Amazon announces new Kindle Paperwhite lineup with 6.8-inch screens, USB-C

Amazon announces new Kindle Paperwhite lineup with 6.8-inch screens, USB-C

The new Kindle Paperwhite is faster and has a larger screen than the old model. It also inherits the “warm light” feature from the Kindle Oasis. Larger screen aside, the new Kindle Paperwhite looks similar to the old one.

The Paperwhite Signature Edition looks almost exactly the same as the regular one, but you can see the cutout for the auto-brightness sensor at the top of the device above the screen.

Look carefully at the bottom of this soggy Kindle and you can spy the e-reader’s new USB-C port.Amazon

Amazon is giving the Kindle Paperwhite its first major update since 2018, the company announced today. The new Paperwhite lineup includes two different hardware models, plus a separate Paperwhite Kids edition that comes with its own case, has ads turned off by default, and includes a one-year subscription to the Amazon Kids+ service and a two-year “worry-free guarantee” warranty. The new Kindles can be preordered starting today and ship on October 27.

The basic Paperwhite is still probably the best combination of features and price. For $140 ($10 more than the last-generation version), you get a larger 6.8-inch screen with slimmer bezels than the old Paperwhite, plus a faster processor that delivers “20% faster page turns” than the old model. The number of LEDs used for the Paperwhite’s front-light has increased from five to 17, which should make the lighting look smoother and more uniform. Like the Kindle Oasis, the new Paperwhite has a “warm light” option that can make the Kindle’s backlight warmer if you don’t like the default bluish light.

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Amazon also promises improved battery life for the new Paperwhite, but when you do need to charge it, you can finally do it using a USB-C charger rather than the increasingly outdated micro-USB port on older Kindles. Like the previous Paperwhite, the new model has an IPx8 waterproofing rating, 8GB of storage, an antiglare coating, and buttonless bezels that sit flush with the device’s screen.

The 2018 Paperwhite also came in a $160 32GB version with no other upgrades, but this year that model is being replaced by the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. At $190, the Signature Edition is more pricey, but it adds an auto-brightness sensor and Qi wireless charging, making it an interesting alternative to the $250 Kindle Oasis if you don’t care about that model’s more streamlined design and physical buttons.

The $160 Kindle Paperwhite Kids edition is a complement to the company’s existing $110 Kindle Kids model—it’s a slightly more expensive version of the regular $140 Paperwhite with no ads, extra accessories and subscriptions, and a two-year warranty. The hardware itself is nothing special, but it’s a decent deal since normally removing the ads from a Kindle costs $20 by itself.

Note: Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

Listing image by Amazon

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