Kindle paperwhite with special offers review

As a kid, I used to bring books out to the playground to read during recess while my classmates ran circles around me.

As a teenager, I used to go to school exhausted after pulling all-nighters to read, and whenever I was bratty, my mom would get her revenge by hiding my half-finished books, a particularly cruel punishment for a dork with a bad attitude.

And as an adult, I spent hundreds of dollars to ship at least 75 pounds of hardcovers and paperbacks across the country when I moved from New York to Denver.

So please believe me when I say it pains me to admit that I’m a recent Kindle convert—and I love reading on it so much, I worry that I may never pick up another physical book again.

The case for Kindles

I formed my voracious-reading habits in elementary school nearly 20 years ago, before ebooks were an option. By the time Kindles became ubiquitous, I was too enamored with the bookish world I’d created for myself to switch to digital. Holding a book in my hands, flipping through its pages and breathing in its musty scent, creasing the spine and leaving fingerprints on the glossy cover—these details were all, to my mind, almost as enjoyable as the act of reading itself. As a person who packed at least three hardcovers for every weekend trip, I knew that an e-reader would be the more practical choice for me, but even thinking about making the switch made me feel guilty, as if I were betraying a good friend.

But then the pandemic closed library doors, cutting off my endless supply of books. I couldn’t afford to buy every new release that intrigued me, so I reluctantly started borrowing ebooks from my library through the Libby app instead. At first I read books on a tablet I already owned. Then I finally managed to snag a Prime Day deal on the Kindle Paperwhite Kids, our former top pick.

The Kids version of the Kindle Paperwhite, which you can switch out of kids mode, has a great display, adjustable color temperature, even lighting, and waterproofing. It costs $20 more than the standard Paperwhite but comes with a cover, a longer warranty, and no ads, any of which would be worth at least $20 alone.

Buying Options

Despite my lifelong love of physical books, the more I use my Kindle, the happier I am with it. And even though I miss the idea of leafing through the pages of paperbacks and feeling the satisfying heft of a particularly long hardcover in my hands, I don’t actually miss the physical task of reading them. A cozy bookshelf stuffed with titles will always make my heart flutter—but waking my Kindle from its slumber has started to bring me that same surge of joy.

Here are all the reasons why.

The Kindle is lightweight and especially portable

Photo: Elissa Sanci

Much like Rory Gilmore, I like to have a book on me at all times in the event of unexpected downtime. Before I owned a Kindle, this often posed a logistical challenge: Books can be heavy and cumbersome, taking up precious space in a backpack or an over-the-shoulder tote. If I was carrying a fanny pack, I’d have to forgo a book entirely since I’d have no place to put it.

An e-reader, on the other hand, can hold an entire library of books in a device smaller and slimmer than the shortest paperback. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids—which, once you’ve turned off the parental controls, is essentially the same e-reader as our current upgrade pick in our guide to e-readers, the Kindle Paperwhite—measures about 7 by 5 inches (smaller and thinner than a standard-size Moleskine notebook) and weighs just over 11 ounces (not much heavier than that same notebook). It’s small enough to fit in my Baggu fanny pack, and it’s light enough that I often forget it’s there. Our top pick is even smaller, with a narrower, 6-inch screen.

The physical act of reading a book is a lot easier on a Kindle, too. Hardcover books, especially lengthy ones, can leave my wrists sore and achy. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids is light enough for me to hold for hours-long reading sessions, and its diminutive size makes it easy to hold in one hand. With a cover that folds out into a stand, it even works well hands-free, which makes snacking while reading so much more enjoyable.

The waterproof Kindle Paperwhite is worth the investment over the standard Kindle if you want a bigger screen for reading more text at a time, if you want to adjust the color temperature as well as the lighting, and if you do a lot of reading at the beach, by a pool, or in the tub.

