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Kindle Paperwhite – (previous generation - 2018 release) Waterproof with 2x the Storage – Ad-Supported

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 124,486 ratings

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8 GB
Ad-Supported
Black
Without Kindle Unlimited
The ad-supported option (also known as Special Offers or Lockscreen Ads) displays sponsored screensavers on your device's lockscreen. Learn more

Bundle and Save

Kindle Paperwhite Essentials Bundle The Hunger Games Bundle

  • The thinnest, lightest Kindle Paperwhite yet—with a flush-front design and 300 ppi glare-free display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight.
  • Now waterproof, so you’re free to read and relax at the beach, by the pool, or in the bath. Your Kindle has been tested to withstand accidental immersion in water.
  • Enjoy twice the storage with 8 GB. Or choose 32 GB to hold more magazines, comics, and audiobooks.
  • Now with Audible. Pair with Bluetooth headphones or speakers to listen to your story.
  • A single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours.
  • The built-in adjustable light lets you read indoors and outdoors, day and night.
  • Get instant access to new releases and bestsellers, plus over a million titles at $2.99 or less.
Meet the all-new Kindle Paperwhite

Pack lighter, travel farther

Our thinnest, lightest Kindle Paperwhite yet, with a sleek, modern design so you can read comfortably for hours. Features our signature 300 ppi, glare-free Paperwhite display, laser-quality text, and twice the storage of the previous generation. Plus a single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours.

Goes beyond a book

Adjust the text size and boldness and read with Kindle-exclusive fonts, hand tuned to provide maximum readability. Whispersync lets you seamlessly switch between reading and listening on your Kindle and Kindle app without losing your place (requires Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + free cellular connectivity).

Finding new stories has never been easier with Kindle. Enjoy access to Kindle exclusive titles you won’t find anywhere else. Prime members have unlimited access to over a thousand books, magazines, and more. With Kindle Unlimited get access to over one million titles and thousands of audiobooks.

Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + Free Cellular Connectivity

Wi-Fi

A Kindle e-reader with Wi-Fi is a great choice if you already have a high-speed internet connection and wireless router set up in your home.

Wi-Fi + Free Cellular Connectivity

Wi-Fi + free cellular connectivity uses the same wireless signals that cell phones use but with no monthly fees or commitments—Amazon pays for cellular connectivity. Using wireless connectivity to make other services available, such as wireless delivery of personal documents, may require an additional charge. For more information, see the Connectivity and Availability section of the Amazon Device Terms of Use

Make it personal

Designed by Amazon to perfectly fit your Kindle, these slim, form-fitting covers attach securely and fold back for one-handed reading. They automatically put your Kindle to sleep when closed and wake upon opening, making it easy to get back to your story. Learn more

Technical Details

Kindle Paperwhite

Kindle Paperwhite

Display

Amazon's 6” Paperwhite display technology with built-in light, 300ppi, optimized font technology, 16-level gray scale.

Size

6.6” x 4.6” x 0.3” ( 167 x 116 x 8.18 mm).

Weight

Wi-Fi: 6.4 oz (182 g) Wi-Fi + Free Cellular Connectivity: 6.8 oz (191 g) Actual size and weight may vary by configuration and manufacturing process.

System Requirements

None; fully wireless and doesn't require a computer to download content.

On-Device Storage

8 GB or 32 GB; holds thousands of books.

Cloud Storage

Free cloud storage for all Amazon content.

Battery Life

A single charge lasts up to six (6) weeks, based on a half hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13. Battery life will vary based on light settings, wireless usage. Audible audiobook streaming over Bluetooth will reduce battery life.

Charge Time

Fully charges in approximately 4 hours from a computer via USB cable or fully charges in less than 3 hours with a 5W USB power adapter.

Wi-Fi Connectivity

Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use the 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n standard with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication or Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS).

Accessibility Features

VoiceView screen reader, available over Bluetooth audio, provides spoken feedback allowing you to navigate your device and read books with text-to-speech (available in English only). Kindle Paperwhite also includes the ability to invert Black and White, adjust font size, font face, line spacing and margins. Learn more about Accessibility for Kindle

Content Formats Supported

Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PMP through conversion; Audible audio format (AAX).

Documentation

Learn more about Kindle devices with our Quick Start Guide and Kindle User Guide.

