Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: The best got better
Our Verdict
Now that it'south waterproof, the Kindle Paperwhite is the only eastward-reader you demand to know nearly.
For
- Waterproof
- Bluetooth for audiobooks
- Aforementioned bang-up e-reader
- Screen is now flush to bezels
Confronting
- Power adapter sold separately
- $10 cost bump
Tom'south Guide Verdict
Now that information technology'southward waterproof, the Kindle Paperwhite is the but e-reader yous need to know about.
Pros
- +
Waterproof
- +
Bluetooth for audiobooks
- +
Same great e-reader
- +
Screen is now flush to bezels
Cons
- -
Power adapter sold separately
- -
$10 cost bump
Kindle sales!
For a limited time, the Kindle Paperwhite is downwards to $95 at Amazon ($35 off). Also, the normal Kindle is back on sale, marked down to $65 at Amazon. Other deals include the Kindle Kids Edition is $79 at Amazon ($thirty off).
The solar day before Amazon announced the new Kindle Paperwhite, I asked a colleague if the eastward-reader was "done." Non that due east-readers are inherently bad, but I wondered if Amazon had already fabricated the best affordable midrange eastward-reader that it could.
And then Amazon one-upped itself past giving the Paperwhite ($129/£119) some of the all-time features from its high-end Kindle Haven: waterproofing, more storage and a display that's flush to its bezels. While information technology may not make every Paperwhite user run out to upgrade today, this Kindle Paperwhite review volition bear witness why it sat atop our best Kindle page.
Editor'south annotation: Amazon has a new version of this model, so cheque out our Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review to acquire more about information technology.
- How to check if your Kindle volition lose net access
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Price and configurations
While I'g not happy to see that the Paperwhite costs more than than it used to — run into below for more than — right now Amazon'south got a $thirty off deal, so the Kindle Paperwhite is at present just $99. Take advantage of this deal now, as it might non concluding long.
The one downside nigh this year's Paperwhite is that it costs $ten more than information technology used to, at $129/£119, although the waterproofing is well worth it. Everything else is business as usual, or improved.
The default Paperwhite comes with 8GB of storage: twice as much as the previous Paperwhite packed. Want 4 times that much, and then y'all never ever have to retrieve twice about downloading all the audiobooks and graphic novels you want? A 32 GB Paperwhite costs $xxx/£xxx actress, at $159/£149. LTE connectivity with gratis cellular connections (for when you want a volume, but yous're abroad from Wi-Fi) costs an actress $70/£70, but that selection is available for but the 32GB model, which makes for a $249/£219 Paperwhite.
Of all these upgrades, the merely i I'd consider is spending $20/£10 to remove the Special Offers(aka ads) from Amazon for other books. Amazon doesn't accept the user'due south reading habits into consideration, and simply spams you with pop novels.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Pattern
The new Paperwhite is nearly identical to the previous model. Its soft-touch matte-black case looks and feels just like its predecessor's, though the Kindle logo is now a light gray that contrasts with the case instead of a matching black.
The new Paperwhite is 0.32 inches thick and weighs 6.four ounces, making information technology a slimmer version of the 2015 Paperwhite (0.36 inches, seven.2 ounces). Amazon's $79 Kindle is thicker and lighter, merely it doesn't pack a backlight, which means it'south a no-no for nighttime.
The new Paperwhite is closer in size to the graphite-aluminum Kindle Oasis (0.33 inches, half-dozen.seven ounces), while the Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 3 (0.35 inches, seven.0 ounces) is slightly thicker and heavier. The Nook, nonetheless,too offers buttons for turning the page, which the Paperwhite could stand to add. Rakuten, a Japanese electronics company that recently partnered with Walmart, but appear the Kobo Clara Hd, a similarly priced east-reader that we're looking to exam shortly.
The Haven's larger size (a 7-inch display vs. the Paperwhite's 6-inch screen) is even so a signal in its favor, but the Paperwhite has caught up in one key way. The Paperwhite'southward screen is finally flush with the bezel around it. This looks a lot nicer than the previous Paperwhites, which framed the screen with a chunky, shadow box-like bezel that stood out.
Handing the new Paperwhite to my mom, who doesn't spend more a couple of hours away from her own Paperwhite, I got a surprising reaction. She said she likes the chunky bezel considering it's a good place to residual her fingers, but this new model'due south screen puts your fingers too shut to the affect screen. Accidental page turns weren't an consequence during my testing, though I do empathize the reaction.
Then I remembered why I prefer the Haven' pattern over the Paperwhite's. Unlike the Paperwhite, the Oasis is asymmetrical, with 1 sparse bezel on one side, and clickable buttons and a wider bezel on the other side. This makes information technology easier to concord. The Paperwhite's slightly curved backside is also much simpler than the Oasis', which offers a bump meant to be cradled with your gripping fingers.
One positive design change is that there's no hump on the back where the ability button and microUSB port rest. They're just a part of the bottom border.
Both Kindles charge over microUSB, don't offer headphone jacks (Bluetooth is needed for audiobooks) and feature a small power button that you'll have to squint to notice. Annoyingly, Amazon doesn't include a USB power adapter. Sure, you've probably got ane lying around, but for $129, Amazon should accept included ane.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Durability
The biggest new feature of the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite is its waterproof design, which earned an IPX8 rating. That'due south upwardly to lx minutes of submergence in 2 meters of water. You don't need to worry about it falling into your bathroom, the pool or even the bounding main at a embankment (though that's riskier, as saltwater is more corrosive).
Not only did I splash water on the Paperwhite during a photoshoot; I dropped the Paperwhite in a foot-alpine bucket of tap water, then removed it after 20 minutes. The device connected to work and offer responsive page-turning, as if it had been dry the whole fourth dimension.