Buying Options

Amazon’s most affordable Kindle is also its most portable, with a 6-inch screen that has finally been upgraded with a higher pixel density for sharper text and support for USB-C charging. Those features bring it in line with far more expensive e-readers, but it isn’t waterproof, and it displays ads on the lock screen unless you pay extra.

Buying Options

You have access to tons of titles on the fly

Previously, if I was almost but not quite finished with a book before heading off on a weekend trip, I couldn’t just leave it at home, its ending unknown. Of course, I also needed to bring my next book with me so that I’d have something to do when I inevitably finished the first while waiting to board my flight. Not only did this add weight to my bags, but it also meant that I had to squeeze more into an already overstuffed bag. But with a Kindle, I can bring the second book with me while leaving the heft of an additional hardcover back at home.

All Kindles allow you to use OverDrive to borrow free ebooks from your local library, but if you’re waiting on a long hold list and want something to read in the meantime, you also have immediate access to a huge collection of books for purchase. This is especially helpful when the book you just finished ends on a cliff-hanger and the next in the series is already on shelves. You can buy titles à la carte, but if you find yourself itching for the latest and greatest faster than you can get them from the library, you can save by subscribing to Kindle Unlimited. This service gives you on-demand access to an unlimited number of books for a flat rate every month. And the Kindle Paperwhite Kids comes with a free, one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, which provides access to kids books, movies, and TV shows.

No light? No problem

The backlit Kindle Paperwhite eliminates the need for separate book lights, so you can read at any time in any environment without hassle. Although the Paperwhite’s backlight is brighter than that of the entry-level Kindle, both types of Kindles provide enough illumination for reading comfortably in the dark. I can easily read in bed at night without disturbing my partner, on an airplane without subjecting my seatmates to overhead dome lights, and as a passenger in a dark car without distracting the driver.

The Kindle Paperwhite also has an adjustable screen color temperature, which allows you to change how much blue light the screen emits; you can toggle this manually or set it on an automatic schedule tied to sunset and sunrise. The standard Kindle doesn’t have this feature, but if you’re not sensitive to warm or cool light, you’ll probably be fine without it.

The Kindle Paperwhite is waterproof

I’ve dropped my fair share of books in the bath, and once they’ve dried out, their crinkled pages never lie flat again. The waterproof Kindle Paperwhite (and the Paperwhite Kids), however, can survive a dunk in water up to 6 feet deep and emerge unscathed. This makes reading in the bath more relaxing, and I especially love that I can float around a pool with my Paperwhite in hand without a single worry. Just keep in mind that the standard Kindle isn’t waterproof, so if you have big plans to read near a body of water, the Paperwhite is worth the upgrade.

The Kindle has useful built-in features

The Kindle is chock-full of helpful features that make reading, and understanding what you’ve read, easier. I particularly like the X-Ray feature, which allows you to learn more about notable people or terms mentioned in your books. I use this feature so often to look up the definition of unfamiliar words that I’ve actually found myself unconsciously pressing down on the pages of a paper book from time to time before realizing what I’m doing.

I’m the kind of bookworm who likes to read with a highlighter in hand. Once I’m done with a book, I’ll transcribe the lines of prose I’ve highlighted into an ongoing Google Doc so that memorable quotes are easier for me to look back on. (The process had a few extra steps when I was reading physical library books I couldn’t mark up—I would take a picture and then draw a crude circle in edit mode around the chunk of text I wanted to remember.) The Kindle makes my archival process so much easier: It collects every bit of writing you highlight into one condensed, easy-to-reference file and saves that information even after you’ve returned a library book.

With very limited access to the internet, Kindles are nearly distraction-free. This is helpful for kids and adults alike—no one is above the temptation of online access. And for readers intimidated or discouraged by long books, e-readers remove the constant visual reminder of how much you still haven’t read. Instead, your progress is tracked on a percentage bar that stays hidden from view unless you call it up, and chapters are broken down into digestible nuggets with estimated reading times.

