Amazon Kindle vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: which e-reader is the best?

Now that Amazon Prime Day 2020 has arrived, it’s time to get your hands on some of the best Prime Day deals.

Of all the products that you can expect a discount, Amazon’s Kindle line of products has traditionally been paramount. If you are looking for a cheap e-reader in the market, now is the time to act.

But when we talk about buying a Kindle on a budget, which of the two cheaper e-readers from Amazon is best for you? The Amazon Kindle or the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite? Let’s take a closer look.

The best deals on Amazon Kindle and Amazon Kindle Paperwhite can be found on this Amazon Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day 2020 is just around the corner. So if you want a big discount on an Amazon Kindle or an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, act fast – we expect the best Amazon Kindle deals to fly off the shelves pretty quickly.

Fortunately, we have put together the best prices for both products at the moment:

FAQs

Are e-book readers even relevant in a post-iPad world?

If you’ve bought yourself a shiny new iPad in the past few years, you might be wondering if the humble e-reader is a bit dated. However, we guarantee that every Amazon Kindle is a much better reader than any tablet you could mention.

Much of this is due to the use of e-ink display technology, which is much easier on the eyes than bright LCD or OLED displays. What e-Ink lacks in color is made up for by clarity, which highlights black text rather than the white space around it. Kindles are much more readable outdoors, too, where tablets have trouble.

The battery life also plays a role here. A Kindle can take weeks between charges, while you can measure the endurance of an iPad in hours.

What’s wrong with good old-fashioned books?

Nothing at all. But you’re trying to bring more than a book or two with you on vacation or even to a coffee shop. Even a standard Kindle can store thousands upon thousands of books at once, so you can have a fresh book to hand anytime, anywhere.

What about other e-reader brands like Kobo?

Amazon’s main competitors for e-readers like Kobo can often compete with the Kindle in terms of hardware. However, when you buy a Kindle you are really buying access to Amazon’s impressive e-publishing platform and online bookstore. Simply put, it has more ebooks you want to read in a more intuitive format than any other e-reader.

What about the Kindle Oasis?

There is a third member of the Kindle family that we are not talking about here. Think the Amazon Kindle Oasis is the luxury e-reader for the dedicated reader with money to burn.

For $ 269.99 / £ 229.99 / AU $ 399, you get a larger 7-inch display, a superior 25-LED backlight, physical page shift buttons, and a sleek aluminum chassis. Note the price, however – it’s almost twice that of Paperwhite.

Amazon Kindle

Amazon updated its standard Kindle model – the tenth generation to bear that name – on March 20, 2019. This is the first entry-level Kindle with a backlight, so it’s finally possible to use one in low light.

The 6-inch e-ink display also offers higher contrast than previous basic Kindles, albeit with the same resolution of 167 ppi. 8 GB of storage space should hold the books in a small library. As with the other Kindles in the range, you can connect wireless headphones or speakers via Bluetooth.

Perhaps the most compelling feature of the Kindle, however, is its low price. At just $ 89.99 / £ 69.99 / AU $ 139, it’s one of the most affordable e-readers of any kind.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

The current Kindle Paperwhite landed on November 7th, 2018. This fourth generation model brought some of the advanced features of the premium Oasis to a more general price.

It has a super sharp 6-inch 300 ppi e-ink display, IPX8 water resistance (perfect for reading bath time) and a choice of 8GB or 32GB of storage. You can also go for a 32GB model with 4G LTE capabilities that allows you to download ebooks anywhere.

Prices start at $ 149.99 / £ 119.99 / AU $ 199 for the 8GB Wi-Fi model. However, watch out for a possible drop in prices on Amazon Prime Day.

comparison

There is a $ 70 / £ 50 / AU $ 60 price difference between the Amazon Kindle and the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, making the basic Kindle instantly more appealing to most savvy buyers.

The more expensive model, however, offers a number of practical advantages if you have the money and the circumstances to get the most of it.

Avid readers will appreciate the benefits of a sharper Paperwhite display. At 300 ppi, the text is reproduced almost twice as sharp as on the 167 ppi Kindle.

The Paperwhite display also benefits from a more extensive 5-LED backlight compared to the Kindle’s 4-LED system. The fact that the Kindle has no light at all is a huge win and means that one of the longstanding reasons to upgrade is now gone.

Only the Paperwhite is waterproof to IPX8. It’s also worth noting that you get the option of a memory upgrade with the Paperwhite from 8GB to 32GB, as well as a 4G LTE model. There are no such options with the 8 GB Wi-Fi Kindle.

judgment

The Amazon Kindle is the ideal choice for casual readers who want to read one or the other e-book on vacation or on a short vacation. It’s much cheaper, but has ample storage space and a solid build quality. Thanks to the additional 4-LED backlight, it can now be operated in poor lighting conditions.

However, if you are a more serious reader, consider upgrading to Amazon Paperwhite. Its sharper display makes it better for longer reading sessions, while the more storage option should be better for audiobook fans and e-book libraries with tens of thousands.

If you plan to read a lot in the bath or pool, you should also give the Paperwhite some serious thought. It’s the only e-reader of the two to be IPX8 waterproof, which means it can take a dip in the wet stuff where the simple Kindle doesn’t.