Warranty and Service

1-year limited warranty and service included. Optional 1-year, 2-year, 3-year Extended Warranty available for U.S customers sold separately. Use of Kindle is subject to the terms found here.

Included in the Box

Kindle Paperwhite, USB 2.0 charging cable and Quick Start Guide.

Waterproofing

Waterproof (IPX8), tested to withstand immersion in 2 meters of fresh water for 60 minutes. Learn more about the waterproof Kindle Paperwhite.

Available Colors

Black, Twilight Blue, Plum, Sage

Generation

Kindle Paperwhite 10th Generation - 2018 release.

Software Security Updates

This device receives guaranteed software security updates until at least four years after the device is last available for purchase as a new unit on our websites. Learn more about these software security updates. If you already own a Kindle, visit Manage Your Content and Devices for information specific to your device.

Looking for specific info?

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
124,486 global ratings

Customers say

Customers like the brightness, portability, and readability of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. They mention that the lighting is more even, the backlight is adjustable for low light situations, and that it's the perfect weight and size. They also appreciate the clear display and the soft-touch backing. However, some customers are disappointed with the speed. Customers are mixed on ease of use, battery life, and quality.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

6,755 customers mention5,827 positive928 negative

Customers like the readability of the Kindle Paperwhite. They say the screen is very pleasant for reading, and the clear display is perfect for low light reading. The text is sharp and clear, and can be adjusted by font. The size, screen brightness, and layout of the product make it easy to read, and customers find it perfect for reading by the pool.

"...They don't interrupt reading at all, and the Kindle Paperwhite personalized my Special Offers based on my reading, Kindle browsing history, and..." Read more

"...It’s free to read books. Most people I’ve talked to don’t know about a wonderful free app called Libby..." Read more

"...most people will find that the new Paperwhite screen is perfectly fine for low light reading (see picture)...." Read more

"...The Paperwhite reading page is easy on the eyes, precise fonts and backlit to read without additional light...." Read more

5,261 customers mention5,142 positive119 negative

Customers like the portability of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. They mention that it is easy to carry, fits in the back pocket of jeans, and is the perfect weight and size. The Paperwhite is durable and light in your hand, making it easy to use with a case. Its waterproofing makes it an excellent choice for trips.

"...The overall build quality is excellent. It is light weight and thinner than I expected. Yes it's plastic, but it doesn't feel cheaply made...." Read more

"...So it’s ridiculously light for being a reading device.+Build: it feels sturdy so I’m not worried it will crack in my backpack...." Read more

"...It’s incredibly convenient to carry around. I have a near 1 hour commute to / from work, and my Kindle follows me each day...." Read more

"...Thin and light, easy to hold while reading with a nice texture that doesn’t feel like it will fall out of your hand.Cons:..." Read more

4,389 customers mention3,750 positive639 negative

Customers generally like the brightness of the product. They say that the screen is very nice, the lighting is more even, and the backlight is adjustable for low light situations. The crisp words and the customizable backlight make night reading a lot less difficult. They also say that it is comfortable reading in direct sunlight and has a night mode.

"...The light on the Kindle Paperwhite is amazing, and even in my dimly lit room I don't need to have it much above 5 or 6 on the brightness...." Read more

"...The Kindle Paperwhite also has font size and screen brightness adjustment options, which is great if you’re reading outside or on a plane when they..." Read more

"...Thin and light, easy to hold while reading with a nice texture that doesn’t feel like it will fall out of your hand.Cons:..." Read more

"...reading page is easy on the eyes, precise fonts and backlit to read without additional light...." Read more

3,902 customers mention2,967 positive935 negative

Customers generally like the size of the product. They mention that it's small in size and lightweight. It would fit in large pockets, but would easily go in a bag or purse. The form factor is almost identical, and it' s easy to hold. The portability is a big plus for some customers.

"...Although my phone boasts an almost 6" screen, truly the Kindle screen is much larger and thus much easier to read especially with the matte finish...." Read more

"...Easy to use, battery lasts forever. Small and cute design...." Read more

"...make the device feel less sleek then newer models, but the space doesn’t feel wasted as I imagine the edge space as page margins when I’m..." Read more

"...issue, and I blame myself as much as I do anything else, is the small surface area on which there is taxed...." Read more

6,324 customers mention4,272 positive2,052 negative

Customers are mixed about the quality of the Kindle. Some mention it's an excellent device, while others say that it doesn't work well with magazine subscriptions, the bottom right half of the screen is not working, and it'd be pretty much unusable.

