Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Luxurious updates raise the bar—and the price

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The final time Amazon up to date the Kindle Paperwhite, the adjustments have been dramatic. Our review of the fourth-generation model known as them a “raft of innovations,” with waterproofing and twice the quantity of storage among the many standout upgrades.

The enhancements within the new fifth-generation Kindle Paperwhite are much less revolutionary. Outside of the bigger 6.8-inch display, they’re refinements—ones that make the digital studying expertise extra snug…and costly.

Kindle Paperwhite (2021): Specs, options, worth

• Storage: 8GB customary model or 32GB Signature Edition
• Display: 6.8-inch, 300ppi,16-level grayscale
• Front gentle: 17 LEDs with adjustable shade temperature (white/amber)
• Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.9 x 0.32 inches (175.2 x 124.6 x 8.1 mm)
• Weight: 7.23 ounces (205g) for 8GB model; 7.34 ounces (208g) for 32GB Signature Edition
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth
• Battery life: Up to 10 weeks on a single cost
• Charging: Via USB-C port (each variations), or non-obligatory 10W Qi-certified wi-fi pad (Signature Edition)
• Special gives: Ad-free variations are $20 further. Same value to take away advertisements in a while
• Price: $140 (ad-supported), $190 (ad-supported Signature Edition)

Skim over the 2021 Paperwhite’s specs and also you’ll see a lot to tell apart it each as a respectable update on the 2018 model, in addition to a deluxe improve from Amazon’s entry-level Kindle (final up to date in 2019). This mid-tier e-reader continues to include options as soon as reserved for higher-end Kindles, like auto adjustment of display brightness, whereas including contemporary enhancements comparable to a bigger display and entrance gentle LEDs able to each cool and heat shade tones.

Amazon doesn’t present extras with out asking for extra money, nonetheless. The worth of this mid-tier Kindle has risen—the bottom mannequin with 8GB storage now begins at $10 extra. Those in want of further storage must pay $30 on high of that for the Signature Edition. No mobile mannequin exists this time round; if you wish to obtain books, you want a Wi-Fi connection.

For our overview, we obtained the ad-free Signature Edition, which has 32GB of storage and two options not present in the usual model: computerized adjustment of display brightness based mostly on ambient lighting and assist for wi-fi charging. To reap the benefits of wi-fi charging, you’ll have to purchase your individual Qi-certified pad for about $10 to $15.

Design

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The 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is made for simple studying. Like current predecessors, it renders textual content at a crisp 300 ppi, the identical decision used because the trade customary for printed books—whereas elevating the sport by presenting pages on a bigger, 6.8-inch show. The larger display suits a number of extra strains per web page and extra phrases per line, leading to fewer web page turns (and fewer interruptions in a ebook’s finest elements). You’ll fly via chapters, particularly if one of many 9 supplied fonts completely matches your preferences.

Leafing via graphic novels, magazines, and PDF paperwork is quick, too. Page turns and pinch-and-zoom inputs really feel as fast as when interacting with text-only e-books, making for a surprisingly good studying expertise regardless of the black-and-white pages and a decrease decision than tablets with LCD shows.

Further enhancing the studying expertise is a rise to 17 entrance gentle LEDs, up from 4 within the 2018 Paperwhite. It makes for a shiny, evenly lit show that may maintain as much as shiny out of doors conditions and blackout circumstances alike. On the Signature Edition, shifting between these two lighting extremes is a cinch in the event you flip on auto-brightness adjustment. Otherwise, you’ll be able to manually select a setting between 0 (the dimmest) and 24 (the brightest).

The LEDs now assist cool and heat shade temperatures as properly, lastly matching a characteristic discovered for years in Kobo’s rival e-readers. You can maintain the lights as a stark white through the day to imitate daylight, after which select a softer amber tone for nighttime. Before you write this off as trivial, or pandering to considerations about digital screens earlier than bedtime, know that the hotter entrance lights do really feel extra snug to have a look at night time, notably when in a pitch-dark room. I didn’t count on to like the display heat adjustment as a lot as I do. Like display brightness, you get a scale of 0 (white) to 24 (amber) to work with, and in the event you use the scheduling characteristic for dealing with shade transitions, you’ll by no means need to cease to fuss with the display at any time of the day. You may even tie the LED’s shade shift to to official dawn and sundown, or a set transition that occurs at set instances.

Happily, these enhancements don’t have an effect on battery life negatively. In reality, the brand new Paperwhite has a better ranking of as much as 10 weeks, or 4 extra weeks than the earlier era. Amazon bases its estimate on 30 minutes of studying per day, with Wi-Fi off and display brightness set to 13. You can simply get this a lot break day a single cost, if no more. With display brightness and shade temperature set to 13, and each Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned off, the battery depleted at about 1 p.c per hour—or a charge that greater than doubled Amazon’s 10-week estimate. 

