Amazon Introduces New Kindle

Hot on the heels of its most expensive Kindle release, Amazon has updated its least expensive Kindle with a thinner and lighter new design. Plus, it’s available in white now too.

“Tens of millions of readers around the world have Kindle e-readers and today, we’re excited to make our most affordable Kindle even better, while keeping the same breakthrough price point,” Kindle general manager Arthur van Rest said in a prepared statement. “With a thinner and lighter design, twice the memory, and all the features customers love about Kindle, it has never been a better time to be a reader.”

As you may know, I’m a huge fan of Kindle e-readers, and would prefer to read everything on a such a device, since the screen is so much easier on my eyes than a tablet or phone.

“Unlike reflective tablet and smartphone screens, the high contrast touchscreen display on Kindle eliminates glare in any setting, even in direct sunlight,” Amazon notes. “Recent studies have shown that evening exposure to blue light from backlit screens like tablets and smartphones can suppress the body’s production of melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that helps the body fall asleep. Because the Kindle display emits no light, you can read anytime without losing sleep. Like all Kindle e-readers, the all-new Kindle has a battery life that lasts for weeks and not hours.”

But the Kindle ecosystem has one fatal flaw from my perspective: Only a select subset of Kindle newspapers and magazines can be read on the e-reader devices for some reason. And that means that I need to use the Kindle app on iPad for reading, since you can access allKindle content there. (That is, I don’t want to read some things on one device and the rest on another.)

So this new Kindle doesn’t solve that problem, and neither did its incredibly expensive predecessor, the $290 Kindle Oasis that launched a few months back that I wanted to buy but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much money.

But you can’t beat the price: The new entry-level Kindle is still just $79. As noted, it is thinner and lighter than the outgoing model, and it provides twice the RAM. It’s available in black and white versions, and has a more comfortable, rounded design. And it supports the latest Kindle features, like notes exporting, Bluetooth audio, and a personalized home screen. Plus, the Kindle store is backed by over 1 million exclusive e-books and over 1 million titles that cost $3 or less. 2 million are less than $10.

The all-new Kindle is available now for pre-order and will ship in early July.

Note: Obviously, I’m using affiliate links for the Amazon products mentioned in this article. Thanks for your support! –Paul