"...This was an excellent buy, and my next Kindle purchase is going to be one for a couple other people in my life who read just as voraciously as I do." Read more

"...It continued to work fine even while underwater and when I removed it the paper towel wiped it dry without any issues...." Read more

"...-Amazon Kindle Unlimited magazines: it doesn’t work well with magazine subscriptions or any books that have lots of pictures and were not made..." Read more

"...To be fair the device does work quite well but comparing it to tablets in general the effective reading space it is, to me, fairly small...." Read more

5,971 customers mention3,772 positive2,199 negative

Customers are mixed about the battery life of the Amazon Kindle Book reader. Some mention that the battery is very good, while others say that it drains very quickly when wifi is left on.

"...The battery life - the Kindle came out of the box at 60% battery life and took virtually no time at all to charge to 100% on my phone's quick charger..." Read more

"...If I read about 1-2 hours a day with wifi on, the battery drains very quickly, and will hardly last beyond a week...." Read more

"...Easy to use, battery lasts forever. Small and cute design...." Read more

"...It also has an incredibly long battery life, as I’ve gone ~2 weeks without charging it while using it pretty regularly...." Read more

5,470 customers mention3,579 positive1,891 negative

Customers are mixed about the ease of use of the Amazon Kindle. Some mention that it's very intuitive and you really don't need to even read the guide, while others say that the USB can be slightly difficult and it is hard to know which way. The new software interface is great, and the revised home screen is incredible. However, some customers say that it can be time consuming and powering on and off will be draining. There is a small mental learning curve when staring at the screen for some reason. The GUI is not optimised for a low refresh rate, and everything was manual, like adjusting the screen.

"...suspend holds if you’d like to wait on some of them, and browse options from any library no matter which city you’re in...." Read more

"...I have quibbles about the overall size of the reading space it is very convenient and portable while being fairly light and easy to tote around...." Read more

"...But this is time consuming and powering on and off will be draining more battery...." Read more

"...light in your hand, fits in the back pocket of jeans, endless choices for downloads ... the list goes on...." Read more

2,286 customers mention548 positive1,738 negative

Customers are dissatisfied with the speed of the product. They mention that the display is sluggish, the operating system is clunky, and the screen presses can take a bit to register. The battery goes quickly, and customers have a difficult time with their taps not registering or overregistering.

"...-Touch screen: responsiveness can be little delayed when clicking between pages on library or trying to loads new titles...." Read more

"...First the cons:Sluggish displayKlunky operating system compounded by sluggish display..." Read more

"...This eliminates visual defects for me, but turning the page became slower...." Read more

"...For an e-reader the speed is great. There is just a little lag, but not enough to become anything beyond just barely noticeable...." Read more

