From The Verge:
It’s been nearly three years since Amazon has updated its best (and bestselling) Kindle: the midtier Kindle Paperwhite, which is getting its biggest upgrade ever. On paper, at least, Amazon has finally built the ultimate Kindle.
The last Paperwhite update was a relatively minor one, with just a light design tweak and waterproofing serving as the main addition. The new Kindle Paperwhite refresh, on the other hand, adds nearly every update you could imagine for a hardware refresh: a bigger screen, wireless charging, USB-C, adjustable color temperature, and additional LEDs for more consistent backlighting.
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There are actually two different versions of the new Paperwhite this time: the standard model and the “Signature Edition,” which adds wireless charging, a sensor to automatically adjust the backlight, and four times the storage (32GB, compared to 8GB on the regular model).
The regular Paperwhite costs $139.99, or $159.99 without lock screen ads, while the Signature Edition costs $189.99 (without ads, there’s no option to get a discount for viewing ads on the fancier model).
I’ve been testing the Signature Edition for the last week; whether it justifies the extra cost will depend on how important those differences are to you. The additional storage and the automatically adjustable backlight are excellent additions; Qi charging is a little less useful, given that the new Paperwhite needs charging so rarely and charges much faster over USB-C than it does over wireless charging. Plus, you’ll need a pad that actually fits the Paperwhite, which can be difficult if you prefer phone-sized chargers (especially vertically oriented standing ones.) I suspect most people will be fine with the standard models, but if you store a lot of books (and especially audiobooks), really prefer the automatic backlight, or are already shelling out to remove Amazon’s onerous ads, it might be worth the extra money.
The broad design is largely the same as the old Paperwhite: a flush-mounted touchscreen, a grippy rubberized back, a gray “Kindle” logo on the bottom bezel, and the excellent IPX8 waterproofing that was the standout feature of the last generation. They’re easy to tell apart, though, thanks to the larger screen of the 2021 model.
As is traditional for a Paperwhite update, many of the biggest features here come straight from the high-end Kindle Oasis, with the Paperwhite getting the larger display and color temperature settings that Amazon already offers on its priciest Kindle. The main differences left are the Oasis’ unique form factor (which includes physical page turn buttons), an incrementally larger display (seven-inch on the Oasis vs. 6.8-inch on the Paperwhite), and slightly more LEDs for lighting up the screen (17 LEDs on the Paperwhite to the Oasis’ 25).
The additions here mean that the differences between the $249.99 Oasis and the $139.99 Paperwhite are slimmer than ever. Of those, the most notable is the LED count — the extra LEDs let the Oasis light up even brighter, but it’s not a difference worth paying nearly twice as much for on its own. The 2021 Paperwhite gets plenty bright, and I only even noticed the difference by comparing them head to head in a dim room.
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The 2021 Paperwhite is also finally Amazon’s first Kindle to come with USB-C charging, which allows for fast-charging the device and — more importantly — actually being able to use the same cables as most other modern devices. The lengthy battery life means that you still won’t be charging it that often, but it’s another big step for many (myself included) to finally be able to excise Micro USB cables from my life.
The new Paperwhite features one of the most notable design changes for the e-reader model in its nearly decade-long history. For the first time for the Paperwhite, Amazon has increased the display from a six-inch panel to a 6.8-inch display by slightly increasing the Paperwhite’s physical size and slimming down the bezels around the screen a fraction.
The display still has the crisp 300ppi resolution that the old model had, despite the larger size. The new design with its reduced bezels (particularly on the top of the display) looks better than ever, and the added screen space for reading is a welcome addition, as are the color temperature options for better emulating the color of actual paper. As was the case with the Oasis’ implementation of the feature, there’s still no option to have the Kindle automatically adjust temperature in response to ambient lighting, which is disappointing to see (especially since it can automatically adjust brightness).
But by increasing the display size, Amazon might have made the Paperwhite too big. The new model is about a third of an inch taller and wider than the old model and about 26g (almost an ounce) heavier than the 2018 model. And while that may not sound like much, it’s just enough for it to be awkward to hold up with one hand, even for someone like me with relatively large mitts. I often have to brace the new Paperwhite with a second hand to comfortably read it, something I didn’t have to do with the old model.
It’s not a total dealbreaker, but the increased size and weight had me worried a lot more that the Paperwhite was going to tumble out of my hand when I was holding it. (It’s a problem unique to the bigger Paperwhite’s otherwise unchanged design. The Oasis, after all, has an even bigger display but avoids the issue by offering an asymmetrical design aimed toward one-handed use.) It still barely fits in the back pocket of a pair of jeans, but only just.
Ultimately, given the choice, I’d rather Amazon had gone with the more streamlined design in a way that kept the physical dimensions the same (or even smaller) rather than trying to fit in an ever bigger screen. It’s a personal preference, though, and I suspect that many Kindle readers who just want more screen real estate may not be bothered by the added bulk.
