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Amazon’s 2024 Kindle Paperwhite ($159.99) might look like this premiseHowever, its slightly larger 7-inch screen and significant performance increase provide a distinct update from previous generations. It has a fully waterproof design for beach reading, enough storage to house a large digital library, and unlimited cloud storage for all your Kindle purchases. There’s no need to upgrade if you already have the 2021 version, but for new buyers, the Paperwhite easily offers the best balance of price and features in the Kindle lineup, earning it an Editors’ Choice award. e-book readers.

Amazon’s Kindle Series: Goldilocks Paperwhite

Amazon offers a wide selection of e-book readers at a variety of prices. The first is the Amazon Kindle ($109.99), which has a 6-inch E Ink display, adjustable front light, and 16GB of storage. Kindle Kids ($129.99) bundles the regular Kindle with a six-month Amazon Kids+ trial, a colorful box, and a two-year hassle-free warranty.

Kindle Paperwhite is in the middle of the series. It improves on the standard Kindle by increasing the screen size to 7 inches, making the case waterproof, and adding adjustable warm and cool front light. Kindle Paperwhite Kids ($179.99) includes six months of Amazon Kids+, a box, and a two-year warranty. Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition ($199.99) increases storage to 32GB, removes lock-screen ads, supports wireless charging, and has an auto-adjusting front light. Lastly $279.99 Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition It’s the same as the Paperwhite Signature Edition but has a color E Ink display, making it good for comics.

Amazon plans to release an updated version Kindle Printer ($399.99), 10.2-inch E Ink tablet, out December 4. Scribe is the only Kindle with a stylus for taking notes.

Design: Bright Colored Backs

The 2024 Kindle Paperwhite and its predecessor could be twins. The new model has a slightly larger 7-inch screen compared to the 6.8-inch version on the 2021 Paperwhite. It measures 7.0 by 5.0 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.4 ounces, making it larger than the 2021 edition (6.9 by 4.9 by 0.3 inches, 7.2 ounces) and makes it heavier. The standard 6-inch Kindle (6.2 by 4.3 by 0.3 inches, 5.56 ounces) is also smaller and lighter than the current Paperwhite. But if you’re looking for something lighter, the 6-inch Onyx Boox Go 6 (5.8 x 4.3 x 0.27 inches, 5.15 ounces) is the most compact of these.

The Paperwhite has rounded corners and narrow bezels around three sides; It has a thicker frame and the Kindle logo at the bottom. Amazon doesn’t give the exact resolution of the display, but says it has a pixel density of 300 pixels per inch (ppi), which is the same as the previous model. It supports 16 levels of grayscale and reaches 94 nits of brightness, standard on the Kindle series, when reading with traditional E Ink. The display has an adjustable light that does a good job of illuminating the entire screen evenly and changing the color temperature to match. However, overall it has a more yellow tone than the previous generation. This didn’t bother me since it was evenly distributed, and I had no trouble adjusting the lighting to ensure my screen achieved a paper-like color tone.

The bottom of the Paperwhite has a USB-C port for charging and transferring files. The power button next to it makes an audible click when pressed.

The biggest design change is the addition of new color options for the back panel, including Jade (green) or Raspberry (pink) alongside the usual Black. I bought the Raspberry model pictured in this review. The pink matter plastic is very shiny. You’ll probably want to use a case, as the back is slippery and can attract fingerprints easily.

The Paperwhite is fully waterproof, meaning it can withstand immersion in up to two meters of fresh water for up to 60 minutes.

Amazon includes a USB-C cable, but you’ll need to provide your own charging adapter.

Performance: Faster than ever

The 2024 Paperwhite is faster than previous generations. Amazon doesn’t specify which processor and memory make this possible, but it claims that the e-reader has 20% faster page turn than the 2021 model. Navigating the Paperwhite’s user interface, especially typing on the on-screen keyboard, has never been easier.

