Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (16 GB) – Now with a larger display, adjustable warm light, increased battery life, and faster page turns – Agave Green

I absolutely love this Kindle Paperwhite. The Agave Green color looks really nice in person and gives it a fresh, clean feel. It’s lightweight and easy to hold for long reading sessions, and the size fits comfortably in one hand without feeling bulky. The screen quality makes books look sharp and easy on the eyes, especially with the adjustable warm light. Battery life and overall durability have been excellent so far, and the huge book selection makes it easy to always have something new to read. Overall, a fantastic reading device that’s comfortable and reliable for everyday use.

I am someone who believes that there is something profound and special about a physical book. My favorite part about a book is its smell. It's not wrong to describe the smell of walking into a Barnes & Noble as pure euphoria. New books smell like potential, beginnings, and the possibility of something grand. Old books smell like legends, ancient wisdom, or forgotten secrets. Books have a weight to them as well. It's reassuring to know that this book you're holding is real — it takes up physical space in the world and this makes it undeniable. It's as if the power of the stories and ideas within are so strong that they have materialized into matter out of the aether. It's hard for me to hold, say, a Bible without a sense of reverence and awe. Even today when I walk into a large library I can't help but feel like I have walked into a holy place — a place of worship. Being surrounded by books has the same effect on me that a Xanex has on others. Books have an impact on me. I love them. This is why, when I started reading on a Kindle over a year ago, it felt like I was committing adultery. This nasty little plastic screen inspired none of the feelings that books gave me. It took the magic of books and sacrificed it on the altar of consumer electronics. Despite these feelings, I continued to use it. Now I have read a little over fifty books using my Kindle. I still believe that the Kindle kills the magic that physical books have, and it does. But for the first time in a year, I decided to pick up a book in paperback and read it. This experience of going back to real books has made me realize a few things about the Kindle and myself. First off, I realized with horror that I am addicted to my Kindle and its features. The people who designed the Kindle did so with intent. The Kindle's sole purpose is to read books — there are no other apps on it, there are no intrusive ads, and there is nothing to distract you from reading. Honestly, the device is relatively primitive compared to other consumer electronics, but that is a design choice and not a flaw. I would argue it is even easier to get lost in a book using the Kindle than it is with a physical book. And then there are the features — the glorious features. My favorite feature by far is the built-in dictionary. When reading a physical book and coming across a word I didn't know the meaning of, assuming I couldn't intuit the meaning from context, I would have to mark my place in the book, put it to the side, pull out my phone, and Google the word. This is tedious. It also breaks my train of thought and forces me to use my dreadful phone with all of its notifications and apps and stuff that sends me into a panic and introduces into my reading time the potential to sidetrack myself. I hate that. With my Kindle, all I have to do is touch the word and a popup with the definition appears and is dismissed just as easily, and then I'm off reading again — an interruption that is barely even noticed and my attention remains intact. Even better is the fact that my Kindle keeps a list of all these words that I've looked up over time, and I can review them anytime. I look at it occasionally and quiz myself — this is my idea of 'fun'. Now I'm a big fan of writing in my books — I underline, highlight, and write in the margins constantly. If I ever need inspiration or if I'm trying to remember something I've read, I will thumb through the book I found it in until I eventually find it. Sometimes when I get bored I will sit in front of my bookshelf and go through the books I've read looking at all the passages I highlighted to refresh my memory on all those inspiring things that I read in years past. It's a little tedious but not too bad. This habit of highlighting is not lost to me while reading on my Kindle. You simply press and drag your finger across the passage which will highlight it. But that's not the best part: Kindle will keep up with everything I have highlighted and organize it all for me by the book it was found in. So at any given time, I can see all of my highlights in any of the books I have read, and I can even share them to my Goodreads profile! This gets me visibly excited. The last feature I want to talk about is the backlit screen. If you do any of your reading in bed then you probably have a bedside lamp or a flashlight or some other novel light source designed for books. Maybe it's just me but I find it difficult to get comfortable in bed and read a paperback at the same time. Either my spouse is annoyed by the light while she is trying to sleep or I can't find the perfect position that makes it both comfortable and easy to read. The Kindle has a backlit screen with adjustable lighting and a "warm" light setting. This means all other light sources in the room can be extinguished and I can still get my reading done. No book-light required. The Kindle is so lightweight that I can lay or recline in any position comfortably. No more fighting with those books whose binding is stiff and unyielding. So now we come to the point of this post. A confession. It's a confession to myself and the world. As much as this pains me to say: The Kindle offers a far superior reading experience over books. I said it. I don't like it any more than you do, but it is simply true. The onboard dictionary, the highlights, the backlit screen, the insane battery life (I charge this thing once a month), all of it together creates the most consuming and productive reading experience available. I still feel subtle pangs of guilt when I look at my bookshelf. I don't think that will ever go away for anyone who truly loves books. But now my bookshelf has become a kind of "greatest hits" display. I still buy all the best books I read, and I now consider my bookshelf as a place of honor for all the greatest books. But I think of my Kindle as another appendage on my body — I never go anywhere without it. I love books. I love my Kindle. To my fellow book lovers out there who are still opposed to the idea of a Kindle, I say that you can love both. It will be okay. The Kindle isn't evil after all.

