Review on Kindle – What’s New and is it Any Good?

A while back when Amazon released Kindle 3, I personally thought that the only way to make this it better would be to make it smaller and quicker. In hindsight I probably should have pitched this idea to Amazon before they thought of it, because this is exactly what they have done with their new eReader, named Kindle. In this review on Kindle  I will provide you with my honest and unbiased opinion on what I think of it. It will be focused around the standard Kindle WiFi, but keep in mind that they also have three other new models, the Kindle Touch, Kindle Touch 3G and Kindle Fire. You can find separate reviews on these models elsewhere on this site. I have a Kindle myself and use it every day, so this review on Kindle is written by a long-time user of several eReaders with a wide perspective on what makes a good and a not so good eReader.

 

This review on Kindle firstly looks at what improvements Amazon made from Kindle 3 to Kindle WiFi? Well, first of all it is more compact being 30% lighter (only 6 ounces) and has a 18% smaller body, whilst still managing to keep the same 6′ screen size. The placement of the buttons on the Kindle 3 meant it took up a fair bit of room on the front on the eReader, whereas with the new Kindle WiFi only has a 5-way controller navigation button, that works really well by the way, which allows the eReader to be smaller. Should you be in a hurry it will turn pages faster than the old model. That said, I had no problem with the turn speed on the old Kindle 3, but I guess it adds to the complete impression of a better product.

 

Another thing that I love about the new Kindle WiFi is the ability to make the fonts sharper and you can also change them if you so prefer. It supports non-English fonts including Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Cyrillic. The memory of the Kindle WiFi is slightly smallert than the Kindle 3 (3500 versus 1400 books), but I am sure the 1400 book storage would suffice. It also lets you read PDF as well as other personal documents. With the new PDF reader you can highlight text, insert notes and look up definitions of words in the in-built dictionary.

 

The Kindle WiFi has inbuilt WiFi so you can buy a book and start reading the first paragraph in less than 60 seconds. If you require 3G access you will need to buy the Kindle Touch 3G which allows you to download books on to go, wherever you are.

 

To me, the best improvement from the old Kindle 3 is the price. For almost half the price you get a lighter, faster and sharper eReader. The new screen is just fantastic with improved contrast and can be read without glare anywhere you like, even in bright sunlight. You can be sitting on the beach and still see the screen as if you were holding the actual book. Even though Amazon made theKindle WiFiconsiderablt smaller, the battery life still lets you read your favorite books for about a month without recharging, however if your WiFi is on the month quickly shrinks to about 18-20 days. The great thing about this is that you can go on extended holidays without thinking about bringing the charger.

 

For you convenience I’ve created a Pro’s and Con’s list for this review on Kindle WiFi below so you can determine if it is the right eReader for you:

 

Pro’s

  • All of the above. Simply put, all of the new features and enhancements mentioned above are truly pro’s of the Kindle WiFi. They all make it just that little bit better than the old one, which is why Amazon are selling them like crazy already. In addition, there are a few more that I still haven’t mentioned
  • Price. With prices starting at $79 for the base model, this eReader truly is a steal. In my opinion, no other eReader on the market today in the same price category comes close to having the same features and functionality.
  • Automatic back-up. Should be unlucky and lose or damage you Kindle, Amazon will have all of your purchased books on file and all you have to do is re-download them, free of charge.
  • Supports cross-platform sharing. This means that you can read your book not only on the Kindle WiFi, but also on a PC, Mac, iPad, iPod, iPhone, Android or a Blackberry.
  • Free Audio books. With the new Kindle 3 you can download audio books directly to you device for free.

 

Con’s

  • Closely arranged keys. The 5-way navigation button may take some time for those with big fingers to get used to.
  • No Touch Screen. I really wanted a touch screen with the new Kindle, but they still managed to make it functional without.
  • Only made for reading. Pretty much all you can do with a Kindle WiFi is reading. If that is all you want, it is the perfect choice, however if you want an eReader that also has games, video etc. you may opt-in for something else, such as the Kindle Fire
  • Does not support ePub, sharing or library books. The Kindle does not allow you to use ePublisher or share your books with others.
  • No SD expansion slot. That said, if you need the room for more than 1400 books you would have already spent thousands of $$$ at Amazon and I am sure you can afford to buy another Kindle.

 

Conclusion

The reason why I created the this review on Kindle was to make life easier for you. So, when it comes to making the final decision here, do the following: Ask yourself these questions: Why is the Kindle WiFi and Kindle Fire Amazon’s best selling products and they are shipping them out like hotcakes? Why does the Kindle currently have numerous five star reviews, the most of any product on Amazon? Because it is a fantastic eReader. Plain and simple. Heaps of people that have bought and tried it couldn’t possibly be wrong. If what you want is an eReader that does the job properly and easily for a very long time without any hick-ups, I would not choose anything else.