Technically speaking, the IPX8 classification means we could have waited some other 40 minutes, and dunked it even deeper.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Display
The Paperwhite's 6-inch, 300 ppi brandish is just every bit sharp and like shooting fish in a barrel to read every bit its predecessor'southward: a true example of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The screen's anti-glare display is also however nifty for reading in a variety of lighting situations.
Our light gun rated the screen for a maximum of 78 nits, which is slightly lower than the 92-nit 2015 Paperwhite, and well below the 137-nit Oasis. This Kindle packs 5 LED backlights, one more than than the 2015 Paperwhite (which packed 4), and seven fewer than the Haven (which packed 12), too as an adaptive sensor.
As I devoured a particularly tense section of Stephen King's The Outsider on the Paperwhite, I noticed a modest gap betwixt the screen and the bezel. This gap is as well there on the Kindle Oasis, and it's the kind of thing that many smartphones used to have. It's a small thing, and non that of import, but it's an area in which E-ink displays tin all the same advance.
Reading Andrew Sean Greer's novel Less in Bryant Park one sunny morning, I noted the Paperwhite'due south super-legible display. Even in direct sunlight the page was easy to read.
The Paperwhite is even suitable for reading graphic novels, I institute equally I paged through Kieron Gillen'south The Wicked and The Divine. The e-reader's grayscale display is a bit unfriendly to color publications, though.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: User experience
Overall, the Paperwhite is still a joy to employ. Pages refresh and searches load with a prompt speed that'due south limited just by the E-ink itself. Dissimilarity that with the dull, sluggish performance of the Nook GlowLight three, and yous'll sympathize why the give-and-take "Nook" became an reconsideration in the east-reader marketplace.
Every bit I turned the lights off in my bedroom, getting set up to read a chapter of Jennifer Egan's Manhattan Beach earlier I went to sleep, I noticed the Paperwhite'southward lack of automatically adjusting backlighting. It's not the biggest effect — it took two taps to get to the brightness menu, and some fiddling to get it right — simply I missed the Oasis, which knew when I'd entered a night room and compensated without prompting.
Per a question from Tom's Guide forum member derek87, I compared the 2018 Paperwhite's lighting in pitch-dark lighting to that of the 2015 Paperwhite. The newer model provided a more even, uniform lighting, even at the lower end of the brightness settings (set between 5 and 8). Also, the 2018 model was brighter at 1 notch of brightness than the 2015 model was at 5 notches. And don't worry, this 2015 Paperwhite wasn't burned out, it's a pretty recent purchase, acquired in July 2018.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Battery Life
Amazon rates the new Kindle Paperwhite as lasting upwards to 6 weeks on a accuse. That'due south based on thirty minutes "of reading per day with wireless off and the lite setting at 13." The über-retailer says your time may vary, due to apply of wireless connectivity, Bluetooth and lighting.
Based on my experience, I believe that approximate. Later on 3 days of using the Paperwhite rigorously for a few hours every twenty-four hours, including multiple hours at total brightness, likewise as using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and LTE, I knocked the on-screen battery life approximate downwardly to fifty percent.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Content
Judging by raw numbers, you'd have a difficult time going wrong with Amazon's library, which the company claims has "millions" of books (Tom's Guide editor Marshall Honorof pegs it at "almost 4 million"), including "over ane million Kindle exclusive titles." Barnes and Noble on the other manus, claims its library is around 4.5 1000000 books.
Of course, though, nosotros're all unique individuals, and nosotros each have tastes that tin can discover the holes in an online library. For instance, neither the Kindle store nor the Nook store sells the hardcover book currently on my bedside table, I'thousand Sorry, I Beloved You, a recently released history of pro wrestling by Briton Jim Smallman.
Amazon's also got Kindle Unlimited, a $9.99 Netflix-for-books with "over 1 one thousand thousand titles and thousands of audiobooks." Authors whose work appears in Kindle Unlimited include Michael Crichton, Neil Gaiman and George Orwell. Graphic novels, including Saga and Captain Marvel, too appear. For a limited time, a Paperwhite purchase includes a half dozen-month free trial.
In instance you're not made of money, the Kindle Paperwhite however supports borrowing books from public libraries for free, using the Overdrive service.
Prime members can take reward of Offset Reads (formerly Kindle First), which grants early access to editor's picks. Members tin as well get 2 Kindle books a month for $1.99 each, and get discounts on hardcover books, which knock pricing downwardly to $9.99 or less.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Audiobooks
Amazon has also added audiobook back up to the Paperwhite. This option comes via Bluetooth headphone support, and was once restricted to the other Kindles (both the cheaper $80 Kindle and the $250 Oasis), or customers willing to shell out $twenty for Amazon's micro- USB-to-headphone-jack adapter.
As I listened to Emma Galvin read Edan Lepucki's post-global disaster-human relationship novel California over my AirPods, I wandered effectually my living room with no loss in audio quality. Just when I reached the far end of my medium-size loft did the audio crepitation with disruption.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: Verdict
This Kindle Paperwhite review tested the immovability of Amazon's mid-range e-reader and showed why it's a winner.
With h2o-resistance and a flush-to-screen display, Amazon's taken the Paperwhite and made it fifty-fifty more compelling. The only downside is that it costs $10 more than now.
The metallic Kindle Oasis offers concrete buttons and automatically adjusts to your lighting conditions, but its $250 price is mighty high. But nosotros're betting that at $129, the new Kindle Paperwhite is the best east-reader for most readers. And as to whether or not existing Paperwhite owners need to upgrade, that depends on how much fourth dimension you spend around water.
Credit: Tom'south Guide
- More than: How to check if your Kindle will lose internet access
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-2018,review-5913.html
Posted by: pollardcolon1983.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018) review: The best got better"
Post a Comment