Quoting an Amazon Kindle Review by Madea Giordano

The cited source for this blog post is at the end.

The Best Kindles to Take Your Library Anywhere

Amazon has six ebook readers. Here’s how they stack up—and which one might be right for you.

Kindles are one of our favorite devices. They're simple, reliable, and perfect at what they do—in one palm-sized device, you can bring thousands of books with you to the park or mountain, and they get more than a month of battery life per charge. You can subscribe to get unlimited books from Amazon, or get free books from your local library (more on those below). But what's the best Kindle? Our guide will help you decipher the differences.

Are you ready to wade even further into the field of Amazon devices? We have guides to the Best Fire Tablets and Best Alexa Speakers, as well as many other buying guides for more advice.

Updated February 2022: We've made the Paperwhite our top pick, now that the standard Kindle is a few years old. We've also added more information on how to get ebooks and helpful tips for getting the most out of your Kindle.

  • Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021, 11th Generation)

    We think most people will like the newest Paperwhites the best. The step-up, waterproof ereader went from one to three, and the devices rival the more expensive Oasis. We tried the Signature Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends), but all three have bigger, 6.8-inch screens with smaller bezels. The screens are brighter overall at their max and now have adjustable warm lighting, but only the Signature can auto-adjust that brightness to your surroundings—we think that should be standard across all models. Its faster page-turn rate means there's no delay while you read.

    The Signature has 32 gigabytes of storage and the Standard has 8 gigs. That's a big difference, but you can still read and store a lot of books with 8 gigabytes (around 5,000). If you mostly listen to audiobooks, you may want to go for the Signature, since those tend to take up more room. Still, if you want to save some cash, just clean out your backlog—you can remove a book from your device without deleting it entirely from your Amazon account. The 2021 Paperwhites all get USB-C charging, but the Signature supports wireless charging. Read more about the Kid's Paperwhite below.

      A Basic Option

    Amazon Kindle (2019, 10th Generation)

    If you want a basic ebook reader, this has all the essentials (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and is usually quite affordable. It hasn't been updated since 2019, however, and we wonder if a new one is coming soon.

    This base Kindle has an adequate 6-inch E Ink capacitive touchscreen for reading, and it lights up so you can read in the dark. If you can spend $20 more, you should opt for no ads on the home screen. It can also stream Audible audiobooks to headphones via Bluetooth, but storage is limited to 8 gigabytes (about 8,000 megabytes). For reference, an hour of audio will take up about 30 megabytes, so it can fit dozens of audiobooks. (You can delete audiobooks when you're done to clear space.) It gets about three to six weeks of battery life, depending on how much you read.

      Frivolously Awesome

    Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019, 10th Generation)

    There's no practical reason to buy a $270 ebook reader. (You can save $20 if you agree to have ads, but at this price, you don't want them.) The Oasis costs the same as three standard Kindles—but it's an absolute joy to use. Many of the Oasis' features now show up in the new Paperwhites, like adjustable warm lighting and a faster processor. At 7 inches, the touchscreen is now only slightly bigger than the new Paperwhites. However, it still has the sleek aluminum design with a ridge on one edge and physical buttons to turn the pages. These make it ideal for one-handed reading. The light-up display also looks a little more natural and automatically adjusts the brightness. 

    If you're investing in a Kindle this expensive, you may also want the premium leather cover to complete that luxe feel. On the downside, it's too large to fit in many pockets. If your library includes a ton of audiobooks, you'll want the 32-gigabyte option, which is $30 more.

      Best for Kids

    Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids Edition (2021, 11th Generation)

    The 2021 Paperwhites include a Kids Edition. Like the others, it has a bigger and sleeker screen with smaller bezels and more lighting options. It's also waterproof (with an IPX8 rating)—standard for Paperwhites, but a first for kids. If you have an accident-prone kid, or one who just likes to read by the pool or in the tub, it's a good idea to spend the extra $50 on this version. We didn't test the new Kids model, but we did try the Signature Edition and are confident this one will hold up too. 

    Like prior kids models, you'll get a year's subscription to Amazon Kids+, which is a kid-friendly content library that allows for parental controls. (You can access the same platform across other Amazon devices too, if you have a Fire Tablet or an Echo.) It also comes with a case and a two-year no-questions-asked replacement guarantee. If your kid smashes it just once, you get your money back. If you're going to get your kid an entertainment device, an ebook reader that doesn't have a browser or access to social media is probably as safe as you can get.

    ★ Cheaper alternative: The 10th-generation Kids Kindle ($110) is still available for $50 less if you don't need waterproofing. We think it's still a fine Kindle for kids to enjoy. If you already own this model, you don't have to rush to upgrade.

      Older Kindles Are OK

    Amazon Kinda Old Kindles (2013 and Newer)

    Have a pal who's ready to give up their Kindle? It may work fine for you. If you're buying a sixth-generation Kindle Paperwhite (2013) or newer, it's probably still working fine, albeit without as many bells and whistles. You'll get fewer pixels, and it may lack Bluetooth for audiobooks or any semblance of waterproofing, but older Kindles generally hold up well for reading. Even used or refurbished models are fine, but you probably don't want to spend much on them. You'll want to do a factory reset (go to Settings → Device Options → Reset) and sign in to your own Amazon account.

    You can browse Amazon's certified refurbished Kindles, but there aren't many older and cheap versions anymore.

      Avoid These Kindles!

    Amazon Ancient Kindles

    As a general rule, if there are buttons on the front of a Kindle (other than the new Oasis) or a keyboard, don't shell out money for it. It may still work, but you're going to enjoy the experience much more with a newer device. Your ebook collection with Amazon is saved in the cloud and accessible from any tablet, phone, or Kindle. If you do get your hands on an older, nonworking one, you can trade it in for credit toward a newer model.

