Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsSomething about battery life
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2024
The biggest features for me were
1 dark mode for evening reading (software feature) - A
2 blue light adjustments (software feature) - A
3 better font fidelity with 300x300 (software feature) - B
3a better touch intelligence preventing accidental page turns (software feature) - C
4 audio transcriptions (software feature) - F
5 manual/auto adjusting light (software/hardware feature) - A
6 larger screen - A
7 battery life - F
Lesser features for me were
1 inductive charging - A
2 water resistant up to so many feet for so many hours - A
3 32gb storage - A
Worst features (described over first paragraph)
1 pricing schema between the paperwhites - C
2 color options - C
Unadvertised features
1 interface seemingly inspired by libby - A
Apologies ahead of time for the wall of text but there is alot to cover.
Why I chose the Signature edition versus the lower priced model is the horrible pricing schema for the paperwhite line. Yes, they are fifty dollars separate in price so I looked into why. First, the base model only has eight gigs of storage (a shocking amount for the price point). The normal kindle has twice the space and priced below a hundred dollars. So I started playing with the options. They don't specify, up front, that the base model is sponsored. Removing advertisements and the price increases by twenty dollars. Since the signature version doesn't have a sponsored version, this is the true price difference. Doubling the storage aligns it with the base model kindle and adds a colored rubber option for the plastic back plate - now a twenty dollars difference. I wanted the blue rubber, which they call denim (lol I mean come on). But whatever. At this point, it was more-or-less a simple decision. For a twenty dollar upgrade, you get double storage and inductive charging. Neither was a big selling point, but, it provided more bang for the buck. Eight gigabytes of storage equated to a ten dollar increase. Sixteen gigabytes is twenty. The inductive charging coil is a free throw in. I'll take it. At the end of the day, the books I read are all from the library. I haven't bought an ebook in years. I consider this an investment since I don't have to drive to the library for a pick up and return. I won't need to pay late fees (I'm horrible about timely returns and renewals). Reading is also far more enjoyable since I don't have the hand cramps from holding a paperback open. I can be in my dark living room because it turned nightfall as I read and simply adjusted the lighting on the device to keep reading. So, onto my review.
Regarding the software features listed as 1, 2, 3(a), 4, 5, 6, 7
1. Dark mode was one of the strongest selling points. Even though it is a software driven feature, it's hard to pass up the extra comfort for evening reading. My tablets and home comupter are all dark themed for this reason.
2. The blue light adjustment is also a permanent setting for me. Blue light is literally destructive on the eyes and should ultimately be banished from all tech. At least, now, we can adjust the lighting. Big plus there.
3. Font fidelity is too good. Previous models had a lower font count resulting in an experience that felt more 'paper-like,' if you will. Fonts on paperback novels are low fidelity as they are, and the previous e-ink displays seemed more realistic. If a software patch lowered the font count for reading, I'd take it.
3a. The detection of false touches on the screen to prevent accidental page turns doesn't seem to work. In most cases, the header and footer of the reading interface pops up when accidently touching the screen. In this case, the page isn't turned, but it still changes the 'view' of the page requiring another tap to restore. If I hold it by the side bezel, a roll of the finger toward the edge of the screen will turn the page every time. This is really annoying.
4. Attempted audio transcription in the accessibility section. It's a bad feature. If you want it to read your book, it mispronounces many words and I'm thinking 'what did it just say?' Any slight touch on the screen will disrupt the reading, it'll state the word it thinks you touched, then nothing. It won't continue reading the book until you go back a page, then return. Then it begins reading from the top all over again. Aggravating. If you decide to use this feature while driving, stuff it in a glove compartment and don't look back. I can't even see how this could be a feature for blind users. The interface isn't meant for the visually challenged because it isn't very intuitive for those purposes. It's a smooth touchscreen with zero tactile feedback.
5. Manual light adjustment, naturally, is a great feature. They've had it ever since front lit displays were annouced. Fair enough. The autoadjustment, though, is aggravating. For me, I want no light if it's a bright room. And my eyes are unique to me, and the auto adjustment doesn't get it right. So, this feature is more fluff than anything. They could've saved three cents on the sensor and skipped the feature altogether.
6. Larger screen, is always good, enough said.
7. One selling point was the advertised battery life. Upon receiving the device, I put it straight on the charger for the initial fill up. Charged it to hundred-percent before activating it. As my usual routine with Kindle, i lowered the light to lowest setting and downloaded my reading list. Promptly turned airplane mode and proceeded to read. In the first twenty hours, the device was already at eighty-two percent battery. The time block included an eight hour sleeping period with the device in low-power mode. I may have spent three hours reading a book in this time period and the battery was already at ninety-two percent. At this rate, the device would need a charge in less than a week - far less than the 'up to ten weeks battery life.' This is now, more or less, a gimmick the way I see it. I'm sure ten-weeks means that the device is completely off and sitting on a shelf. As a comparison, my fifth-generation kindle paperwhite battery lasted at least six weeks when it was new and really only replaced it now because the battery lasts about thirty-six hours between charges. They also stopped pushing software updates years ago, god only knows why. The browser was still experimental and it struggled to display the kindle store as it was. The truth is, Amazon doesn't support their devices beyond three years, even with minor software releases. The platform should've improved on battery consumption. In reality, it's better than normal phone/tablets with battery performance, but not drastically so. Not like before. If I take this thing on my next vacation, the charger will be required.
Regarding 1, 2, 3
1. I figured the inductive charging coil was more-or-less a gimmick. An ancient and ultra-inexpensive feature to implement on devices meant to provide marketing buzz in most cases. The truth is, this device will need to be charged FAR more often than advertised. And the wear and tear of the internal charging port would eventually lead to water infiltration if you read near a swimming pool, hot tub, the beach, or in the rain.
2. Leading to the water resistant 'feature.' I can picture a situations where a wife asks the husband 'honey, have you seen my kindle?' Husband responds 'yeah it's on the bottom of the pool.' This helps the community of users who stupidly bring their devices to the toilet and prone to dropping them into the waste water. God knows it's happened to me when checking my texts after a few cocktails. Yes I've been guilty of this in the past. And yes, I still bring my kindle into the bathroom to read while doing number two.
3. Storage, it is what it is. I don't consume many audio books, and this storage is really featured for that. Though, the storage is sufficient in holding large files. Large enough to store movie files.
Regarding 1
1. The interface does seem inspired by the libby app. If I want to look at my 'send to kindle' web pages, then I can 'filter' the view on documents. I can 'filter' by the books I've only downloaded, and so on. I've grown accustomed to this view and it is welcome on the kindle. If I want to hit the brewery for a few pints, I'll spend ten minutes filtering through all my preferred new sites, i'll send to kindle the headlines that seem interesting, then take it with me. A distraction free device for reading news while drinking a few pints. This is nothing new but the filter feature makes it really nice.