The screen instantly registers your touch; This makes typing passwords or search terms much easier. While the difference in speed is noticeable, it may not be a big enough jump to convince existing Paperwhite owners to make the switch, as the previous generation was still relatively fast. The new Paperwhite’s speed gains make the Onyx Boox Go 6, with its 2.0GHz octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM, feel slower by comparison. But objectively, both the Boox Go 6 and the 2021 Paperwhite are still perfectly capable.

The Paperwhite comes with 16GB of non-expandable storage, which should be enough for all your documents. Those with large audiobook files may want to consider the Signature Edition, which comes with 32GB of internal storage. Boox Go 6 also has 32 GB of storage and offers storage expansion via microSD card.

Amazon doesn’t specify the Paperwhite’s battery size, but states it should last up to 12 weeks on a single charge. Depending on how often you read and the light settings you use, you may have more or less battery life. During a week-long test in which I spent at least 30 minutes reading every night, my battery dropped 15%. Amazon states that the battery will be fully charged in less than 2.5 hours using the 9W adapter.

The Paperwhite has dual-band Wi-Fi for downloading books, but cellular connectivity hasn’t been an option since the 2018 model.

If you want to listen to audiobooks, you’ll need a 3.5mm headphone jack, as the Paperwhite doesn’t have one. Amazon doesn’t specify which version of Bluetooth the Paperwhite supports, but mine Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra The headphones connected without problems.

Software: Kindle as usual

Amazon’s Kindle software is really easy to use; There are only two tabs for navigating content: Home and Library. The Home tab brings up multiple rows of Amazon-recommended books, as well as your own books already on your device. The Library button brings up all the books on your Kindle and the cloud. No matter which tab you’re on, there’s a search bar at the top of the screen. This allows you to search both your library and the Kindle Store. The four-dot menu next to the search bar brings up your reading lists, Goodreads, Amazon Kids, web browser, home sharing, and the settings menu. This is also where you can build a new book collection.

The menus inside your books are easy to use. Tapping the Aa button at the top of the screen brings up font and layout settings. You also have easy access to the table of contents, followed by a button to see your annotations and another button for your bookmarks.

Swiping down from the top of the screen brings up the Quick Settings menu. Here you can adjust the brightness and temperature of the lights and access airplane mode, Bluetooth, dark mode, sync and a button that will take you to the rest of the settings menu.

You can buy books from Amazon directly from your device or computer; books will be sent instantly to your Kindle. You can borrow library books from the Libby app by making sure to press the Send to Kindle button when checking out. Your own documents can be sent to Kindle via Amazon’s Send to Kindle email service. This feature allows you to send epubs without Digital Rights Management to a server where they will be converted into files that will then run on your Kindle. This is currently the only way to get epub files on Kindle.

The company’s Whispersync technology ensures that all your files stay up to date on your devices. The company also provides free cloud storage for your Amazon purchases; This means you have somewhere online to store content that doesn’t fit on the Paperwhite itself. This is especially useful if you have a lot of large Audible books that you don’t want to clog up your device.

I’ve always enjoyed reading on Kindle, but I’d like to see more options for font size and line spacing. I found that there wasn’t enough intermediate font size before the words became too small or too large for the page. I also prefer my text to be double-spaced, which can be difficult to achieve using Amazon’s software. Competing companies like Kobo and Onyx Boox allow you to have full control over the page layout, and it seems odd to me that Amazon doesn’t do the same.

The Kindle Paperwhite’s lock screen has ads by default. You can remove them for $20. The ads are harmless but feel spammy.

Amazon promises four years of security updates for the Paperwhite, but does not commit to any other software improvements in the meantime.

Verdict: The Right Kindle for Most Readers

Amazon’s 2024 Kindle Paperwhite builds on the success of its predecessor by increasing screen size and improving speed. It still has a waterproof design, even front lighting, and enough storage space to hold thousands of books. The overall experience is similar to the 2021 Paperwhite, so if you already have one there’s probably no need to upgrade. But for everyone else, the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite gives you most of what the Kindle lineup has to offer at the best price, making it the model we recommend to most people and our Editors’ Choice winner.