Amazon | Kindle Paperwhite Review
Kindle Paperwhite Review. Over the past decade, there’s been a constant battle within the bookworm community. That is, which one is better: eBook or physical book? The scale keeps tipping one way or the other, but the truth is both have their advantages.
Of course, we can’t ignore the beauty of turning the pages on a thick old book, or the charming scent of ink and paper when reading one of our favorite stories. However, the invention of the e-reader has been revolutionary in the literature world. The experience between reading an eBook and a physical book are vastly different, but it is within these differences that we find the strengths of each medium.
For one, eBooks are way cheaper than purchasing an actual book. Once you buy an e-reader, you’ll have in your hands a device that allows you to save up digital copies of your favorite books easily. Many eBooks can be found for free, or you can purchase them usually for a much lower price than a physical copy. But, without taking into account the price, an e-reader is an excellent way to take your books everywhere. This is the main advantage of digital reading, the portability allows you to freely read the book of your choice anywhere, switching from one volume to the other without needing to carry them with you. So, if you are an avid bibliophile, you’ve probably already heard of, or even considered purchasing an e-reader. It’s also probable that your first option was an Amazon Kindle.
And that is not a surprise. Amazon Kindle paperwhite’s are known worldwide for their quality and good built, being revolutionary in the world of e-readers and electronic ink.
Over the years, Kindle paperwhite’s have been evolving, but always maintaining the things that made them unique from the very beginning: simplicity, portability and a minimalist design. There were versions with a keyboard, with buttons, with an asymmetrical layout, but the most popular Kindle paperwhite device is without a doubt, the Kindle paperwhite.
Released in 2012, the Kindle paperwhite has only improved in quality and design since its first sale. The newest version is the fourth-generation Kindle paperwhite. It was announced by Amazon on October 16, 2018, and released it on November 7, 2018; it is colloquially referred to as the Paperwhite 4 and Paperwhite 2018. It is available in 8 GB Wi-Fi, 32 GB Wi-Fi and 32 GB Wi-Fi + 4G LTE ($250 no ads) models. It features a 6-inch plastic-backed display of Amazon’s design with 300 PPI and a flush screen featuring five LED lights. It is waterproof with an IPX8 rating, allowing submersion in 2 meters of freshwater for up to one hour. It supports playback of Audible audiobooks only by pairing with external Bluetooth speakers or headphones.
As any other Kindle paperwhite device, the Paperwhite 4 supports dictionary and Wikipedia look-up functions when highlighting a word in an e-book. The font type, size and margins can be customized. It is charged by connecting to a computer’s USB port or an AC adapter. Users needing accessibility due to impaired vision can use an audio adapter to listen to any e-book read aloud on supported Kindle paperwhite’s, or those with difficulty in reading text may use the Amazon Ember Bold font for darker text and other fonts may too have bold font versions. The Kindle paperwhite also contains experimental features such a web browser that can freely access the Kindle paperwhite Store and Wikipedia on 3G models while the browser may be limited to 50MB of data per month to websites other than Amazon and Wikipedia.
The Kindle paperwhite’s operating system updates are designed to be received wirelessly and installed automatically during a period in sleep mode in which Wi-Fi is turned on. This Kindle paperwhite is sold worldwide, receiving outstanding positive reviews on Amazon and reaching a rating of 4.3 stars out of 5. The lack of a glare has been one of the most praised aspects of this device. This feature of the screen allows users to be able to read on the Kindle paperwhiteeven when the environment is too bright.
Other improvements when considering older versions, is the lightness of this design. The screen is thinner, which makes it easier to hold and prevents any fatigue heavier books might cause.
Users particularly like that the fonts are adjustable for size and that the light is adjustable for brightness. Some noted that the colour of the screen is more natural when compared to older versions that emitted a blue hue. This Kindle paperwhiteis also faster than the previous version, according to some users. The newest audio features of the Kindle paperwhite 4 are also considered a major upgrade. This version has audio capability – using Bluetooth to connect to headphones or speakers, so you can listen to audiobooks. This is also a significant improvement for those users who enjoy audiobooks – previous Paperwhite models did not have this feature.
Users have also approved the greater storage capability – double that of the previous Paperwhite (8 GB now, 4 GB before), with the ability to increase that to 32 GB. This is particularly useful if you have a lot of audiobooks since they use up much more storage space The battery life has also been a recurrent topic within the reviews. Most commented on the improved length of the battery run-time, pleasantly surprised that it can last several weeks of moderate use.
Conclusion
In conclusion, users agree that the Kindle paperwhite 4 is very lightweight, with a great flush screen, good adjustable backlighting, and just an easy tap to turn pages, so you won’t even have to move your hand.
Taking into account everything so far, whether you are considering purchasing the newest Kindle paperwhite device, or you are on a smaller budget and prefer one of the oldest reliable versions, buying a Kindle paperwhite is a decision that can’t go wrong. This is a must-have for any devoted reader and a perfect gift to those who would love to have a library full of books within reach.