Hands-On: Amazon's Fourth-Gen Kindle Refresh

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Amazon's Kindle was recently refreshed for the third time. A silver, keyboard-free chassis is the most obvious alteration. We take the company's newest e-book reader through a quick speed test and peek under the hood. Some changes are big; some are small.

Kindle Special Offers

Kindle 4th-gen

For those who love to shop, the Kindle model with Special Offers is subsidized with advertising for deals on Amazon.com and Amazon Local. If you're a bargain hunter or know a bargain hunter, the Kindle will likely turn into your favorite gadget. Overtime, the deals will save you more money than you originally spent on the Kindle. If this doesn't strike you as interesting, you shouldn't fear the subsidized Kindle, because ads are only displayed when the device is idle. It doesn't affect your reading experience.

Kindle Keyboard (3rd-gen)
Andrew Ku
29 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Nim Chimpsky
    "Amazon is claiming faster page turns... Overall, we don't see any change in performance." Maybe they were hoping for the placebo effect.
    Reply
  • frost_fenix
    "But let's face it: tablet are still a luxury." Should read "tablets"
    Reply
  • slicedtoad
    still using a 1st gen kindle. Kinda slow page turns and not the greatest contrast but it still reads better than a physical book (cause it's lighter).

    And e-readers shouldn't be compared to tablets, the only similarity is the physical form. e-readers allow you to read long books without straining your eyes anymore than with paper. Tablets on the other hand do a large number of things (of questionable usefulness) but reading anything more than a newspaper is hard on the eyes.
    Reply
  • CorusMaximus
    Could you guys test them against large PDF files? As a grad student that is what I would be seeing quite a bit of.
    Reply
  • acku
    CorusmaximusCould you guys test them against large PDF files? As a grad student that is what I would be seeing quite a bit of.You mean a page speed test with large PDFs?Sure, we can do that. Check back tomorrow.
    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    TomsHardware.com
    Reply
  • Saulot
    To the extent that I am interested in an e-reader, it is because I don't want to do my reading on an LCD. However, it is disappointing that Amazon seems to have cheapened the display quality on this model. Probably won't be a buy for me.
    Reply
  • interfan7
    Well if Amazon claims in advertisements that it is the same 6" e-ink screen and we find out it is not, it damages Amazons' reputation in my opinion. Personaly I'm starting to feel disappointed and won't buy it.

    If TomsHardware is correct clients should know about it.
    If the touch versions cames with a screen in the same quality like the 3rd generation, then there is a chance I will buy it.

    They should have added $10-$15 for a unit and use a good panel.
    Reply
  • tipoo
    20 more dollars for much easier typing/navigation and double the battery capacity. I'm not seeing the appeal in the lowest end one, the Touch seems to be the way to go.
    Reply
  • As a matter of argument the K3 refreshes EVERY page turn whereas the K4 comes defaulted to refresh after a few page turns. That can make a big difference between displayed screens even on the same K4. To test it where it is apples to apples, you need to install FW 4.0.1 on the K4 and set the page refresh to EVERY page. Otherwise your tests are skewed and totally meaningless.
    Reply
  • dark_knight33
    Videos on the last page are kinda lame quality, particularly the ipad input lag. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be looking at there.

    As a Kin 3rd gen owner, I'm happy that my device is still superior, and don't feel a bit bad about the extra money spent on it. I don't know what the sweet spot price is they are trying to achieve, but $100 seems like more than a bargain for an e-reader. People that want to spend less money than that for a "book replacement", probably don't buy many books anyway. ;-)
    Reply