A new generation of the Kindle Paperwhite gets a bigger screen, smaller bezels, warm light, and depending on how much you want to spend, wireless charging, as well.
The joy that is sitting down with a good book is something that will always be a thing, even if the technology for reading is growing and changing. While books are forever, e-readers are gtadually improving, with updates to the tech inside them over time.
Last we checked in with Amazon, its Kindle Oasis adopted a warmer colour for page reading, making it easier on the eyes at night. A yellow tinge that you could cool down was an upgrade worthy of the 2019 Kindle Oasis, making one of the thinnest eBook readers something that looked warmer than your standard book page, and potentially easier to read at night than one, as well.
Two years on, Amazon is leaving the Oasis where it is, but updating its mid-range model, the Kindle Paperwhite.
In 2021, the updates aren’t just to support that warm light Amazon introduced a couple of years ago. While that’s definitely there, the latest Kindle Paperwhite sports a bigger display by reducing the bezels, jumping from a 6 inch to a 6.8 inch, and providing more screen to read your words. Amazon’s Paperwhite screen offers 300 pixels per inch and that warm light, as well as 8GB storage for lots of books, as well.
Amazon is also updating the charge port, moving to the USB Type C standard and providing up to 10 weeks of battery life, while also keeping the Paperwhite water resistant, as you do.
Priced at $239, it’ll be joined by a Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, updating the 8GB to 32GB storage, adding wireless charging, and like the Kindle Oasis, including a light sensor to adjust the light on the screen automatically. Found for $50 more ($289), the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is a slightly more future-friendly take on the eReader, with a wireless charging feature no other eBook reader has supported before this.
“Australians love Kindle and have continued to escape into stories on generations of devices, more so as we’ve all been spending more time at home,” said Patrick Walker, Country Manager for Amazon Devices in Australia and New Zealand.
“The new Kindle Paperwhite devices deliver a more premium experience for Kindle-lovers and new readers alike, with a warm light and larger display for even more comfort, 20 percent faster page turns, and up to 10 weeks of battery life—all in a compact, waterproof design that makes it easy to enjoy a book anywhere, day or night,” he said. “Now more than ever, it’s delightful to get lost in millions of books wherever you go.”
There are some differences between the Kindle Paperwhite and the more premium Oasis edition, with a 7 inch screen on the Oasis over the 6.8 inch of the Paperwhite, as well as 25 front light LEDs in the Oasis versus 17 in the Paperwhite.
The Oasis still wins for other premium features, with automatic page orientation, allowing you to hold that Kindle in either hand. Meanwhile, the Paperwhite only has one way of holding the eReader, and so doesn’t need to rotate.
However the Paperwhite may end up being more cost effective than the Oasis, starting from $239 compared to $399 of the Oasis, heading to stores later this year.
