Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite has a bigger screen and longer battery life

Amazon announced three new versions of its Kindle Paperwhite e-reader on Tuesday.

This is the first major update to Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite since 2018. There are several new features. People might not update their Kindle very often, maybe not until the Kindle dies completely, but there is enough here that some people might want to swap. The Kindles themselves aren’t big money generators for Amazon, compared to the rest of its business, but they help people buy books through Amazon rather than elsewhere.

All three models include the standard Paperwhite, a Paperwhite Kids, and the Paperwhite Signature Edition which adds some functionality to the other models. All three can be ordered starting Tuesday and shipped on October 27.

Note: Amazon does not offer cellular connectivity on these models, which means you will need to purchase the Kindle Oasis, last updated in 2019, if you want to download books when you are not connected. Wi-Fi. It’s probably because older Kindles ran on 3G networks that wireless carriers around the world are starting to shut down as they transition to 5G.

Here are the new features:

The new Kindle Paperwhite costs $ 139.99 and includes a larger 6.8-inch screen, up from 6 inches on the previous model, and smaller bezels on the sides of the screen. It offers up to 10 weeks of battery life with a charge, compared to 6 weeks in the previous model, and now includes USB-C charging. It takes about 2.5 hours to fully charge. As with the previous models, it is IPX8 water resistant, so you don’t have to worry about it falling into the pool. And it has a new processor so pages turn 20% faster than before. Finally, it benefits from the warm light feature of the premium Kindle Oasis, which allows you to add an orange tint to the screen which can be more pleasing to your eyes if you are reading in bed.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition costs $ 189.99 and offers the same features as the standard model, but with 32GB of storage instead of 8GB, which means there’s more room for books and audiobooks. It looks the same but also supports wireless charging so you can drop it on any wireless charger you might already have for a phone to charge. It also has an auto-adjusting light that will dim or illuminate depending on the ambient light level in your room.

Kindle Paperwhite Kids Editing Also includes the same features as the regular Paperwhite, but costs $ 159 and includes one year of Amazon Kids +, kid-friendly coverage, and a 2-year replacement warranty.