Paperwhite 4 vs other Kindles and the Android app on an e-ink device
4 Stars
Paperwhite 4 vs other Kindles and the Android app on an e-ink device
Overall, the Paperwhite 4 may be the best Kindle I have ever used, but not every change has been for the good, and in some ways, my earlier Kindles and the Kindle app are superior to the Paperwhite 4. My earlier Kindles are the Kindle DX Graphite and the Kindle Touch, and I use the app on the Boyue Likebook Mars, an Android ereader with an e-ink screen. I previously wrote a much longer review that was almost double the length limit. Then, I distilled the main points of comparison into some lists, which was much shorter but too bare bones. In this review, I will try to strike a balance by focusing on the differences between these devices that are most important to me. I hope this will help you make a more informed decision about whether to get the Paperwhite 4, stick with an earlier model, or get another device.ADVANTAGESOne of the best known differences between the Paperwhite and the Touch is that the Paperwhite has front lights. I was reluctant to get a Paperwhite in the past, because the lights could not be shut off. Thankfully, this has been fixed. I can now shut the lights completely off and use it as I would the Touch, or I can use front lights in low light conditions.One thing I really like about the Paperwhite 4 is the control is gives over fonts. I could install custom fonts on the Kindle Touch, but it didn't work as well as it now does on the Paperwhite 4. Before I could get fonts to be recognized on the Touch, I had to restart it or type ";fc-cache" into the search bar. With the Paperwhite 4, all I have to do is copy fonts to the /fonts/ directory on the device, and they are ready to use as soon as I open a book. On the Touch, I could not install more fonts than could be displayed on the screen at one time. To make matters worse, this space was shared with pre-installed fonts, and these included some foreign language fonts whose Latin characters looked the same. Thanks to displaying the custom fonts in a scrollable list, the Paperwhite 4 does not have this limitation on how many fonts I can install. With the Touch, it used fonts in the regular, italic, boldface, and bolditalic styles, but the Paperwhite 4 may use a font's full weight set.I expect this is because the Paperwhite 4 allows you to increase the font's weight by up to five increments. Including the normal weight, this provides six levels of boldness. This is nice, because making fonts bolder can make them larger and more legible without increasing the font size.I also like that the Paperwhite 4 has more gradations of font size than either the Kindle Touch or the Android Kindle app have. It has 14 font sizes, whereas the Touch and DX each have only 8, and the Android app has only 12. While I haven't had serious problems with the font sizes on the Touch, it has bothered me that the Kindle app makes a huge jump in font size between size 7 and size 8. The Paperwhite 4 does not have this problem. Making comparisons with the app on the Likebook Mars, which has the same PPI as the Paperwhite 4, the Paperwhite's size 5 is closest to the app's size 7, and the Paperwhite's size 10 is closest to the app's size 8. That means the Paperwhite 4 has four extra font sizes in the range where the app makes a huge leap in size. While I usually use the app with size 7, something slightly larger is more comfortable on the treadmill, because my eyes are further from the device. At sizes 6 and 7, the Paperwhite 4 still shows more text on the screen than the Kindle app does at size 8 on the larger Likebook Mars. But to get a larger size and a larger screen together, I end up using Moon+ Reader on the Likebook Mars. This app allows finetune setting of the font size by increments of one tenth of a point. I have been using it at a font size of 24 points, and in comparing this side-by-side with the Kindle Touch, this most approximates size 6 with a boldness level of 3. I have also used it at 28 points, which is somewhere between sizes 7 and 8 on the Paperwhite 4.One more thing that makes fonts look better on the Paperwhite 4 than on the Touch is that it has a 300 PPI display instead of a 167 PPI display. Comparing characters in the same font, they look smoother and more like printed text than fonts do on the Touch.Besides allowing custom fonts, the Paperwhite 4 comes with a larger selection of pre-installed fonts. In addition to Caecilia, Helvetica, and Futura, which I had on the Touch, it includes Baskerville, Bookerly, and Palatino. Of these, my favorite is Bookerly, a serif font Amazon had designed for reading books on e-ink displays. Even before getting the Paperwhite 4, I had installed it on my Kindle Touch and on my Kindle DX. The DX does not allow custom fonts, but a jailbroken one lets you change the default fonts. The Android app also comes with Bookerly, and since I cannot use it with custom fonts, I use it mainly with Bookerly.Another thing I like about the Paperwhite 4 is how quickly it handles page turning. Pages turn instanteneously without any noticeable transition effect or animation. On the Touch, there would be a transition effect as the contents of one page blurred into the next page. In the app, I can check or uncheck the option for a page turn animation, but when I do uncheck it, I get a shifting animation. In the regular display mode of the Likebook Mars, these can be visually jarring. This can be reduced by switching to A2 mode, which makes animations smoother by being more lax in what it updates on the screen. The main side effect of using A2 mode is ghosting, which means displaying after images of what was previously on the screen. This is not so bad that it impairs legibility, but it does make the screen look uglier. The Paperwhite 4 does not show any noticable ghosting. The main problem with the app seems to be that it was designed for LCD screens on phones and tablets, not for e-ink screens. On the Likebook Mars, Moon+ Reader, which has settings to accomodate e-ink screens, can do clean, instantaneous page turns in regular mode, and in A2 mode, its ghosting is less noticable. Unfortunately, it is no good for reading Kindle books.Something I like about both the Paperwhite 4 and the Kindle app is that they will let me mark books as read and then filter books by whether or not I have read them. When I just used a Kindle Touch, I kept track of what I hadn't finished reading yet by keeping it on the device while moving what I had read to the cloud. This did not work out as well with the Kindle app, because it would sometimes delete books on its own. Thankfully, it got the Read/Unread filters not long after I got my Likebook Mars. Now that I'm using multiple devices for reading Kindle books, having these filters