Model: Kindle WiFi Kindle Fire Nook 2 Touch Sony Reader WiFi iPad 2
Size 6.5″ x 4.5″ x 0.34″ 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ 6.5″ x 5.0″ x 0.47″ 6 7/8″ x 4 3/8″ x 3/8″ 9.5″ x 7.31″ x 0.34″
Diagonal Display 6″ 7″ 6″ 6″ 9″
Pixel Resolution 600×800 at 167 ppi.Uses latest Pearl E-Ink technology for the clearest text and sharpest images. 1024 x 600 at 169 ppi.Uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment. 800×600 E-Ink Pearl 1024 x 600 at 169 ppi.Uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment. 1024×768 at 132 ppi.LED-backlit with In-Plane Switching (IPS).
Gray Scale 16-Level 16 Million Colors 16-Level, Also Nook Color edition 16-Level Color IPS LCD LED-backlit glossy
3G Wireless N/A (3G Available on Kindle Touch & Kindle Keyboard Models) N/A (3G Available on Kindle Touch & Kindle Keyboard Models) Free U.S. AT&T N/A Extra Monthly Plan Fee for 3G;US-Only connectivity viaGSM/EDGE & UMTS/HSDPA
Wi-Fi Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots. Free AT&T hotspots. Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots. Free AT&T hotspots. Wi-Fi/802.11b/g 1st Wi-Fi eReader/Free in all Barnes & Noble Stores Wi-Fi : IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi/802.11b/g/nBluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Web Browser Free Experimental WebKit-Based Browser Amazon Silk Web Browser No Yes Yes
Storage Capacity 2GB internal, 1,400 books
4GB on Touch and Keyboard Models		 8GB internal, 6,000 books, 80 Apps, 800 songs 2GB Internal memory/storage (up to 1,000 eBooks) Internal: Approx. 1.3 GB after initial setting. 16GB – 64GB
Expansion Slots No Slot but Free Cloud Storage for all Amazon content No Slot but Free Cloud Storage for all Amazon content Micro SD expansion slot; a 32GB card External: Micro SD card up to 32GB No
Supported Media Formats Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion. Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8. EPUB and eReader Formats, PDFs, MP3s, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP DRM Text : ePub (OPS v2.0, .epub file extension, Adobe DRM protected), PDF (PDF v1.6 or before, .pdf file extension, Adobe DRM protected)
JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
MP3 (Non encrypted), AAC (Non encrypted)
ePub, PDF, TXT		 ePub, pdf, mp3, jpeg, gif, tiff, doc, docx, htm, html, key, numbers, pages, ppt, pptx, txt, rtf, vcf, xls, xlsx
Touch Screen 5-Way Controller or
Keyboard or Touch Screen Depending on Model		 Multi-Touch 1st color touch screen for navigation Clear Enhanced Touch Multi-Touch
Text To Speech Kindle 4 – No
Kindle Touch & Keyboard – Yes		 No No No No
Sharing Capability 14-Day Lending 14-Day Lending 1st eReader with digital lending; between nook™, iPhone™, iPod touch®, BlackBerry®, PC, Mac OS® No No
Battery Type Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery Rechargeable-
Replaceable Lithium Polymer battery		 Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery Rechargeable
Replaceable Lithium Polymer battery
Battery Life Up to 1 month with wireless off, 3 weeks with Wi-Fi onUp to 2 months on Touch and Keyboard Models Up to 8 hours with WiFi off Up to 10 days with wireless off, 2 days with wireless on Up to 1 month with wireless off, 3-4 weeks wireless on Up to 10 hours with wireless on
Weight 5.98 oz
Touch-7.5 oz
Keyboard-8.5 oz		 14.6 ounces 7.48 ounces 5.9 ounces 1.33 lbs. Wi-Fi Model 1.34 lbs. Wi-Fi + 3G model
Price Kindle 4:
$79Kindle Keyboard:
$99 WiFi$139 WiFi+3G
Kindle Touch:
$99 WiFi$149 WiFi+3G		 $199 Nook 1st Edition: $119 WiFi Only
$169 WiFi+3GNook 2: WiFi (no 3G version available): $139Nook Color (no 3G available): $249		 $149 $499-$829 depending upon storage (16-64GB) & Wi-Fi vs Wi-Fi + 3G
Best Price Online Kindle WiFi Kindle Touch WiFi Kindle Touch WiFi & 3G Kindle Fire Nook Touch Sony Reader iPad 2