It’s Black Friday season, which means it’s also one of the best times to buy an Amazon Kindle ereader.
They regularly go on sale during these big discount periods, and despite healthy competition from Kobo and Onyx Boox, Amazon Kindles are among the very best ereaders.
Amazon’s most exciting model, the Kindle Colorsoft, is off the cards for the moment thanks to a yellow screen stain hardware issue. But is it worth paying more for the Kindle Paperwhite over the standard model?
I’ve used both ereaders over the last few weeks to get to the bottom of the differences. Here are the key takeaways.
The Paperwhite Is Better-Looking, If Less Cute
Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite has been the higher-end of the more approachable ereader lines from Amazon for more than a decade. As well as being a bit larger, it has a fully flat top, while the basic Kindle has a raised plastic border.
The flat style looks slicker, just as an edge-to-edge glass laptop looks more sophisticated than one with a raised screen border. It also avoids the casting of shadows on the screen. This is not a major problem in the Kindle, though, and you won’t see any shadows at all if you’re reading in bed using the front light.
But in person the Kindle Paperwhite is clearly a higher-end design. That said, my first reaction on opening up the green basic Kindle was it’s cute as anything.
The Larger screen? It Does Make A Difference
A larger display is the most obvious, and perhaps most meaningful, difference between these two. A Paperwhite has a 7-inch screen, the standard Kindle a 6-inch one.
As they both have “300ppi” screens, which tells you the resolution per square inch, it doesn’t seem like the same amount of image/text information is spread across a larger space.
That in turn means a Paperwhite can comfortably fit more lines, more text, in per page. Or, of course, you can enlarge the text without feeling like you have to turn the page every 15 seconds.
A Paperwhite has faster page turns and navigation
Ereaders don’t need blisteringly fast processors, but Amazon did give the Kindle series a boost with the latest Paperwhite. 25% faster page turns is the Amazon claim.
I tried a basic javascript test with the two ereaders, and the Paperwhite completed it in half the time, compared to the standard Kindle. The cheaper model doesn’t get this processor boost.
Page turning is not where this additional power seems most worthwhile. It’s when you jump around the interface and the Kindle store to find new reads. Your reading experience isn’t drastically levelled-up. But the shopping experience? That is a bit better.
The Standard Kindle Is More Pocket-Friendly, Less Scratch-Prone
You should probably use a case with a Kindle. While E Ink is famously tough, the plastic top layer is somewhat scratch-prone. You can also end up damaging the light matrix, leaving you with brighter spots on the screen.
Either of these is an ereader lover’s nightmare. As the basic Kindle has a recessed screen it should in theory be a little less scratch-prone in real world use, assuming fairly careless treatment. And I can feel no obvious difference in the harness of the plastic used in these displays.
An entry-level Kindle with a slim case may also be able to fit in a coat pocket, reducing the need to stash it in a bag, where it may be more susceptible to damage.
On the other hand, the Kindle Paperwhite is water resistant to IPX8, meaning it can take submersion in water at a depth of up to 2m. The basic model has no official water resistance. Have I used the non-water-resistant Kindle in the bath without ill effects? Sure, but it feels less risky with a Paperwhite.
Standard Kindle Screen Is Brighter
Here’s a surprise. The standard Kindle screen is significantly brighter than the display of the Paperwhite.
On the product page, Amazon will tell you there’s a 94cd/m brightness level across the models.
This is, according to my screen-measuring colorimeter, actually the brightness the Paperwhite reaches in its warmest (and least bright) setting. This rises to 109cd/m in the standard setting.
A basic Kindle hits 127cd/m, though. You can see there is a difference in my photo, where both are set to maximum brightness.
This isn’t a great reason to pick the Kindle over the Paperwhite. Maximum brightness just isn’t as important in an E Ink ereader as it is in a phone or tablet, due to the way E Ink gets clearer, not less clear, in high levels of ambient light.
Paperwhite Has A Temperature-Adjusting Light
Variable color temperature is one of the Paperwhite’s key features. This means the front light can be made more warm-looking, more orange.
The idea is this is easier on the eyes, and less liable to disturb your sleep, if you read late at night. It does reduce overall brightness and perceived text clarity, but is one of the more notable features among higher-end e-readers.
Amazon’s basic Kindle has a classic front light, one with a cooler temperature. Some will have absolutely no issue with this style — variable color temperature only became part of the Kindle range with the 2019 Kindle Oasis.
Verdict – Is The Paperwhite Better?
The Paperwhite is pretty much categorically better than the basic Kindle, and feels a more substantive upgrade in this generation (over the last) too.
Black Friday’s discounts might be the push you need to lure you into the upgrade.
There’s one obvious counter. If you want an ereader you can slip into a winter coat pocket, perhaps for use on public transport, the smaller Kindle feels better suited to the job.