makes it much easier to see only books I haven't finished reading yet in my library. Another helpful new filter is its Kindle Unlimited filter, which shows only what I have borrowed with Kindle Unlimited.One frustration I had with my Kindle Touch is that when I would search for a book title, it would search for the search term only in the text of books, not in titles. Instead of just showing me the book I wanted to find, it would give me a list of locations where that term appeared in the book. While this would also help me find the book, I could not effectively use it without losing my place in a book. So I'm happy that the Paperwhite 4 now does titles searches. Title search results appear underneath the search bar as I'm entering text. Since most of my searches have been for book titles rather than for book content, I'm glad that search now works like this.One new feature I noticed on the Paperwhite 4 is that it will let me change dictionaries on the fly. I also learned that the Kindle app has this same feature, though it implements it differently. The Touch does not have this feature. It lets you change the dictionary only by going to settings. The advantage of this feature is that it lets you easily use multiple dictionaries instead of with just one. I normally have The Collins English Dictionary on each of my Kindles, but now I can easily look up definitions in the Oxford Dictionary of English or the New Oxford American Dictionary. Even more significant than this, I realized that I could add translation dictionaries. With this in mind, I bought A Digital Latin Dictionary. With this, I could look up English definitions of Latin words. This is helpful, because when I have come across Latin words in the past, it was frustrating that the Kindle did not support translation from Latin.One of the defects in the Kindle Touch that prompted me to get a Likebook Mars is that its experimental browser does not always work well with HTTPS sites. After using Cloudflare to change my own websites to HTTPS, I could no longer load them in the experimental browser on the Touch. But the Paperwhite 4 does not have this problem. My own websites that no longer work on the Touch work with it, and I've come across other websites that work on the Paperwhite 4 but not on the Kindle Touch.This covers the main things I like about the Paperwhite 4 over the Kindle Touch and the Android app. The Paperwhite 4 and the Kindle app have many of the same features, because they both continue to get updates, but the Kindle Touch has a very different feature set, because it no longer gets updates. I have already mentioned the advantages of the Paperwhite 4 over the app. I'll briefly mention some more of its advantages over the Kindle Touch. It has twice as much storage space, its ability to display manga and comic books is less buggy, it has better support for magazines, it supports translation for more languages, it has Goodreads integration, it has Word Wise, and it has IPX8 waterproofing.DISADVANTAGES & SOME COMPENSATING FEATURESAlthough it has front lights, it has no warm front lights. Warm lighting has less blue light in it, which makes it more suitable for reading at night, as blue light can reset circadian rhythms and cause sleep loss. The one feature it has to make up for this is its inverted display mode, which shows white text on a black screen. This helps absorb more of the light from the front lights, and it makes nighttime reading more comfortable. In this mode, the lights cannot be shut completely off. But they will still go off if you put the device to sleep.One difference between the Kindle Touch and the Paperwhite 4 is in how they support audio. I prefer to have speakers and an audio port, which is what the Touch has, to having audio support only through Bluetooth. I already have earphones and speakers that I can plug into an audio port, but I have no Bluetooth audio equipment, nor do I have any interest in getting any. But this difference is not too important to me, because I have little interest in audio books, and the Kindle app supports audio books better. In the app, I can read along to a book while listening to it being read. As the text is read, it highlights the word being read, and when it gets to the end of a page, it automatically turns it. Used in combination with Word Wise, I can see definitions of unfamiliar words without needing to pause the audio to look them up. On both the Touch and the Paperwhite 4, there is no integration of written books with audio books. You can read the book or listen to the audio, but you cannot do both at the same time.In comparison to my dedicated Kindles, the Likebook Mars has much better support for audio. It has both an audio port and Bluetooth audio, though I use only the former. As an Android device, I can use it to stream music or play MP3s while I read. Unlike the Touch, which can also play MP3s, it can run apps that organize them and let me select specific albums to play. Also, the 128GB micro SDXC card I placed into it provides much more storage space for music.I prefer to read books without any auto-hyphenation of words that won't fit at the end of a line, which is how the Kindle Touch works. While auto-hyphenation does have the advantage of fitting more text on the screen, I prefer no hyphenation, because splitting a word between two lines sometimes makes it harder to quickly see what the word is, which slows down my reading. Unfortunately, the Paperwhite 4 and the Kindle app both auto-hyphenate words too long for the end of a line. It would be fine to include auto-hyphenation for those who want it as long as those who don't want it could turn it off, but there is no option for that. I see more hyphenation on the Paperwhite 4, probably because it has a smaller screen than the Likebook Mars.On the Paperwhite 4, footnote superscripts are smaller than they are on the Kindle Touch. This makes them smaller targets, which results in me missing them more frequently. When it shows the body of the footnote, it shows the first paragraph of the footnote in a special box that may appear along with the text, giving some context to the footnote, though usually this box is the same size as the screen even when what it displays could fit in a smaller box. In case of footnotes with multiple paragraphs, this box includes a link to the footnotes section, though it usually gives no indication as to whether there are more paragraphs. So, I usually go to the footnotes section anyway to see if there is more to the footnote. This is frustrating, because it adds an extra step to seeing a footnote. I prefer how the Kindle Touch handles footnotes, which is to go directly to the footnote section without requiring an extra step.The Kindle Touch let me run Active Content. These were like apps but designed specifically to