I have had 4 other Kindle's prior to this one. This one is BY FAR my favorite. It is so easy to use, it is super light, and makes a book worm like me able to read with no effort at all!
Never in a million years did I think I'd use an e-reader. As a devout book lover, I really held onto the idea of reading a physical book. I loved the smell of books, the feel of the pages, and the visual of seeing how far I was getting in the book. However, in recent years, I have been moving every two years or so and I travel often, so carrying a heavy book with me in my bag or packing/moving boxes upon boxes of books has just been too much for me. Then I thought, "I'll just use the Kindle app on my phone/iPad." That was okay, but I found reading on these devices to be less than ideal because of 1) weight 2) blue light at nighttime and 3) distractions from other apps. So with the Black Friday deal, I finally decided to take the plunge for a Paperwhite Kindle and I'm SOLD!!!
Reasons:
1) The Paperwhite is lighter than both my iPhone 6s w/ case and iPad Pro, let alone an actual book.
2) It's easier to hold in my hand than the above with the wider margins around the screen and overall thinness.
3) The screen feels way more comfortable on my eyes than iPhone+iPad.
4) I can take thousands of books everywhere with me, without the weight and space!!
Overall, I cannot thank myself enough for the greatest gift I've ever received.
P.S. I got the one w/ special offers, but I never see the ads unless the screensaver turns on. But if you just turn the screen off after reading, you'll never see those buggers!
Love the white frame it makes the device brighter and a much more natural page effect. I have a black framed one also and think the Paperwhite is a great product, you can read it in any kind of lighting and in the dark. I find it very soothing and relaxing reading in a room with ambient lighting versus using a reading lamp. I was using a tablet with the Kindle app previously and the glare made it difficult to read in many settings. The Paperwhite has a ton more options than the Kindle app making it a worth while buy, plus saving the battery on your tablets. Has a long lasting charge you can read 1-2 books before having to recharge.
I've had my paperwhite just over a week and absolutely love it. It's easy on the eyes, and that's what I was looking for especially spending 8 hours a day on a computer. Swiping pages are easy. I do have a slight grey tint at the bottom of my screen when the lightings at a certain number, but it doesn't effect the reading at all. I love the size. I love how Goodreads is programmed on it. I received it all ready in my name, so I was able to read from it right away. The adds are slightly annoying, but still not enough bad enough to spend the extra money to remove them. So, I have no complaints. So glad I upgraded from my fire.
Part 2:
It's been about a month and I still love the paperwhite. But I dropped my review to 4 stars because of the adds. I was fine when book adds popped up, since this is an e-reader and I have added a few books to my list to read that have popped up. But an add for a razor was annoying and dumb. It has popped up more than once too.
I have been fortunate to get two Kindles on Prime Day. The first, a Voyage - I received two years ago for 50 dollars off. I did not intend on buying a second one at this point. But this white Paperwhite has had my interest and when I saw it for $79.99, I jumped on the opportunity. I have owned several of these, and it all began with the Kindle Keyboard. When I received this Paperwhite, I charged it full and then registered it. I then downloaded the current novel that I am reading and compared this display to the Voyage. I really cannot justify the Voyage price now. Yes, I did get this at an unbelievable price - but the screen and text quality are stunning, the lighting seems to be uniform, and I like it in white. Its different from the norm. As a professional reviewer also noted, the plastic seems to be different than then earlier paperwhite models, and the back is a bit shinier and it seems to resist the oil from our skins that others are drawn to - including the Voyage. As far as special offers go - I think its the way to go. Amazon has used the same boring screensavers for years now when you choose to remove these offers. They at least offer variety. And they do not interfere with what you bought one of these for - to read. By now - I would think Amazon would give the user their choice for screensavers - the books cover could be one - or perhaps other images transferred to the device by the user.
To sum things up, this is the Kindle you need if this is what you want to do - enter the wonderful world of e-reading. Above this - it becomes a want. Its a matter of substance over style. For $79.99, this was the steal of a lifetime.
Feature Product
- Now available in black or white
- Higher resolution display (300 ppi) - with twice as many pixels
- Built-in adjustable light - read day and night
- No screen glare, even in bright sunlight, unlike tablets
- A single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours
- Massive selection, low prices - over a million titles $2.99 or less
- Prime members read free with unlimited access to over a thousand titles
Description
Featuring our highest resolution display, hand-crafted font Bookerly, and a new typesetting engine for even more beautiful rendering of pages. Our best-selling Kindle is now even better. Highest resolution e-reader display With twice as many pixels as the previous generation, the all-new Kindle Paperwhite has an improved high-resolution 300 ppi display for crisp, laser quality text. No other e-reader offers a higher resolution display. Next-generation reading experience Kindle Paperwhite offers Bookerly, an exclusive font crafted from the ground up for reading on digital screens. Warm and contemporary, Bookerly is inspired by the artistry of the best fonts in modern print books, but is hand-crafted for great readability at any font size.
