Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Pro Reviews

Reading e-books on a tablet was never a pleasant experience for me. The very nature of LCD technology leads to eye strain and battery life measured in hours. In comparison E Ink's technology is very efficient, enabling devices that run for weeks between charges instead. Having used the Paperwhite for several months now, I can personally comment that using Amazon's reader is no more taxing on my eyes than an actual book. If you can't put down that page-turner, you don't have to. I've never felt like I needed to take a break. The same is not true of an inexpensive tablet like the Nexus 7.

If you want a Kindle just for reading books, not for playing games and surfing the net, then this e-ink screen is way easier on the eyes than the Kindle Fire HD or iPad mini. It has the crispest e-ink screen from Amazon yet and it’s enhanced by a light that – while not perfectly even in its illumination at the base of the display – is attractive. It makes the grey Kindle screen look almost white like, you know, paper.

Minor issues aside, Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite is more aces than not. It has the same primary advantage of every Kindle and Amazon device: the largest selection of digital reading material anywhere. That alone puts the Paperwhite among the best devices of its kind. With a wonderful physical design, a legitimately impressive screen, an operating system that gets out of the way, and the largest selection of digital reading material anywhere, the Amazon Paperwhite is the best pure e-book reader currently available. It might not let you to visit Facebook, send Tweets, watch YouTube, or download the latest Kanye West album, but it displays ebooks, and in the absolute best manner possible. If that's all you're looking for, you can't go wrong with the Paperwhite.

So, do all of these features add up to the best e-reader out there? In a syllable: yep. Amazon was clearly focused on creating the best possible reading experience with the Paperwhite, and it's delivered. The screen adjustments are great -- everything from the evenly distributed front light to the improved contrast. Meanwhile, the new Time to Read feature, coupled with X-Ray, Whispersync and Send to Kindle, further round out the experience. And, of course, there are perennial favorites like optional 3G and Amazon's vast catalog of content. The Kindle's still far from perfect, though. For starters, it's simply not as pleasant to hold as the Nook Simple Touches -- it ultimately sacrifices comfort for some aesthetic niceties. There's also the Kindle lineup's continued lack of expandable storage, though the on-board 2GB might well be enough for you, especially with unlimited cloud storage at the ready. And then there's the whole special offers thing. Amazon, can we stop pretending that ads are a bonus feature? It's great that you're able to shave the price down to $119 for the WiFi version and $179 for 3G, and these ads certainly aren't as intrusive as some might suggest. Still, with the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight now priced at $119 without ads, it's hard to get behind paying $20 for an ad-free experience. Those caveats aside, though, the Kindle Paperwhite has once again made Amazon's e-reader the one to beat.

Thanks to Amazon's unparalleled ebook library and ease of use, the Paperwhite is a fantastic ereader to own. The screen is excellent, both the light and touch elements, and the whole device is well built. Kobo's Glo is a good alternative if you think you need more storage, as it has a micro SD card slot, and it's also £10 cheaper.

A fantastic ebook reader, whose built-in light is currently the best in the business, and the price is right too

The Wi-Fi-only Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is our favorite ebook reader, thanks to its bright, even edge-lighting and a number of other refinements, and it's a much better buy than the 3G version.

For $120 — or $140 if you don’t want the ads, which are mostly non-intrusive – the Kindle Paperwhite is a worthwhile investment for a book reader. If you’re already into the Nook ecosystem, this probably isn’t a reason to switch since the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is also a great e-reader, but that said, Amazon has taken the e-reader crown from Barnes & Noble. You’ll find no e-reader with an easier screen to read, and Amazon’s touch interface is finally getting to the point where almost anyone can use it. The Kindle Paperwhite does not reinvent the standalone e-reader, but it does bring them one step closer to perfection.

The Paperwhite is a great ereader, and the superb screen quality, easy-to-use frontlight, and improved capacitive controls make it an easy choice. The only reason to not get it would be if you really love physical buttons, in which case you should probably look to the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, which is now $120—in line with the Paperwhite's Special Offers model. Otherwise, the Kindle Paperwhite is the best ereader out there.

Overall what’s not to like here? You get an improved experience across the board with a better, crisper, clearer display, the option to read in any lighting situation, and all of this for only $119. While they’ve dropped the original Touch down to $79, we feel the $40 premium for the Paperwhite is crucial and an excellent choice. Sadly those “special offers” or ads as we call them will be noticeable every time you open this book. You can opt out by spending $139 instead of $119 for the WiFi model, and the same increase is present for the 3G $179 model.

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G offers always-on connectivity, bright, even edge-lighting, and numerous other improvements, but it's simply too expensive. The Wi-Fi-only version is a better buy.