Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) - Review 2022

Bigger is better with Amazon'south 2022 Kindle Paperwhite ($139.99), which uses a new E Ink panel to show more than words per page than its predecessor. While the prices of Paperwhite models take been slowly creeping up, this new version still offers the all-time mix of features at the correct price for most readers, including a flat forepart panel and a waterpoof design. Forth with its updated screen, these features aid it remain our Editors' Pick honour winner for ebook readers.

Amazon's Kindle Lineup

At that place are two-and-a-half ebook reader players in the Usa marketplace, although others play bigger roles overseas. Amazon's Kindles dominate stateside. They're all-time for reading books from Amazon and piece of work fine with titles from public libraries. For other sources and formats, at that place's Kobo. Barnes & Noble'southward Nook models also even so exist, although the time to come of that lineup seems uncertain.

Amazon has iv Eastward Ink Kindles in 2022, including the $89.99 Kindle, the $139.99 Paperwhite, the $189.99 Paperwhite Signature, and the $249.99 Haven. The Paperwhite has major, important advantages over the base of operations model. For starters, it's waterproof, making it safe for reading at the beach and in the bath. Its flat front design prevents sand and gunk from getting caught in cracks. And its screen is much sharper, with a colour-changing front light that's easier on the eyes.

Once you movement upwards from the Paperwhite, though, the additional features become less meaningful. The Paperwhite Signature adds more than storage, wireless charging, and an automatically changing front calorie-free. Those are useful extras, but they won't transform your reading experience. The Kindle Haven has a delightful design with its absurd metal frame, lighter weight than the Paperwhite, and physical page-turn buttons (I accept i and love it), but it's really expensive for an ebook reader.

Proceed in mind that while the Paperwhite starts at $139.99, like about Amazon ebook readers, it shows ads on the lock screen by default. If you desire to get rid of those ads, you need to pay an extra $20.

Three Kindles together

Left to right: 2022 Paperwhite, 2022 Paperwhite, 2022 Paperwhite Signature

More Square Inches, Fewer Page Flips

The 2022 Paperwhite design introduced a flat front end and a waterproof rating. The new model is a lilliputian bigger. The 2022 Paperwhite is still a smooth, black, matte device, but now measures half-dozen.8 by 4.nine by 0.3 inches (HWD) rather than 6.6 past 4.vi past 0.3 inches. At 7.2 ounces, it's 0.viii-ounce heavier than the previous model, which I initially idea would badger me, but doesn't; it's nonetheless calorie-free plenty to comfortably hold with i mitt for hours.

The bigger news is the bigger screen. The new Paperwhite steps up from a six-inch, 300ppi E Ink Carta display to a 6.viii-inch panel that retains a 300ppi resolution. The forepart lite is too 10% brighter. The whole device withal carries an IPX8 rating, then it can survive for an hr of dunking in fresh water or a three-minute dip in seawater.

The new Paperwhites and Oasis have color-changing front lights that can go from blue-white to xanthous using 2 sliders. The yellowness can also be tied to a clock, so the screen gets yellower as the dark goes on to salve your eyes. The 17-LED organisation is much more than even than the four LEDs on the base of operations-model Kindle.

The bottom-mounted power button, a remnant from the 2022 model, bothers some folks, but I don't detect information technology decumbent to accidental presses on the base of operations Paperwhite model. (In the case of the Signature model, though, wireless charging cradles sometimes trigger the button.)

A USB-C port brings the Kindle in line with other mobile devices from the past few years. It doesn't back up fast charging, notwithstanding—it still takes several hours to charge and powers up at no more than 9w. The new Paperwhite lasts about a week with heavy use, simply you can greatly extend battery life by turning off the front light and Wi-Fi.

Amazon includes a power cable, but no power adapter. The Paperwhite works with whatever USB-C ability cablevision and adapter, but if y'all don't take ane laying effectually, Amazon sells one for $20. Amazon also sells a range of covers for the Kindle that cost betwixt $30 and $60.

Reading Experience

While I was reading Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Foreign and Mr. Norrell in Amazon'due south standard font size, I saw 17 lines of about 8 short words each on the older Kindle and 21 lines of 9 words each on the newer one. That translates to 20% fewer folio flips on the newer model—and in my heed, a 20% more restful experience.

New and old Kindle Paperwhite models side-by-side on table

The new Paperwhite (right) shows more than words per folio than the one-time one (left)

The old Kindle screen is about the same width as a mass marketplace paperback, but shows less text going down the folio. The new ane is wider than near mass market paperbacks and about the same height. Trade paperbacks and hardcovers both tower over the older and newer Kindles.

Tankobon-formatted manga volumes are readable on the previous Kindle, just they're more legible hither because the text is slightly larger. The charming children's manga Yotsuba& reads quite well on the new Kindle.

