Bigger is better with Amazon ‘s 2021 Kindle Paperwhite ( $ 139.99 ), which uses a new einsteinium Ink control panel to show more words per page than its harbinger. While the prices of Paperwhite models have been lento creeping up, this new version however offers the best shuffle of features at the right price for most readers, including a directly front jury and a waterpoof blueprint. Along with its update screen door, these features help it remain our Editors ‘ Choice prize winner for ebook readers .
Amazon’s Kindle Lineup
There are two-and-a-half ebook proofreader players in the US market, although others play bigger roles oversea. Amazon ‘s Kindles dominate stateside. They ‘re best for reading books from Amazon and work all right with titles from populace libraries. For other sources and formats, there ‘s Kobo. Barnes & Noble ‘s Nook models besides still exist, although the future of that batting order seems changeable. Amazon has four einsteinium Ink Kindles in 2021, including the $ 89.99 Kindle, the $ 139.99 Paperwhite, the $ 189.99 Paperwhite Signature, and the $ 249.99 Oasis. The Paperwhite has major, crucial advantages over the root model. For starters, it ‘s waterproof, making it dependable for reading at the beach and in the bathe. Its flat front blueprint prevents backbone and sludge from getting caught in cracks. And its screen is much sharper, with a color-changing front light that ‘s easier on the eyes .
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Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. ( Read our editorial mission. ) once you move up from the Paperwhite, though, the extra features become less meaningful. The Paperwhite Signature adds more storage, radio receiver charge, and an automatically changing front light. Those are useful extras, but they wo n’t transform your reading know. The Kindle Oasis has a delightful design with its cool metallic element frame, lighter weight than the Paperwhite, and physical page-turn buttons ( I have one and love it ), but it ‘s truly expensive for an ebook reader. Keep in judgment that while the Paperwhite starts at $ 139.99, like most Amazon ebook readers, it shows ads on the lock screen by default option. If you want to get rid of those ads, you need to pay an extra $ 20 .
Left to right : 2021 Paperwhite, 2018 Paperwhite, 2021 Paperwhite Signature ( Photo : Sascha Segan )
More Square Inches, Fewer Page Flips
The 2018 Paperwhite design introduced a flat front man and a raincoat rate. The newly model is a fiddling bigger. The 2021 Paperwhite is even a placid, black, flatness device, but now measures 6.8 by 4.9 by 0.3 inches ( HWD ) rather than 6.6 by 4.6 by 0.3 inches. At 7.2 ounces, it ‘s 0.8-ounce heavy than the previous model, which I initially thought would annoy me, but does n’t ; it ‘s still lighter adequate to comfortably hold with one hand for hours. The bigger news is the bigger shield. The new Paperwhite steps up from a 6-inch, 300ppi E Ink Carta display to a 6.8-inch empanel that retains a 300ppi resolution. The front light is besides 10 % undimmed. The unharmed device hush carries an IPX8 rate, so it can survive for an hour of dunking in fresh water or a three-minute dip in seawater. The new Paperwhites and Oasis have color-changing front lights that can go from blue-white to yellow using two sliders. The yellow can besides be tied to a clock, so the riddle gets yellower as the nox goes on to save your eyes. The 17-LED system is much more even than the 4 LEDs on the base-model Kindle. The bottom-mounted ability button, a end from the 2018 exemplar, bothers some folks, but I do n’t find it prone to accidental presses on the floor Paperwhite model. ( In the case of the Signature exemplary, though, wireless charging cradles sometimes trigger the button. ) A USB-C port brings the Kindle in credit line with other mobile devices from the past few years. It does n’t support fast charge, however—it still takes several hours to charge and powers up at no more than 9w. The new Paperwhite lasts about a week with heavy use, but you can greatly extend battery life sentence by turning off the front light and Wi-Fi. Amazon includes a office cable, but no power adapter. The Paperwhite works with any USB-C baron cable and adapter, but if you do n’t have one laying about, Amazon sells one for $ 20. Amazon besides sells a range of covers for the Kindle that cost between $ 30 and $ 60 .
Reading Experience
While I was reading Susanna Clarke ‘s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in Amazon ‘s standard font size, I saw 17 lines of about 8 short words each on the older Kindle and 21 lines of 9 words each on the newer one. That translates to 20 % fewer page flips on the newer model—and in my mind, a 20 % more restful feel .
The new Paperwhite ( veracious ) shows more words per page than the old one ( left ) ( photograph : Sascha Segan )
The old Kindle screen is about the lapp width as a mass grocery store paperback, but shows less text going down the page. The newly one is wider than most mass commercialize paperbacks and about the same acme. Trade paperbacks and hardcovers both tower over the older and newer Kindles. Tankobon-formatted manga volumes are clear on the previous Kindle, but they ‘re more legible here because the text is slenderly larger. The capture children ‘s manga Yotsuba & reads quite well on the new Kindle .
The 2021 Paperwhite ( right ) is the right size for japanese manga, which tend to be smaller and less colored than american comics, although it silent looks fine on the 2018 model ( left ) ( photograph : Sascha Segan )
however, the Paperwhite hush is n’t the properly ebook reviewer for american comics, graphic novels, or highly exemplify children ‘s books. The riddle is just excessively little, thus text remains indecipherable. Most people prefer to read those formats on a color device like the Amazon Fire HD 10 or a base-model Apple iPad anyhow. But if you very want to experience those works with the calming tones of E Ink, you need to look for a 10-inch e Ink device like the Onyx Boox Note Air .
