Confession: I have finished a surprisingly low number of books since finishing high school.
It’s not that I don’t like books or that I have problems with comprehension or anything like that. Instead, my particular type of ADHD makes it hard to find the motivation to get started and focus when I do, plus I don’t really like holding books in my hands. Depending on their size, both paperbacks and hardcover books can be a little cumbersome to handle, especially if you like to read with one hand like I do.
I’m happy to say that Kindle Paperwhite 2021 Edition is nearly Perfect for people who would love to read more if it weren’t for all the annoying little things about reading. Both the $140 ad-supported model (which I used for this review) and the $190 ad-free model Exclusive edition They feature larger 6.8-inch displays that look fantastic in any lighting, weeks-long battery life, and a sleek form factor suitable for lazy one-handed readers like me.
Even with some concerns about price and performance, Amazon’s latest Kindle may reignite your interest in reading.
better than books
The screen is bright without hurting your eyes.
Credit: Molly Flores/Mashable
In its first Paperwhite update since 2018, Amazon didn’t stray too far from its previous efforts. Both the cheaper Paperwhite and the Signature Edition feature almost identical specifications:
6.8-inch screen with 17 LEDs and 300 dpi (compared to 6 inches on the 2018 model).
New USB-C charging port with up to 10 hours of battery life on a full charge.
Signature Edition supports Qi wireless charging.
8GB storage on $140 model, 32GB on Signature Edition.
IPx8 waterproof rating, can be fully submerged.
Amazon managed to increase the screen size by almost an inch without making major weight sacrifices. At 205g (208g in Signature Edition), it’s only slightly heavier than the 182g model from three years ago, perhaps due to the dramatically thinner bezels around the screen.
As I mentioned before, part of the reason I don’t read as often as I should is that I’m lazy and prefer to laze around with a free hand. Some real books just don’t fit that lifestyle due to their size and weight distribution. This Kindle Paperwhite is fair Heavy enough to not look cheap and flimsy, without being a hindrance to the one-handed readers among us.
This is a fully touch Kindle with no buttons to turn pages. A simple touch or swipe is enough. Tapping the top of the screen while reading brings up a quick toolbar with options to return to the home screen, change font sizes and styles, and enable a simple page-turning animation. Swiping down from the top brings up another menu to turn on Bluetooth for listening to Audible audiobooks, adjust screen brightness and warmth, and turn dark mode on or off.
You can adjust the warmth of the screen to make it more comfortable to watch in different environments.
Credit: Molly Flores/Mashable
Here you can also highlight passages, look up word definitions, and bookmark pages. However, all those nifty features are secondary to reading books, and the excellent Paperwhite display makes it a pleasure.
Text is sharp even when you hold the device in front of your face. The anti-glare display is immensely readable and easy on the eyes in all types of lighting. I’ve read Frank Herbert’s meandering epic. Dune (What can I say? I have sandworm fever) on the new Paperwhite both outdoors in the bright sun and indoors at night with the lights off. In both scenarios, it was as comfortable as reading a real page with an illuminated light. Even at high brightness, the screen didn’t hurt my eyes either. You can really take the new Paperwhite with you anywhere and have a good time reading it.
I would be remiss not to mention the small but important addition of a USB-C charging port. As we move further into a USB-C world, this is a blessing and was probably overdue as the 2018 model didn’t have it. It’s located at the bottom of the device, next to the power button, which is the only button you’ll find here.
Needless to say at this point, I loved everything about the physical design of the new Kindle Paperwhite. This is an ideal e-reader for me once you have a book ready to publish on the screen. Unfortunately, getting to that point can be somewhat problematic.
Slow and mostly steady
Amazon is not setting out to make powerful iPad-level tablets with the Kindle Paperwhite line. You use these devices to read or listen to books, and that’s it. Amazon promised better overall performance and responsiveness with the latest Paperwhite, and while my experience with it was generally good, I did encounter a couple of technical glitches.
Simply navigating the Kindle’s simple menus is sometimes more complicated than necessary because this screen was only designed to display fixed text. Scrolling up and down through book lists or settings is jittery and slow, rather than fluid, as you’d expect from almost any other touch device in 2021. It’s responsive enough that you can accomplish whatever you’re trying to achieve. to achieve, whether to perform searches. to read a new book or change the screen brightness, without too much trouble. But you won’t have much fun doing it.
USB-C is always welcome.
Credit: Molly Flores/Mashable
I totally understand that Amazon designs these Kindles to be really good for reading books at the expense of doing, well, anything else. The tremendous form factor and top-notch display overcome these minor performance hurdles for me because, again, I’m not expecting an iPad or even a tablet fire hd here. However, even with those low expectations in mind, he still feels a little behind.
It doesn’t help that on one occasion the Paperwhite froze and stopped responding completely in the middle of reading. Dune. I waited several minutes for it to get unstuck and that didn’t happen. Holding the power button for about 40 seconds restarted the device and I was able to read again after that, but still, I felt it needed to be noted.
Aside from that abnormal freeze, the Kindle Paperwhite’s performance was at least consistently at that too-slow level during my time with it. I respect consistency because at least I know what to expect.
One last performance aspect to consider is battery life. Amazon rates the new Kindle Paperwhite with up to 10 weeks battery with a full charge. I only had the device for just under a week, so it wasn’t possible for me to fully check it out. Taking that into account, however, the battery was only drained by about 10 percent in that time period. You might not get 10 weeks out of it if you read for hours every day, but it will last a long time no matter how you shake it.
Big leap to get rid of ads
I can learn to live with the slow performance of the Kindle Paperwhite and even the occasional crash from time to time. Everything else about using the device is largely excellent and really made me, a person with severe attention span issues, willingly sit through a dense sci-fi rant about religion and feudalism. The only thing that really makes me hesitate to recommend it to people is the price.
For 140 dollars, I think the standard Kindle Paperwhite 2021 It may be overpriced, but avid readers will get their money’s worth. It’s the Signature Edition, which adds an extra $50 for the privilege of not seeing ads, getting some extra storage space, and being able to have the Kindle automatically adjust the brightness based on the level of light in the room that’s bothering me. Tying storage and extra features to a price increase is standard in tech, but the hype is just slimy. Is Amazon not making enough money already?
The good news is that these aren’t the only Kindle options. He Basic Kindle It costs $99.99 and will probably work if all you want is a competent e-reader. However, if you can afford to pay more for the Paperwhite, you won’t regret it. The huge battery of this small book-style tablet, its magnificent and versatile screen and its maximum comfort in the hands made me enjoy reading more in the days I spent with it than in previous years.
And if you are so severe Dune-As I am now, this is much better than carrying a huge book.