The Kindle Paperwhite can also stream audiobooks

Whether you have an Audible subscription, buy audiobooks à la carte, or borrow them from the library, you can access the audio from a Kindle Paperwhite or Paperwhite Kids (but not the standard Kindle). However, you have to use Bluetooth headphones or earbuds to listen because the Paperwhite doesn’t have a headphone jack or speaker. If you have both the ebook and audiobook version of a title, you can switch between reading and listening wherever you left off. You can also use the Bluetooth streaming for VoiceView, Amazon’s accessibility program that helps people with low vision navigate the screen.

It offers stellar battery life

Obviously, physical books have a leg up on e-readers in this regard since they don’t require a charge to be functional. But the Kindle has such a long battery life, I sometimes forget that it needs to be plugged in occasionally. It can go weeks between charges, and when it does need juicing up, you can use the same USB-C charging cable that charges laptops, Android phones, and the newest generation of iPhones.

What the Kindle can’t replace

I may love my Kindle (and the accessories that can make reading on it even cozier), but it will never give me the same satisfaction that turning to the last page of a novel and snapping the book shut for a final time does. Though the Kindle’s progress bar is handy, I personally miss the visual representation of how much I’ve read and how much I have left to go. Finishing a particularly long book felt like more of an accomplishment when I had its full weight in my hands. And when your favorite author leaves you dangling at the end, it’s much more satisfying to fling a book across the room than it is to potentially break your pricey reading gadget. I also miss admiring all the stunning cover artwork on paperbacks and hardcovers—brightly colored covers with vivid illustrations pop in person but feel flat on the Kindle’s black-and-white screen.

There are also some books that I simply need to own in their physical form. My bookshelf is teeming with books from my favorite authors, some with super-creased spines and worn pages from years and years of rereads. There’s something special about being able to walk over to your bookshelf and pick up the very copy of the book that got you into reading in the first place. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, third grade, bought with a crisp $5 bill in the grade-school gym at the annual Scholastic book fair.) That kind of nostalgia can’t be replaced, nor should it—and if a story I’ve read on my Kindle really resonates with me, owning its digital file will never feel like enough. I’ll have to buy a physical copy of the book, flip through the pages and huff that new-book smell, and add it to my shelves with the rest of my favorites to reread for years to come.

This article was edited by Alexander Aciman and Catherine Kast.

Meet your guide

Elissa Sanci

Senior Staff Writer

Elissa Sanci is a senior staff writer for Wirecutter’s discovery team based in Denver. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Marie Claire, and Good Housekeeping. When she’s not testing TikTok-famous products or writing about car garbage cans, you can find her hiking somewhere in the Rockies or lying on the couch with a bowl of chips balanced on her chest. There is no in-between.

What is Kindle with special offers mean?

Kindle with Special Offers is a unique advertising platform for advertisers. Ad packages include the following placements: Screen Saver — Full screen ad that appears when the device is in 'sleep' mode. Home Screen Ad — Ad that appears on the Kindle home screen.

Which generation of Kindle Paperwhite is the best?

The Best Kindles to Take Your Library Anywhere.

Best for Most. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021, 11th Generation) ... .

The Smallest and Least Expensive. Amazon Kindle (2022, 11th Generation) ... .

Frivolously Awesome. Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019, 10th Generation) ... .

Best for Kids. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids Edition (2021, 11th Generation).

Is it worth it to buy a Paperwhite?

The waterproof Kindle Paperwhite is worth the investment over the standard Kindle if you want a bigger screen for reading more text at a time, if you want to adjust the color temperature as well as the lighting, and if you do a lot of reading at the beach, by a pool, or in the tub.

What are the benefits of Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition?

It's exactly the same as the new, fifth-generation Kindle Paperwhite, but it costs $50 more and has four upgrades: 32GB of memory (up from 8GB), wireless charging, an automatically adjusting front light, and no ads.