I own a Kindle Paperwhite (last gen, relative to this new one) and a Kobo Clara BW (purchase in the last 6 months). IMO, the Kindle is the premium e-reader when it comes to look and feel. It's just a fantastic experience. The issue is Amazon and how even if you want to put your own purchased ebooks on it, you have it send it through their servers. That tied with a few other privacy issues over the years led me to also get a Kobo.
The Kobo can run in a fully offline mode (called "side-load mode" or something like that) and I can transfer my ebooks directly via USB. I use the Kobo most of the time now since most of my reading lately has been independently published ebooks, but I still use the Kindle for books I purchase via Amazon directly.
With all that said, I personally think the Kindle Paperwhite is already the perfect size. It fits snuggly in my back pocket and strikes the perfect balance between screen size being large, but not too large to hold for my average male hands. I'd be a bit concerned about the size increase for my personal use case, but Amazon does a great job with the Kindle in general so I'd like to see some reviews.
As for the new Colorsoft, I'd really like to see some reviews. The color Kobos that came out earlier this year got some mixed reviews for colors, but I'm not sure if that's just the nature of color e-ink or not.
> The issue is Amazon and how even if you want to put your own purchased ebooks on it, you have it send it through their servers.
You can sideload your books over USB too, using Calibre for instance.
I own a few Kindle models and a Kobo Forma as well. The Kindles do have some quirks and bugs (e.g., disappearing books, issues with sideloaded fonts…). But my Kobo Forma’s battery completely died after a couple years of usage, and the device became completely unreliable. After that experience, I’ve resigned myself to live with the Kindle’s problems.
> IMO, the Kindle is the premium e-reader when it comes to look and feel. It's just a fantastic experience.
Interestingly, I switched from Kindle to Kobo because it was lacking various basic features that made it not feel premium.
* Kobo epubs can show "pages in chapter" progress so I know how much longer there is until a nice stopping point, while Kindle only shows "minutes left in chapter" which is functionally useless.
* Kobo had blue light blocking night shift before Kindle Paperwhite (I think both have it now?)
* Kobo had a convenient feature where you slide your finger along the side of the screen to change brightness, instead of having to go into multiple menus to do this.
It's possible these things have been remedied, but especially the chapter progress thing put such a bad taste in my mouth that I never wanted to touch Kindle again.
> you have [to] send [books] through [Amazon's] servers.
No, you can sideload books using USB mass storage. It's pretty easy. Kindle Paperwhite is still a great experience even without using the Amazon book ecosystem.
I had the exact opposite experience. My kindle battery went wonky after a few years, but my kobo has gone on for a lot longer with no issues. It's made me a little wary of buying a kindle again. Aside, or on top of, not wanting to support Amazon.
My favorite device right now is a boox Go6, smallish, cheap, android. I don't use many apps on it other than the reader but threw a copy of Kiwix on there, and use it as a writing deck using a bluetooth keyboard, hits a lot of semi-offline use cases for me.
I am running a kindle voyage (2014). It is the perfect size for male jeans pocket carry, PPI is above 300 and battery works.
Most important! The yoga cover is great for laying on either side, so I can toss and turn in bed and keep reading. Literally no e-reader I have seen since has a symmetrical stand-cover that can be used sideways both ways.
As for Kobo, I just looked the other day and saw they have some great prices for e-readers that have similar features, plus they advertise being completely repairable! And you're not in the Amazon ecosystem. My only gripe years ago was the don't rendering on side loaded books wasn't as good as Amazon, and that Calibre couldn't De-DRM Kobo books as well as Amazon. I think the game has changed a bit, though, and I haven't tested anything in a while.
If Kobo books are crackable, my next e-reader will likely take me away from Amazon. I want that USB-C in my life.
Where do you buy DRM Free books from? (I assume that's a requirement for the device to be fully offline, right?) Do you run everything through that DRM-stripper Calibre plugin?
> The issue is Amazon and how even if you want to put your own purchased ebooks on it, you have it send it through their servers.
