SBI PO Books 2026: What to Buy, What It Costs, What to Skip

If you’re shopping for SBI PO books now, you’re almost certainly preparing for the 2027 notification. SBI’s 2026 advertisement scheduled PO prelims for August and mains for September; the mains result is out, and Phase III was tentatively scheduled from 31 October 2026. That’s good news: you have time to buy in the right order. SBI PO needs one organised base book, practice for whichever section is weakest, and current affairs plus descriptive writing that no book handles well. This page shows what SBI PO 2026 actually tested, the books with editions and prices, what to buy at each stage and for each section, and the free resources that are genuinely enough.

By PrepPick Editorial Team · Last updated 26 Oct 2026 (SBI advertisement and acquaint-yourself booklets reopened that day)

Editions and prices checked on 26 Oct 2026.

How we checked this page: editions, ISBNs and prices from publisher, Amazon and Flipkart listings (26 Oct 2026); the pattern from SBI’s 2026 advertisement. Our methodology · About PrepPick

SBI PO at a glance (advertisement CRPD/PO/2026-27/09)

• Post: Probationary Officer, State Bank of India; 1,500 vacancies (1,446 regular + 54 backlog).
• Three phases: Phase I prelims (100 marks, 1 hour) → Phase II mains (200-mark objective test + 30-mark typed descriptive test) → Phase III psychometric test, group exercise (20 marks) and interview (30 marks). Yes, SBI PO has an interview.
• Final merit: mains (out of 230) and group exercise + interview (out of 50) are scaled to 75 and 25. Prelims marks don’t count.
• Pay: starting basic ₹48,480 plus 4 advance increments, in the Junior Management Grade Scale-I scale (₹48480-2000/7-62480-2340/2-67160-2680/7-85920). SBI puts the approximate CTC at the initial pay at its Mumbai centre at ₹21.97 lakh.
• Eligibility: graduation in any discipline (final-year students may apply provisionally; proof of passing by 30.09.2026); age 21–30 on 01.04.2026.
• Attempts: 6 for UR/EWS, 9 for OBC and PwBD (UR/EWS), no limit for SC/ST. Only appearing in mains counts as an attempt.
• Joining: a ₹2 lakh bond to serve at least three years, and up to two years’ probation.

Here’s the short list, with editions, ISBNs and today’s prices.

Quick verdict

• If you buy only one book: Disha Comprehensive Guide to SBI Bank PO Prelim & Main with PYQs, 14th edition (2026), ISBN 9789371860437. It’s the only book here that covers every SBI PO section along with SBI’s own past papers. ₹517 on Amazon; Disha’s own store lists it at ₹470 but showed it sold out on 26 Oct 2026.
• Budget pick under ₹500: the same guide from Disha’s site (₹470) once it’s back in stock; it was sold out there on 26 Oct 2026. If your base is fine and only Quant/DI is weak, get Disha’s 133 Topic-wise Quant & DI bank (10th ed.) at ₹445–454 on Flipkart or Amazon instead.
• Buy the guide if: you’re starting without coaching modules.
• Skip the guide if: you have coaching material or you’re a repeater; buyers find it too basic past the beginner stage.
• Don’t buy: a new copy of R.S. Aggarwal if you own one (same 2024 content), older Disha editions, or any book claiming to “cover” the SBI descriptive test.

Disha SBI PO Guide 14th ed. on Amazon · Disha’s own store (₹470 when in stock)

What SBI PO 2026 actually tested

From SBI’s official 2026 advertisement (CRPD/PO/2026-27/09):

A quarter of a question’s marks is deducted for each wrong answer in both prelims and mains. In mains, an on-screen calculator is allowed for Data Analysis & Interpretation, and every objective section except English is bilingual (mains acquaint-yourself booklet). Prelims has no sectional cut-off, but every mains section, descriptive included, has one. The practical takeaways: GA and DI each carry 60 mains marks, so plan for them from day one, and the descriptive test is three typed workplace-writing tasks, not an essay paper.

The books, with editions and prices

Price checked 26 Oct 2026. Amazon prices are mostly from third-party sellers (Cocoblu Retail for the Disha books) and change daily.

