The Cheapest Kindle Is Now Less Cheap, however It’s Got a Better Screen

If all you actually care about is studying, you don’t must spend greater than $100 on an e-reader. Amazon’s latest entry-level Kindle is even simpler on the eyes, because of an an upgraded display, however with a $100 beginning worth, it’s barely costlier than its $90 predecessor (thanks, pandemic!). It’s even pricier if you wish to skip adverts on the lock display.

Two years in the past, we really useful the $100 Kobo Nia as an alternative choice to the most cost effective Kindle for individuals who weren’t eager on adverts each time they picked up their e-reader. At $90, the ad-supported Kindle was cheaper than the Kobo Nia (in case you skipped Amazon’s Special Offers adverts, that raised the value of the Kindle by one other $20). But the Kobo Nia additionally boasted an E Ink show with a 212 pixel-per-inch (ppi) decision, whereas the entry-level Kindle supplied simply 167 ppi, leaving textual content at smaller font sizes wanting significantly pixelated.

Amazon has lastly introduced an replace to its entry-level Kindle that brings with it a USB-C charging port, a bump from 8GB to 16GB of inside storage, six weeks of battery life per cost, black or denim (blue) coloration choices as a substitute of black or white, and a a lot better E Ink display with a 300 ppi decision—the identical display decision featured in Amazon’s higher-end Kindles—that may make small textual content seem extra crisp and particular person pixels virtually unimaginable to see with the bare eye.

However, what’s nonetheless lacking from the brand new entry-level Kindle are coloration temperature changes for the display lighting. Like its predecessor, it illuminates its E Ink display with a cool glow from a strip of LEDs for studying when there’s not sufficient ambient gentle to see the show. But not like on latest Paperwhite fashions, you may’t swap the lighting to a hotter hue for while you’re studying later at evening and also you don’t need to stare at blue gentle.

The Kobo Nia has the identical limitation, which implies that, no less than for now, display lighting temperature changes aren’t a function you’re going to seek out on a sub-$100 e-reader. And whereas the brand new Kindle begins at $100, that’s for the lockscreen ad-supported possibility, in case you don’t need adverts, the value is $120 as a substitute. Both choices are $10 pricier than their predecessors, however for a restricted time, Amazon is throwing in a four-month subscription to Kindle Unlimited—which is twice so long as the standard trial interval.

Alongside the up to date Kindle, Amazon can also be releasing a brand new model of the Kindle Kids, which brings with it the entire similar {hardware} upgrades, together with USB-C charging, higher battery life, further space for storing, and a 300 ppi E Ink display. It additionally comes with certainly one of three completely different covers, with both a Space Whale, Unicorn Valley, or Ocean Explorer design, in addition to a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. That plan offers entry to 1000’s of books, plus different kid-friendly content material.

Unlike the usual Kindle, the Kindle Kids additionally provides dad and mom entry to a dashboard the place they will arrange studying schedules and restrict entry to content material previous bedtimes, plus enable youngsters to request content material resembling new ebooks with out them having the ability to outright purchase it themselves: a welcome limitation in a time of rampant micro-transactions.

The Kindle Kids e-reader is just obtainable in a single $120 model with none lock display adverts. That’s $10 greater than the earlier model, however the upgraded display, battery life, and storage all appear to justify the value bump.