run on Kindles. They include things like weather, a checklist, a note pad, a utility kit with a calendar, and some games. Thanks to now having my rooted Nook Simple Touch and my Likebook Mars, which are both e-ink devices I can run Android apps on, having active content is no longer as critical, though it is still nice to have. Unlike the Kindle Touch and some earlier Paperwhites, the Paperwhite 4 does not support Active Content.The experimental browser is not very good. It scores 0% on css3test.com and 152 out of 555 on html5test.com. It displays Wikipedia pages poorly even though Kindle books let you look up terms on Wikipedia. When a Wikipedia article has many references, it lists them in two columns, and this browser tries to fit the whole rest of the article into the first column. Its saving grace is Article Mode, which will let you view a Wikipedia article or any other article in a single column with a clear, legible serif font. But in general, it is not nearly as good as Chrome or Firefox on an Android device. The Likebook Mars has the advantage of being able to run these and other browsers.One frustration with both the Kindle Touch and the Paperwhite 4 is that the virtual keyboard has no cursor keys. This makes it hard to position the cursor when I want to edit text. With the Likebook Mars, I can get full cursor keys with Hacker's Keyboard.One thing I like about my Kindle DX is that it will auto-rotate the display to match how I'm holding it. Apparently, the Oasis 3 also has this feature. But the Kindle Touch, Paperwhite 4, and Likebook Mars all lack it. The two 6 inch Kindles let me manually select between portrait and landscape. An app I run on the Likebook Mars lets me choose from these and their reverse orientations. Reverse portrait lets me more easily hold the case with my left hand, and it would be nice to have the same option on the Paperwhite 4, since it fits in the case I got for it only one way.Another thing I like about my Kindle DX is how it tends to show large images, so that I rarely have to zoom anything. But on the Paperwhite 4, the Kindle Touch and the Kindle app, too many images appear smaller than they should and require zooming. This is not because the DX is larger. Even proportional to the screen, images on the Paperwhite 4 and the others appear smaller than they do on the DX. In some books, particularly the Graphic Guide Introducing series available on Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited, many of the pictures show up very tiny and need to be zoomed. Worse than that, some images that appear very tiny cannot be zoomed, and those that can be zoomed sometimes have the x for exiting the zoomed image blocking part of the text in the image. I have read several books in this series using the Kindle DX, and images in these books always show up full size on the DX, so that there is no need to zoom them. If not for this issue, I expect these books could be read on the Paperwhite 4.Unlike the app, the Paperwhite 4 and Kindle Touch cannot display magazine pages as they would appear in the magazine. This is probably because it didn't make much sense to give this ability to a device that displays in black and white and is much smaller than the typical magazine page. In compensation, though, these devices provide better navigation of magazines, and they more easily spare you from seeing magazine ads. They let you read magazine articles in text mode, which does include images. The Paperwhite 4 does not let you use custom fonts when viewing magazine articles, though the Kindle Touch does.One last thing is that the Paperwhite 4 is not the ideal size for some types of content. Manga will look better on a device that is closer to the size of actual manga, such as the 7.8 inch Likebook Mars. PDFs, books with special formatting, such as the Dummies books, and books with wide tables will look better on a larger device, such as the 9.7 inch Kindle DX or a large Android ereader. Magazines and color comics may look better on an LCD tablet, since they use color and are normally larger than the 6 inch screen of the Paperwhite 4.PAPERWHITE 4 VS THE BASIC KINDLE AND THE OASIS 3I do not have either of these devices, but their firmware is very similar, and they mainly have a few hardware differences. The main advantage of the Paperwhite 4 over the Basic Kindle is that it has a higher PPI. Seeing how much smoother and cleaner text looks on the Paperwhite 4 than on the Kindle Touch, which has a lower PPI, I consider this a good reason for preferring the Paperwhite 4 to the Basic Kindle. The Oasis 3 has multiple advantages over the Paperwhite 4. It is larger, has auto-rotate, and provides warm lighting. The main advantage of the Paperwhite 4 over the Oasis 3 is that its flat design is better suited for laying flat on a surface, and this comes in handy when I want to read on the treadmill or exercise bike or use a tablet pillow in bed. It also makes it easier to use it with a case. I bought a third-party case for my Paperwhite 4 with a vertical strap on the inside front cover. This makes it easier to hold onto. To hold it more comfortably, I sometimes slip underneath its vertical strap a looped strap for anchoring resistance bands to a closed door, then slip one hand through its loop.CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, the Paperwhite 4 is a great ereader, though it is not as good as an ereader could get, and it is not ideal for every use. I do not recommend it for audio books, manga, comic books, books with many footnotes, books with many illustrations, books with special formatting, or books with wide tables. But for books that are mainly free-flowing text, it's a great choice. It would make a good first ereader, and even if you get another ereader for content it doesn't handle so well, it's a good one to have around for regular books. The 6 inch size is comfortable for reading, and it makes it more portable than larger ereaders.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2019
Digital Storage Capacity: 8 GBOffer Type: Ad-SupportedColor: BlackOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase
Customer image
5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Product Overall
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2019
I bought the Kindle Paperwhite 2018 edition, 8 GB of storage with Special Offers for myself because up until I received it, I've been reading with the Kindle app on my Samsung Galaxy S9 phone instead. While the Kindle app on my phone was great, my eyes were really straining on the smaller screen and I'm a voracious reader. I was looking for something in a larger screen, but won't utilize the other feature and capabilities of a tablet, and beyond Kindle have no use for one at all. Overall, I'm highly impressed with this little Kindle device.

