Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) Review: Slightly Larger, Slightly Faster, Slightly Better

Three years personification passed since Amazon past updated its flagship e-reader, and while this year’s Kindle lineup seemed focused connected Amazon’s first colour offering, nan Paperwhite still sewage immoderate invited improvements. With a higher-contrast aboveground and snappier performance, nan 12th-generation Kindle Paperwhite remains nan champion e-reader connected nan market.

I tested nan $199.99 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which is $40 overmuch than nan $159.99 basal Paperwhite. The aboveground and internals are nan same, but nan Signature Edition includes an ambient ray sensor for automatic brightness adjustments, 32GB of retention alternatively than 16GB, nary lockscreen ads, wireless charging, and a metallic decorativeness connected nan back. The metallic jade type I was sent looked awesome (metallic achromatic and raspberry are too options) but felt somewhat small grippy than nan integrative of nan guidelines Paperwhite.

The caller Paperwhite features a 300ppi aboveground pinch a mini bump successful size from 6.8 to 7 inches — not really tin to beryllium noticeable, but tin to fto you compression a less different lines of matter connected a page. Thanks to smaller bezels, nan caller Paperwhite is conscionable a less millimeters larger than nan erstwhile type while managing to beryllium somewhat thinner; successful use, it feels astir identical. This year’s exemplary too brings nan show flush pinch nan bezels, though it’s different subtle improvement.

What is noticeable is nan accrued contrast. Thanks to nan usage of an oxide thin-film transistor connected nan screen, nan caller Paperwhite has nan highest guidance ratio of immoderate e-reader I’ve ever tested. The benefits aren’t instantly evident erstwhile you’re reference plain text, but nan deeper blacks make nan aboveground look personification to an existent printed page. It gives illustrations, pictures, and book covers overmuch celebrated and presence, and makes comics and manga panels look sharper. The caller aboveground occasionally made immoderate of nan bully matter successful Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Married pinch Children look bolder and easier to publication without zooming in.

It’s not a characteristic that’s arsenic flashy arsenic a colour E Ink screen, but it’s easy nan caller model’s champion upgrade, and it’s going to make it difficult to return to my Kobo Libra 2.

Amazon has too improved nan caller Paperwhite’s lighting, giving nan aboveground a overmuch neutral reside astatine its default settings. The past procreation Paperwhite’s aboveground skews a mini cooler, but pinch immoderate Paperwhite models’ warmth sliders turned up, nan differences are indistinguishable.

This is too nan first Paperwhite to usage a dual-core processor (the Oasis, remainder successful peace, had a dual-core processor backmost successful 2017). The 1GHz Mediatek CPU would beryllium painfully slow for a instrumentality pinch an LCD screen, but it makes a ample value connected an e-reader. Amazon’s claims of 25 percent faster page turns weren’t noticeable erstwhile I was reference matter — nan refresh title of nan E Ink aboveground is nan limiting facet location — but I was genuinely amazed astatine really overmuch faster it opened half-gigabyte, image-heavy PDF files I sideloaded. On nan 11th-generation Paperwhite there’s a region that makes maine wonderment if nan instrumentality is going to choke connected nan files, but nan caller Paperwhite opens them instantaneously and flips done nan pages astir arsenic accelerated arsenic it does pinch plain text.

The personification interface too feels faster. It’s still not arsenic accelerated aliases responsive arsenic a smartphone aliases tablet, and zooming successful and retired of comics and photos tin still consciousness sluggish, but scrolling done book lists, navigating Amazon’s book store, and popping successful and retired of various menus is satisfyingly speedy. Or astatine slightest arsenic speedy arsenic it tin beryllium pinch nan limitations of E Ink.

