Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: The best e-reader gets better
Our Verdict
Now that it'southward waterproof, the Kindle Paperwhite is the only eastward-reader you need to know almost.
For
- USB-C charging
- Larger display
- Perfectly even backlighting
- Waterproof
Confronting
- No cellular choice
- Some other $10 price bump
Tom's Guide Verdict
Now that information technology'south waterproof, the Kindle Paperwhite is the only e-reader yous demand to know about.
Pros
- +
USB-C charging
- +
Larger display
- +
Perfectly fifty-fifty backlighting
- +
Waterproof
Cons
- -
No cellular option
- -
Another $10 toll bump
The new Kindle Paperwhite 2021 looks a lot like the previous one, at to the lowest degree from a altitude. Amazon isn't trying to re-invent the wheel hither: it'southward already figured out how to make a Kindle that passes the Goldilocks challenge. And this model, despite being a piffling pricier, is still just right for most out there.
Amazon breathed new life into the Kindle Paperwhite ($139) past giving information technology a larger brandish, a screen characteristic previously exclusive to the high-end Kindle Haven and a new charging port. This keeps in Amazon'south patterns with Kindles. Most of its updates haven't been huge plenty to push people to run out and buy 1 the 2nd they're available, merely the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is just similar its dad: sitting atop our best Kindle list.
Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Specs
| Kindle Paperwhite (2021) | |
|---|---|
| Price | $139.99 |
| Brandish size | 6.viii-inch |
| Resolution (points-per-inch) | 300ppi |
| Storage | 8GB |
| Battery life | Up to 10 weeks (claimed) |
| Dimensions | 6.9 x four.9 ten 0.3 inches |
| Weight | vii.2 ounces |
| Ports | USB-C |
| Wireless charging | No |
| Extras | Brandish warmth settings |
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Price and configurations
While I'm non happy to see that the Paperwhite costs more than information technology used to, the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 starts at $139.
As happened with the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite, the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is $10 more than than it was before.
The Kindle Paperwhite shipped on October 27, 2021.
The default Paperwhite comes with 8GB of storage (same as the 2018 model), and Amazon is however charging $20 to upgrade to an advertizement-complimentary feel (which bumps you up to $159. Thankfully, Amazon is no longer calling these ads "special offers." I'd take this upgrade 10 times out of 10, only I just hate ads (I even pay for YouTube Premium).
What has inverse, though, is that Amazon's no longer offering a model with a cellular modem, the other feature it once offered for an upgrade toll. For an extra $50, you can upgrade to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which bumps your storage to 32GB, adds automatically-adjusting backlighting and wireless charging. Check out our Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review for more than details.
Actually miss cellular connectivity? You can find it in the Kindle Oasis, which starts at $249.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Design
The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 looks just like most other Kindles, a matte-black shell encasing an eastward-ink brandish. Merely this year we've got some key differences. Its bezels are smaller, and its screen is larger, going from a six-inch panel to a 6.8-inch panel.
While the bezel-shrinking helps enable a larger screen, the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 (six.9 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches) is too slightly larger than the six.six ten 4.6 x 0.3-inch 2018 Paperwhite. It'southward not much heavier, though, going from half dozen.4 ounces in the previous model to 7.ii ounces in the new edition.
The 6-inch entry-level Amazon Kindle (6.3 ten four.5 x 0.3 inches, vi.1 ounces) is smaller and lighter, and the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (6.nine ten 4.9 x .iii inches, 7.3 ounces) is nearly identical. The 7-inch aluminum Kindle Oasis (six.3 10 5.6 x 0.3 inches, 6.6 ounces) is shorter and wider
Too, in that location's the thing of the USB-C port in the 2021 Paperwhite, a moment that could have you lot saying "finally!" (every bit I did) or "what?" (equally one of my relatives did). The motility to this reversible port is a flake of grab-up if you lot call back virtually the Kindle in context of laptops and tablets (save the regular iPad), most of which take adopted this port.
Its inflow is important for primarily one reason: reversible ports mean no fumbling to figure out the "right side up." Amazon isn't touting whatever fast-charging, with claims that it can gain a total charge in nether two.5 hours with a 9W USB ability adapter (the Paperwhite 2018 was rated for a total charge in iii hours with a 5W adapter). Oh, and if you desire wireless charging? That's sectional to the $189 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.
Nosotros want to compare Kindles to other east-readers, but the Nook lineup hasn't been refreshed since the GlowLight three in 2018. We will update this review if B&North or Rakuten (who makes the Kobo e-readers) field a comparable eastward-reader.
I almost wonder if the bezels on the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 are also pocket-sized. When I used information technology, I found myself ever having to hold information technology from the bottom. Gripping it from the now-slimmer side bezel, I plant myself accidentally actuating the impact screen controls likewise oft, and unintentionally highlighting text. That said, my mom (the biggest Kindle user I know) didn't find the change to exist difficult to go around, as she keeps her Kindle Paperwhite in a case, which gives her more than to concur onto.
This is why I prefer the asymmetrical Amazon Kindle Oasis' pattern, which has a spot to grip on the side, with folio turning buttons. This is highly subjective and personal, though, and then your mileage will likely vary.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Immovability
Just like the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite the new Kindle Paperwhite (2021) has a waterproof resistance rating of IPX8. And while I could have assumed it volition work (the 2018 model survived a bath in a bucket of water unscathed), I decided to put it to the examination by dropping the Paperwhite in nearly v inches of tap water in my NYC apartment sink and letting it sit for xx minutes.