I managed to jailbreak my "Kindle Oasis 3" and install KOreader [1] and Syncthing on it (the process of achieving this, as described on mobileread.com/forums was quite horrible by the way.)
Very happy with the result though, books are just synced automatically with my Macbook via Syncthing.
Hopefully somehow a similar setup will be possible with the new Kindles, if they can also be jailbroken.
PS. The Kindle Oasis 3 is still great in 2024, it even automatically adjusts brightness with its light sensor.
The lack of physical page turn buttons is a dealbreaker for me. I switched, begrudgingly at first from my oasis to a kobo libre colour and it’s much better. If you stick koreader on it you can even start a Linux shell from the ui which amuses me :)
I've got the same generation PW and have it jailbroken running KOReader. I've considered trying other readers out, not because of issues but rather shiny new thing reasons. But at least when it comes to KOReader, it seems like the PW are the best if you can jailbreak the version you're on.
(I want / need it to run KOReader because I wrote a small Lua plugin for it that syncs reading stats (words per minute, minutes read per year, etc) to a centralized server.)
Yeah I got the Signature Edition of the Paperwhite 11 with their black leather cover, and it's just brilliant. It was a huge step up from the 10 that went before it in every regard.
The resolution and size just nails it, and my favourite feature is the warm backlighting for reading at night. Battery lasts forever, and I can just put it on my Samsung phone stand for wireless charging once in a blue moon - not once have I run out of battery.
I fall asleep so easily to this, currently on the Eisenhorn 40k Omnibus book - and a 184 week reading streak.
I used to be excited about new Kindle releases, have had one since the mammoth DXG - but no more, I'm good now with this, so don't see myself forking out $400 AUD for the new one (with a leather cover).
Also bought one (also a SE) for my son, with a different colour magnetic leather cover. :-)
Really? I had to make an account to "activate" my Kobo, but it wouldn't let me make one because I already had an old account with one of their partner websites, whose auth servers were malfunctioning, so it took like two hours to be able to "activate" the device.
No update to the Oasis; I guess when I refresh I'll get a Boox or other Android-based device with page turn buttons and run the kindle app on it.
I have a first generation Kindle Oasis, which is a great device, in no small part because of its asymmetric design and page turn buttons. The newer Oasis (still last refreshed in 2022) have better lighting (temperature adjustable) and inverse text mode, which are both nice but have not been enough to get me to upgrade. It lacks the battery cover of the original oasis, which while kind of a pain was nice because it gave a very natural way to hold the device.
I'm sad to see that the Oasis line is not mentioned here. I have little to no interest in using my kindle as a writing device, and honestly would prefer that the touchscreen was as little used as possible -- an unresponsive or slow screen is the worst case for a touchscreen, since the feedback loop is terrible.
I don't know if they'll have an OS update to go along with this. I have found successive updates to be worse and worse -- my pages are all crammed with ads (not actual ads since I paid to have them removed, but "recommended books") and large page covers. I can barely fit five titles from my library on a screen; I would much prefer to have just the title/author/progress and fit twenty on a page.
The integration with the Amazon ecosystem is probably the best selling point, but until somebody shuts down Libby I've switched my habits to be almost entirely rent-based rather than buying books.
You should check out the PocketBook Era. It's what I moved to from the Kindle Oasis and I've really enjoyed it. The device isn't as svelte as the Oasis since it isn't subsidized by Amazon, but has an assymetric design and even more physical buttons which you can fully customize the control scheme. Also like the Oasis it gets amazing battery life with it's light weight OS compared to the Android based e-readers.
The PocketBook cloud is just as seamless as the syncing with Amazon if that is something you use. Only time I notice problems is during the weekly maintenance window which just looks like an outage. It has bidirectional sync for your progress as well as syncing new books and has a web interface and a phone app. Also offers the same email endpoint service as Kindle and you can set up Adobe DRM to use with library borrowing as well as other places that distribute ascm. The builtin store probably doesn't have the same availability of titles as Amazon but I haven't used it since I manage my library with Calibre and buy my books from various stores.