I was never one to jump on the kindle bandwagon. I have friends who are in book clubs and sometimes they recommend books for me to read. I dont have a lot of space to hoard physical books so I would read them on my phone or get the book from the library if available. Until one day my one friend got me thinking HARD about a kindle. My birthday was quickly approaching and what a great excuse to get myself a gift. I did my research on all the different kindles. Ive looked around different places, Ive watched some youtube videos on different ones, and I even talked to different friends who had different ones or had used different ones throughout time. I settled on the kindle paperwhite and I havent put it down since! Ive had this thing 4 months now and still havent even made a smidge in the memory. I got the bigger GB because i know I have a lot of digital book doc's as well and wanted to upload them. Currently have over 200 books on it (thanks stuff my kindle day) and hasnt even made a dent in the memory! im impressed! -You can changed the font and font size (you can also upload your own fonts too to use) -There are ways you can even add a background for when its asleep (youtube it). ive done both. -When you start a book itll ask you if you want to update your goodreads to "currently reading" and when you're done with the book itll ask you if you want to rate it! (1-5 stars). -You can create categories to organize your ebooks. -When you have a book AND the audible for the same book, itll keep track in your book if you listen without reading or vise versa. It keeps your current spot! -The light and the warmth are perfect! You can adjust either to your preference and even set a time for them to change. so for example, if you wanted the light to be a little dimmer and the warmth to be stronger at 8pm, you can set those changes to happen automatically daily! -Battery life is astonishing. For someone who reads every day sometimes both in the morning and at night (for hours straight sometimes) and I like to have the brightness sorta up so i can read better in darker areas, i can go weeks without charging it. it says up to 5 weeks without charging but with how much I use it, I would estimate maybe once every 2-3 weeks i gotta charge it. and it doesnt take very long to charge either! -Perfect size too! I love how thin it is and light weight. I get cute cases for it and just looks like the size of A5 notbook. its only roughly 6" and its so perfect to bring along on trips or outback in the hammock! -Oh another thing about the light, since its not an LED scree, when you go out in the sun, the screen looks lighter! Like its not dark like your phone would be when you step outside. the sun lights it up like it would be if you were holding a physical book! -P.S. its waterproof. have fun reading in the baths, floating in the pool or with your feet in the sand at the beach! I could go on and on about how much I love it. I just wanted to tell you all the things that sold me on a kindle all together. Its honestly the best! Even came with 3months free of Kindle Unlimited which I too am a huge fan of now! worth every penny!

So I came into possession of this little guy due to a late night Amazon impulse buy a few days before leaving for vacation. I was going on a weeklong trip with my family and didn't want to have to bring my ipad (what I usually use to read) or any actual books with me on the plane. Let me preface this by saying I am an avid reader, spending the majority of my free time reading...and have been for most of my life. My siblings lament to anyone listening about the horror of summer road trips, riding in the back of our family sedan, fighting for leg room because I always had at least 5-6 books at my feet to read during our travels. You should hear the way my sister grumbles at even the mere mention of a car ride with me (She horribly dramatic) but I digress. I also used to have a nook e-reader, an original model Kindle from way back in the day that no longer works, and have the kindle app on my ipad which I use to read most days. So I am familiar with e-reading. This kindle is quite possibly the best purchase I've ever made. It's basically pocket sized so it was extremely portable. I brought it with me everywhere; On the plane, in the car, in my bag to restaurants...I even managed to fit it in a particularly spacious pocket of an oversized jean jacket I wore on cooler nights. It's amazing. It was comfortable enough to hold in one hand, or two, depending on what I preferred at the time. The various light options on the kindle, including the warm light feature makes it easy to read regardless of where I was and what kind of lighting is available, without eye strain. I shared a room with family for a couple of nights and the dark mode feature barely emits light past my immediate person, so I was able to read into the wee hours of the morning if I wanted to without disturbing my family sleeping in the same room, or sacrificing my precious reading time. ( I get particularly sassy if I'm interrupted in the middle of a discovering a plot twist in a juicy novel, i'm just saying). You are able to customize lots of the settings, such as the fonts, size, spacing and layout, so that the books look however you want them to while reading. (I definitely used that feature to make the font smaller and more compact while I read an embarrassingly cringleworthy, but