Prime members can take advantage of First Reads (formerly Kindle First), which grants early access to editor's picks. In case you're not made of money, the Kindle Paperwhite still supports borrowing books from public libraries for free, using the Overdrive service. Kobo boasts that it offers "6 million eBooks and audiobooks," while Barnes and Noble, on the other hand, claims it has "millions of eBooks."Īmazon's also got Kindle Unlimited, a $9.99 Netflix-for-books with "over 2 million titles and thousands of audiobooks." They even throw in three magazine subscriptions. Since it's one of the biggest online retailers, most would probably want the chance to be in front of that audience.Īnd while Amazon doesn't publish numbers, estimates suggest it's at around 9 million titles. If you're looking for a book, the odds say that Amazon has it. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Content But we don't all read in the same conditions, or for the same amounts of time, so this is a big case for the phrase "your mileage may vary."Įither way, even if it ran out of a charge in 9 weeks and not 10 weeks, the Kindle Paperwhite has impressive endurance. Doing the math, I'd probably hit empty a few days earlier than that 70-day estimate. I knocked out about 1.5% of battery life per 30 minutes of testing, with Brightness set at multiple levels and Wi-Fi on. Amazon claims it should last up to 10 weeks, but that's based on 30 minutes of reading per day, with Wi-Fi off and brightness set to 13 out of 24.īased on my testing, I think they're not far off. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2021 has battery life to spare. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Battery Life
And while I could have assumed it will work (the 2018 model survived a bath in a bucket of water unscathed), I decided to put it to the test by dropping the Paperwhite in about 5 inches of tap water in my NYC apartment sink and letting it sit for 20 minutes.Īmazon's still letting you listen to audio books via Bluetooth on your Kindle (though this seems more like a thing people would use their smart phones for), and it's also including its "experimental" web browser, which has never really worked right, and still does not. Just like the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite the new Kindle Paperwhite (2021) has a waterproof resistance rating of IPX8. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Durability This is highly subjective and personal, though, so your mileage will likely vary. This is why I prefer the asymmetrical Amazon Kindle Oasis' design, which has a spot to grip on the side, with page turning buttons. That said, my mom (the biggest Kindle user I know) didn't find the change to be difficult to get around, as she keeps her Kindle Paperwhite in a case, which gives her more to hold onto. Gripping it from the now-slimmer side bezel, I found myself accidentally actuating the touch screen controls too often, and unintentionally highlighting text. When I used it, I found myself always having to hold it from the bottom. I almost wonder if the bezels on the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 are too small. It's not much heavier, though, going from 6.4 ounces in the previous model to 7.2 ounces in the new edition. While the bezel-shrinking helps enable a larger screen, the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 (6.9 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches) is also slightly larger than the 6.6 x 4.6 x 0.3-inch 2018 Paperwhite. Its bezels are smaller, and its screen is larger, going from a 6-inch panel to a 6.8-inch panel. But this year we've got some key differences. The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 looks just like most other Kindles, a matte-black shell encasing an e-ink display. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Design Really miss cellular connectivity? You can find it in the Kindle Oasis, which starts at $249. Check out our Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review for more details.
For an extra $50, you can upgrade to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which bumps your storage to 32GB, adds automatically-adjusting backlighting and wireless charging. What has changed, though, is that Amazon's no longer offering a model with a cellular modem, the other feature it once offered for an upgrade price. Thankfully, Amazon is no longer calling these ads "special offers." I'd take this upgrade 10 times out of 10, but I just hate ads (I even pay for YouTube Premium). The default Paperwhite comes with 8GB of storage (same as the 2018 model), and Amazon is still charging $20 to upgrade to an ad-free experience (which bumps you up to $159.