I purchased white Kindle PaperWhite at Best Buy.
This is by far the best model for the price. The back light is just enough for night reading but doesn't fatigue the eyes like an iPad. It's a little difficult to highlight and take notes, but I suppose it just takes some getting used to the touch screen since it has a different feel than a smartphone or tablet.
So far the white model hasn't gotten any stains from being in a backpack and purse with pencils or in my coat pocket. I will Update if that changes.
Update 7/26/18: Definitely my favorite e-reader. I almost never read on my tablet anymore. With or without the front light, the Paperwhite is easy on the eyes and makes for an extremely enjoyable reading experience for hours at a time. While the hard drive is only 3GB, I have hundreds of books on my Paperwhite and have not filled it up yet. The ONLY thing I wish this Kindle had is buttons for turning the page. I don't think I can ever go back to paper books after using this beautiful piece of technology.
Update 12/26/17: The Paperwhite has quickly become my favorite e-reader. The size and weight alone are enough to make me favor it over a tablet, but the e-ink display is fantastic. Even reading in the dark now, I'm not bothered by the white background and black text. It's just like reading a paper book, but infinitely more convenient.
Update 12/8/17: I've become used to the front light, and it doesn't annoy me nearly as much as it did at first. I now find myself using the front light more often, rather than turning on a lamp. I find the e-ink display easier on the eyes than that of a tablet screen, which of course is the point of e-ink.
12/4/17: After years of reading on a tablet screen with the Kindle app, this Kindle Paperwhite went on sale for Cyber Monday, and I decided to give it a shot. There are many things that I love about it, and a few things that I don't. First, the good:
-The screen, without the front light, is easy to read in bright light, and even in somewhat dim light. It is more like paper, rather than a digital screen.
-It is a touch screen, which makes navigation easy.
-The battery lasts forever. I've had it for almost a week now, and haven't had to charge it yet. The battery is still quite full.
-If you have wifi, you can shop easily on the Kindle store, right from the device itself; a luxury not afforded on a regular tablet.
-With a Kindle device there is also the wonderful addition of Family Library. You can link your Amazon account with other family members in your household and share your books with each other. Again, this is not something that can be done on a regular tablet.
-The device is very light-weight, and comfortable to hold.
-The size is perfect; small enough to fit in a purse or a large pocket, yet large enough to make reading comfortable. (I don't like reading on my smartphone because the screen is way too small.)
And now, the not-so-good:
-The front light is cold (blueish). I like to read in bed, and one of the benefits of reading on a tablet is that the screen is back-lit so that I don't have to turn a light on. However, I wish that the front light on the Paperwhite were warmer (more yellow or orange). When I read on the Paperwhite in bed, I find myself turning the front light off, and turning a lamp on to read it like a regular book. I wish that I had just bought the basic Kindle, since I don't use the front light. Though, after reading some other reviews, it seems that I'm the only one who feels this way about the light.
-When the screen brightness is turned down to 0, the screen still glows faintly, though it is only obvious in a dark room. It's not a big deal, it just annoys me.
-I wish that I had the option of making the background black and the text white. If I could do that, the color of the front light wouldn't bother me nearly as much when reading in bed. I do that on my tablet when I read at night, and it's great. I'm sure there's a reason why that can't be done with the e-ink display, but I don't know what it is.
-I've seen other reviewers complain that the back of the kindle is a grease-magnet. I have also found this to be true, however I put a thin Fintie case on my Kindle, and that is no longer an issue.
Bottom line: the pros outweigh the cons for me, and I do really love this e-reader. Had I known that the front light would annoy me so much, I would have just bought the basic Kindle instead of the Paperwhite. I still give it five stars because I'm sure for most people the front light would be a benefit to them.
My overall rating is a solid four stars. After a few days, I don't regret buying this. I'd buy it again.
I wouldn't normally compile a scorecard, but, since this product has been thoroughly dissected, I'll list bullets and my sub-ratings:
• New item (5) From appearances I received a new Kindle. Some complained their units were scuffed or obviously used -- like being registered to another person. Such complaints are valid. I was prepared to return my Kindle and ditch the idea of owning a Kindle if Amazon had treated me that way. Unexcusable. On the other hand my Kindle came unregistered, not pre-registered to my account as they said. It's new... I guess?