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Amazon says that it’s boosted the battery life on the new Paperwhite, from the previous six weeks up to 10 weeks on a single charge (which requires using the device’s “Power Saver” mode that trades longer battery life for longer waking up from sleep). I’ve only had the Paperwhite for about a week, so there’s no earthly way for me to verify that claim, but I haven’t had any issues with battery life yet — in the six or seven hours I spent reading, I only saw the battery drop a percent or two, even in “standard” battery mode (although battery life will depend on how much you read, how many times you turn the page, and other factors like screen brightness).
The company also says that it’s put a new and more powerful processor on the 2021 model, which helps to speed up virtually everything. Books open faster, pages turn faster, and scrolling through one’s library is no longer the interminably laggy experience it once was on the older model.
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The 2021 Paperwhite also ships with Amazon’s new Kindle software, which it debuted earlier in the fall. There are a lot of useful new additions here, including a new home layout that puts recently read books front and center, along with better integration for (Amazon-owned) Goodreads reading lists. The new software also makes it easier to jump back into whatever book you’re currently in the middle of from anywhere using the toolbar on the bottom of the screen. Additionally, there’s a new setup mode that allows you to share login information over Bluetooth from the Kindle app on your smartphone, instead of fighting against the E Ink display to type in your Amazon credentials and Wi-Fi password.
More importantly, though, the new software makes it much easier to access the swipe-down menu. Amazon has taken a cue from literally every smartphone from the last half-decade and added a swipe-down menu accessible from anywhere on the Kindle’s OS that offers toggles for things like airplane mode, Bluetooth, dark mode, and sync settings, as well as sliders to adjust brightness and color temperature.
Link to the rest at The Verge and link to the new Paperwhite
PG has been a giant fan of his Paperwhite ever since he bought it over six years ago. He’s lost track of how many books he’s read with it.
PG owns an iPad and is a big fan of that device. However, for e-book reading, it’s all his Paperwhite. Much lighter, better overall reading experience for more than a few minutes than the iPad. Plus, there is never anything that tempts PG to click a link and meander around the web on the Paperwhite.
Having both an old style Paperwhite and an Oasis my judgement is the the bigger screen really does not matter much and that the small increases in dimensions are also not of great import (if I’d worried about the size I’d not be using the protective covers). Do many people actually carry their Kindle in their pant’s pockets? Both new and old sizes would fit badly – or not at all – into mine, though with the season changing they fit fine into the side pockets of my winter coats.
The review is quite good – at least compared with what one often sees – though the encomium for the revised software (not actually specific to the new hardware) is overdone; overall there is more bad than good in the latest software update with too much real estate on some of the screens being wasted on non data items (though this does not impact the reading experience).
I like the move to USB type C but really don’t want – or want to pay for – wireless charging, so it’s a pity that you don’t get the choice if you go for 32 GB memory. In the UK at least, I’d advise anyone wanting a Paperwhite to buy the old version with 32 GB memory whilst they are still available (especially as the price has just got much more competitive).
I don’t understand why they have to make it bigger. If the battery is bigger and lasts longer but the kindle doesn’t fit into a pocket, is heavier or unwieldy in one hand it’s less useful. Giving more fine grained fonts and scaling of images would be marginally useful but the fonts already scale on the kindle. If the size is for a speaker we are usually better off connecting the kindle to an external one. I used to like my old kindle that did text to speech but I can live without it. Instead of making the whole thing bigger a much narrower bezel would have increased the effective display
The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2021 is 174 x 125 x 8.1mm, while the Kindle Paperwhite 2018 is 167 x 116 x 8.2mm. The difference in weight is minor too, with the old model being 182g while the new model is 207g.
So it’s 7mm taller, 8mm wider, and 1mm thicker.
In return for a 12% larger screen.
The question is whether the fraction of in inch change impacts enough people to matter. Not everybody carries their readers in pants pockets. (The things *are* fragile.)
A judgment call for Amazon.
Plus, it give them *something* new to announce for the first time in 3 years.
It’s not revolutionary but for the eink market that is brag worthy.
Kindle Voyage – best ever. So glad I purchased a backup when they were on woot for awhile. Light and easy to hold, with haptic page turn bars on the sides.
My wife insists on using a 2nd gen Kindle Fire in white text / black background mode. Insists she does not want a kindle.
My wife loves her old “button” kindle, but it may be time to get her a new version. Perhaps the one with the button page-turner, though it seems like one pays a lot for that feature. Ipads are really good for non-fiction text book reading or content of that sort. Iphones are ok for novels as are regular kindles. I tend to cycle through them all, over time.
Mileage does vary. I’ve been quite content with my Fires – I like having a lot of things that used to be separate on one device.
I’ve never found the ads to be “onerous” – and don’t see how anyone else can, unless they turn their device on and off constantly. One swipe, and it’s gone. (In fact, there have been a few times, when I wanted an ad to come back; I realized after the muscle memory kicked in that it looked like something interesting.)