Amazon’s new basic Kindle proves you don’t need all the bells and whistles

In October, Amazon announced its refreshed Kindle lineup, its archetypal important plan overhaul successful years. The highlights included a caller edge-to-edge plan that eliminated accepted raised bezels, thinner and lighter Paperwhite and Colorsoft models with amended displays, and page-turning accessories similar a Bluetooth distant and a magnetic screen with page-turn buttons.

However, fixed the interaction of the planetary memory-chip shortage driven by the AI boom, the caller Kindles besides debuted with pricing that had accrued by $40 to $50 crossed the lineup. That makes it much hard for the mean user to see buying 1 of the much premium devices.

For that reason, the Kindle I astir wanted to get my hands connected was the 6-inch entry-level device, which starts astatine $169.99 for the ad-free version. With the terms hikes, this is the Kindle that volition stay the astir affordable to caller e-reader buyers.

Image Credits:TechCrunch

The question I weighed was whether oregon not the basal Kindle is adjacent worthy buying astatine this terms erstwhile determination are arguably amended Kindles connected the market. The answer, aft a mates of weeks of testing, is yes — if you tin unrecorded without the bells and whistles and similar a smaller, lighter device.

On the 6-inch Kindle, there’s nary lukewarm airy to trim oculus strain, nary colour display, nary auto-adjusting brightness, nary enactment to usage the page-turn cover, and it’s not waterproof. Obviously, due to the fact that of its size, the surface is smaller, arsenic is the battery. Battery beingness is 6 weeks compared with the Paperwhite’s 12 weeks oregon Colorsoft’s 8 weeks.

Still, adjacent this basal Kindle has seen improvements of its own, mostly from a carnal plan perspective.

The integrative 2026 Kindle is 11% lighter and 14% thinner than the 2024 model, weighing 140g versus 158g and measuring 6.85mm heavy versus 8mm. While this seems similar a tiny change, the 18-gram quality is noticeable and peculiarly invited for a instrumentality you’re apt to transportation successful your purse oregon bag. Plus, it makes it easier to clasp for hours connected extremity erstwhile you’re truly binging your mode done a book.

(The aluminum version, meanwhile, is somewhat heavier astatine 162g, oregon 4 grams much than the 2024 Kindle, though it inactive benefits from the slimmer design.)

Image Credits:TechCrunch

And contempt being the “starter” Kindle, the 6-inch basal instrumentality inactive received the caller flush-front surface update. This makes it much comfy to clasp successful your hand, particularly for those agelong speechmaking sessions. Amazon explained that you don’t person to interest astir nary longer having a bezel to remainder your thumb upon, either, arsenic the caller Kindles person been updated to observe a dormant portion successful the capacitive interaction that volition readjust to relationship for the information that your digit is there.

In practice, that doesn’t mean you tin conscionable property your thumb down anyplace connected the Kindle’s surface arsenic you clasp it — doing truthful would registry this arsenic an effort to item oregon look up a word. Instead, it means you tin remainder your thumb oregon fingers connected the outer borderline of the Kindle’s surface (the colored border) without triggering an unintentional tap, adjacent though immoderate of your digit volition beryllium touching portion of the Kindle’s capacitive screen.

In presumption of the software, the caller basal Kindle is simply a spot snappier than its 2024 predecessor. This is astir noticeable erstwhile opening books, which Amazon claims to beryllium 30% faster.

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If you’re coming from the 2019 Kindle Basic, the 2026 mentation is an adjacent bigger upgrade, arsenic you summation USB-C, much retention (from 4GB to 8GB to present 16GB oregon 32GB), the caller flush screen, and the surface solution jumps from 167 ppi to 300 ppi. It’s faster, thinner, and lighter, too, and the artillery lasts weeks longer.

Another perk astir the basal Kindle beyond its tiny size (this happening fits successful your jeans’ backmost pocket!), is that you tin present wage a small much for an upgraded mentation with an aluminum backing alternatively of integrative and much storage. The caller $189.99 aluminum enactment comes successful Seagrass and Alpine Sky hues, and ships with 32GB of storage. Meanwhile, the $169.99 integrative exemplary offers 16GB of storage.

However, adjacent if you spell for the little costly option, you tin astatine slightest present prime a amusive colour different than achromatic (aka Graphite), arsenic Amazon has introduced a cheery purple enactment called Ube. (I astir privation I’d gone for this one, conscionable for the whimsy of it, adjacent though I similar the consciousness of the aluminum.)

I should constituent retired that you tin usage the Kindle Click, the caller Bluetooth distant for leafage turning, with the basal Kindle, but I’m not definite wherefore you’d request to, if not for immoderate accessibility-related reason. The 6-inch Kindle was already the smallest, and present it’s lighter and easier to hold, too. (But possibly I conscionable don’t get the entreaty of the remote? I’ve hardly utilized the distant with my Kobo either!)

Image Credits:Amazon

The large happening to see present is whether you privation to walk this overmuch connected a Kindle that lacks a lukewarm light. While this is thing of a idiosyncratic preference, for immoderate readers, nary lukewarm airy is simply a dealbreaker. The lukewarm airy shifts the colour code of the Kindle’s show from a cooler bluish-white to a softer amber glow, which is meant to assistance trim oculus strain and amended speechmaking conditions successful debased airy oregon astatine night.

Whether you request this diagnostic depends connected wherever you similar to work and however agelong your sessions thin to be. If you work nightly successful furniture with small light, you mightiness similar paying other for a $199.99 16GB Kindle Paperwhite. (That mentation lone comes successful Graphite. The 32GB Paperwhite tin travel successful Seaglass, too, but is $249.99).

If you often work by the excavation oregon connected vacation, you besides mightiness privation to upgrade to a waterproof Kindle.

But if you tin unrecorded without the other features and privation the champion purse- oregon pocket-sized device, the 6-inch Kindle is inactive a viable option.