For years, my trusty Amazon Kindle went everywhere with me. Whether it was work, holidays, train or plane I always had a book to hand thanks to Amazon’s Kindle. I eventually left it on a train late last year but with the holidays coming up, I decided to replace and upgrade and get myself the newest version of the Kindle Paperwhite.
Unboxing the Paperwhite reveals that the mid-range Kindle is actually a little bit special. It arrived charged and powering it up reveals the improvement in the Paperwhite’s screen.
This new version is 300dpi, an improvement of almost 50% on the old model. The difference this makes to your reading is significant. The text looks bolder and more formed and to me, feels easier on the eyes.
The Paperwhite measures just over 6.5” by 4.5”. It’s only a third of an inch thick and weighs just over seven ounces. This make it light to hold and really easy to pack or slide in to a briefcase of handbag when you’re travelling.
This seventh generation of Paperwhite is the first I’ve owned with a light, and it’s worth the upgrade for this alone. In daylight, the light is unnoticeable and the screen reads like any Kindle. However, in fading light or sitting up in bed, it’s bright but not distracting or tiring on the eyes.
The Paperwhite is equipped with Wifi and you don’t even need to connect it to your computer to use it. Connect to your home Wifi when you take it out of the box and you can start downloading books immediately. There’s enough memory built In to the Paperwhite to carry thousands of books with you. However, with it’s Wifi connectivity, even if you’re away on holidays you can connect to the Amazon store and pick up that new page-turner.
Travelling with the Paperwhite is made easier by its super-long battery life. I’ve been using mine for almost a month, and I still haven’t charged it. Amazon say you can get up to six weeks reading from a single charge, but that will vary for heavy users.
I bought a case for my Paperwhite to add that extra protection in case it’s dropped. However, the Paperwhite is not an example of design brilliance, so adding a case can help it look a bit more stylish.
There are about three and a half million books available for Kindle and it supports other formats like PDF also.
