Amazon’s new Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite are faster and brighter

Amazon introduced updated versions of the Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite on Wednesday, only a few hours after inadvertently leaking them both. The Paperwhite is getting one of its biggest design refreshes ever, with a larger screen that’s completely flush with the bezels of the device, while the entry-level model is getting updated with a pop of color and some speed improvements. We got to try both at Amazon’s launch event in New York City and came away impressed. Neither is a reinvention of the whole Kindle format, but both are nice devices.

Of the two e-readers, the Kindle Paperwhite is receiving more significant changes. The e-reader is now bigger, with a seven-inch screen, while boasting the highest contrast ratio of any Kindle. It’s also brighter, and pages turn faster. Amazon says they’re 25 percent faster, to be specific, but the upshot is that pages switch practically as fast as you can tap. Full-flash page refreshes are less common now, and they’re subtle enough that we barely noticed them in demos. Amazon says the new model can last three months on a single charge, up from 10 weeks, but we’ll need some time to find out if that’s true in our use. The standard Paperwhite model will start at $159.99, a $10 increase from its predecessor.

Amazon is also introducing a “Signature Edition” of the Paperwhite, which costs $40 more. This $199.99 model is identical to the regular Paperwhite but comes with twice as much storage at 32GB, optional wireless charging, and an auto-adjusting front light. A number of executives at Amazon’s launch event raved about wireless charging, saying that they use their bedside dock and their Kindle just seems permanently charged.

The entry-level Kindle is receiving more of an iterative update, with a new dark mode, a backlight that’s 25 percent brighter, and improved contrast levels. Amazon also claims it now offers faster page turns — though side by side with the new Paperwhite, it was noticeably slower. The new model is supposed to last slightly longer, with up to eight weeks on a single charge, and it’s a few grams lighter. The Kindle now comes in a lovely matcha green color in addition to black, too. (Amazon has clearly seen the trend of people customizing and bedazzling their Kindles, and is leaning into it.) Otherwise, it’s similar to its predecessor, with the same six-inch 300ppi display as before, 16GB of storage, and USB-C support. It’ll sell for $109.99, also up $10 over the last model.

The new Kindle Scribe and Kindle Colorsoft were the splashier announcements in Amazon’s new e-reader lineup, but the two less expensive Kindles were overdue for an upgrade and seem to have gotten them. The Paperwhite, Amazon executives said over and over, is most people’s favorite Kindle — and a better screen and faster page turns are exactly what they’ve been asking for. These Kindles remain Kindles, and that’s very much on purpose.