Although Amazon's Kindle Fire HD gets all of the glory, the company's hardware business is rooted in e-books. The Kindle Paperwhite's front-light promises something different. But with the recent proliferation of cheap tablets, is it still worth buying?
The clunky first-generation Kindle employed E Ink's electronic paper technology, which is a far cry from today’s hi-res Kindle Fire HD. Interestingly, though, despite the more modern device's seemingly indelible display advantage, the e-book reader and tablet markets haven't really converged.

Amazon continues to develop e-book readers because digital book sales remain a cornerstone of the company’s business. And that goes a long way to explain the concurrent release of Amazon's Kindle Tough and fourth-generation Kindle alongside the original Fire tablet. The newest dedicated e-book reader from Amazon is called the Kindle Paperwhite, and its name does a pretty good job of describing its role.
The Paperwhite's most significant evolutionary feature is lighting. You don’t need a reading lamp over your shoulder to see this device clearly, as you might have in the past with previous e-book readers. Amazon considers this its flagship e-book reader, and the unlit models are available at even lower price points.
| Specifications | Kindle Paperwhite | Kindle | Kindle Keyboard 3G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display Type | 6" Paperwhite | 6" E Ink Pearl | 6" E Ink Pearl |
| Dimensions | 6.7" x 4.6" x 0.36" | 6.5" x 4.5" x 0.34" | 7.5" x 4.8" x 0.34" |
| Weight | 7.8 oz (3G), 7.5 oz (Wi-Fi) | 5.98 oz. | 8.7 oz |
| User Accessible Space | 1.35 GiB | 1.35 GiB | 3.05 GiB |
| Battery | Li-ion Polymer 1470 mAh (3.7 V) | Li-ion Polymer 890 mAh (3.7 V) | Li-ion Polymer 1750 mAh (3.7 V) |
| Battery Life | 8 weeks (wireless off) | 4 weeks (wireless off) | 8 weeks (wireless off) |
| Text To Speech/MP3 Playback | No | No | Yes |
| Special Offer Price | 3G: $179 Wi-Fi: $119 | $69 | $139 |
| Regular Pricing | 3G: $199 Wi-Fi: $139 | $89 | $159 |
The generic Kindle moniker now refers to the fourth-generation model we reviewed in Hands-On: Amazon’s Fourth-Gen Kindle Refresh; the only difference is that it’s now also available in black. Yes, today, the “Kindle” is Amazon's barebones budget model, retailing for just $69. It lacks touch sensitivity, so you need to use navigation buttons to hit keys on a virtual keyboard. If that’s too much of a pain for you, Amazon still sells the Kindle Keyboard 3G, though it'll run you an additional $60 bucks.
In comparison, the Wi-Fi-equipped Kindle Paperwhite costs $139, or $119 with special offers (basically, Amazon’s ad system). If you’re constantly on the move, with less access to Wi-Fi, it might be worth paying $60 more for the 3G-equipped model, which lets you make purchases on the road without 802.11 connectivity.

Physically, the Kindle Paperwhite is slightly larger than the base Kindle e-book reader. The major difference between them is weight, though the flagship mode is only an ounce-and-a-half heavier. Compared to the Kindle Keyboard 3G, there’s no question that Amazon's Paperwhite is both smaller and lighter.

