Kindle Paperwhite (2024) review: The best gets better

The Kindle Paperwhite (starting at $159) is often considered the go-to best kindle for most people. Between the bright screen, comfortable size, and ridiculously long battery life, there’s a lot to like about this e-reader.

I’ve never owned an e-reader and have only used one for short periods of time. The Kindle Paperwhite is the perfect starting place for me because it offers a fantastic balance of price and features. Sure, the Kindle Writer And Kindle Colorsoft offers more, and the base Kindle is more affordable, but the Paperwhite is in the sweet spot with its relatively cheap starting price.

While Amazon The company has not reinvented the wheel with this e-reader, but has made smart upgrades 2021 Kindle Paperwhite. The moderate speed increase, longer battery life, and larger screen all make for a fantastic reading experience. Sure, it costs $10 more, but with the upgrades, Amazon provides a reasonable justification for raising the price.

Is the new Kindle Paperwhite worth buying if you already own the previous model? Probably not. But for anyone looking to upgrade from one basic kindle or buying their first device, this is the one to get.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024): Cheat sheet

What is it? The new Kindle Paperwhite, with a larger, more vibrant screen and faster performance than its predecessor
Who is it intended for? The Kindle Paperwhite is for anyone who loves reading and is willing to spend a little more than the basic Kindle for premium features.
What does it cost? The Kindle Paperwhite starts at $159 and has 16 GB of storage. You can order it now from Amazon.
What do we like? The bright display, fast performance and lightweight design.
What do we not like? The price increase and the location of the power button.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024) review: specs

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Header cell – Column 0	Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024)
Price	$159
Display	7 inches (300 ppi black and white; 150 ppi color)
Storage	16GB
Front light	Adjustable warm light
Battery life	12 weeks (estimated)
Wireless charging	Only on the Signature edition
Gates	1x USB-C
Dimensions	7 x 5 x 0.3 inches
Weight	7.4 ounces

The ups

The Kindle Paperwhite impresses with its clear e-reader display and comfortable design. It has better battery life and a larger screen, making it slightly better than the hugely successful device from 2021. It’s about as good as an e-reader can get.

Beautiful, warm rendering

The Kindle Paperwhite on a counter

(Image credit: Future)

The display is perhaps the most crucial part of being one of the best e-readers. After all, it’s the part of the device you’ll stare at for hours as you lose yourself in the worlds of your favorite novels. As we expect from Amazon’s devices, the Paperwhite offers a beautiful, warm screen that looks good in all lighting conditions. You can adjust the screen tint from white to amber, so you can read in bright sunlight as well as in the dark.

Amazon increased the screen size while keeping the dimensions the same. This is thanks to thinner bezels around the screen. This design tweak makes the device look and feel high-end, which is fair considering it’s in the middle of Amazon’s e-reader range.

Other improvements to the screen include a greater contrast ratio and faster page scrolling, thanks to a 25% performance boost. Sure, it was already tough on the last generation Paperwhite, but getting a little performance boost is always nice.

The 300ppi resolution makes text (and black and white images) pop off the screen, just like in a traditional book. The maximum brightness of 94 nits is also more than sufficient for all kinds of lighting situations.

We tested the Signature Editon, which adds a handy, auto-adjusting headlight sensor. As the light in the room changes, the brightness of your Kindle’s screen adjusts. It’s a nice feature and worth spending the extra money if you’re constantly moving while reading. This version also gets wireless charging, which is nice but not necessary given the estimated 12-week battery life.

Long battery life

The Kindle Paperwhite (2024) in hand

(Image credit: Future)

I will never not do it miracle how long the e-reader batteries last. Amazon says the Kindle Paperwhite will last about 12 weeks on a single charge. That’s under ideal conditions, of course, with the brightness set to the level Amazon uses (the company doesn’t disclose the battery testing process).

Unfortunately, we didn’t have twelve weeks to drain the battery before publishing this review, so we’ll have to take Amazon’s word for it. What I can say is that I have never charged the device. I took it out of the box at about 50% and drained it to 42% after over a week of testing. Any way you slice it, that’s great battery life.

We can also say that Amazon’s battery life has increased by a whopping two weeks over the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite (previously it was ten weeks). Assuming the company uses the same testing methods, that’s a nice bump any way you slice it.

So much to read

Kindle Paperwhite (2024) in hand

(Image credit: Future)

Amazon’s main advantage over the competition is its vast library of Kindle content. Between the books you can buy, Audible, Kindle Unlimited, and the Prime Reading Library, you’ll have a hard time navigating everything you already have. When you start picking up books on sale, your library will quickly grow to rival that of, well, real libraries.

And speaking of libraries, you can use apps like Libby or Overdrive to download digital books from your public library without spending a dime. If you have other ways to obtain digital books, you can upload them to Paperwhite through the Amazon Send website or by using the email address automatically assigned to your Kindle. I used the email address to send books I downloaded from my phone to my Kindle and found it worked fine.

The downs

While the Paperwhite is almost perfect, there are a few minor flaws: the higher price and the terrible power button placement. While these probably won’t be dealbreakers for most tablet buyers, they are still things worth mentioning.

Price increase

The bottom of the Kindle Paperwhite (2024) in hand

(Image credit: Future)

While Amazon made some smart upgrades to the Kindle Paperwhite, it also increased the price by $10. While I’m completely willing to accept that upgrades cost money, year after year we see devices coming out with new features for the same price.

No matter how much Amazon justifies the price increase, we are never happy when the price increases. And while I don’t think it’s worth upgrading from the 2021 Paperwhite, the price increase makes me think it’s even less worth it.

Ultimately, though, it’s $10 more for a device that you can use for several years before needing to be replaced, so it’s far from a deal breaker. Plus, you can usually find Kindles on sale through Amazon, especially locally Black Friday.

Location of the power button

Kindle Paperwhite (2024) bottom

(Image credit: Future)

This problem existed in previous versions of the Kindle Paperwhite and is still there: the power button is located on the bottom of the device, right where you can rest your finger while reading. If you move it a certain way, you may accidentally press the power button, which will turn off the device while reading.

Of course it doesn’t always happen, but I just don’t understand why Amazon didn’t put the power button at the top like most other phones, tablets, and other e-readers.

Kindle Paperwhite (2024): Verdict

The Kindle Paperwhite (2024) in hand

(Image credit: Future)

As a new Kindle owner, I love the new Kindle Paperwhite. It has incredible battery life, a beautiful, vibrant screen and a fast processor. However, as great as the upgrades are, I can’t recommend you buy this e-reader if you already have the previous version. The changes are so incremental that you can’t make a reasonable case for buying a new one (unless there’s something wrong with the one you already have).

For first-time buyers, though, this is the Kindle to get. You can read it in any lighting conditions with Amazon’s vast library at your fingertips. If you don’t have an e-reader and are in the market, I 100% recommend getting the Kindle Paperwhite. You’ll enjoy reading your books more than ever, and that’s all you can expect from a device like this.