Best of all is the customizability. Don't want to use their store or cloud? You can turn off (really just not setup and hide) all the features and integrations individualy to make it an "offline" reader but still bring it online for things like Wikipedia lookup and web searches. You don't even need an account to set it up. You can also load additional dictionaries, fonts, and even applications on it. It has a healthy if small development scene.
There is a new color version but if you don't read things that require color I would get the original; Based on reviews it has the the same downside as Kobo and others that use the Kalaido screen where it's relatively dimmer in ambient light compared to the B/W one and so needs a higher average backlight level to compensate.
Overall I've been really happy with my switch and can't see myself going back to Kindle.
I have the first Oasis as well. Prior to that I'd pretty much bough every single kindle refresh. Since then I haven't. I'm in the same boat: give me physical buttons.
First I waited for Kindle Voyage refresh, then started thinking about Oasis, but waited for it to have a normal charging port (USB-C) and now the last reader with physical buttons disappears :(
Oh well, at least my Voyage still works and fits in most pockets (and has cool origami cover), the only downside is that if not in airplane mode, it uses up battery in 2-3 days. In airplane mode I can read 2-3 weeks.
>honestly would prefer that the touchscreen was as little used as possible -- an unresponsive or slow screen is the worst case for a touchscreen, since the feedback loop is terrible.
I agree in principle (slow feedback is the bane of my existence) but I had one of those 10 inch Kindle DX without touch, and it was a pretty bad experience compared to the Paperwhite.
Physical buttons (and possibly the orientation sensor?) were definitely nice to have though.
"The Colorsoft is based on E Ink’s Kaleido technology but uses an entirely new display stack for Kindles, all the way back to a newly designed oxide backplane that makes it easier for E Ink panel’s tiny bits of ink to move around quickly. The E Ink world has been working on similar tech for a while, and Amazon thinks it’s the key to making color work well. The Colorsoft has new LED pixels, and a new way of shining light through them individually to enhance colors. It’s also brighter than ever, to help the whole thing feel more vivid. Some of this tech also helped the new Paperwhite turn pages faster and easier, but it was designed to make Colorsoft work."
"...Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition packs a suite of innovations that make every hue and shade pop.
Those include custom formulated coatings between the display layers to enhance the color, a light guide with micro-deflectors to minimize stray light, and an ultra-thin coating in the display stack to improve optical performance. We built the display on an oxide backplane for sharper contrast, faster page turns, and better image quality."
I was hoping they'd revive the Oasis. That form factor is _perfect_ IMO. Scribe is too big for a replacement. I settled for a Libra 2 which is similar to the Oasis but I feel it's a bit sluggish when it comes to chapter turns, highlights and page turns w/ images but I don't have something in the Kindle line-up to compare it to now.
We had books, but then we thought, what about screens.
Then we had screens but we thought, what if screens were more like books.
Then we had book screens and we thought, what if the screens we made to look like books were more like screens.
It's mind boggling to me that they wouldn't offer a color version of the Oasis, which is the obvious choice for any real Kindle enthusiast (metal, physical buttons, waterproof, amber light). Not sure who would even buy this color Kindle they came out with.
In fairness, the Colorsoft is waterproof and has the amber light as well. I have grown to enjoy the asymmetric design of my Oasis, though. It's comfortable to hold in a way the new one (and the standard ones) just doesn't seem to be...
The color model is uncharacteristically expensive for Kindle at $280, more than the color Kobos which are $220 for the same 7" size (which also has physical buttons and stylus support) or just $150 for the smaller 6" size. Kindles are usually the cheaper option, at the expense of being less amenable to sideloading and jailbreaking than Kobos are.
What's the deal with ereaders and their seeming disdain for sane battery life measurements?
Amazon boasts "up to 8 weeks on a single charge" in all their selling points, then, in the fine print states "A single charge lasts up to eight (8) weeks, based on a half hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13".
So, it has 28 hours of actual use time, got it. Why not just say that?