• Model (n/a) I received a unit with a serial number starting with "G070KB" which means "Kindle PaperWhite 3 White (2015) WiFi" or "PW3W" according to wikidotmobilereaddotcom /wiki /Kindle_Serial_Numbers. My box says "Paperwhite (7th Generation)" on the back.
• Build quality (4) On the downside, gaps are visible between my bezel and case, especially in the lower corners. These gaps are probably more noticable in the white version which I have. Most importantly, my Kindle is solid. It does not squeak or creak when squeezed. Four points.
• Screen appearance (5) The screen looks good, if not exactly white. It looks good enough. I agree with the guy who said the backlight is what makes the screen pop. Everyone says "backlight" but the screen is lit from the edge. I too see the smudge that people mention. It's a shadow from the four LEDs along the bottom edge. I don't find it bothersome at all: a non-issue.
• Speed (4) Adequate. It feels sluggish to turn on but mostly speed is OK. You have to interact with your device more slowly; you don't always get visual feedback when a "long" (one second, say) operation has commenced. This is not a tablet; it's much slower.
• Touch response (3) Adequate. Page turns are not a problem with the touch screen. Sometimes my touch is not registered but I have that problem with phones too. I've never used Kindles with physical buttons, but I don't think I'd have missed them here.
• Software (3) Meh. I can think of ways to improve the UX, but that's true of any product I lay my hands on. I'd be nice if Amazon had a feature to show you free content only, but they're in the business of selling content, after all.
• User Guide (4) My Kindle came with two guides installed. After performing a software upgrade there was a third. The latest Guide says "8th Generation" on its cover page but the page headers inside say "7th Generation". Oops, Amazon.
• Ads (2) I don't like 'em. I don't like the "swipe to dismiss" after start up. It adds to the sluggishness you feel after pressing power. I can see how it's worse when you have a case, as mentioned. I'll pay the $20 and get myself a case as well. Some people don't find the ads intrusive. I guess they don't mind having a finger stuck in their eye, either.
• Browser (2) You don't want to do any web browsing on this device; it's not good. Regardless, you may need to click through an authorization portal when connecting to public Wifi. You'll have to use Kindle's "Experimental Browser" to do this. It won't be pleasant. It will work, though. I halfway considered returning my Kindle and upgrading to the 3G model to avoid this. I reckoned it wasn't worth my time and money. If this sounds like something that will annoy you also, consider upgrading to 3G. When will Amazon jettison the "Experimental" moniker? Who knows.
• Bluetooth (n/a) This device does not have bluetooth support. Some Kindles do, but not this model. Audio support is not exactly built-in either; you need a dongle to plug in headphones. My recommendation: if you desire audio support, buy a different Kindle or buy a general-purpose tablet.
• Audio (n/a) Geek comment here. I wanted to try Kindle's VoiceView feature. I made it work by connecting Bluetooth headphones (but not via bluetooth) using my headphone's built-in DAC. I connected a USB/OTG adapter to a standard micro-USB cable (standard phone cable) then connected my Kindle's port to my headphone's USB port. Lo and behold, it worked. You don't need to purchase the Amazon Audio Adapter if you have the aforementioned items (probably --YMMV). Make sure you use a data cable, not a "charging-only" cable.
I got this Tuesday and wow! I love it, it's fantastic and so lightweight. I have the white one as you see from pictures I've added and I couldn't be happier. Reading in the dark the built in light is so perfect you can read perfectly and no glare.
I love the built in dictionary that has really come in handy. You hold your finger on the word and the definition comes up, I just love it. I suggest getting a case as it's slick and could drop easily.
I got the wall charger when I ordered this because it only comes with the kindle and charger cord. And you CAN'T use just any wall charger, it has to be specified for kindle.
I recommend this kindle 100%
I love my paper white. It has helped me get into reading again! Very convenient to carry in my purse, and I don't have to worry about pages getting bent or messed up in my bag. Great for travel; I have taken it on 2 trips this year and no problems with TSA or disturbing others on the flight because the light is adjustable.
I like the bookmark feature, which I helps me find where I left off that much quicker; i have had several people inquire about the utility of the paper white and they crazily flip through my paper white, so the bookmark is especially handy.
There is a highlighting feature and it allows you to submit any errors to the editors, letting you play editor as you read, if you like!
Overall, I love my Paperwhite, take it almost everywhere, and am enjoying reading again.
I did get the cover to go with it (in Persimmon), and it was worth it!
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