Kindle Paperwhite (8 GB) – Now with a 6.8′ display and adjustable warm light

So i came into possession of this little guy due to a late night amazon impulse buy a few days before leaving for vacation. I was going on a weeklong trip with my family and didn’t want to have to bring my ipad (what i usually use to read) or any actual books with me on the plane. Let me preface this by saying i am an avid reader, spending the majority of my free time reading…and have been for most of my life. My siblings lament to anyone listening about the horror of summer road trips, riding in the back of our family sedan, fighting for leg room because i always had at least 5-6 books at my feet to read during our travels. You should hear the way my sister grumbles at even the mere mention of a car ride with me (she horribly dramatic) but i digress. I also used to have a nook e-reader, an original model kindle from way back in the day that no longer works, and have the kindle app on my ipad which i use to read most days. So i am familiar with e-reading. This kindle is quite possibly the best purchase i’ve ever made. It’s basically pocket sized so it was extremely portable. I brought it with me everywhere; on the plane, in the car, in my bag to restaurants…i even managed to fit it in a particularly spacious pocket of an oversized jean jacket i wore on cooler nights. It’s amazing. It was comfortable enough to hold in one hand, or two, depending on what i preferred at the time. The various light options on the kindle, including the warm light feature makes it easy to read regardless of where i was and what kind of lighting is available, without eye strain. I shared a room with family for a couple of nights and the dark mode feature barely emits light past my immediate person, so i was able to read into the wee hours of the morning if i wanted to without disturbing my family sleeping in the same room, or sacrificing my precious reading time. ( i get particularly sassy if i’m interrupted in the middle of a discovering a plot twist in a juicy novel, i’m just saying). You are able to customize lots of the settings, such as the fonts, size, spacing and layout, so that the books look however you want them to while reading. (i definitely used that feature to make the font smaller and more compact while i read an embarrassingly cringleworthy, but suprisingly emotional and fantastic, harlequin romance novel while on the plane. It’s nobody’s business why i was practically sobbing into my complimentary pretzels after the protagonists romantic interest declared his love to her for the first time, thank you very much) i also may, or may not have had a tiny accident in which i spilled my entire 32oz water bottle full of water all over my pants and my kindle. After squealing in alarm at how cold the water was, i was able to get my bearings, wiped the water off the kindle, changed my pants and continued reading. I have noted no damage whatsoever to my kindle and that was at the beginning of my trip well over a week ago now. After reading every day for at least 4-6 hours per day/night for 7 days straight i had 57% battery left over. I think the battery is supposed to last for 2 weeks maybe? Idk. Basically it lasted a long time, long enough for me to be impressed. Also, i downloaded at least 15 new books on there, not to mention the impressive collection of books i already owned and was able to sync to the device, and i still have over 4gb of space available to use. I have since named the kindle kurt, as i feel emotionally connected to the device after our adventures together these past weeks. If you are a super bookworm like me, or are just trying to finish a whole book for the first time, i highly recommend this device for purchase. I think it was worth the money a thousand times over. And if after reading this you do decide to purchase it, i hope you love it just as much as i do.

Kindle signature paperwhite plus charging stand

i own the 11th gen (newest model 2022) standard kindle paperwhite and the signature paperwhite. I love them both. If dough is not the issue, i would buy the signature model for fifty bucks more. Here’s some of my particular findings in use.

Cases: note that i do not like the amazon cases because i don’t like folding over cover type cases; i prefer cases that simply help with holding the device. I purchased the “moko case for 6.8′ kindle paperwhite (11th generation-2021) and kindle paperwhite signature edition, ultra clear soft flexible transparent tpu skin bumper back cover shell, clear” from amazon and it fits the kindle ideally, and most importantly this case does go on the proprietary charging stand made by anker and the charge does go through the case (that is, i do not need to remove the case to charge the kindle in that charging stand).

Battery: amazon states that the kindle 11th gen will hold a charge for 10 weeks, when used at limited brightness for 90 minutes a day (and a lot of other stipulations, like wifi and bluetooth off, etc). In reality, many may turn up the brightness, read more than 90 minutes, and airplane mode on, or use other features that drain the battery faster (see audiobooks below). I have found that my battery drains faster than 10 weeks, but i am using the device with airplane mode off, wifi on, bluetooth on. I do not like turning off wifi in particular because it must be on to sync books between devices, and since i have two kindle 11th gens, plus a macbook, iphone, ipad, and i read 5 books at a time simultaneously, i have no desire to turn wi-fi off. Thus, having qi charging is helpful…not mandatory but helpful. Another big reason for the qi charging is audible audiobooks. I do listen to them through the kindle itself, and the battery drains fairly quickly when listening to audiobooks.

Memory storage: the kindle has 8 gb storage, but only 5.8 gb after their software os. The signature kindle has 32 gb storage, but only 28 gb after their software os (there is slightly different software between the two models as the signature supports more menu and charging features). So if you love downloaded “off-line” reading, and in particular if you enjoy having audiobooks in your downloaded library (they take much more storage than an e-book), the 32 gb is reassuring.

Auto-light adjust: i can’t even detect that it’s doing anything, but if one rides a train daily to work and it passes through dark tunnels, this feature may be of benefit to you.

Advertising free: many forget the $20 value of the ad-free that is part of the kindle signature. Even those that wouldn’t pony up for it on their own may enjoy it here as “icing on the cake” for the price difference. I like seeing my own book cover on the sleep screen, and that is not possible with the “with ads” version. I thought i enjoyed the ads for editors choice books and book sales and stuff, but i much prefer the ad-free model. And, little discussed fact, the ad-free version has one less swipe to get to your library or current book every single time you turn on the kindle. True!

Dedicated signature charger stand: i bought the qi charging stand and like it greatly. It does work with my “moko case for 6.8′ kindle paperwhite (11th generation-2021) and the kindle paperwhite signature edition, ultra clear soft flexible transparent tpu skin bumper back cover shell, clear”., and charges through the case and the case fits the stand (but not quite as bump-proof as the kindle without the case). I like that the stand sits quietly on my desk as i am working, or on my coffee table while i’m watching sports do i can read during commercials. I do not need to keep the ac cord attached to the stand at all times; sometimes i use the charger stand as simply a free-standing stand for either of my kindles. I like that it can hold my kindle 11th generation normal edition without qi charging and i can read on it as an easel stand. I feel the utility as an easel stand is underrated. Qi chargers in general are not free, and neither are easel stands, so coupling those two together, you get the price of this anker model. I find no issues with the size of the “wall wart” or the plug in the back of the stand. Some people complain with the charging stand that the white light indicator does not turn to another color, such as green, to indicate full charge. A “work around” for this is to place the charging kindle on the stand upside down; now the led light at the bottom of the kindle device itself, which does change color when fully charged, is face upward and easily seen. Frankly, there is no issue with simply assuming the signature pw is charged after an hour or two. I like this stand much more than i thought i would.

I’ve owned every kindle since the first one! I use library libby, and am an audible and kindle unlimited subscribers. I guess you could say i’m a “power user”. I definitely prefer the signature version, but both are good readers. If i could change one thing about these kindles, it would be to add a physical button like the oasis. I realize that sounds outdated, but to reach and switch with the other hand, or reach thumb across screen to scrub, every page turn is a chore that is solved with an under-thumb button like oasis. Additionally, the e-ink is good, but after two decades, one would think the text versus background contrast would be better…that is, darker text, whiter background. Instead, it remains darkest gray text in lightest gray background, not ideal. Happy reading!

I’ll break it down as briefly as i can

1) usb c – finally

2) battery life – like my dumb casio watch: something that i don’t have to worry about. After i owned my oasis for a while, i bought one of the last gen paperwhites to carry it around with me in situations where i would be less devastated if it became damaged. Then, i became mad at how much better the battery life was on the paperwhite. Now, my new paperwhite blows the old one out of the water (i’ve only owned the last gen one for two years and have only used it lightly). This is how i wish all technology was: charge it up for about an hour and then you’re good for at least the next two weeks.

3) speed – i didn’t have the new oasis, but from my understanding, the generational differences only include the warm light. I did a side-by-side between this paperwhite and the oasis and in every situation that i saw, the paperwhite was at least as fast as the oasis and sometimes faster.

4) feel (ergonomics) – the oasis is ergonomically the worst kindle amazon has made since the original kindle. I don’t say that lightly. I wanted to love how the oasis felt because i did love how it looked. But between the harsh metal edges all around the front face of the device and the oil/sweat slipping against the aluminum back, it was impossible for me to read without consciously thinking about it. Then, i would use my last-gen paperwhite and, again, become annoyed by the reality that i enjoyed how it felt better. This paperwhite has the same design on the back of a very grippy rubber/plastic substance that allows the device to be held securely without consideration. There’s one thing i’ve left out until now: one-handed reading. The whole point of the oasis’ asymmetrical design is to make that easier. So, there it is. That’s the thing i gave up, right? No. The fact of the matter is that all the ergonomic support provided by uneven distribution means nothing when the metal shell feels like a banana was smeared all across the back. The paperwhite is fine in one hand because of the way that the back allows for optimal grip to be maintained.

5) screen size does matter – as much as i disliked many things about the old paperwhite, i could never give up the screen size. That extra inch of screen changes everything. Then, the new paperwhite came out and i knew what i had to do.

6) warm light – just another thing that removes the barrier of technology from the reading experience.

7) price – $15.92 no, seriously. A price drop on top of a promotion on top of a trade-in allowed me to walk away with this paperwhite for just that. But even if it didn’t, there’s a $120 difference between the oasis and the paperwhite signature edition and a $140 difference between the oasis and the regular paperwhite. I cannot find a way to justify the price of the oasis when the paperwhite can do all of the same things just as well.

Anyways. Hope this helps anyone asking themselves if they should go for the oasis instead. The answer is a resounding ‘no’.

After 8 months of consistent use, i’m finally ready to review this device from the perspective of a post-graduate/student studying for certifications.

I’m a somewhat recent college graduate who, before, hadn’t read a book since high school and was just as unwilling to go out of my way to buy a book i likely would start to read and forget about halfway through. That said, prior to trying the kindle out, i was just as unwilling to switch to an e-reader – adamant in my own head that i can’t stand reading on anything other than paper. With that out of the way, here’s my review.

Pros:
– the e-paper display, though purely monochromatic, allows for very easy reading that honestly doesn’t differ much from printed text.
– due to the type of display used, battery life is almost a non-factor. The ‘screensaver’ will distract you from that and i admit, it took me a while to get over. If it’s that big of an issue, you can always get a case with a front cover (the kindle will lock automatically when ‘closed’)
– selection of books on kindle unlimited are vast and many. Furthermore, importing other documents or e-books downloaded on your pc is as easy as emailing said files to your kindle – though the instructions to do so could’ve been a little clearer. My free time has been taken over as such from reading novelizations of my favorite manga.
– if you’re a student with a lot of required reading or a need for supplementary material of any kind, i think you’ll find the kindle to save you both time and money (most importantly).

Cons:
– aforementioned e-paper display will turn off people who aren’t as familiar with the tech. It’s nothing comparable to the newer led/oled/miniled displays on your phones or tablets; it’s meant to run minimal power for its function, a feature i came to appreciate but came with some patience as well.
– something i hadn’t noticed until using for some time is, though i can always ‘zoom’ to increase/decrease text size, that i wouldn’t have minded going for a larger display – strictly for comfort.
– i hate how the ‘lock’ button is on the bottom. I usually use my pinky for my book to perch on while i read but trying to do so here left me fiddling with a locked kindle more times than i’d like to count. I countered this by getting a case with a strap on the back by which i can hold the device, but after a while, it didn’t take long for me to get over it and avoid that spot entirely.

Ultimately, i wish i had purchased this device during college. From a student’s perspective, it’s invaluable considering the costs of textbooks. Even now, as i pivot from my degree to a totally new field of study, there are countless books on kindle unlimited i can use for reference. From deep philosophical thought experiments by einzelganger to rpi4 and arduino projects, the kindle is something you may not use everyday but you’ll be very glad you bought one whenever the need should arise.

The new paper white is terrific. Sometimes when making an expensive purchase that i ‘don’t really need’ i feel a bit of buyers remorse. But not this time. I loved this thing right out of the box. My friends have had different models over the years and i’ve always been impressed with the screen, and decided to pull the trigger this year on prime day.

This new model is like reading actual print on paper. It is very clear, especially outdoors. I think it is more crisp either outdoors or under a reading lamp. The text is a teenie-tiny bit fuzzy when using the backlight alone (ie. In the dark). It totally works, but as a person who needs reading glasses i notice the difference. I enjoy it most when used outdoors.

I’ve also found that i read faster. Turning the page is quick and easy. And the kindle is very light weight, it weighs less than my iphone!! It is easy to hold for long periods of time.

Book purchasing is quick and easy. You can buy on the kindle, or from your pc and send-to the kindle. Sorry ios users, apple has a stick up their butt so you can’t buy from your phone.

My only real complaint is the location of the power switch. It sticks out the bottom of the device and is easy to accidentally press. For example, i was reading on a picnic bench in a park and was resting it and my arms in front of me when suddenly a dialog box appeared ‘shutdown, reboot…’ i’ve also managed to turn it on while in my pocket or carrying it to a different room.. I would have located it on the top or recessed it.

Nitpicky ‘could be better’ it could use a lock-screen function so that i can carry it to another room. If you accidentally touch the screen, the pages start turning. Or a different book opens, etc. Currently the only option is turn it off. The power options in settings are either ‘sleep’ or ‘deep sleep’ . Maybe they could add a progressive ‘soft-sleep for 10 minutes and then go into deep sleep’. The default deep-sleep takes several seconds to wake up again. Soft-sleep wakes faster but uses more battery.

Another thing, backing up a page requires a swipe whereas turning forward is a simple tap. It would be nice if a tap in the left side was backwards (for cases when you fall asleep and the pages start turning :-d )

battery life so far has been 2 weeks between charges. To get the claimed ’10 weeks’ you need to do a few things: turn off wifi (apparently this is the big battery sucker and gets you 6 weeks) and turn off the backlight. And read less. 🙂 i leave wifi on so that it syncs immediately with my phone. 2 weeks is 2 weeks longer than my iphone lasts.

I have used nook e-readers over the years. A 2010 and 2015 model. The 2010 is dead. The later one is obviously outdated and hasn’t been used for a while. My wife used a very early kindle fire, also dead. So, i was familiar with amazon’s ebook library and we had many books in our shared library. I decided to update to a kindle paperwhite (11th gen) on prime day and it has proved a wonderful choice. I’ve already read about 10 history books in just this last week and i’m looking for more.
.
At 6.8′, the kindle screen is larger than i’ve been used to, but that screen makes reading more pleasant and more like a real book. I actually now prefer the landscape mode and have added a pop socket to hold the kindle, since the bezel is pretty narrow. (the ps sticks no problem to the soft rubbery back, after cleaning with alcohol). I have noticed the back really shows greasy finger marks and isn’t easy to wipe clean though. The light weight and minimal thickness is really nice for holding for long durations. I specifically don’t use a cover, as i did with my nooks, as that almost doubles the weight and ruins the experience.
.
The touch control could be better, especially when trying to select highlights. The page turns are awesomely quick and the screen illumination is smoothly consistent across the whole screen. The 2015 nook clearly showed where the leds were located! The 300dpi screen is really nice with no pixelation to the letters. I haven’t had any ghosting issues either, with the screen page refresh option off. The warmer screen option in dark situations is really nice to read with and i have it set to warm automatically for evening reading. My eyes are much less strained.
.
The non-signature edition’s capacity is fine for me. I don’t need to store the whole world’s library on my e-reader. I like to read no more than a couple books in parallel, with a handful to refer to, as required. The battery life is absurdly (in a good way) long.
.
In 12 years, the functionality of e-readers really hasn’t changed much at all. The improvements have been subtle, but much appreciated. The way books are handled in the library is similar too! The technology development has been much less dynamic on these than say, cell phones. I guess there’s not much you can do when the device is basically just for reading. Eagerly awaiting a good color kindle! (hint hint)
i do like the more modern design of the screen layout. It actually is very similar to the old kindle fire my wife has and is actually about the same size. Again, nothing really is that new in the e-reader world. The 11th gen is now quite a bit thinner and lighter though!
.
I do wish amazon, and others, weren’t so restrictive with book formats and drm’s. I can’t read my many nook books on my new kindle! There are plenty of books in the amazon store though and i’ve already rebought some of my favorites, though reluctantly.
.
Summary:
.
Loving my new kindle paperwhite 11th gen.! It will keep me entertained and educated for a long, long time. I highly recommend it.

I’ve had this kindle for about a week, and so far it’s been awesome. The screen is very paper-like, and the device itself is lightweight and easy to hold, even for long periods of time. I purchased my unit in ‘used – very good’ condition, and it was brand new when i got it. If it weren’t for the brown box, i would have assumed this unit to be new.
The biggest problem with this kindle is the lack of proper ebook format support. You can send .epub files to the device via email, but then they end up on your home screen with absolutely no book covers, and sometimes with formatting issues. From looking around online, the only way to get book covers on files sent to your kindle is to use your computer and a piece of software called calibre. This process isn’t hard, but it’s just annoying having to plug the thing into my computer to do something that shouldn’t have to.
One minor problem is that the front and back get dirty easily. It’s very easy to clean the back of the kindle with a damp cloth, but the front is a different story. You don’t really notice it’s dirty unless it’s under direct light, but it’s difficult to clean regardless. It seems that microfiber cloths just sort of spread the fingerprints around, and don’t really help.
Overall, i have read more books thanks to this device, and i’m really glad that i purchased it. Worth every penny. Just don’t expect to be getting your books from anywhere other than amazon, unless you want to deal with side-loading (which sucks). Amazon, please fix.

So far, i love this kindle. I was on a budget and it was used, but was in pristine condition. Very happy with amazon warehouse.

The images have great definition. They’re black and white only. Wish there was color, but i enjoy the illustrations or pictures. Detailed.

The ability for background lighting adjustments really is amazing. My eyes never strain and i can make the pages the same color as a book. Only difference is when it’s dark it’s lit! Perfect while waiting to tuck my little girl in bed while she falls asleep.

The touch sensitivity is great. Navigating on this kindle required me to google a little to figure things out, but it’s mostly easy. The storage seems good at 8gb. I can delete things i read if needed. I like being able to carry a lot of books and magazines in one device. I find i read and get tired and jump around other books or magazine i have downloaded.

The battery is great. When using wi-fi it will probably last 8 days. Off wi-fi they say it could last many weeks. It’s easy to charge.

Overall i feel i’m going to read a lot more using this kindle. I was addicted to my phone. I like technology. Now i have fun with this instead, yet it’s a better and healthier addiction. It’s like watching tv, only for my mind. Thanks amazon for this. I can even read in the bath or at the ocean without worry of dropping it since it’s pretty waterproof.

If you like your phone, you’ll like this. It’s bigger than your phone. A perfect size. It’s like a book and you can read anytime and anywhere. Kindle unlimited opens up lots of magazines and books. Same with amazon prime. Or you can just use your library app. I am so happy. Highly recommend.

I bought this after some research, i initially was interested because i was looking to read more but tend to approach all physical books as non-fiction/reference material. I started reading and watching reviews on the kindle and i’ll lay out here what pushed me over the line to purchase this;

you can add articles with a two button shortcut from your desk top.

This means i can spend my day just tabling every article and piece of reading just hitting alt + k then closing the site this has done two things eliminated the amount of ‘good will’ eventually i’ll read it tabs on my browser!

Secondly i now put down my phone at the end of the night and pick up the kindle, no chances of getting distracted by doom scrolling, just article after article and book after book.

It’s helped with insomnia a great amount! I’m not saying that buying this cured my insomnia what i’m saying is last night i couldn’t sleep until 6am and because of the kindle i was up all night reading american gods and not doom scrolling or trying to fight off negative thoughts or emotions, yeah i still get fatigue and yeah i still lose sleep, but i since i’ve gotten this i haven’t had one of those moments where i’m like, ‘one day the sun will explode…’ and now i’m up up up up up!

I’ve had several kindles for more than a decade now, going all the way back to the kindle keyboard. I usually replace them just to get desirable new features, and also because the trade-in/trade-up is always a good deal. I read a lot every single day, up to 50 books a year in the past few years by balancing my attention away from so much toxic social media and taking advantage of kindle unlimited. It’s easy to get consumed by having a shiny device in your hand with infinite bites of short-attention-span content, taking all your attention away from reading a good book or even enjoying a good show or movie. The kindle paperwhite is an aesthetically pleasing and covetable device that you can turn to for the experience of a beautifully printed page with crisp clean fonts and no paywalls popping up or asking you turn off your ad blocker or accept cookies, or sticking annoying ads between paragraphs.

I love that this new kindle has a bigger flush screen that goes closer to the edges. I can read in the pool with one hand in extremely bright sunlight without any worries or eye strain. At night i can switch it ti dark mode where it’s white text on black background and puts off very little light to disturb my wife if i’m up late finishing a chapter. It’s got a usb-c port, which i like better because my only problem with older kindles is when the usb micro port would start to get loose. Not sure if that would surely would be improved by this, but the fact that usb-c is reversible might make the difference. Plus i think it charges faster and that’s one less cable to pack. The new adjustable color temperature setting is a feature i didn’t think i’d care about but it’s actually nice. If i do some low-light reading with warmth on 3-4, then switch it back, the screen looks all blue and harsh. This think is pleasant to read no matter how dark or bright it is. Finally, it feels like there’s still more performance improvements to this one. It feels faster when i turn the page or scroll through my books.

I can tell there’s one corner of the screen that’s just a bit yellowish even when the settings are for 0 warmth. Lots of people have complained about even screen lighting in all the different kindle paperwhites. It’s probably the hardest thing to engineer, and this is not an expensive device. What i find is that if the book i’m reading is good, i don’t notice it at all.

Amazon should do a subscription plan where you commit to 24 months of kindle unlimited and get the kindle paperwhite included, and then trade up at the end. They’d still be selling the cases and upcharging for the higher models, but i think that would get more people reading a lot more and maybe draw even more authors to kindle unlimited.

Ok, i fouled up with my kindle paperwhite 11th edition purchase. It was prime day and the kindle was marked way down, and i opted for the bundle: kindle + charger + fabric cover. Now don’t get me wrong, the charger is nice and the fabric cover is very nice, but for a device amazon says you only need to charge 5 times a year, getting a premium charger doesn’t really make much sense. I already have plenty of chargers, and the kindle will charge overnight whether i use their super-fast premium charger or something else. And while the case is undeniably nice, you can get one for less than half the money from other sellers on amazon.

I did not make the mistake of getting the ad-free version. The ad appears on the lock screen and as soon as you swipe the screen, it goes away and stays away for your entire reading session. It’s 100% unobtrusive. Other people have given the kindle one star because they bought the ad-free version, and were angry there are still ‘suggestions’ on the home screen that they consider ads. All i can say is that you get that no matter what, and the solution is to switch to the library screen rather than the home screen; that’s very easy on the latest software version.

The other huge mistake i made over 4 years ago was subscribing to kindle unlimited and somehow not knowing that it was automatically renewing silently every month (for $9.99). I paid enough to buy several kindles. I guess i thought it was part of amazon prime or just something that comes with a kindle. You can bundle kindle unlimited ‘free’ for 3 months with your kindle purchase, but just watch out when that 3 months are over. I have generally found kindle unlimited books second rate (with a few exceptions).

I bought one of the original kindle fire versions and the first kindle fire hd. They were cool, but i didn’t end up using them much. They didn’t have good battery life, they were hard to read outdoors, and kindle software on other portable devices was fine. I think the first one eventually failed, and i gave the hd away to someone who needed to do something that required a kindle. I have a nice windows tablet.

But i have always wanted a paperwhite because of its long battery life and superb readability outdoors. Plus it was heavily discounted on prime day and i bought one.

So how did it live up to expectations? Pretty well. The ’10 weeks’ battery life claim seems exaggerated, but still if you pick it up to go somewhere, it will probably be charged and last another day. Outdoor readability is simply amazing.

After receiving the device, the software updated. I think it updated twice. My ‘experimental web browser’ turned into the ‘web browser’ and the navigation improved markedly (addressing issues i read in other 1-star reviews). The web browser is still very limited and doesn’t display some web pages correctly (like the internet archive), and error messages still mention the ‘experimental’ browser. You can’t access youtube, for example, twitter doesn’t seem to work at all, and the new york times is not readable.

On books, three-level table of contents don’t work on the kindle, although they work on kindle for pc.

I had a very good experience emailing a pdf document downloaded from our local planning commission to the kindle. Things you send to the kindle arrive very fast. Amazon did, however, require me to verify myself as a sender before it would deliver email attachments to the kindle, even though my email address is on the approved senders list at amazon. Also plugging the kindle to a pc lets you drag and drop supported document types (notably mobi and pdf) to the kindle where the immediately appear in your library. The send to kindle for pc app is currently broken as reported by me and others on amazon forums.

The device is somewhat sluggish in general with a 1-second delay for most things: swipes, scrolls and navigation. That’s certainly not something that would interfere with reading a book. There are so many different ways to navigate, that it can appear jumbled and confusing, plus the software updates i got changed everything, making me re-learn the ui. I think in the end that i will be accustomed to it and it will appear more natural.

One severe limitation is that you cannot play audio files in general. While it supports bluetooth headphones for books from audible, it cannot play music or audio books in general. (i hope this is enhanced in a future software update.)

so should you buy one of these? If you want to sit outdoors under a tree or at the beach for hours on end reading a book, a kindle paperwhite makes a lot of sense. The reading experience is good, it’s visually sharp and the charge lasts a long time. If you want to listen to music, or do much of anything else you can do on a phone or a tablet computer, you’re out of luck.

Pros: well, i really like the 11th gen over my 7th gen. I’ll do it in 4 points:
1-larger screen.. Nice
2-color temp adjustment for the screen. My background is photography so to me the new screen goes from say 8000 degrees kelvin to about 2500 degrees kelvin. I’m happy around 4700-5000
3-longer battery life.. Like 2 months vs 3 weeks
4- usb-c!! Yes! (my old microusb was always getting wobbly.

I did not mention the increase from ‘4’gb to ‘8’gb..because ..well. In the 7th gen the 4gb is actually 3.1gb with the rest taken up by the os on the new one.. It’s actually…wait for it.. 6.25gb! Yep the os went from .9gb to 1.75gb! A bit piggy for me. I made a joke with a few of the kindle tech people that they got ideas from windows vista!. Most got the joke.

Cons: now onto issues..several which are really for how i use my kindle:
1- ok the not quite 8gb issue. Hey i understand the increase in size..but how about making audible a choice.. You can add it or make it optional. If you take away bluetooth support and audible..maybe we might gain some space back. (personally i use nice plug-in headphones. I really only see audible bt when on a long drive in the car..like music. But then again, you can just put it in a format like mp3 and play it thru the car. I have the entire hitchhiker’s guide radio broadcasts like that)
2- big (to me ) bug the issue? As in the photograph.. I use amazon cloud collections. I organize my ebooks (most i got before i got the kindles) using calibre. So when i set up series, i use the series name, or i use the author, or subject as a title for the collections. Sometimes, (as in the case of the dune series), books are added that happened in-between earlier books that came out. So when that happens i will add the book. And when you have a series of say 11 books, 9 of which came out years ago, i’ll add the book as the following:
01-dune
02-dune messiah
03-children of dune
then 3 books were added.. Tales of dune. Paul of dune, and the winds of dune.
In my older 7th gen pw it showed like this:
00-tales of dune
01-dune
01.5-paul of dune
02-dune messiah
02.5-the winds of dune
03-children of dune
but, as the photograph shows, the new 11th gen paperwhite has a bug!
00-tales of dune
01.5-paul of dune
01-dune
02.5-the winds of dune
02-dune messiah
03-children of dune
this should really be addressed!
3-this is not so much a kindle pw issue, as so much it’s an amazon issue. And it deals with the amazon cloud collections. As i use calibre, and i have a lot of books that were originally epubs, i used calibre to convert them and organize them into series. And after various different methods, including sideloading from the computer, i decided to use the cloud collections. So i sent all of my converted epubs (now mobi files) to amazon and used the website to organize them into the collections. Which went very well ….at first.
First..about 2-3 years ago, amazon removed the ability to send the collection to device. So now i have to use the actual pw to get my collections onto my kindle. Recently, amazon changed the display format on the pages on how they show books and doc files. And if you want to add a book or doc to a collection, it’s now incredibly tedious! Formally when you did a box would open that would let you start typing the name of the collection, or make a new collection. All in one box. Now, a box open which shows 2 or 3 collections.. Not in any order other than recent..with a check box! You can’t find the collection by typing the title.. You can only scroll..and it only shows 2 collections at a time. That’s fine if you have 6 collections.. But i have 49 page of 5 collections each!!! Please please put back the old way or add a search option!! You’ve actually found a way that is so much more tedious than the actual paperwhite!!!!! You can’t even make a new one on there.. You have to go back to the collection tab.. Then go back to the doc or book tab and start all over! Please go back to the old way !!!
4- the new library series option. It only works for purchased books, not docs. Also, i had to call up because it grouped two books together, in a series..(nice), but then stuck on e of the grayed out, above the first collection.. Only in download. I found out i had to do a reboot after turning library option off. (i ended up putting the two books in a collection.. Like i like.

Well that’s about it. Btw i always use the list vs grid option.. And using home is no longer a nice choice. I prefer when home was the same as library .. In my case..the first collection, and all the collections after which comes the books in recent order
now… Waiting for a dark brown cork case.
______________________________________
slight update or comment on the software version. My wife and i both upgraded to the 11th gen. Her’s came with her case..amazon black leather, while i wait for the cork. Her 11th gen came with 5.14.1 1, while mine came with 5.14.0 . I was a bit surprised since both were ordered at the same time. And arrived together. But, not a big issue, since eventually all units will be on the latest software. So? What to do? I’ve read a lot on here about complaints it’s so hard, i know.
Since my ‘update’ was grayed out, i just downloaded the latest version and put it on my 11th gen, and rebooted..and bingo! No problem, i now have the latest software.

Now fix the real bug i addressed and fix the ‘manage your content’ pages regarding using cloud collections. Oh, while you’re at it, fix the damn amazon android app so i can work with cloud collections via the app. And not just my tower. Thanks

The only thing that got me to upgrade to this kindle from my 3rd gen kindle was that my older version’s battery stopped taking a charge. It was like losing a faithful pet and facing the uncertainty of a new one living up to the standards set by the one you lost.

I’m a bit of a luddite when it comes to electronics and prefer them to be as simple as possible. I still prefer holding a paperback novel, but i’ve come to enjoy the portability a kindle brings to one’s book collection. I hate the constant need to re-learn new software, though, hence my resistance to upgrading until i had to.

If you are anything like me, i can assure you that there are features on this version of paperwhite that will grow on you even as you miss features you no longer have. Here are my pros and cons:

pros:
-backlighting and its adjustability makes for comfortable reading, especially in the dark if your partner is sleeping next to you. I used to have to get up and go to another room because my old kindle had no lighting.
-good battery life, especially if you keep it in airplane mode unless you are downloading a book.
-your library list tells which books in your collection you have already read, which are partially read, and which are new. Not a critical feature, but nice. I wish they would tell you which one they are in a series, though. That would be even more helpful.

Cons:
-this kindle doesn’t have has much area around the screen to hold the kindle without accidentally touching the screen and turning pages when you don’t want to. A case is a must to help with this, but that adds weight to holding it. It makes me miss the buttons on my gen 3 kindle.
-i don’t care for the icons for book titles when you are searching for a book. It’s attractive, but the artwork makes titles harder to read when they are so small and this version doesn’t let you switch to get a simple typed list view. I’ve tried and searched on line for help to be able to do this, but none seem to apply to this version. You also have to do a lot more scrolling because only 6 icons fit on a screen at a time.
-trying to find what you are looking for can be like getting through a phone tree. It takes too long to find what you need. Maybe it would be an easier transition for customers not using a kindle as old as mine was, but after several months, i still find i have to really hunt to remember where a feature is.
-no more whispernet! You have to be around a router to download books. I don’t travel as much as i used to, but the ability to download a book in a moving car was a wonderful thing and i know i will miss that. –i’m not crazy about the extra step to download a book after i purchase it, either. Why is that no longer automatic if you are connected?

This thing performs so well in daylight and i look forward to reading more books outside regardless of sunlight conditions! So if that’s what you’re looking for, this is your device.

However, at night i like to read in dark mode (or reverse with white lettering on black background) and that is one are that this falls short. I’m sure it has to do with how they designed the screen to be so good in daylight. But when you switch it to dark mode, you get a washed out black background (let’s call it gray or grey, whichever your preference). So you don’t get the sharp contrast that you will find with the other devices (e.g. Ipad, kindle fire, or android) that have a black background in reverse screen but suck in daylight viewing. So it looks like i’ll use the ipad mini for night reading and use the paperwhite kindle for daytime reading. Not my preference, but that’s the price to be paid for awesome daylight viewing.

The second area that it falls short is that there are no options to change the font size, etc. So if you can accept that this displays pages much like a printed book where you get the font size, style and spacing as the publisher printed it, then you’ll be fine. I’m just familiar with the kindle app on other devices where you can personalize the layout for better viewing. I’ve looked high and low in the few setting selections that it comes with and i found nothing for that. So i’ve decided to treat it like a printed novel where you have no choices on how it was printed, even though it is an electronic display. Just imagine that it is printed paper and you’ll be fine.

The setting selections are very minimal. It would be nice if you could select to have the time display on the bottom margin along with the page number and percentage complete, in my opinion. Some people don’t want to have that in view, but i’m often reading while waiting for brief periods of time and would like to keep an eye on the time without having to swipe the screen to view the time – which it is viewable (along with the date) on the quick settings display when you swipe down on the screen.

This device is obviously optimized for daytime reading and it shines in that realm where other devices can’t come close. For a simple reading platform with no bells and whistles, it can’t be beat – except in dark mode. 🙂

updated 7/26/22: ok, i accidentally found where you can adjust the font size and select to have the time displayed or not. Oddly you have to do a small swipe from the top to display that portion. Apparently my swipes were always too aggressive and when i swiped a couple of inches, i would get the simple setting screen that didn’t have those display options.

After finding that i can get to the settings i was looking for by doing a short swipe, i added a star back onto my rating. Still not able to give it the full five stars because the dark mode underperforms to my liking, but that is one small detriment when compared to how well it performs in daylight.

I used to be a snob about paper being better than digital. But, my husband has a kindle that he loves and uses all the time. I started to want my own for travel and camping trips. It is really handy to be able to bring a lot of books with you for a long plane ride or something. I also like that it’s water resistant. I brought it to the beach a few times and didn’t have to worry about splashes getting on it. I have had books get a little damaged on camping trips (cover bent or torn, pages wrinkled from high humidity) but didn’t have to worry about that happening to the kindle. It’s very lightweight and comfortable to hold with one hand. It’s also a great option if you have a small house with limited storage for hoarding a lot of books.

I like the way you can adjust the display as necessary: font size, brightness, white/amber spectrum for reading at night, etc.

The screen doesn’t have glare when reading outdoors and refreshes quickly when tapped to turn the page.

So far the battery life has been amazing! I have had this device since may 2022 and i haven’t needed to charge it yet. I keep the bluetooth and wifi off unless i need to use those functions. That seems to conserve a lot of battery juice. When i first got it, i brought it on a trip, reading for several straight hours on airplanes and then about an hour or two per day for a week long trip, then lots of time reading on planes while traveling back home. Since i have gotten back home, i read for a few hours per week. At the time of writing this review, it is july 7, 2022 and i have now had the device for nearly 2 months. The battery hasn’t gotten lower than 70% yet! Your mileage may vary, but i have been very impressed.

My only real issue with this device is that is was a bit hard to figure out the navigation at first. There’s no instructions in the box, and no tutorial when the setup has been completed. A lot of the navigation functions are hidden unless you tap on a specific area of the screen. As a millennial who is not as tech savvy as some other people my age, i had a bit of a panic when i couldn’t figure out how to use it. I had to watch a youtube video tutorial to learn where to tap to see the different menus! I can imagine someone like my mom or grandma really struggling to figure it out on their own because they are even less tech savvy than me! But once i knew where to tap, getting around the settings and navigating back to my library is not a problem anymore.

I haven’t tried using kindle unlimited or ebooks from my local library yet. But, i do check the ‘kindle daily deals’ and sites like bookbub for discounts on ebooks. Generally ebooks are cheaper than paperbacks. So unless you are someone really thrifty who only buys used books, you are probably going save money on books, instead of spending more. And, i just realized if you set up amazon household so your account is linked with your spouse or parent who lives at the same address, you can then share ebooks between your accounts. After you purchase an ebook, from your amazon account you can ‘add to household library’ and then you can both access the same ebook. Which is great if your spouse or parent is also a book lover!

I love kindle! I’ve owned one almost since they were introduced (remember the keyboard kindle!) and they have literally changed the way i read. No more locked onto so called best selling authors because now i can discover the absolutely amazing talent that exists out there in the independent world. It also lets me tote as many books as i want on vacation without needing a separate suitcase for reading materials.

And, every generation of kindle has seen an improvement, some dramatic, some subtle. This one is on the subtle side if you own a 2018 version. Yes, the screen is bigger but so is the whole unit (marginally but still bigger) which is not necessarily a check mark in the plus column. The screen shows fingerprints badly, just like the 2018 version so a screen saver is helpful if you can get it installed properly. I really like the usb-c charging – a small idea but one i can appreciate.

Where i have some issues with this generation is that it seems buggier than any version before. Sometimes the page forward doesn’t work until you do a page back first and then all is well for about another twenty pages and then the behavior repeats itself. It doesn’t always turn on/off with the cover close and i’ve tried two different covers so think it’s the unit itself. The first thing i did when i took it out of the package was to update it but it has since, on its own, gone into that update screen when there wasn’t actually any update to download. It doesn’t wipe anything out, just prevents use for a few minutes.

I may have a faulty unit or it’s some of the non-amazon books i’m reading (gutenberg mostly so they should be malware free but who knows). It’s not enough to return the item since amazon tends to replace brand new purchases with refurbished ones.

If i had but one suggestion for amazon, it would be to build in a circuit that would allow you to plug a device into the usb port that would have two buttons on a pod and on a longish cord that would let you remotely turn pages. It would be really helpful in the gym while on the cardio equipment like an amt. You could attach the pod to the handles of the amt and just tap the page turn button to read.

Overall, i love my new kindle paperwhite. Can’t stress enough that it really has overall been a great purchase. I love having a dedicated e-reading device as other things don’t interupt and distract my reading time, etc… I now refuse to read e-books on any other device as i much prefer reading on my kindle.

Pros:
-absolutely love the adjustable warm/blue light options and dark/light mode (as i can read comfortably in the dark without disturbing others)
-in love with the fact its waterproof so i can read in the tub/pool/etc…
-wifi connectivity awesome feature
-the kindle store experience isn’t as good as it is on a tablet/smart phone but was way better than expected
-size and weight are just right for holding and reading.
-i’ve read it several hours a day and the battery still managed to last at least a week plus. And if i don’t read as often and leave it in airplane mode with bluetooth off it lasts a very, very, very long time without re-charging. So no complaints there.

Cons:
– biggest con is as of 2022 kindle paperwhite doesn’t support immersion reading (i.e., listening to audiobook and seeing book text at the same time) you can only do one or the other/switch between the two. As an exclusive e-reading device i was very disappointed it doesn’t support this particular feature.
-it occasionally glitches either skipping ahead by several pages, or makes me tap/swipe a few times when i attempt to navigate backwards in my book. Its not a deal breaker as it happens rarely but still can be slightly annoying at times. This may also improve with updates in the future.
-the screen does smudge quite easily/noticably but when reading you can’t really tell
-a little sad it doesn’t have its own speakers to listen to audiobooks, but i knew this buying it and it does connect well to my bluetooth devices. Also, not including internal speakers does keep it very slim which is nice.
-there are one or two e-books i own that ‘aren’t formatted’ for the kindle so i can’t read them, but its quite rare. Also i wouldn’t recommend reading comic books, graphic novels, or childrens picture books on a kindle as they are all black and white and don’t show color (and the pages are smaller and text can be quite difficult to read) however none of these books really read well on normal tablets/smartphones either as they are usually best as hard copies. That being said my toddler still enjoyed reading the one or two kids picture e-books i do own on the device. But its best and really designed for text only chapter books for older kids/adults.

Other comments: other reviewers mentioned that the power button is not in a good location as its on the bottom of the device. They stated they occasionally accidentally turn it off while reading (especially if you hold it right handed). I agree its in a bad spot/is slightly inconvenient but it hasn’t caused me to accidentally turn it off. So overall this hasn’t been an issue for me.

Overall i would buy it again, and i would definitely purchase the paperwhite over the standard kindle if you can afford to (although the standard is still a good experience).

Everything is good in this new paperwhite model, i like the bigger size and the backlighting with variable ‘warmth’, plus the optional dark mode of white text on black background for night reading.

I don’t like the lack of dedicated page turn buttons — i’ve always had older kindles with buttons, most recently a voyage, and i find it distracting and annoying to have to touch the screen carefully somewhere on the righthand side to advance forward one page, especially if i’m trying to hold the device in just my left hand, as i would often do with the older models having dedicated page turn buttons along the left edge. So i can’t use this kindle entirely one-handed like i used to with older ones (even holding it just in my right hand, it’s awkward having to extend a finger carefully to touch somewhere in the righthand side of the screen to advance the page forward instead of just having a nice button to press).

Oh one other thing that’s sub-optimal is that in the new os/ui there’s no more generic/universal ‘back’ button/link icon. Most noticeable when i’m reading a story in a magazine; with older models and older os/ui there was a ‘back’ button, either hardware or software, so i could use the ‘home’ button/link icon to jump out to the ‘library’ listing, and then use the universal ‘back’ button/link icon to jump back directly to the page i’d been reading in the story in the magazine. Now i have to go through several steps, thinking about what to do/touch next, to go through this cycle, and it annoys me each time.

Plus, one more thing i don’t like in the new os/ui is that in the library listing when i have some collections, previously in the overall view it would only show collections and individual items that weren’t in any collection. So i could ‘hide’ a bunch of books inside collections, not having to scroll past them in the main library view of items not in any collection.

But now, in the overall view, it shows collections and all downloaded individual items, including ones that i wanted to hide from this view by putting them in a collection. What’s the point of adding them to a ‘collection’, if they’re still just going to all be visible in the main library list?

Other than these few things i don’t like about the new os/ui and the lack of a physical page forward button on the left or bottom edge of the device, i do like this new paperwhite (it’s my first paperwhite; i had the original kindle when it first came out, then some years later i had one with no keyboard but still having physical buttons along the bottom and sides, and then i had a voyage for a few years, before deciding to upgrade to this new paperwhite).

I like the size, and the soft lighting options. Overall, a very pleasing reading experience. As an ios user, i’m accustomed to user friendly experiences and this ain’t it. I’ve spent over an hour with customer support and even more on my own trying to fix glitches with organizing my library. It’s a not a user friendly process overall, and i’m still stuck with my old audible book covers (that are not downloaded on my kindle) clogging my library and home page. Can’t move or delete them. Amazon sent me a link for my browser to work it out and it only lists actually books. Audible just doesn’t work well with others.

I really love my kindle. This version is way better than my previous, if you haven’t updated in a while, you should! My only two complaints are there seems to be soft area in the dpi toward the middle left of the screen and the power button should be on the top of the device. My hand holds the device in the bottom and sides. This causes me to constantly accidentally hit the power button major issue, imo. All in all, best e reader available.