      Start Reading

    Where to Get Books

    You may be surprised at the cost of some Kindle books (I was), but there are ways to save some money while reading as much as your heart desires.

    You may want to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for $10 a month. You can only choose from the Unlimited catalog, but there are millions of titles there, including audiobooks and magazines. There's a 30-day free trial you should take advantage of.

    If you already pay for a Prime account, you're eligible for some free books through Prime Reading. There are not as many options as with Kindle Unlimited, and in a lot of cases you'll see both Unlimited and Prime options lumped together, so you'll have to look closely to find the free ones. But it's still something, and there are even some magazines included, like Men's Health and Cosmopolitan.

    But if you don't want another monthly subscription and don't want to continue giving your money to Amazon, take advantage of ebooks available with your library card. Browsing a digital catalog is not as magical as spending an afternoon looking over every shelf in a library, but such is the ebook life (no one says you can't read both!). We have a detailed how-to on this that you should check out, but here are some of the takeaways:

    • Get a library card for your local branch

    • Check your branch's website for its ebook offerings. Many use the website OverDrive.

    • Download directly to your Kindle library. They'll automatically be removed when they're due back.

    If you know someone else with a Kindle, you two can lend some books between your libraries, just as you would with a physical copy. Follow these instructions from Amazon to do so, and keep in mind not all books can be loaned.

    • What Else Can Kindle Do?

    Tips and Tricks

    Kindles have helpful features that you may want to take advantage of it. Long-press a word or phrase to see its definition, highlight it, or take notes. You can also search the entire book for that particular word or phrase or translate it to or from other languages.

    Word Wise shows short definitions in small text within the lines. Unfortunately, it's not available for all books, but when it is you can turn it on or off and choose more and fewer hints. Clicking the short definition opens a longer one from Word Wise and the New Oxford American Dictionary or Oxford Dictionary of English (you can switch between the two), plus translations, and a Wikipedia page, if applicable. 

    While reading, tap the top of the screen and click “Aa” to change font size or type—there's even a font called OpenDyslexic that helps make reading easier for people with dyslexia. You can control margin sizes and line spacing from that menu too.

    When Kindle is connected to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones, VoiceView Screen Reader (accessed through settings → accessibility) allows you to use gestures to navigate your device and reads aloud what you've pressed. It will also read a book aloud, though it doesn't sound nearly as nice as an audiobook does. 

    Amazon owns Goodreads, so it syncs seamlessly to Kindles (press the three-dot menu → Goodreads). If you have a Goodreads account, you can review the Kindle books you've read or browse your bookshelf and recommendations. Long-pressing a word or phrase, in addition to what is mentioned above, opens up an option to share quotes directly to Goodreads.

    Here's my source:

Giordano, Medea. “The Best Kindles to Take Your Library Anywhere.” Wired, Conde Nast, 22 Feb. 2022, https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-kindle/. 

Now for my response:

I am an Amazon Affiliate Marketer. If you would like to buy an Amazon Kindle, please click the link directly below. Also, I have had an Amazon Kindle in the past, I loved it and had a great experience with this amazing product in the past, which was 2 years ago. Thank you Madea for your post on WIRED, as I thought it was truly amazing and I wanted to share it. For the viewers of this blog post: please go check out Madea's work on WIRED (this isn't a sponsored post by the way, I just like her work).  

The price of this product is only: $69.99-284.99 as of 5/5/2022.

https://www.amazon.com/deal/336a73df?_encoding=UTF8&linkCode=r02&tag=darkpassions-20&linkId=9cec029faf39d99b9e2e9c0b30ac4803&ref_=ihub_rc_td_c_deals-promotions_336a73df

 

Thank you for reading this blog post and have a nice day!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Script for Friday, May 5th, 2022. Here's a sneak peek at tomorrow's podcast episode.

Hello everybody, my name is Jacob, and I am giving all of you a sneak peek at tomorrow's episode, my source is cited all the way at the end of the show notes/blog post. I would first like to give a special thank you to my viewers for giving me the motivation to give all of you more podcast episodes by viewing my work. Please stay tuned, and thank you again for all of the love and support by viewing my episodes prior to this post and going forward. As aforementioned, I am truly grateful that all of you have viewed and enjoyed my podcast. Story #24 Billy the Kid's grave For one of the most infamous gunslingers in the Old West, Billy the Kid sure does have a lot of graves. The first one is in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where he was (allegedly) shot down at age 21 by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881. The grave is surrounded on all sides by a cage, and for a good reason—the headstone has been stolen twice by fans. But is Billy the Kid actually buried at that spot? Another man,
Read more

"Harry Houdini" Podcast Episode

"In the cutthroat world of magicians and mediums, Harry Houdini made enemies. He  had racked up so much ill will by the time of his mysterious death, in  fact, that some people suspected he had been poisoned by psychics whose  claims he regularly debunked. The cause of Houdini’s death — on this day, Halloween, in 1926 — was officially a combination of appendicitis and peritonitis ,  an infection of the abdominal lining. But its onset was swift and  surprising in the otherwise healthy 52-year-old, known for superhuman  strength and the ability to escape every tight spot he had ever found  himself in — including being buried alive, one of four “close-ups with  death” of his career, according to a New York Times story.  The Times reported on the bizarre string of events that led up  to the fatal infection, including a barrage of gut punches from a  college student who wanted to test the strength of Houdini’s stomach  muscles. Although a doctor told him that his appendix
Read more