We lay our hands on the latest Kindle to hit the market – the Paperwhite. Does the latest device carry on the famous Kindle legacy, and is it enough to entice one to purchase another device purely for book reading?
The Kindle Paperwhite, now in its 6th generation, is a device that comes with many expectations, especially when one considers that its parent Amazon practically invented and owns the e-reader space. The latest gen of the Paperwhite then attempts to improve on its predecessor, which in itself was a pretty popular unit.
In the latest upgrade, the new device receives a 25% faster processor (1 Ghz instead of 800MHz), while it boasts of a display with better contrast and a better built-in light. In fact, Amazon claims that the device also has a more responsive touch-screen display, which has better touch sensitivity, and the device is a shade lighter too. The storage space on the Paperwhite though remains unchanged at 2GB, of which 1.25GB’s is for user content. Amazon claims that space is enough to store up to 1,100 eBooks.
Battery life too remains at the same peg as the last-gen at a claimed two months of backup time, as long as you keep the Wi-Fi switched off.
While using the Paperwhite, it becomes abundantly clear that the device is brilliantly suited for the purpose it’s been designed for – reading books. The size is very handy, in fact given its slender thickness it feels much more easier to handle than a big, thick book and is usable in all light conditions from bright sunlight to pitch dark, thanks to the brilliant built in E Ink Pearl 2 lighting system. The controls for turning between the pages are very intuitive, and the dictionary function to look up new words particularly nifty. At times though, one does feel the need for a physical home button, as tapping and waiting for the screen to respond with the menu can be slightly cumbersome.
However, if you intend to use the Paperwhite as a regular tablet and for tasks such as web surfing, we would suggest you look elsewhere. The device is just not designed for such tasks and it shows in the user experience, with the web browser feeling particularly lack luster and the overall experience leaving much to be desired.
The Paperwhite then, does its best work as a book reader, with its combination of a brilliantly legible screen, outstanding battery life, compact size and user friendliness making it the perfect device for most users. The only drawback being that there is no way to increasing the storage capacity of the device and that you don’t even get a charger as standard with the Paperwhite with only the USB charging cable being included. The pricing of the device though is fairly reasonable, with the Wi-Fi only version retailing at Rs. 10,999/-, while the 3G+Wi-Fi version retails at Rs 13,999/-.
But, despite the small issues, the Paperwhite is the best e-reader we’ve ever tried and gets a completely recommended rating from us. So, if you’re looking for a compact e-reader, look no further.
