Audible app onto a wide variety of devices, including smartphones, Kindles, smart devices, computers and tablets. This page contains links to each app and support pages if you need instructions on installation.
We recommend taking advantage of the 30-day free trial that gives you access to one credit – one audiobook from the library – to check it out for yourself. Audible is not offered as part of the standard Amazon Prime membership, however, if you’re already signed up for that subscription service you’ll get two free credits.
How much is Audible?
The Audible app is free and is always linked to your Amazon account. Single audiobooks are priced separately via the online store but remember that even though you don’t need a subscription to use Audible if you’re planning on listening to multiple titles it makes sense to use a plan. Those start at £7.99 per month and go up to £109.99 for a full year. Here are the four membership tiers:
What audiobooks are on Audible?
There are currently more than 50,000 audiobooks in the store, with categories such as science fiction, comedy, romance, health, politics and history.
Some of the most popular titles include biographies that are narrated by the subject of the book. Matthew McConaughey tells his own memoir Greenlights (seven hours), Michelle Obama narrates her own book, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times (10 hours), while former Friends star Matthew Perry also speaks on the version of his own recently-released memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing (9 hours).
Fans of Amazon Prime’s cop show Bosch will love that the lead actor of the show, Titus Welliver, narrates a special edition of the first novel in the long-running Michael Connelly book series, The Black Echo (14 hours). We find that Audible Originals is also a great platform for listening to podcasts, with shows by Stephen Fry, Idris Elba and Derren Brown. Simply put: there’s a lot.
Can I sync Audible with Kindle?
Audiobook or ebook– why not do both? Yes, Kindle readers can pay between £4 and £10 extra to add an Audible narration and use Whispersync for Voice. This lets you switch between reading and listening when using a Kindle app, which is ideal if you don’t want to put your new novel down when having to do the daily school run. It lets you seamlessly switch between devices without losing your place, so you can start reading an ebook on a tablet, then continue listening on an iPhone. It costs extra – you have to own the Kindle and Audible audiobook for it to work – and needs a wifi connection, but we love it.
Another big feature of Whispersync for Voice for anyone using the Kindle app on Android, iOS or a Fire tablet is Immersive Reading. This lets you listen to an audio narration and read the book at the same time, with text highlighting your progress in real-time. Here is a full list of Whispersync for Voice-enabled devices.
Can you share Audible?
Audible can’t be shared with anyone else but it can be gifted, with memberships covering credit for one month (£7.99), three months (£23.99), six months (£47.99) or a year (£69.99), plus unlimited access to Audible Originals.
How to cancel Audible
If an Audible membership is no longer for you, cancelling it is straightforward. Log into the Audible website, tap “membership details,” click “cancel membership” and then follow the prompts on the screen. One handy tip if you’re planning on doing so: don’t forget about any existing Audible credits that are resting in your account – they’ll immediately disappear if you leave the service without using them.
Best Audible devices
Jason Murdock was Hearst UK’s Deputy Technology Ecommerce Editor, contributing to multiple titles including , and , between 2022 and 2023.
With more than eight years’ experience covering tech at publications including , and the , Jason has extensive knowledge of the latest gear and gadgets – reviewing phones, tablets, laptops, headphones, smart home products and more – and covering the biggest shopping events of the year, including Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day.
He won at The Drum’s Online Media Awards in 2017 for his cybersecurity coverage in the International Business Times. When not writing and testing the latest gadgets, you’ll find Jason playing the guitar or learning how to parent his new baby.
