Kindle Paperwhite (2024) Review: Bigger, better… and back in India

While it is almost synonymous with ebook readers in the country (to the extent that it has almost become a generic brandname), the Amazon Kindle’s availability in India has become a bit of an issue in recent times, with the ebook reader being frequently out of stock. This has opened the door for competition, most notably Rakuten’s Kobo reader series. So Indian Kindle users will be delighted to know that Amazon has released a new Kindle in the market – the Kindle Paperwhite (2024), which Amazon refers to as the “All-new Kindle Paperwhite.” It comes with significantly better specs and a tweaked design, and Amazon calls it “the fastest Kindle ever,” but does it have what it takes to make up for lost time and take on some formidable competition?

A sleek design with the biggest display seen on a Paperwhite!

The Kindle Paperwhite has been one of the highest-selling Kindles in the market as it often hits the middle ground between the premium Kindles (the Oasis, the Scribe, and now the Colorsoft Signature) and the basic Kindle. It is for many users, the perfect second Kindle – the one to which you graduate after having used the (still very good) base model extensively. The latest Kindle Paperwhite continues this tradition.

In appearance, the new Kindle Paperwhite looks very similar to the Kindle Paperwhite of 2021, but sports a slightly larger 7-inch e-ink display, the largest ever seen on a Paperwhite (the 2021 edition had a 6.8-inch one), which sits flush on the front. This is surrounded by narrow bezels on three sides and a slightly wider one at the base below the display, with ‘Kindle’ written on it. At 7.8 mm, it is also a very slim Kindle – slimmer than many of the smartphones out there – and also light for its size at 211 grams (lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max!). It is rather tall at 176.7 mm, and its width of 127.5 mm means that it is kind of difficult to handle with one hand. While the narrow bezels are aesthetically appealing, we are not too sure whether they are actually useful in functional terms, as our hands end up on the display far too often – something we have noticed in narrow-bezeled tablets too. The base of the e-book reader has a Type-C port and an on/off button (a curious location).

All in all, the new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite cuts a very smart figure. It is slim and minimalistically designed, with the Amazon logo on its jet-black back. The back is plastic and picks up smudges, but this is a pretty tough Kindle cookie – it comes with an IPX8 rating, so it can actually survive a fall in the water. We would have liked some more colors – particularly something like the matcha or denim shades seen on the base Kindles – but even in black, the new Kindle Paperwhite has a sleek, refined look. It might not turn heads right away, but those who see it will remember it. We recommend putting a case on it to dodge smudges!

A subtle spec bump up!

It might look like a slightly bigger version of the 2021 Paperwhite, but there is more to the new Kindle Paperwhite than some extra screen space. The 7-inch display is said to have a higher resolution (Amazon does not give out resolution numbers, but it is said to be a very impressive 1680 x 1264), and although it has the same 300 ppi pixel density as its predecessor, it seems richer because it is spread over a slightly larger display. The e-paper display remains monochrome (there is a Colosoft Kindle, but it is not in India yet) but comes with a higher contrast ratio, front lighting, and an option to adjust brightness and warmth. And like all Kindles, it can be read in the dark as well as bright sunlight without any glare from the display itself.

Amazon does not talk of processors either, but calls this its fastest Kindle ever, and claims that the page turns on the new Kindle 25 percent faster. Battery life remains as impressive as ever, with Amazon claiming twelve weeks on a single charge, although this is on the assumption that you read just half an hour a day. Charging the new Paperwhite takes less than two and a half hours using a 9W charger, although there is no charger in the box. Notably, connectivity is limited to Wi-Fi, and although there is Bluetooth on the Kindle Paperwhite, it is mainly to support VoiceView, which enables you to control and navigate the Kindle using your voice.

Of course, like all Kindles, this one too is seamlessly connected to Amazon’s massive Kindle Store, allowing you to purchase or even borrow (if you have Kindle Unlimited) e-books directly from the device itself and read them. It is like having a portable bookstore and bookcase rolled into one sleek gadget – you get 16 GB of storage, which can accommodate thousands of e-books. The Kindle interface remains unchanged – you swipe from the top and from the bottom to view different options.