I want to start by mentioning the Special Offers, as in all the reviews I read and heard about the device, the Special Offers weren't more than a footnote. They aren't intrusive at all, it's just on the main screen and that's it. They don't interrupt reading at all, and the Kindle Paperwhite personalized my Special Offers based on my reading, Kindle browsing history, and purchases so a lot of the ads that come through are actually interesting to me and in fact one or two of the ads have made me drool enough to purchase whatever book they were trying to peddle. That is definitely a plus, and yet a terrible thing because I AM such a voracious reader and I know I'm going to be spending a lot more money on Kindle books but at least the majority of the ads are tailored to the type of books I enjoy reading. I'm definitely not complaining about the Special Offers, nor will I pay to have them removed when the next ad that is displayed on my Kindle's screen might be a book I might like. Some may find the ads annoying just because it's an ad, but I find it enjoyable and definitely not intrusive in the slightest.

The battery life - the Kindle came out of the box at 60% battery life and took virtually no time at all to charge to 100% on my phone's quick charger. I spent from 3 pm until almost 11 pm doing nothing but reading (when I said I'm a voracious reader, I meant it). My Kindle went from 100% battery to only 81% and from 11 pm until 8:30 am, only lost 2% battery. That is absolutely amazing to me and worth every penny I spent on the Kindle. I can't do that with my phone or a tablet; those batteries drain so quickly but this Kindle will last me all day long and still won't need to be charged at night. That's such a huge plus for a reader like me!