We found no current Hindi edition of any of the four Disha books on Disha’s site, so check there before you buy if you need Hindi. For Hindi-medium Quant, R.S. Aggarwal’s Hindi edition (2023 print) costs ₹279 on Flipkart (26 Oct 2026); it wasn’t listed on Amazon that day.

Buy by stage

Beginner, no coaching (most 2027 aspirants right now). Buy the Disha 14th-edition guide and work through it section by section. Add R.S. Aggarwal only if percentages, ratios and interest still confuse you, and Neetu Singh only if your mocks show grammar-rule errors. Don’t buy the PYQ banks yet.

Practice (concepts done, scores stuck). Add the Disha 133 Quant & DI bank. Add the Reasoning bank only if reasoning is the section dragging you down. Skip the all-in-one guide if your coaching modules teach the theory.

Revision and mains (last 2–3 months). Buy the Disha 94 GA PYQ bank and pair it with free current-affairs sources (below). Start typed descriptive practice twice a week. Stop buying theory.

Repeater. Buy nothing by default. If you own the 9th-edition banks (“125 Topic-wise”, 2010–2025), the 10th editions only add the 2025–26 papers; buy them only if you want those. Don’t re-buy R.S. Aggarwal.

Books by section

One table per section of the SBI PO 2026 pattern; prices checked on 26 Oct 2026.

English (prelims and mains)

Quantitative Aptitude and Data Analysis & Interpretation

Reasoning and Computer Aptitude

General Awareness, Economy and Banking (mains)

Descriptive test (mains)

No book here trains it; see the descriptive test.

Book by book: what buyers report

Disha Comprehensive Guide to SBI PO, 14th edition

49 theory chapters across all sections, 5,520+ MCQs, and the last 11 years of SBI PO prelims and mains papers placed inside the chapters (publisher’s description).

• Praise (Amazon, 155 ratings): beginners say it helped them understand the syllabus and plan their days. One buyer liked the detailed, correct solutions and the SBI papers.
• Complaints: some explanations are badly worded or too brief (mixture and alligation is one example cited). The reasoning puzzles chapter has few worked examples. One critic notes about 10 questions per topic and no latest-pattern sets, which makes it a beginners’ book.
• Doesn’t cover: enough worked puzzle examples for mains, going by reviews. It’s a base book, so plan separate typed practice for the descriptive test.
• Edition trap: the 13th, 12th and 11th editions are still sold on Amazon (the 12th at ₹508, barely below the new one). Disha marks the 13th “Old Edition”. Buy the 14th.

Disha 133 Quant & DI bank, 10th edition

• Praise (Amazon, 76 ratings): the topic-wise layout and a feel for real exam patterns. Recommended for practice after learning concepts.
• Complaints: an older review (Aug 2025, so the previous edition; Amazon merges editions) reports many printing mistakes and some wrong solutions. One Reddit user said Disha included questions that weren’t actually asked.
• Worth knowing: SBI and IBPS don’t publish their papers, so every bank “PYQ” book is a memory-based reconstruction. Use these books for practice, not as gospel.

Disha 133 Reasoning & Computer Aptitude bank, 10th edition

• Praise (Amazon, 64 ratings): difficulty rises from clerk prelims to PO level, and the solutions are clear.
• Complaints: typing errors bad enough that some questions can’t be solved, wrong answers in the alphabet-test chapter, and one copy delivered with damaged corners.
• Suits: students who know the basic methods and need puzzle and seating sets.

Disha 94 GA/Banking/Economy bank, 10th edition

• Praise (Amazon, 55 ratings): 3,000+ questions grouped by topic, useful for seeing how banking and economy facts are asked.
• Complaints: it’s MCQs only with no theory, and one buyer got a torn, old-looking copy.
• Doesn’t cover: anything after it went to press. The mains GA section needs current affairs on top.