This product effectively replaces the Kindle Touch, which explains why it feels so familiar in our hands. As a touch-based e-book reader, the Paperwhite is devoid of physical I/O, aside from a power button along its bottom edge. Amazon continues to use a rubberized plastic back cover, which is texturally comfortable to grip, and unlike the aluminum and glass iPad.
Interestingly, Amazon claims that the Paperwhite boasts an astounding eight weeks of battery life. That's double what you can expect from the base-model Kindle, but seemingly plausible, given the Paperwhite's larger 1,470 mAh power source. With that said, the battery's scaling suggests that the e-book reader's light isn't a significant drain. Although it's impractical to run our usual battery life tests on the Paperwhite, a week of constant use gives us every reason to believe that you can read for a few hours a day and not have to bother reaching for a charger.
Nevertheless, it was an entertaining read! In fact, it's made me register an account here. I can't wait to read more articles like this. Fun stuff!
It's called "Sony Reader T2". It runs Android. And it's rooted.
And you are not bound to Amazon's store with it, even non rooted you can burrow books from electronic libraries and read common formats like EPUB.
worth should be worse
ive read several books on my kindle fire HD, often for hours at a time, and never had an issue with eye strain or battery life. In fact i prefer reading on the kindle HD then a regular book.
The one advantage of e-ink readers like the traditional kindle, is you can read it in daylight. I have an iPad and spend a lot of time chilling on the back deck during the summer, and I have to go through a lot of seating arrangements to minimize the glare so that I can see the iPad. Ordering a new Kindle just for this purpose.
Cloud sync is great too for those times when I don't have my Kindle with me. I can pick up my phone with my Kindle app and start reading right where I left off on my Kindle and vice versa.
Also, the battery lasts significantly longer (we're talking months of daily reading) if you just shut off the wireless connection when you're not downloading any books or sync-ing to the cloud. If you leave the wireless connection on full-time, you need to recharge after about 4 weeks.
Great article! *thumbs up the article*
If you plan to read a lot where there is natural light (in the sun or shadow outside or near windows, etc) I would really recommend the Paperwhite. Just my personal preference. My eyes are really having a hard time reading on a tablet under such conditions. If you mostly read where you can control the lightning condition the Paperwhite would still be easier on the eyes, but there is no longer a real problem reading on the tablet =)
If you are using your tablet to read, not comment, not surfing the web, not playing, reading, all you need is a previous/next page. The touch screen is not flawless, it will not work then you will skip 3 pages. Then you'll put your kindle on the coach and something will touch the screen and...
Bring back the button please!
Yes I am really pretty sick of the lack of buttons in favor of touch screens. Part of the reason I never really used a first gen iPod touch that someone gave me. If I am walking and have my MP3 player in my pocket... I want it to have buttons, for switching songs and volume up and down. Don't even get me started on phones without physical keyboards.
If you are using your tablet to read, not comment, not surfing the web, not playing, reading, all you need is a previous/next page. The touch screen is not flawless, it will not work then you will skip 3 pages. Then you'll put your kindle on the coach and something will touch the screen and...
Bring back the button please!
This is one thing I noticed too going from the keyboard Kindle to the paperwhite. I liked the buttons a lot better on the keyboard Kindle as the touchscreen is a bit laggy. All things considered, though, you can't beat the ability to read in any lighting conditions (no light all the way to direct sun light) with the Paperwhite. The lack of the keyboard is a little annoying, but if you think about how infrequently you use it, it's not so bad.
What I like. E-ink. This was the whole idea behind the Kindle revolution. Paper quality, no eye strain, read in the sun. Granted I use my iPad for surfing the net, reading news and all around keeping up. However I do notice the eye strain after a while and I just can't get a handle around curling up with my iPad to read a book.
Adjustable fonts. Made for older eyes. I used to pass up books because the print was too small or the binding had a chance of doing damage if I dropped it on my head while dozing off.
I do like the touch screen. I guess it is what we get used to. I was forced to use a button Kindle after my Kindle Touch went down. Never really got the hang of it. Almost everything we encounter now is touch so it becomes intuitive.
The back lighting. Finally!!! I really dont miss looking for a decent hotel room light to read by. I also don't miss my little external light batteries running out at inconvenient times. I don't even have a reading light on my side of the bed anymore.
Amazon has copyright agreements in many more countries than other makes. In other words in many countries you cannot download a book. Don't take a minimum wage clerk's word on it. We spend a lot of time out of country and it became very clear to us that Amazon by far gave us the most flexibility. A disclaimer. I do not, have not and never will work for for Amazon.. Oh and the customer service is terrific as well.
I know what you're saying but the thing of it is, there's probably been very little market penetration for Kobo and Nook. It's like including the E-reader I run across at the counter at the drugstore checkout (I don't even know the brand).
Are you kidding? The Nook is a huge seller! Barnes and Noble has 600+ retail locations that are all pushing those devices plus a thriving web site and e-book business. Amazon may sell more, but that doesn't mean there isn't competition worth mentioning.
This is basically like having an iPad comparison and only comparing it to the iPad Mini (and excluding the Surface RT, various Android tablets, etc).
I'm all for the competition, but look it up. Barnes and Noble is basically with us still due to last year's cash investment of $300,000,000 by Microsoft (17% ownership in the Nook unit). As far as retail paper book stores, Barnes and Noble is going by way of those paper book stores we've seen precede it into the great beyond. Now that Microsoft has their own tablets, what value does the Nook provide them?
I wish it were different, but I wouldn't put any money on a company that's still thoroughly invested in old ways of doing things (paper book stores). We saw Borders go away pretty quickly.
Barnes and Noble is far from the thriving company you make it out to be.