suprisingly emotional and fantastic, harlequin romance novel while on the plane. It's nobody's business why I was practically sobbing into my complimentary pretzels after the protagonists romantic interest declared his love to her for the first time, thank you very much) I also may, or may not have had a TINY accident in which I spilled my entire 32oz water bottle full of water all over my pants and my kindle. After squealing in alarm at how cold the water was, I was able to get my bearings, wiped the water off the kindle, changed my pants and continued reading. I have noted no damage whatsoever to my kindle and that was at the beginning of my trip well over a week ago now. After reading every day for at least 4-6 hours per day/night for 7 days straight I had 57% battery left over. I think the battery is supposed to last for 2 weeks maybe? IDK. Basically it lasted a long time, long enough for me to be impressed. Also, I downloaded at least 15 new books on there, not to mention the impressive collection of books I already owned and was able to sync to the device, and I still have over 4GB of space available to use. I have since named the kindle Kurt, as I feel emotionally connected to the device after our adventures together these past weeks. If you are a super bookworm like me, or are just trying to finish a whole book for the first time, I highly recommend this device for purchase. I think it was worth the money a thousand times over. And if after reading this you do decide to purchase it, I hope you love it just as much as I do.

Since the very beginning of the e-reader era, I had always sworn I would never purchase one. I was proud of being a biblio-purist, and felt that e-readers we're an affront to the ancient, iconic charms of printed literature. Reading a good book could not possibl provide the same experience when done so through the cold and impersonal electronic haze that encased e-readers. How could one derive the same experience that was provided from physical flipping throught dog-eared pages showing sings if all those who had tried through those printed words countless times before, and more to come. Feeling the best of it in your hands carrying the weight of reality, the ever-changing smells that evolved during a book's lifetime from papermill-new, the must and dust that could create olfactory imagery from old, well-used libraries, and the character of cigar-lounds and cognac snifters. These sensations could add timeless, hefty qualities to the works of literature contained therein. I also found afront in that electronic literature kept readers away from the already dying icon of the corner bookstore, and the charms of slowly perusing aisles and aisles of books with others who shared a similar driving passion. And to sip an afternoon capucino on the front patio of such a bookstore was a sublime pleasure that compared to no others. Then slowly, insidiously over the course of years, my reading frequency decreased. Part of it was due to the inevitable demands for time and attentions that increased age brings with increased responsibilities, but a large part was played by less and less time and energy I had available to make it to the bookstore or library. Slowly at first, but inevitable to the point at which I had simply quit reading without being accutely conscious of it. In would purchase an occasional book, but found that reading simply had become increasingly difficult to make happen. Books would get left in public places, or otherwise lost. Finding room for one in napsack before going on an afternoon bike ride impeded the desire to read. Sometimes I justwould tire of the unavoidable spills, stains, and mistreatments that eventually occured to my books, through no lack of love but due to my somewhat active and chaotic lifestyle. Then one day after watching a new film adaptation of one of my favorite novels, I had the strong urge to re-read the book. I, however, was on a late-night work schedule that made it extremely challenging to conduct any sort of business or errand-running during daylight hours. Being a devoutly active Amazonian, I was aware of a recent significant sale on Kindles. I ran through a few thought-processes and determined there was little risk of harm in making a small investment in the potential re-Kindling of a long-lost love. I can't put my Kindle down. I am utterly amazed at the e-ink technology that allows this reading magic to happen. I'm in love with the changeable, resizeable fonts (I can actually read even if I've mis-placed my glasses). The dictionary look-up feature, the ability to highlight passages, easily flip through pages and bookmark them easily, the adjustable side-lighting and color temperature... have all enamored me with the device and customizable technology. And the ability to carry an entire library around with me in my pocket still boggles my mind! I have read more in the month and a half that I've owned my Kindle than I have in the last 2 or 3 years. I'm a romantic, tactile person, and while it is a bit nostalgically sad that independent booksellers are losing business and may indeed be a dying breed... well, times change and not always in the precise way we'd like them to. But if e-readers can promote and increase reading and the appreciation of literature, while possibly removing some roadblocks to publication for young, unestablished authors... well I can't see that as a bad thing.