R.S. Aggarwal Quantitative Aptitude

• Edition: S.Chand now titles it “(Fully Video Edition) 2026-27”, but it carries the same ISBN and © 2024 as the 2024-25 revised edition. It’s a reprint, not new content. Don’t wait for a “new” one, and don’t replace your copy.
• Praise (Amazon, about 1,700 ratings): a huge number of practice questions and good value. Some call the explanations the simplest around.
• Complaints: all 13 mentions of typing errors in Amazon’s summary are negative. Some find it too basic, with questions pitched easy to moderate.
• Doesn’t cover: modern bank DI (caselets, missing-table DI), according to independent guides. Several Reddit users dropped it for YouTube lessons and mocks, and it isn’t enough for PO mains on its own.
• Alternative: Arihant’s Fast Track Arithmetic by Rajesh Verma, now the Completely Revised Edition 2027 (ISBN 9788169826020, ₹449 on Amazon). It does the same arithmetic job with a shortcut focus. Buy one or the other, not both. Our IBPS PO books guide compares them.

Neetu Singh English Vol. 1 (2026)

• Praise: easy-to-follow grammar for SSC, banking and insurance exams.
• Complaints: too few practice questions for anyone whose basics are clear, plus page quality and misprinted middle pages on a 2025 Hindi listing.
• Doesn’t cover: reading comprehension speed or SBI’s email, situation-analysis and précis tasks. More in our Neetu Singh English book guide.

Counterfeit copies and overpriced “(Old Edition)” listings

• Old editions at near-new prices: Disha’s 12th-edition SBI guide sells at ₹508 on Amazon (26 Oct 2026), barely below ₹517 for the 14th. Always check the edition number in the listing title.
• Undated reprints: an R.S. Aggarwal “2027 REPRINT” listing (₹475) shows no ISBN. Stick to ISBN 9789358705010.
• Suspiciously cheap R.S. Aggarwal: ₹250 on Flipkart (26 Oct 2026) from a third-party seller is unusually low. A Reddit thread from Aug 2026 reports a fake R.S. Aggarwal, and one commenter describes a pirated copy from Flipkart with blank pages. Check the seller’s rating and the print quality on arrival.
• Neetu Singh look-alikes: a Flipkart “2026” listing claims 650 pages (the real book has 485), and an Amazon listing from Ckbs book store claims 450. Buy from KD Publication House on Amazon, KDPublicationin on Flipkart, or kdpublication.com.
• Scam calls: Disha’s own site warns about calls asking buyers for extra delivery payments. Disha doesn’t ask for this.
• Buy direct where it’s cheaper: dishapublication.com lists all four Disha books below Amazon’s price, but on 26 Oct 2026 the SBI guide and the Quant & DI bank were sold out there; the Reasoning (₹413) and GA (₹225) banks were in stock. Check shipping charges at checkout.

The descriptive test: practise, don’t buy

SBI’s descriptive paper asks for an email, a situation analysis, and a report or précis (you pick one of two prompts for each), typed in 30 minutes for 30 marks, with its own cut-off. No book on this list trains that, and a generic essay-writing book is the wrong format.

Type one task under a timer twice a week, then check it: did you answer the prompt, are the structure and tone right, and can you cut sentences?

Free resources that are genuinely enough

• Current affairs for GA/Economy/Banking: RBI press releases, the Union Budget, the Economic Survey and PIB. No printed GA book replaces these.
• Pattern and syllabus: the SBI PO 2026 advertisement and the SBI careers page.
• SBI’s own free material: the “Acquaint Yourself” booklets for the 2026 prelims (8 pages, 32 sample questions in English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning) and mains (10 pages, sample questions for each objective test plus the descriptive format). Both are listed under the PO advertisement on the SBI careers page, in English and Hindi.
• Pre-examination training: SBI offers online pre-exam training for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD candidates who opt for it in the application form (check the advertisement for current details).
• No official PYQs: SBI doesn’t release its question papers. Free mocks and topic tests are the substitute.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get SBI PO prelims material free?

From SBI itself: the 2026 prelims “Acquaint Yourself” booklet (8 pages) explains the online exam and has 32 sample questions across English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning, and the mains booklet does the same for the mains tests. Both are free PDFs under the PO advertisement on SBI’s careers page. SC, ST, OBC and PwBD candidates can also opt for SBI’s online pre-exam training when they apply. For practice beyond that, use free mocks and the official current-affairs sources listed above, since SBI doesn’t publish past papers.

Is SBI PO very tough?