A Faster Interface
Amazon recently updated the Kindle interface to make it easier to navigate. This improvement is n’t specific to the new Paperwhite ; the software update comes to base-model Kindles, some older Paperwhites, and the Oasis. The primary fault is that on the home screen, there ‘s a new icon that helps you jump right back to the book you ‘re reading. If you have a no-ads Kindle, the engage screen now shows the cover of the book you ‘re presently reading, besides. If you have a big Kindle library ( I have more than 200 books ), some new features help reduce clutter. I like how series are now mechanically filed under a single overlay, so I do n’t have to page through all of my kid ‘s Wings of Fire books ( of which there are many ) to get to my Lavie Tidhar. All the usual Amazon features are here, besides, of course : x-ray tells you who a character is, the dictionary tells you what a discussion is, and Goodreads integration lets you tell other people what you ‘re reading. Kindles ferment well with Amazon or public library ebooks. We have a history about how to get dislodge ebooks on your Kindle that outlines how to email PDF or EPUB-formatted eBooks to your device, but I ‘ve never had a great experience with corroborate for those formats because fonts and seafaring much get messed up in the translation. other ebook reviewer brands, most notably Kobo, handle those formats much better .
x ray helps you keep racetrack of characters in your book ( Photo : Sascha Segan )
Goodbye 3G, Hello Better Wi-Fi
Remember Whispernet, which let you download books anywhere ? It ‘s dying ; it relied on the AT & T 3G network, which will be turned off in 2022. If you have an older, Whispernet-reliant Kindle, that service is ending in the US. ( There are 4G LTE versions of the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis, but they were n’t marketed heavily in the US. ) As a result, the Kindle is more reliant on Wi-Fi than ever. fortunately, the 2021 Paperwhite has perceptibly better Wi-Fi than the 2018 model. When I tested it on a 5GHz Wi-Fi network, I generally downloaded books in 5 to 8 seconds rather than 14 to 17 seconds on the older mannequin. Book covers, pages in the Kindle store, and pages in the Kindle web browser besides filled in more cursorily. This performance dislodge may not be a big batch, but it ‘s a obtrusive upgrade. The better Wi-Fi accompaniment besides reinforces that you probably do n’t need the 32GB repositing of the Signature Edition. 8GB is fine. You can download books when you want to read them, at home or on spare Wi-Fi connections. Text-format Kindle books are only a few megabytes each ; audiobooks take up far more outer space. Bluetooth functionality is the same here as on the former Paperwhite. You can use Bluetooth headphones for audible audiobooks. You can even sync your audiobook listening to pick up or leave off at the same charge in a text-format book. Wired USB-C headphones, alas, will not work. The E Ink Kindles do n’t have built-in speakers or Immersion Reading, a clean mood where you see text highlighted as a voice reads it. For all of that, you need an Android or iOS phone or pill with the Kindle app.
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As with previous Kindles, a rate of covers are available
Time Keeps On Ticking…Into the Future
People keep their Kindles for a long fourth dimension. They should ; an ebook lector is a elementary device, and if it works, it works. As part of this review, I looked at drug user complaints on Amazon from purchasers of the 2018 exemplary. For the record, there are silent people with 2009-era keyboarded Kindles on there. The 2021 Paperwhite is similar to the 2018 model in a fortune of ways, and some of the differences with the newer models will irritate users of much older Kindles. For model, reading battery life sentence is shorter because of the more complex, more even front light system. There ‘s no built-in speaker or earphone mariner as on older models, either. As mentioned, a lot of people dislike the bottom-mounted baron button. The two-dimensional front besides has a piece more glare than some former models. I ‘m not including this section to elegy features on devices you ca n’t buy anymore, but people who are upgrading should know what to expect. And the new design offers some advantages. I think bathtub and beach reading are adult use cases, and I hate how the recessed fronts of older models collect dust and dirty .
The black felt back is comfortable to hold ( Photo : Sascha Segan )
The Right Choice
An E Ink ebook subscriber should get out of the means and let you read your book. That ‘s what the new Kindle Paperwhite does. It offers the right features at the correct price. For exercise, the Paperwhite is raincoat, which is great for its versatility, but forgoes the radio charging you get with the Signature Edition, which is less substantive. Kobo ‘s closest competing ebook reader, the $ 179.99 Libra 2, is a moment more expensive and does n’t natively handle Amazon books. Kindles and Kobos are like iOS and Android nowadays ; not a batch of people switch because they use different content stores. so if you buy your books from Amazon, the Kindle Paperwhite is the correctly ebook reader for most people, and our Editors ‘ Choice achiever .
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)
4.5
Editors ‘ choice
See It
$ 139.99
at Amazon
MSRP $ 139.99
Pros
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Cons
The Bottom Line
Amazon ‘s 2021 edition of the Kindle Paperwhite is like to the excellent 2018 version, but adds a roomy screen that makes for an flush better reading experience .
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