I used to be a snob about paper being better than digital. But, my husband has a kindle that he loves and uses all the time. I started to want my own for travel and camping trips. It is really handy to be able to bring a LOT of books with you for a long plane ride or something. I also like that it's water resistant. I brought it to the beach a few times and didn't have to worry about splashes getting on it. I have had books get a little damaged on camping trips (cover bent or torn, pages wrinkled from high humidity) but didn't have to worry about that happening to the kindle. It's very lightweight and comfortable to hold with one hand. It's also a great option if you have a small house with limited storage for hoarding a lot of books. I like the way you can adjust the display as necessary: font size, brightness, white/amber spectrum for reading at night, etc. The screen doesn't have glare when reading outdoors and refreshes quickly when tapped to turn the page. So far the battery life has been amazing! I have had this device since May 2022 and I haven't needed to charge it yet. I keep the Bluetooth and wifi off unless I need to use those functions. That seems to conserve a lot of battery juice. When I first got it, I brought it on a trip, reading for several straight hours on airplanes and then about an hour or two per day for a week long trip, then lots of time reading on planes while traveling back home. Since I have gotten back home, I read for a few hours per week. At the time of writing this review, it is July 7, 2022 and I have now had the device for nearly 2 months. The battery hasn't gotten lower than 70% yet! Your mileage may vary, but I have been very impressed. My only real issue with this device is that is was a bit hard to figure out the navigation at first. There's no instructions in the box, and no tutorial when the setup has been completed. A lot of the navigation functions are hidden unless you tap on a specific area of the screen. As a millennial who is not as tech savvy as some other people my age, I had a bit of a panic when I couldn't figure out how to use it. I had to watch a YouTube video tutorial to learn where to tap to see the different menus! I can imagine someone like my mom or grandma really struggling to figure it out on their own because they are even less tech savvy than me! But once I knew where to tap, getting around the settings and navigating back to my library is not a problem anymore. I haven't tried using Kindle Unlimited or ebooks from my local library yet. But, I do check the "kindle daily deals" and sites like BookBub for discounts on ebooks. Generally ebooks are cheaper than paperbacks. So unless you are someone really thrifty who only buys used books, you are probably going SAVE money on books, instead of spending more. And, I just realized if you set up Amazon household so your account is linked with your spouse or parent who lives at the same address, you can then share ebooks between your accounts. After you purchase an ebook, from your Amazon account you can "add to household library" and then you can both access the same ebook. Which is great if your spouse or parent is also a book lover!

The first thing I thought of when I saw an e-reader was AWESOME! But that was before they introduced the paperwhite models. In essence, they were amazon branded android tablets. They were slow and clunky and incredibly cheap. I'm further embarrassed to admit my first e-reader was actually a Barnes & Noble Nook. Which - if anything - was worse than the original Kindle's. I also discovered that I just plain missed holding a book. I couldn't explain it but I know a lot of people understand what I'm talking about. There is just something about being able to physically hold that book in my hands that just felt "right" and the e-readers just did not provide that. Finally amazon introduced the paperwhite and that was an absolute game changer. The ability to read a Kindle in direct sunlight was just unheard of. The older color versions were essentially useless in direct sun, or even marginally cloudy days as well. I still preferred holding a book in my hands though. But that all changed one night when I couldn't sleep and I tried to read at 1am and couldn't get ANY light to work well enough while also trying to hold my hard back book and not wake up my wife. It became a challenge of monumental proportions (at least for me it was). Slowly, over the course of the next 6 months, I began to warm up to the idea of giving the Kindle another try. This is where I made a big mistake however. Instead of buying it new, I went with a reputable company that sold reconditioned electronics for a deep discount. My reasoning seemed solid (at the time), if I ended up not truly enjoying my Kindle, at least I hadn't wasted too much $$ on buying a new one. Unfortunately, the model I received was tied to the account of the former owner, and I wasn't able to correct that with a simple master reset. It took several days to work thru that problem, but once I did, I was off and running. I got a slightly smaller model (6" screen) and while it functioned, it stuttered so often I forgot just how smooth it really should've been. But still, even with the issues, the hiccups and stuttering, I grew to really enjoy using it and more importantly, I loved the battery life it offered. I decided it was time for an upgrade, and this time I was going all-in. I got the 6.8" screen, which isn't that much bigger, but it DOES make a difference. Since I ordered directly from amazon this time, imagine my absolute surprise when I turned it on I was worried that it was going to take forever to link up to my WiFi and have to add my amazon account information...but that did not happen. Not sure if amazon pre-programmed it, but as soon as I turned it on it said, "Welcome Jeff" and I was stunned. How did it know??? Well, no matter, the set-up was a friggin' breeze and I was thrilled how seamless it was. Operation was so much easier and while it still offers a little stuttering (which in all honesty is simply due to the black & white screen and how it operates) but it was decidedly better than the older model. Battery life is stellar, though not as good as amazon claims. I think what they say is almost absurdly optimistic. But, the truth is, a paperwhite will give you pretty great life on a full charge. It operates well, and I love how I can invert the screen so more of it is black. Not sure if that uses less battery like it does on an amoled phone screen, but I'm going to see and test it just in case. My old Kindle did not have this option. All in all, reading is fun again for me and I love how I don't need a special light to read in the middle of the night like I did with a hard back. Kudos to amazon, I love my Kindle.