The pattern makes it demanding: prelims is 100 questions in an hour with each section separately timed at 20 minutes (40 English questions in 20 minutes is 30 seconds each), mains is 170 objective questions in 3 hours plus a 30-minute typed descriptive test, and every mains section, descriptive included, has its own cut-off. Wrong answers cost a quarter of the question’s marks in both. SBI shortlists about 10 times the vacancies for mains and about 3 times for Phase III, for 1,500 posts in 2026. We don’t rate difficulty beyond that.

Which bank exam has no interview?

Not SBI PO: Phase III includes a 30-mark interview and a 20-mark group exercise. For the 2026 cycle, SBI’s tentative dates are a psychometric test on 31 October 2026 and group exercises and interviews from 18 November 2026 (SBI notice, checked 26 Oct 2026). SBI’s 2026 Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales) recruitment, by contrast, selects through an online prelims and mains exam plus a local-language test, with no interview. IBPS PO also has a 100-mark interview.

What is the salary of an SBI PO?

SBI’s 2026 advertisement gives a starting basic pay of ₹48,480 plus 4 advance increments, in the Junior Management Grade Scale-I pay scale ₹48480-2000/7-62480-2340/2-67160-2680/7-85920, with DA, HRA, CCA, PF, NPS, LFC, medical and lease-rental facilities and other allowances as per the bank’s rules. It puts the approximate CTC at the initial pay, at its Mumbai centre, at ₹21.97 lakh. In-hand pay depends on the centre and deductions, so we don’t quote one.

What is the eligibility for SBI PO?

Graduation in any discipline from a recognised university; final-year students can apply provisionally if they can show they passed by 30.09.2026. Age must be 21 to 30 on 01.04.2026 (born between 02.04.1996 and 01.04.2005), with upper-age relaxation of 3 years for OBC (non-creamy layer), 5 for SC/ST and 10 to 15 for PwBD. The number of attempts is capped at 6 for UR/EWS and 9 for OBC and PwBD (UR/EWS), with no limit for SC/ST; only appearing in mains counts as an attempt.

Is SBI PO a government job?

Your employer is State Bank of India, not a government department. SBI hires POs through its own advertisement, confirms them in its Junior Management Grade Scale-I after probation, and pays them under the bank’s rules; reservation follows Government of India orders, as the advertisement states. Selected candidates also sign a ₹2 lakh bond to serve at least three years.

How are SBI PO marks divided?

Prelims is 100 marks over 100 questions (English 40, Quantitative Aptitude 30, Reasoning Ability 30), and it only decides who reaches mains. Mains is 230 marks: Reasoning & Computer Aptitude 60, Data Analysis & Interpretation 60, General Awareness/Economy/Banking Knowledge 60, English 20, and the descriptive test 30 (email 10, situation analysis 10, report or précis 10). Phase III is 50 marks (group exercise 20, interview 30). For the final list, mains is scaled to 75 and Phase III to 25.

How many subjects are in the SBI PO exam?

Prelims has three sections: English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning. Mains has four objective sections (Reasoning & Computer Aptitude; Data Analysis & Interpretation; General Awareness/Economy/Banking; English) plus a typed descriptive paper with three tasks. Phase III is a psychometric test, group exercise and interview (SBI PO 2026 advertisement).

Is there an English-language book for SBI PO?

Yes, for grammar: Neetu Singh’s English for General Competitions Vol. 1, updated 2026 edition (KD Publication; ₹349 English, ₹299 bilingual on Amazon). More on it above; it doesn’t cover reading speed or the descriptive tasks.

Which SBI PO books should a beginner buy first?

The Disha Comprehensive Guide to SBI PO, 14th edition (₹517 on Amazon; ₹470 on Disha’s site when in stock). Add a Disha PYQ bank only once practice shows which section is weak.

Is one SBI PO book enough for prelims and mains?

For prelims, one guide plus free mocks can be enough for a beginner. Mains needs more: GA current affairs, DI practice at PO level and typed descriptive practice. Not all of that comes from books.

Is R.S. Aggarwal enough for SBI PO Quant?

For arithmetic basics, yes. For PO mains DI, no. Buyers and independent guides call it light on caselets and modern DI. Move to the Disha Quant & DI bank once the methods are clear.

Do I need separate books for Quant and DI?

No. The Disha 133 Quant & DI bank covers both. Add a separate resource only if you still can’t follow DI solutions after working through it.

Which book should I use for SBI PO Reasoning?

