Amazon's "All New" Kindle Paperwhite - Barron's

When Apple announces its next-generation iPad this week, the headlines and reviews will focus on upgrades to processor speed, screen resolution, and the camera. Those features, while undoubtedly impressive, will remain overkill for some, particularly avid readers.

For the past two weeks, we’ve been using the latest version of Amazon.com’s e-reader, the All-New Kindle Paperwhite, as the company calls it. The Paperwhite uses e-ink technology, which resembles paper, sips power, and has no glare.

Kindle Paperwhite

Price: $ 119, Wi-Fi; $ 179, Wi-Fi, 3G
Stats: 7.3 ounces (compared with 10.9 ounces for iPad mini)
Features: Eight-week battery life; 2 GB storage
Website: amazon.com

It bests the e-ink offerings from Barnes & Noble and an upstart called Kobo. Book lovers will applaud Kobo’s efforts to market itself through independent bookstores. And Kobo’s newest e-reader, the Aura, is a beautiful device that’s more than an ounce lighter than the Paperwhite. Yet, Amazon’s simple innovations and its Kindle ecosystem separate it from the pack. (See Tech Trader, “It’s Time for Amazon to Open Its Black Box.”)

In the six years since Amazon popularized e-ink devices, the company has made plenty of improvements, including adding touchscreens and built-in lights, while cutting weight and cost. Kindles now include real page numbers, and the device estimates the remaining reading time for a chapter and the book.

The latest generation is nearly perfect for readers. The device solves a problem that has always plagued e-books—the difficultly of flipping back in a book to recall a character or key event. It’s the kind of thing we do reflexively in printed books, using a finger to save our page. The latest Paperwhite emulates that finger. As you read, swiping up on the screen reveals a window containing a smaller version of your book. You can move through those miniature pages, and the main screen never changes. Flip away—no fingers or dog-ears required.

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