As you probably know, the kindle paperwhite is black and white and is used as a dedicated e-reader for books and other reading material. This device acts like printed media rather than a tablet -- once your book is open there are no ads and no distractions, simply fast reading on a comfortable device. I've upgraded to several generations of kindle paperwhites over ten years. This review is for the 11th generation that came out in 2021. The idea of within a minute retrieving any book in my library or getting a brand new book is simply irresistible. The kindle paperwhite is a great e-reader. Note that it frequently goes on sale so try to time your purchase so you can save $$. These are the things I like about it: * PORTABLE The kindle paperwhite is small and light and fits easily into my purse, even with a cover. By the way if you get a kindle definitely get a cover as well to protect it. As an added bonus, the cover makes the kindle feel like a slim book while you're reading. There are many attractive covers in addition to the official amazon ones. * WATERPROOF The kindle paperwhite is waterproof. Indispensable for the pool or bathtub. * EASY ON THE EYES The screen lighting of the kindle paperwhite is adjustable and reading is pleasant. I prefer to read with black background and white letters. (Settings > Accessibility > Invert Black and White). You can change the brightness by swiping down from the top and finding the "Brightness" setting. And don't forget you can change font and text size as well. When your book is open simply touch the top of the screen, select Aa > Font then adjust as you want. Print on the screen is quite clear both in bright sunlight and in a dark room. You can even make the lighting warmer (more yellow) for nighttime reading by swiping down from the top and finding the "Warmth" setting. * READ TO YOU EVEN IF YOU DON'T USE AUDIBLE The text to speech (TTS) feature is my very favorite :-) I love having my kindle read to me so I can do other things like needlework or driving at the same time. TTS works even if you don't have audible books, alexa, or a phone app. Simply connect your bluetooth device to the kindle (Settings > Wi-Fi & Bluetooth > enable Bluetooth > select your device) then turn it on (Settings > Accessibility > VoiceView Screen Reader). You can adjust the volume and speech rate to your liking. * LONG BATTERY LIFE Yes, the battery really lasts for days or weeks. Things like bright screen level, wifi on, and TTS may drain the battery at a faster rate. The kindle uses a C adapter. * PLENTY OF SPACE FOR ALL YOUR BOOKS The standard kindle paperwhite has 8 GB storage which can store at least 2000 or 3000 ebooks or roughly 35 audible books. You can also get a kindle paperwhite with 16 GB or for even more space for audible books you can get a Signature paperwhite with 32 GB. ______ As I've gone through several generations of the kindle paperwhite I've noticed that while the physical device continues to get better, I don't like the software as much as previously. Here are three things in particular: * NO GAMES I really really miss the games. These were so fun to play for me and to entertain young ones. Please can we bring supportive software for games back? * KINDLE DEVICE HOME AND LIBRARY SCREENS I hate the Home screen because most of the screen is taken with book recommendations rather than your own library. The top ribbon shows the book covers in order of last opened. You can only see three and a half books so you'll be doing a lot of scrolling if you're looking for a book you read a while ago. The Library screen is a bit better because you can list your books by title or author (three lines at top right screen give you "Sort by" screen), but the listings still include book cover thumbnails that take up room. I admit I'm fussy but I like to have a compact list that I can scan quickly rather than needing to scroll through page after page and/or removing books from my device. (The books are still accessible in the cloud but will need to be reloaded if I want to read them again). * COLLECTIONS IN AMAZON CLOUD Since the beginning until now, Amazon cloud storage uses only one layer of folders. If you have, say, science fiction books and mysteries, you either jumble them together in "Fiction" or else you have to make two separate folders that don't link. Please, Amazon, fix this. _____ Overall while the kindle paperwhite isn't *perfect* it's pretty darn close and lovely to read for books with plain text and images/photographs. PDFs and more complex images like maps are difficult to see on the small screen and may do better with the Kindle Scribe which is larger. If you want a reader with color and web browser capabilities you may want to consider getting a kindle Fire rather than paperwhite. The kindle paperwhite is a great device for what it is meant to do -- read books -- and for that I will give five stars, although I am keeping my fingers crossed for software updates to make the experience even better.