If you know the basic methods, the Disha 133 Reasoning & Computer Aptitude bank (10th ed.). If you don’t, learn the methods first from free lessons or the Disha guide’s reasoning chapters, though buyers find those light on puzzles.

Is a banking-awareness book enough for SBI PO mains?

No. The GA section is 60 questions across general awareness, economy and banking. Use the Disha 94 PYQ bank to see how facts are asked, and RBI, Budget, Economic Survey and PIB for current material.

Do I need a descriptive English book for SBI PO?

No. SBI’s current tasks are an email, a situation analysis and a report or précis. If you do buy a descriptive book, check it against that list first; a book built around essays is the wrong format. Typed practice with feedback works better.

Can I use the same books for SBI PO and IBPS PO?

Yes, for Quant, Reasoning, English and GA practice. See our IBPS PO books guide, and for GA books, banking awareness books. Prepare the descriptive paper separately: the IBPS PO XVI notification lists an “Essay and Comprehension” paper, while SBI sets an email, a situation analysis and a report or précis.

Sources (prices rechecked 26 Oct 2026)

• SBI PO 2026 detailed advertisement (vacancies, eligibility, attempts, pattern, penalty, schedule, Phase III, final merit, pay, bond): PDF
• SBI careers, results and openings: sbi.bank.in · current openings
• SBI PO 2026 “Acquaint Yourself” booklets: prelims · mains
• SBI notice of tentative Phase III dates (psychometric test, group exercise and interviews): PDF
• SBI Junior Associates 2026 advertisement (selection procedure): PDF
• Disha product pages: SBI PO guide 14th · 133 Quant & DI 10th · 133 Reasoning 10th · 94 GA 10th
• S.Chand, R.S. Aggarwal Quantitative Aptitude 2026-27: publisher page
• KD Publication, Neetu Singh Vol. 1 2026: kdpublication.com
• Buyer feedback: Amazon.in and Flipkart listings linked above; Reddit threads on r/bankingexam, r/SSCCGL, r/ssc and r/CBSE (Aug 2024 to Aug 2026). All paraphrased.

Updated 26 Oct 2026: what changed

• New “SBI PO at a glance” box: the three phases, final-merit weighting, vacancies, pay, eligibility, attempts and the joining bond, from SBI’s 2026 advertisement.
• New FAQs on free prelims material, how tough SBI PO is, which bank exam has no interview (with SBI’s tentative 2026 Phase III dates), salary, eligibility, government-job status and the marks split.
• Free resources: added SBI’s own prelims and mains “Acquaint Yourself” booklets and its pre-exam training.
• New “Books by section” tables above the book-by-book notes.
• New FAQs on how many subjects SBI PO has and on an English book; noted that prelims has no sectional cut-off. Added a “How we checked” note.
• Rechecked every price and stock status on 26 Oct 2026. Changes since 19–20 Oct: R.S. Aggarwal on Amazon (₹465 to ₹489) and its Hindi edition on Flipkart (₹359 to ₹279). Disha’s own store now shows the SBI guide and the Quant & DI bank sold out, so the first-buy price is Amazon’s ₹517.
• Corrected the IBPS comparison in the FAQ: the IBPS PO XVI descriptive paper is “Essay and Comprehension”.
• Removed star ratings.
• Removed the old numbered verdict boxes, which contradicted our methodology page. Verdicts are now plain buy/skip advice.
• Added editions, ISBNs, page counts and ₹ prices (first checked 19 Oct 2026, rechecked 26 Oct 2026) for all six books.
• Replaced six Amazon search links with exact product links.
• R.S. Aggarwal: relabelled from “2024–25 revised edition” to the publisher’s current “(Fully Video Edition) 2026-27” (same ISBN, © 2024 content), and updated the source link.
• Added Arihant Fast Track Arithmetic, 2027 edition (ISBN 9788169826020), as an alternative to R.S. Aggarwal.
• Noted that Disha’s 9th-edition banks and its 11th–13th SBI guides are outdated.
• Added the Neetu Singh Hindi/bilingual ISBN, buyer-review insights, a counterfeit and old-edition warning, advice by stage, the exam’s negative marking and Phase III, free current-affairs sources and the PrepPick Editorial Team byline.