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Of course, how lengthy the battery lasts depends upon your private habits. Screen brightness, frequency of web page refreshes, and whether or not you set your Kindle to sleep between makes use of will have an effect on the period. For blended utilization that features audiobook playback through a Bluetooth audio system, your battery life will drop to days, moderately than lasting weeks. Getting again to a full cost is fast, although. It’s quickest over a wired connection (three hours max), however wi-fi charging is simply marginally slower. You can use the Paperwhite whereas it’s charging.

Small will increase in weight and measurement do accompany the larger display and longer battery life. The Fifth-generation Kindle Paperwhite is near a full ounce (23g) heavier than its predecessor, and a couple of quarter of an inch (75mm) wider and taller. It’s nonetheless snug to carry in a single hand, however has a tangibly dense heft.

Alaina Yee / IDG

More awkward is the facility button positioning on the backside fringe of the display. Placed subsequent to the USB-C charging port, I usually fumbled to get at it if the Paperwhite was on a pill stand, and trying to press it one-handed typically resulted in comedic juggling. (Adding a cable to the combination whereas the system is charging simply ramps up the fumbling.) Pressing as much as activate a button requires two palms for stability, not like with urgent down or to the aspect. A top-mounted button (or one on the face of the system) would enhance one-handed usability.

You can partially sidestep this concern by buying a canopy for the Paperwhite. Opening or closing a magnetic cowl mechanically wakes the system or places it to sleep. Official choices embrace $30 material, $50 cork, and $60 leather-based choices, but when earlier Kindle generations are any indication, appropriate third-party alternate options will ultimately arrive and develop your selections. A canopy additionally helps stop harm from unintentional falls..like whenever you’ve tried to get on the energy button and as an alternative despatched the system to the ground.

A canopy isn’t needed for shielding this Kindle from water harm, nonetheless. The Fifth-gen Paperwhite carries on the earlier model’s IPX8 ranking, and so it may be submerged in as much as two meters of contemporary water for 60 minutes with out hurt. It lasts solely 3 minutes in opposition to 25cm of salt water, although.

User expertise

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Like different Kindles, the 2021 Paperwhite depends on a touch-based interface for navigation. To entry menus and navigate via books, you swipe and faucet. Doing so feels as clean as on a smartphone, even with the distinction in how e-ink shows refresh. Anyone trying to improve from an older, slower e-reader will respect this zippiness, and people coming from a mannequin with bodily buttons shouldn’t discover the transition too laborious to make.

Menus and look at choices are straightforward to determine, with simply the correct amount of customization choices inside e-books. They’re easy sufficient to get via rapidly, but not so restricted that you just’re compelled to make do. The Home display does really feel a bit bare-bones, however between search and the power to create Collections (lists of books, audiobooks, and different content material you’ve manually grouped collectively), discovering what you wish to open isn’t troublesome.

Amazon

General navigation inside books is lacking one means although, and for my part, it’s a notable one: When utilizing the Paperwhite solely along with your proper hand, you’ll be able to’t use display faucets to return to earlier pages in a ebook—that’s solely doable when holding it in your left hand. You can solely swipe for one-handed navigation along with your proper. This limitation looks as if an oversight, since not everybody has the extent of wrist energy and/or stability wanted to handle swiping. I struggled with right-hand-only navigation, for the reason that Paperwhite is bigger and distributes its weight extra extensively than a smartphone. Amazon’s accessibility choices don’t make up for this lack, both. Settings that enable extra zones for faucets or customized zones can be a really helpful addition. Some folks can’t all the time make use of each palms. (When requested about this, Amazon didn’t reply to our inquiries.)

As for getting content material onto a Kindle Paperwhite, the method is extraordinarily easy. Just activate Wi-Fi, and you’ll switch the e-books and audiobooks out there in your Amazon account over the corporate’s Whispersync system, which retains observe of your ebook progress, bookmarks, and extra. You also can simply load content material out of your PC through USB cable or by emailing it to your system’s electronic mail tackle. Keeping younger, inquisitive minds away from gory mysteries or different mature content material is straightforward because of easy passcode setup, too.

Bottom line

The larger beginning worth of the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite might give some folks pause, however it does ship an opulent studying expertise commensurate with its value. In reality, the larger display, improved entrance gentle, and better decision tip the scales when deciding between it and Amazon’s basic Kindle. Catch it throughout one among Amazon’s semi-frequent gross sales and it turns into a simple alternative over the alternate options.