Manga on the Kindle Paperwhite

The 2022 Paperwhite (right) is the right size for Japanese manga, which tend to be smaller and less colorful than American comics, although it still looks fine on the 2022 model (left)

However, the Paperwhite however isn't the right ebook reader for American comics, graphic novels, or highly illustrated children's books. The screen is just as well small, and then text remains unreadable. Virtually people prefer to read those formats on a color device similar the Amazon Fire Hd x or a base-model Apple iPad anyhow. But if y'all really desire to experience those works with the calming tones of E Ink, y'all demand to look for a ten-inch E Ink device like the Onyx Boox Note Air.

A Faster Interface

Amazon recently updated the Kindle interface to get in easier to navigate. This comeback isn't specific to the new Paperwhite; the software update comes to base of operations-model Kindles, some older Paperwhites, and the Oasis. The chief shift is that on the home screen, at that place'south a new icon that helps you jump right dorsum to the book yous're reading. If y'all accept a no-ads Kindle, the lock screen now shows the cover of the book you're currently reading, too.

If you have a big Kindle library (I have more than than 200 books), some new features help reduce clutter. I similar how series are now automatically filed under a single cover, so I don't take to page through all of my kid'southward Wings of Burn books (of which there are many) to go to my Lavie Tidhar.

All the usual Amazon features are here, too, of course: Ten-Ray tells yous who a grapheme is, the dictionary tells you what a word is, and Goodreads integration lets you tell other people what you're reading.

Kindles work best with Amazon or public library ebooks. Nosotros accept a story well-nigh how to go gratis ebooks on your Kindle that outlines how to email PDF or EPUB-formatted eBooks to your device, just I've never had a great experience with back up for those formats because fonts and navigation often become messed up in the translation. Other ebook reader brands, well-nigh notably Kobo, handle those formats much better.

Kindle's X-Ray feature

X-Ray helps you continue track of characters in your book

Good day 3G, Hullo Improve Wi-Fi

Call back Whispernet, which let you lot download books anywhere? It'southward dying; it relied on the AT&T 3G network, which will exist turned off in 2022. If y'all have an older, Whispernet-reliant Kindle, that service is catastrophe in the US. (There are 4G LTE versions of the 2022 Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis, just they weren't marketed heavily in the United states.)

As a result, the Kindle is more reliant on Wi-Fi than ever. Fortunately, the 2022 Paperwhite has noticeably better Wi-Fi than the 2022 model. When I tested information technology on a 5GHz Wi-Fi network, I by and large downloaded books in 5 to viii seconds rather than 14 to 17 seconds on the older model. Volume covers, pages in the Kindle shop, and pages in the Kindle web browser also filled in more than quickly. This functioning bump may not be a large deal, but it's a noticeable upgrade.

The meliorate Wi-Fi support also reinforces that you lot probably don't need the 32GB storage of the Signature Edition. 8GB is fine. You tin download books when yous desire to read them, at home or on free Wi-Fi connections. Text-format Kindle books are only a few megabytes each; audiobooks take up far more than infinite.

Bluetooth functionality is the same here as on the previous Paperwhite. You can apply Bluetooth headphones for Audible audiobooks. You can fifty-fifty sync your audiobook listening to choice up or leave off at the aforementioned point in a text-format book. Wired USB-C headphones, alas, will non work.

The E Ink Kindles don't have built-in speakers or Immersion Reading, a swell mode where you see text highlighted as a vox reads information technology. For all of that, you need an Android or iOS phone or tablet with the Kindle app.

Covers for the Kindle Paperwhite

As with previous Kindles, a range of covers are bachelor

Time Keeps On Ticking...Into the Futurity

People proceed their Kindles for a long time. They should; an ebook reader is a unproblematic device, and if information technology works, it works. As part of this review, I looked at user complaints on Amazon from purchasers of the 2022 model. For the record, in that location are nonetheless people with 2009-era keyboarded Kindles on there.

The 2022 Paperwhite is similar to the 2022 model in a lot of means, and some of the differences with the newer models volition irritate users of much older Kindles. For example, reading bombardment life is shorter considering of the more than complex, more even front lite system. There's no built-in speaker or headphone jack as on older models, either. As mentioned, a lot of people dislike the bottom-mounted power push button. The flat front too has a fleck more glare than some previous models.

I'm non including this section to lament features on devices you tin can't buy anymore, only people who are upgrading should know what to expect. And the new design offers some advantages. I think bath and embankment reading are big use cases, and I hate how the recessed fronts of older models collect grit and grime.

Back of the Kindle Paperwhite

The black matte dorsum is comfortable to hold

The Right Choice

An E Ink ebook reader should go out of the way and permit you read your volume. That's what the new Kindle Paperwhite does. It offers the right features at the right price. For case, the Paperwhite is waterproof, which is slap-up for its versatility, but forgoes the wireless charging you get with the Signature Edition, which is less essential. Kobo's closest competing ebook reader, the $179.99 Libra 2, is a bit more expensive and doesn't natively handle Amazon books. Kindles and Kobos are like iOS and Android nowadays; not a lot of people switch because they use different content stores. So if yous purchase your books from Amazon, the Kindle Paperwhite is the right ebook reader for most people, and our Editors' Choice winner.