Amazon adds bigger screen, longer battery life to Kindle Paperwhite

Amazon recently announced new Kindle Paperwhite models that bring essential improvements to the series. The new Kindle Paperwhites get a larger 6.8-inch display with adjustable colour temperature, longer battery life, and faster charging via USB-C. 

Similar to the three-year-old Kindle Paperwhite, this new model still gets a flush-mounted display, built-in backlight, IPX8 waterproofing, and 300ppi resolution. Amazon reduced the bezels a bit to accommodate the bigger screen, which may or may not be a good thing given that you hold onto these bezels when you read.

The new Kindle Paperwhites now get up to 10 weeks of battery on a single charge, and with USB-C charging, you can fully charge the device in around two and a half hours. These e-book readers also get a new processor. The new SoC, combined with software improvements, brings a 20 percent performance boost to these devices. 

Some of the new software improvements include a new smartphone-style swipe-down settings menu and a new menu bar at the bottom of the homescreen. To make it easier to sign into new Paperwhites, Amazon will add an option to log in via the Kindle app on a smartphone. You can also expect to get more scrollable interfaces for the homescreen and library menus in a later update. 

Aside from this base Kindle Paperwhite, the company is introducing the Paperwhite Signature Edition, which gets Qi wireless charging, more storage (32GB instead of the 8GB on the standard model), and an automatically adjusting light sensor that was previously only available in the Oasis models.

Amazon is also selling a Kindle Paperwhite Kids Edition, which comes with a kid-friendly cover, a year of Amazon Kids Plus, and a two-year extended replacement program.

The base Kindle Paperwhite has a starting price of $149.99, the Paperwhite Signature Edition starts at $209.99, and the Kids Edition costs US$159.99 (around CA$203 converted).

Source: The Verge