Amazon has three new e-readers, including the Kindle Voyage, the thinnest, highest-resolution Kindle ever.
Jeff Bezos must really love to read. Amazon on Wednesday introduced two all-new Kindle ebook readers, as well as an updated model of the popular Kindle Paperwhite. The most exciting new reader, however, is the Kindle Voyage, Amazon’s thinnest, highest-resolution Kindle yet. I got a chance to check out all three.
Let’s start with the Kindle Voyage, Amazon’s top-of-the-line new ebook reader. Priced rather aggressively at $ 199, the Kindle Voyage could give the high-end Kobo Aura H20 a run for its money. The Voyage features an all-new design, made from solid magnesium, just like the new Kindle Fire HDX. It has a super-premium feel, with a soft-touch finish, but I noticed the material is quick to pick up fingerprints. At just 0.29 inches thick, it’s Amazon’s thinnest Kindle yet, and weighs nearly an ounce less than the Kindle Paperwhite, at 6.4 ounces.
The Voyage uses a brand-new Paperwhite display, which has a much higher resolution than any other Kindle; it features 300 pixels per inch, which looks absolutely fantastic. Text is incredibly sharp, and images look great, so comics really pop (though keep in mind you’re still working with a black-and-white E Ink display). For comparison, the Kobo Aura H20 and Aura HD feature 256 pixels per inch. Amazon claims the Voyage also features higher contrast than any other ebook reader available.
In addition to the higher resolution, the Voyage is 39 percent brighter than the Paperwhite, thanks to a new front light. The adaptive light automatically adjusts the brightness of the display based on the light around you, which is convenient if you’re often reading in different places. Amazon claims the brightness is tuned to match the way the eye responds to darkness. For instance, when you’re reading in the dark, you’ll need a brighter light at first than you will after reading for 30 minutes, so the front light will slowly lower over time. That’s cool.
The display has a front-flush design that uses scratch-resistant glass. The glass has been micro-etched in order to diffuse light, so you can read outside without any glare. I took the Voyage outside in the bright afternoon sun and had no trouble seeing it from any angle. The etching pattern on the glass also makes the display feel more like paper, which is pretty neat.
And if you were one of the many users to bemoan the lack of Page buttons on the Paperwhite, you’re in luck. The Kindle Voyage features PagePress, which is basically a Page button on either side of the display. PagePress uses a pressure-sensitive sensor that sits directly underneath the bezel. All you have to do is rest your finger on the sensor and press it lightly, and you’ll be able to flip to the next page or turn back. The not-quite buttons deliver a satisfying response thanks to some very subtle, quiet haptic feedback. I’m a little worried about triggering them accidentally, though I didn’t during the short time I spent with the reader.
The Kindle Voyage is available for pre-order now and will start shipping in October. I wonder about that pricing though. I realize that Amazon basically sells its Kindles at cost and makes up for it in revenue from content and services, but $ 200 is a pretty big jump from the Paperwhite. It looks and feels like a higher-quality device, but if you’re not keen on spending $ 200 on a dedicated ebook reader, Amazon’s other options might be more appealing.
Not much has changed for the new Kindle Paperwhite. It still costs $ 119 and looks physically identical to last year’s model. The only difference is that Amazon has increased the amount of storage from 2GB to 4GB, so you can store up to 3,000 books. If you were already interested in the Paperwhite but haven’t yet pulled the trigger, you really can’t go wrong with this model.
The humble Kindle has been given an upgrade as well, in the form of an all-new touch-screen model. The new Kindle sort of looks like the Paperwhite, but it’s a lot chunkier and has a plastic finish that doesn’t feel quite as nice to the touch. Still, it’s 20 percent faster than the previous Kindle, and features twice the storage (good for up to 2,000 books). It has the same touch-based interface as the Paperwhite and the Voyage, so the main thing you’re missing out on here is the front light. But for just $ 79, I imagine there are plenty of readers out there who will be able to make this work.
No matter which Kindle you choose, Amazon announced a number of new features that will be available across all three models. Word Wise automatically places short and simple definitions above difficult words, which is good for readers learning English and kids learning to read (though I wasn’t crazy about how much extra spacing it introduces between sentences). X-Ray has been expanded, allowing you to quickly flip through all the images in a book, and use a timeline to view notable passages to get you back up to speed if you’ve put a book down for a while.
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