The light on the Kindle Paperwhite is amazing, and even in my dimly lit room I don't need to have it much above 5 or 6 on the brightness. Although my phone boasts an almost 6" screen, truly the Kindle screen is much larger and thus much easier to read especially with the matte finish. My eyes strain far less on the Kindle even with almost a solid 8 or more hours of nothing but reading. This Kindle screen isn't too large, but it's definitely not too small either, it's just right. It's almost like you have a physical book in your hand, as far as relative size goes, though a little larger than your common paperback.

I don't use Audible because I can't pay attention to a book when I'm listening to it being read to me, so the 8 GB of storage (more like close to 6 GB usable), holds plenty of books for me. I only have just a handful downloaded at any one point in time, but even the 10 or so books I have downloaded at once still doesn't take the storage space down anywhere near the 5 GB mark. So 8 GB is more than plenty for just regular printed books if you're like me and suddenly develop a case of A.D.D. when it comes to audiobooks.

The speed of the device is just fine too. I won't say it's excellent compared to my Galaxy S9, but that's apples and oranges. For an e-reader the speed is great. There is just a little lag, but not enough to become anything beyond just barely noticeable. It's not annoying at all. It takes maybe a second or so to respond. When turning the page, even reading at a quick pace I'm able to keep up with the story on the next page from where it left off without interruption.

The overall build quality is excellent. It is light weight and thinner than I expected. Yes it's plastic, but it doesn't feel cheaply made. It's comfortable to hold in one hand, or two if you like. The only thing I would change about the build is the power button - maybe I'm just used to them being on the right side of the device near the top... but the only thing I would change is the placement of the button.

Overall, I'm very satisfied and impressed with my purchase. This was an excellent buy, and my next Kindle purchase is going to be one for a couple other people in my life who read just as voraciously as I do.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2022
Digital Storage Capacity: 32 GBOffer Type: Ad-SupportedColor: SageOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase
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5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing little reader. Love it!
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2022
I travel a lot and love to read. I decided books are too bulky, and man, was i right?!

Pros:
+Weight: When it comes to weight, my Kindle Paperweight 2018 edition is 6.4oz, and my iPhone 13 weights the same with a slim cover on. So it’s ridiculously light for being a reading device.

+Build: it feels sturdy so I’m not worried it will crack in my backpack. I ordered one in mint green, so it has beautiful color on the back side, I don’t feel the need for a protective cover. I did knit a little sleeve but I wouldn’t buy the $20+ covers on Amazon.

+Backlight: amazing to have for reading in low light. I don’t need it during the day, and inly run it to about 6/24 during evening reading with lamp on bedside table turned on. At level 24 it gets super bright!

+Battery life: i must have read 5 or so books in past 2 months and only charged it once, because i was traveling and didn’t want it to die on me mid trip. As said above, i barely ever run at above level 6 for backlight and only turn wifi on when downloading books, so this definitely helps.

+Ads: I paid for the version that comes with ads after reading other people’s reviews, and I actually don’t mind the ads. It’s only there when you reader is turned off (on standby). And it actually gives me suggestions or inspiration for further read. As soon as you wake up your kindle, the ad disappears. When you manually force your kindle to power off, the screen will be blank. But this is time consuming and powering on and off will be draining more battery.

+Format: you can easily adjust Font style and size, spacing, margins, direction (layout)…

+Progress: By clicking in the left bottom corner, you can flip between displaying page number, time left in chapter, time left in book,… - i only recently discovered this, and ‘time left in chapter’ has been super useful if i want to just finish one last chapter before putting the reader away before bedtime, since I don’t want to be clicking ahead, trying to find out how many more pages I have left.

Cons:
-Price: i paid just under $100 w/tax for this 2018 edition, and yes, it is more expensive than renting/buying books, but i feel like it’s a long term investment if it lasts me a few years :)

-Touch screen: responsiveness can be little delayed when clicking between pages on library or trying to loads new titles. Just be patient and wait before clicking again. Definitely wouldn’t use this as a browser for internet search, but for flipping through book pages it works great.

-Amazon Kindle Unlimited magazines: it doesn’t work well with magazine subscriptions or any books that have lots of pictures and were not made specifically for this format. If pictures get cropped or text ‘too busy’, magazines are difficult to read. I just prefer reading books on my Kindle, and looking at magazines on my tablet or desktop.

-Downloading books from public library or your own pdf. can be time consuming if you don’t have the right format. Make sure the file you are trying to send to your device is supported by your Kindle. Otherwise use a free software to convert the file. Can’t send books that are too large, have to manually connect it to desktop and use a cable i guess.

Summary:
I’m very happy with my purchase and i read a lot more now that I have this Kindle. It doesn’t strain my hands as books do, even though the physical book will always have a special place on my shelf.
Easy to use, battery lasts forever. Small and cute design. About 1/3 size of an average novel book, yet you can download hundreds of books onto it and read as you please.
I’m taking advantage of the 3-month Kindle unlimited trial that came with my purchase but it also works great with my downloads/loans from my public library. I certainly don’t need any bells and whistles of the newer editions, this is exactly what I needed it for - reading books in paperwhite color. I certainly enjoyed it on a beach in Hawaii over Christmas! Highly recommend!
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