The new Kindle Scribe looks kinda lame compared to the new reMarkable Pro, though significantly cheaper. Maybe the colored ePaper isn't that great, but at least you get some color for highlighting, which is probably a non-insignificant use of these types of devices.
Either way, sad there's no Oasis refresh. I'm not super attached to the physical buttons, but I'd prefer it to not. Oh well.
The new Kindle paper white may finally get me to upgrade … but also maybe not.
I have a 10+ year old Kindle Paperwhite (I think first gen). I use it daily and it’s still just nearly a perfect device. It’s withstood rough treatment, battery life is still ~2 books long, and it has never been made obsolete by a software update.
No other electronic device I’ve ever bought has had this kind of longevity and it’s not even close.
Cool to think that if I do upgrade now that $159 will probably get me to 2035.
I loved my kindle paperwhite so much. I have a case on it all the time, there is not a single scratch on my kindle. One day, out of the blue, the touch screen stopped working. it is unresponsive to any touch, I've soft reset it, hard reset it, googled everything. Apparently its a common thing in amazon forum, and of course what does amazon support say? just buy a new one. At this point my kindle is only 2.5 years old and I'm pissed.
I've bought an ipad since and just read book from my ipad. at least my old ipad doesn't break even after 8 years
I have recently bought a Scribe 1st Gen, when it was on sale.
Rooting it was a hassle, but it was worth it.
The excellent hardware (display, enclosure) combined with Koreader makes it really joyful to read technical books and documents, especially when combined with Calibre.
As one of those books was about Lisp, i also installed Kterm, tmux, the joe editor and tinysheme, which served as a decent Scheme Playground/IDE while i was on vacation!
I am so excited for this. I've run into so many books where color would make it ten times better. Also, the Comixology subscription will be so much more valuable with this device. The only thing I have a wish for is that the device is more responsive than the original Kindle. There is nothing more frustrating than tapping a touch screen and waiting 5 seconds for it to respond.
My kindle paperwhite is my favorite tech that I own. It has changed by life significantly for the better and allowed me to cut down the time I waste on doom-scrolling social media. I find a book on shadow libraries, convert them into epub format and then send them over to my kindle via USB. Calibre helps in all this. I have read close to a hundred book now--all for no dime.
I want to upgrade my Kindle but first I need to know where the power button is. My current one has the power button on the bottom and it turns off when I rest it on things - extremely annoying. Can't be certain from the product pictures, but looks like it's on the bottom again.
I was quite hopeful for this refresh to upgrade my Oasis but it looks as though they've regressed on weight: 188g for my current Oasis vs 211g for the Paperwhite. The new entry level kindle is indeed lighter but unfortunately lacks a warm light. I hope something else will be on the horizon!
I hope they’re not abandoning page turn buttons for good, like my Oasis has — the only reason I bought the Oasis. Touch screens are just not a good reading experience, for me.
I bought a used paperwhite in 2015 and have read many hundreds of books on it. Still works flawlessly and even great battery life despite taking it around the world through -45 and +45 many times.
I don’t love Amazon, but this may be the best device I’ve ever owned. It does one thing really, really well.
The Kindle is one of the best things Amazon ever did. They made subsidized ereaders and made them cheap. Ofcourse they did it to promote their store but they've never blocked side loading.
Some of the biggest pros and cons of Kindles vs Books:
Pros - Lightweight, I can even fit it into a holder on the side of a chair or bed so I don't have to hold it.
- I don't have to physically manipulate the 1000 page book to try and get to certain pages.
- No dust.
Cons - I can't tell you the authors or names of most of the books I've read on it. When you have a physical book you're confronted by the book and author's name, along with an image to burn the combination into your mind. As a kid going to the library I knew whether I had read a book just from the jacket.
- Amazon shenanigans.
- Battery won't last forever and you'll need to replace the whole unit.
That said, there are some additional drawbacks which make me like physical books still:
- For physical books you have an intuitive understand and memory where in the book something happened, e.g. in the first quarter or on an earmarked page. On an ereader every book and every page feels the same.