Still a classic Kindle experience…on a bigger display

Do all the spec enhancements result in a better Kindle experience? Well, it does if you are moving up from a basic Kindle, although those who have used the previous Paperwhite might find the differences a bit harder to spot. The most obvious difference, of course, is that a slightly larger and sharper display. The difference in page-turning speed also becomes evident when you turn pages rapidly, but in our opinion, it is not a massive differentiator (we do not mind how quickly a page turns unless it is really slow). Setting up the Kindle is as easy as entering your Amazon username and password into the device after connecting it to a Wi-fi network, and you can even set it up from a Kindle app on your phone.

Reading on the Kindle remains a great experience and is different from reading on a phone or tablet display, as the e-ink gives a more paper-like experience. You can even customize fonts, find the meanings of words and terms using an inbuilt dictionary (and even the integrated Wikipedia if you are online), and arrange books into different groups. The X-Ray mode tells you more about key characters and places in the book, and there is even an option to improve your language using the Vocabulary Builder tool. You can track your reading speed and find out how far you are into a book as well. You can even download the Kindle on your phone, notebook, or tablet, and continue reading your Kindle books on them using the sync feature. Thanks to that battery life, even if you do all your reading on the Kindle and read a lot too (say 3-4 hours a day or more – folks like us exist!), you should be able to get through close to 10-12 days of reading before you need a recharge.

It is not all roses, though. The touch experience is nowhere near as smooth as on a phone or tablet – you will need to pause a little after hitting a key on the onscreen keyboard (we so wish Amazon would bring back the physical keyboard the early Kindles came with), and that can make navigation and typing a bit of a pain sometimes. You also get largely tied to Amazon’s ecosystem, and although you can mail yourself books and documents, it is a slightly closed garden as compared to the “drag and drop from computer” environment on the Kobo e-book readers. Some might also be disappointed at the absence of navigation buttons (such as on the Kindle Oasis), as it is more convenient than flipping pages on the screen.

And while you can tweak brightness and warmth, there is no auto option for the same, so one has to actually keep changing them from time to time, which can be a little irritating. Finally, we do wish Amazon would refresh the Kindle UI – it is simple but has been the same for far too long. A few more graphics would not harm the cause, and the Settings page needs a reset (pun intended). Finally, although e-ink displays are great for reading, they struggle with graphics, so Manga and graphic novel fans are likely to be disappointed by the reading experience on Paperwhite. We were able to read Asterix and Tintin on our Paperwhite, but it was relatively sluggish, and the absence of color is disappointing.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024) Verdict: Pricey, facing competition, but still the gold standard of e-book reading!

The new Kindle Paperwhite (2024) is available in a single 16 GB storage variant at Rs 16,999. It is a Wi-Fi-only device and has no 4G/5G variant. Yes, it does not come cheap, and existing Paperwhite (2021) owners might not feel too tempted to upgrade (the difference is not path-breaking), but if you love reading and have the bucks handy, this remains one of the best options you can get, thanks to Amazon’s smooth and seamless integration with its massive ebook ecosystem. It is also a significantly better device than the base Kindle in terms of sheer reading experience, although that one remains insanely cute because of its tiny form factor, which makes it pocket-friendly in every sense of the term.

Unlike in the past, however, the new Kindle Paperwhite faces some tough competition – standing in its way is the similarly priced Kobo Clara Colour, which has a smaller 6-inch display, but as its name indicates, supports color and also has a slightly more open platform. That gives it a slight edge when it comes to reading graphic-rich content, but if you are a hardcore reader who is more into words than images, the Kindle Paperwhite still remains the gold standard in terms of digital reading. If you are on a tight budget, the basic Kindle will suffice, but for a premium e-book experience, a Paperwhite is easily the better, classier option.

Yes, it does not have the smell and feel of paper, but reading on the Kindle Paperwhite is a lot of fun and has a vibe of its own. The fact that you can go to the Kindle bookstore whenever you want and wherever you are (as long as you have an Internet connection) and buy and/or borrow books or download free samples, even while carrying your entire library in your pocket or backpack, is digital bookworm empowerment at its very best.

Just keep this one in stock in India, Amazon. Please.

Buy Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) – India
Buy Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) – USA

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