Amazon claims nan caller Paperwhite tin beryllium utilized for up to 12 weeks betwixt charges, but that’s erstwhile limiting your reference to conscionable 30 minutes a clip astatine half aboveground brightness and wireless features turned off. After an hr reading, jumping backmost and distant betwixt books and PDFs, and browsing different titles connected Amazon’s online shop pinch aboveground brightness group to 75 percent, nan caller Paperwhite mislaid 5 percent of its charge. With that regular daily I’d expect to compression astir 3 weeks retired of nan Paperwhite’s battery, and perchance moreover longer if I wasn’t truthful indecisive astir what I was reading.

If you’re a Kindle personification who’s upgraded successful nan past less years, nan caller Paperwhite’s functionality will consciousness familiar. If you’re switching from competitors for illustration Kobo, you whitethorn find yourself moving into immoderate frustrating limitations. Sideloading documents for illustration PDFs aliases ePUB files is harder than it needs to be, since Kindle devices nary longer nexus to computers arsenic outer drives. You petition to usage Amazon’s online services aliases desktop apps to get e-books and different documents onto nan Paperwhite, and immoderate options are clunky.

Text customization is too constricted successful nan Kindle OS compared to Kobo devices, which relationship finer adjustments for font size, connection spacing, and margins. Although I find nan Paperwhite’s formatting options excessively simplified, I tin spot nan entreaty for those wanting a instrumentality that’s very easy to use. I for illustration that you tin prevention your adjustments arsenic civilization themes — it’s a characteristic I wish Kobo would adhd — but I can’t understand why Amazon limits each instrumentality to conscionable 5 civilization themes.

Borrowing room books is too easier connected a Kobo. The caller Paperwhite still requires you to usage nan Libby app aliases website connected a abstracted instrumentality to browse and get titles. Kobo’s e-readers personification Overdrive built-in, and while they do obfuscate nan borrowing process, you don’t petition to propulsion retired your telephone to do so.

But Kobo seems to beryllium focusing connected colour e-readers and larger E Ink note-taking devices these days, and its black-and-white e-reader options are now limited. The $129.99 Kobo Clara BW uses nan aforesaid E Ink Carta 1300 aboveground arsenic nan caller Paperwhite, but it’s only six inches, and its guidance doesn’t look arsenic good. Its all-plastic assemblage and sunken aboveground too consciousness cheaper than nan caller Paperwhite’s. And while nan $269.99 Kobo Sage has page move buttons and stylus support, it’s overmuch of a hybrid e-reader and note-taking device; I find that nan eight-inch aboveground makes it excessively ample to beryllium a take-anywhere e-reader. 

Although it’s not a important upgrade, nan caller Kindle Paperwhite remains nan champion e-reader you tin buy, pinch a beautiful black-and-white aboveground that feels personification to printed insubstantial than immoderate e-reader I’ve tested and a UI that’s faster and overmuch responsive than nan erstwhile version. If you’re connected nan hunt for your first e-reader, nan caller Paperwhite should beryllium astatine nan apical of your list.

Although nan basal Amazon Kindle is cheaper astatine $109.99, nan amended screen, adjustable warmth lighting, and waterproofing — different information if you publication successful nan bath aliases astatine nan statement — make nan caller Paperwhite worthy nan different money.

Is nan Signature Edition worthy an different $40? Wireless charging isn’t basal fixed nan Paperwhite’s artillery life, and it tin beryllium frustrating to align properly. But nan ambient ray sensor tin prevention you nan swipe and pat needed to group aboveground brightness manually if you return your Kindle everyplace (warmth settings don’t automatically adjust) and different retention is ever invited connected a instrumentality pinch nary practice insubstantial slot. When you facet successful nan $20 Amazon charges to region lockscreen ads from nan basal Paperwhite, nan Signature Edition is nan measurement to go.

Unless you publication a batch of ample PDF files and are disappointment by laggy performance, nan caller Paperwhite isn’t a basal upgrade complete nan 2021 model.  But it’s a different communicative if you’ve sewage an moreover older Paperwhite exemplary aliases different aging Kindle. When you adhd up nan past six years of improvements — including USB-C, color-temp-adjustable lighting, a larger aboveground pinch amended contrast, and amended capacity —  it’s astir apt clip to spot an upgrade.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge