Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Bigger display, better reading

(Pocket-lint) - Kindle is simply a marque sanction synonymous with e-readers. For galore years present it's been the defacto choice, to the constituent wherever it's the lone marque of e-reader acquainted to astir people.

For 2021, Amazon has upgraded its Kindle family, adding a caller Paperwhite to the lineup. But what's caller and breathtaking astir it?

Design 

• Dimensions: 175 x 124 x 7.6mm / Weight: 204g
• USB-C charging port, azygous powerfulness button

There's much than a consciousness of familiarity astir the 2021 Paperwhite's design. Because it's a look that's remained comparatively unchanged for years. This squat rectangular integrative framework with a achromatic and achromatic E Ink surface connected the beforehand and precise small other to gully your attention.

Buttons and ports are sparse, with lone 1 of each: a power/sleep fastener and a USB-C port, some of which are connected the bottommost borderline of the reader. It's not the astir intuitive presumption to person a button, it indispensable beryllium said, and it's beauteous casual to property it accidentally, resulting successful either waking up oregon locking the device. It would beryllium amended connected the broadside determination oregon connected the apical - anyplace but the bottom.

But this is an all-new Kindle and portion it's the aforesaid basal device, determination are important differences. First of all, it's bigger than erstwhile Paperwhites. It's wider, taller, heavier - a spot much of a handful.

All different power is via interaction - determination are nary further buttons - and with bezels getting smaller, there's a small little abstraction to grip it. Page turning is via a pat oregon a swipe and if you're holding it successful your close manus you tin conscionable astir pat with your thumb. 

For astir this won't airs a problem, but if you're left-handed, beryllium alert that the near broadside of the show goes backmost - and immoderate pat connected that broadside results successful turning backmost a page. Ultimately, we similar the fastener statement of the Kindle Oasis and they, certainly, stay a diagnostic for which you mightiness see paying more.

Being a Paperwhite exemplary means this scholar has a somewhat higher level of acceptable and decorativeness compared to the standard Kindle. The rear is coated successful a brushed interaction material, which is lovely, though presently lone disposable successful a achromatic finish. The beforehand aboveground is present wholly flush, truthful there's nary raised framework oregon bezel for bits of fluff and particulate to get stuck in. What's more, it's water-resistant, truthful it tin past being dropped successful the bathtub oregon successful a pool.

The cardinal happening astir the Kindle - immoderate of them truly - is that there's entree to millions of books, but successful a instrumentality that's smaller than an existent book. It's easier to clasp and easier to transportation around, and that's inactive existent of the caller Paperwhite, contempt its somewhat larger and heavier frame. 

It's inactive overmuch smaller than an iPad oregon tablet; it inactive weighs astir the aforesaid arsenic a smartphone. So it hasn't mislaid its advantageous edge, and the larger size leads america nicely to its top benefits: the larger screen. 

Display 

• 6.8-inch E Ink panel, 1246 x 1648 resolution
• 17 LED beforehand airy illumination

As Paperwhite devices spell the 2021 exemplary has the largest screen-to-body percent to date. Amazon didn't conscionable marque the surface bigger and support the aged chunky bezels. It reduced those bezels and accrued the surface size, giving america an other 0.8-inches, up from 6- to 6.8-inches connected the diagonal.

This makes a sizeable quality to the acquisition of reading, giving astir an other paragraph of substance to a azygous page, which means having to crook pages little frequently. Or, much literally, there's a small little tapping and swiping connected the touchscreen.

The summation successful size brings the caller Paperwhite adjacent to the size of Amazon's flagship Kindle, the Oasis, which remains a small larger astatine 7.0-inches.

It's inactive the classical transflective E Ink display, which means if you're successful a country with bully light, oregon outside, it doesn't request a lighting to marque it intelligibly legible. It reflects the airy from astir you, making it truly wide successful agleam conditions.

Of course, being a modern Kindle, it is illuminated with a beforehand lighting system. You tin prevention artillery beingness by switching the lighting disconnected manually, but it would beryllium large if determination was an auto-brightness feature, due to the fact that it tin beryllium hard to archer if the illumination is connected erstwhile there's agleam airy astir you. 

Like the much costly Kindle Oasis the Paperwhite's lighting is an array of 17 LEDs, enabling a warmth diagnostic too. You tin set the colour somesthesia to marque it arsenic chill and bluish oregon lukewarm and orangish arsenic you like.

The grade to which you tin set it are rather fine, truthful it's not conscionable a lawsuit of having a fewer colour somesthesia choices. The brightness is besides fine-tuneable, with 25 levels of light. What's more, you tin docket the warmth to activate astatine circumstantial times of the day, truthful tin person it travel connected automatically astatine furniture time, if you want.

If having an orange/warm backlit surface isn't capable for you and you privation to chopped retired arsenic overmuch airy erstwhile you're speechmaking astatine nighttime - for fearfulness of disturbing a important different possibly - you tin simply alteration acheronian mode, which inverts the acheronian and airy elements of the screen. The substance past becomes white, the inheritance black.

Battery and performance

• 'Up to 10 weeks' per complaint (claimed)
• 8GB retention connected board

One happening we did announcement with this Paperwhite is it's much responsive than erstwhile models oregon the modular Kindle. That's acknowledgment to utilizing a newer mentation of the E Ink show - the Carta 1200 - frankincense giving faster leafage refreshes.

There are different times it inactive suffers from that E Ink refresh lag, similar erstwhile loading the drop-down speedy settings layer, oregon erstwhile scrolling done the Amazon publication store. Similarly, closing a circumstantial publication leafage successful the store to spell location is delivered with a small hold arsenic well. Much of this comes down to however the show exertion works, refreshing the pigments to beryllium either achromatic oregon achromatic doesn't lend itself to animations. Speedy it is not - and we've agelong felt that the bundle acquisition present could beryllium better.

The artillery beingness has been improved and tin present past up to 10 weeks connected a afloat charge, truthful it needs charging comparatively infrequently. And erstwhile it does you present person that USB Type-C larboard to complaint it with the aforesaid cablegram you're astir apt utilizing for your smartphone oregon headphones.

It takes astir two-and-a-half hours to complaint utilizing an optional 9W charger. There's lone a cablegram successful the box, not the partition plug - but we fishy astir volition usage existing chargers, different it volition instrumentality 5 hours to complaint plugged into a machine oregon low-power USB port.

The wide artillery show volition beryllium connected however often you refresh that show (as it draws minimal powerfulness erstwhile the leafage is set), but besides depends connected however agleam the lighting is and if you're doing different things, similar utilizing its Wi-Fi transportation to get much information. Needless to say, it volition past weeks careless - conscionable possibly not the afloat 10 weeks for each users.

Ecosystem and software

Kindle's biggest strength, arsenic it has been for years now, is that Amazon's ebook room is gigantic. Practically immoderate publication disposable arsenic a hardback oregon paperback is besides disposable successful Kindle form, and you tin bargain them connected Amazon - the aforesaid spot you astir apt already store anyway.

What's more, if you person an Amazon Prime subscription, you get entree to work immoderate books escaped with Prime Reading, and if you subscribe to the Kindle Unlimited paid service past you get escaped entree to a immense room of books. However, if you privation the bestsellers oregon astir fashionable ones, you inactive often request to wage individually for each title. 

While the Kindle volition enactment different record formats - you tin email documents to your Kindle - it's not compatible with lending services, similar Overdrive, that's wide utilized by nationalist libraries, which is supported by devices similar Kobo.

The idiosyncratic interface of the Kindle isn't the astir intuitive happening successful the satellite either, but there's not overmuch successful the mode of layers, truthful it's reasonably casual to use. And acknowledgment to a caller bundle update it is astatine slightest amended than it was. 

The location surface has 2 tabs - 1 for the modular location surface and the different for entree to your room - and in-between them is simply a representation of the publication you're reading. Tap that and it'll unfastened the publication close wherever you near off. Simple.

Once you commencement speechmaking you person a plethora of options disposable to you. You tin alteration the font size, benignant and spacing to marque it arsenic comfy to work arsenic you need. One of those disposable fonts is the unfastened dyslexia font, designed to assistance marque it easier for those with dyslexia to read. You tin besides set the value of the font to marque it thicker. Even elements similar the borderline size, leafage predisposition and the substance alignment tin beryllium altered too.

Other features see fashionable highlights wherever you spot a dotted enactment nether sentences that different readers person highlighted, oregon you tin item them yourself, oregon marque notes. Press-and-hold a connection and you'll get a dictionary definition, oregon alteration the WordWise diagnostic that automatically highlights tricky words that you tin past adhd to your vocabulary, oregon adjacent translate. What's more, if you're successful a pinch and person nary different instrumentality yet request to find thing online quickly, there's adjacent a built-in experimental web browser.

However, it's erstwhile you activate these other layers wherever the dilatory processing - compared to modern tablets and smartphones - shows its face. It's present that the Kindle inactive needs a spot much oomph to marque it consciousness little sluggish. We besides consciousness that Kindle could beryllium managing the books you've work better. If you cognize you've work immoderate books by an author, but can't retrieve which, it's often a conflict to find them - particularly erstwhile utilizing Prime Reading.

There's besides enactment for Bluetooth headphones and Audible books, allowing you to perceive to those audiobooks - but you volition person to wage much for those.

Writing by Cam Bunton and Chris Hall. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 8 December 2021.