And when I took it out? The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 worked as if nothing had happened.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Display
The Paperwhite's 6.8-inch, 300 ppi brandish isn't only larger than before, it'southward also more well-lit than its predecessor. The 2018 Paperwhite had a mere five LED backlights, while the 2021 model has 17. So, if you ever idea the Paperwhite wasn't evenly lit (the 2015 model had just iv backlights), you should cheque out our photos of the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 in the dark. The entry-level Kindle only has four LEDs, the Oasis has 25 and the Paperwhite Signature Edition too has 17.
Text is, of course, even so super-crisp, something the Paperwhite hasn't had an issue with for a very long time (the kickoff 300ppi Paperwhite was the 2015 Kindle Paperwhite). The entry-level Amazon Kindle has a 167 ppi screen, and the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and Kindle Haven are likewise at 300ppi.
As you can run into above, the lighting is pretty perfectly even. I tested this out at lower settings, at around 5 ticks on the Effulgence meter, and saw that evenly-lit light go along.
The Kindle Paperwhite 2021's biggest new screen feature (non counting the increased size) is for Display Warmth. Non to be confused with a blue calorie-free filter, this setting lets you change the color of the LED calorie-free to an amber hue. This feature (seen in the pricier Kindle Oasis), isn't meant to help you fall asleep faster or annihilation similar that (though you tin can schedule when information technology turns on), but just as an aesthetic option.
The one off thing that nit-pickers may discover is that there's a small gap between the screen and the bezel, showing that the display is inset. Information technology's not a huge bargain, though I'll notation that the reMarkable two has a much smaller gap.
Reading a section of the emotionally taxing The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk while outside, I noticed that the Paperwhite'due south display is still suitable for reading in direct sunlight.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: User experience and bonus features
Amazon's made pocket-sized changes to the Kindle OS interface, and they experience like they're for the better (some modify-averse users will likely popular up to say otherwise). The home screen is at present split between "Habitation" and "Library" sections, with the former showing a sample of the latter, forth with your reading lists and content that Amazon's algorithms deem worthy of recommending to you.
The Search bar now takes upwardly much more of the acme of the screen, but information technology'south no longer in the bill of fare that appears while reading a book. A new menu "drawer" here contains settings for Airplane mode, Sync, Bluetooth and Dark Mode (introduced in 2020).
1 of our long-term issues with the Kindle has been how much it pushes its social extras on you. And so, while setting up the Kindle Paperwhite 2021, I was happy to see that Amazon places an option to disable Goodreads (its social network for readers that isn't well-liked) up front. At this window, I just tapped "No Thanks" and got to experience the rest of the Kindle without using information technology.
I don't recollect I'm alone in that I want my Kindle for reading and nothing else. There'southward also that folio of "most this book" text that pops up and gets in the way. You tin get rid of this by opening an ebook, tapping the Font option at the height of the screen, tapping More and turning off About This Book. I also disable Pop Highlights, because it feels weird to accept a shared reading feel.
Amazon's nevertheless letting y'all heed to audio books via Bluetooth on your Kindle (though this seems more like a matter people would use their smart phones for), and it's likewise including its "experimental" web browser, which has never actually worked right, and even so does not.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Battery Life
The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2021 has bombardment life to spare. Amazon claims information technology should terminal up to x weeks, but that'southward based on 30 minutes of reading per solar day, with Wi-Fi off and brightness ready to xiii out of 24.
Based on my testing, I recollect they're non far off. I knocked out about 1.5% of bombardment life per 30 minutes of testing, with Brightness set at multiple levels and Wi-Fi on. Doing the math, I'd probably hit empty a few days earlier than that 70-day gauge. Merely we don't all read in the same conditions, or for the same amounts of time, so this is a big case for the phrase "your mileage may vary."
Either way, even if it ran out of a charge in ix weeks and not 10 weeks, the Kindle Paperwhite has impressive endurance.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Content
If you're looking for a volume, the odds say that Amazon has it. And we're not surprised. Since it's one of the biggest online retailers, most would probably want the chance to be in forepart of that audience.
And while Amazon doesn't publish numbers, estimates suggest it's at around 9 million titles.
Kobo boasts that information technology offers "6 million eBooks and audiobooks," while Barnes and Noble, on the other hand, claims it has "millions of eBooks."
Amazon's besides got Kindle Unlimited, a $9.99 Netflix-for-books with "over 2 million titles and thousands of audiobooks." They even throw in three magazine subscriptions.
In case you're not made of money, the Kindle Paperwhite still supports borrowing books from public libraries for free, using the Overdrive service.
Prime members tin can take reward of First Reads (formerly Kindle First), which grants early admission to editor's picks. Members also tin can access two free Kindle books per month, and get access to discounted impress editions.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review: Verdict
Small updates are interesting, especially when they come with a price bump. This Kindle Paperwhite (2021) review shows that this is such an update, with a slightly larger screen, USB-C charging and display warmth in a model that costs $10 more than its predecessor. The previous Kindle wasn't accused of being too pocket-sized, having the wrong port or non having enough display options.
So, nosotros're guessing that the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 may be more of a affair people buy to replace a Kindle that's hit the finish of its life than 1 people rush out to purchase now. Oddly, though, Amazon isn't offering it with cellular connectivity, something older models are losing.
Don't want to spend so much money? The $89 Kindle is your best alternative, though yous're trading abroad text crispness with its 167ppi display. And if y'all want a display that takes abroad the picayune with brightness settings, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition packs that and wireless charging, only it costs an actress $l, at $189.
Lastly, if you're like me and call up the slimmer bezels make for awkward handling, there's ever the $249 Kindle Oasis. That extra $110 is a lot when most of its other once-exclusive features (such every bit machine-brightness and display warmth) are plant in the 2021 Kindles.
This all adds up to the king keeping the throne: the Kindle Paperwhite (2021) is withal the best Kindle for near people — just with a fiddling more screen to honey.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-2021
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