- Easy multi page view and crossref. For instance, I can have two textbooks about the same subject open and easily compare different sections by just using bookmarks and spreading them on my desk. For that I would need multiple ereaders. Same reason a tablet with pen is nice but feels limiting.
- DRM is annoying enough to be basically an ad for piracy. Get the ebook, download, add it to adobe software, connect cable, transfer to ereader, disconnect cable, still doesn't work, reauthorize device, maybe it works. Meanwhile without drm: add to calibre, get book via wifi, done.
- Maybe better with newer tech, but eink was still somewhat lower resolution and contrast compared to a printed book. Also, page turning is fast enough but not seamless.
My eyesight has gotten worse and I can't read a typical book with its tiny print. The biggest Pro for me is adjustable font sizes. Another Pro is free books! After purchasing probably a 1000 books in my life; I'm done buying and storing books. I did the library thing for a few years when the library was only a couple of blocks away but book selection and availability was never good. Now I can easily get any book I want from the comfort of my home.
I count the physical manipulation of pages as an advantage of dead tree books. E-ink is very nice, but there’s nothing like flipping through actual pages to find some information.
Of course, the situation reverses when you’re trying to search a word rather than a page. It’s too convenient to use a global search function on e-readers.
[+] [-] jjice|1 year ago|reply
The Kobo can run in a fully offline mode (called "side-load mode" or something like that) and I can transfer my ebooks directly via USB. I use the Kobo most of the time now since most of my reading lately has been independently published ebooks, but I still use the Kindle for books I purchase via Amazon directly.
With all that said, I personally think the Kindle Paperwhite is already the perfect size. It fits snuggly in my back pocket and strikes the perfect balance between screen size being large, but not too large to hold for my average male hands. I'd be a bit concerned about the size increase for my personal use case, but Amazon does a great job with the Kindle in general so I'd like to see some reviews.
As for the new Colorsoft, I'd really like to see some reviews. The color Kobos that came out earlier this year got some mixed reviews for colors, but I'm not sure if that's just the nature of color e-ink or not.
[+] [-] thimabi|1 year ago|reply
You can sideload your books over USB too, using Calibre for instance.
I own a few Kindle models and a Kobo Forma as well. The Kindles do have some quirks and bugs (e.g., disappearing books, issues with sideloaded fonts…). But my Kobo Forma’s battery completely died after a couple years of usage, and the device became completely unreliable. After that experience, I’ve resigned myself to live with the Kindle’s problems.
[+] [-] 110jawefopiwa|1 year ago|reply
Interestingly, I switched from Kindle to Kobo because it was lacking various basic features that made it not feel premium.
* Kobo epubs can show "pages in chapter" progress so I know how much longer there is until a nice stopping point, while Kindle only shows "minutes left in chapter" which is functionally useless.
* Kobo had blue light blocking night shift before Kindle Paperwhite (I think both have it now?)
* Kobo had a convenient feature where you slide your finger along the side of the screen to change brightness, instead of having to go into multiple menus to do this.
It's possible these things have been remedied, but especially the chapter progress thing put such a bad taste in my mouth that I never wanted to touch Kindle again.
[+] [-] loeg|1 year ago|reply
No, you can sideload books using USB mass storage. It's pretty easy. Kindle Paperwhite is still a great experience even without using the Amazon book ecosystem.
[+] [-] kjhughes|1 year ago|reply
Here's a hands-on Kindle Colorsoft review, Amazon's first color Kindle is the e-reader of my dreams,
https://www.tomsguide.com/tablets/e-readers/kindle-colorsoft...
submitted earlier:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41858947
[+] [-] donio|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] grakker|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] itsrobreally|1 year ago|reply
I still have a paperwhite which is ok.
My favorite device right now is a boox Go6, smallish, cheap, android. I don't use many apps on it other than the reader but threw a copy of Kiwix on there, and use it as a writing deck using a bluetooth keyboard, hits a lot of semi-offline use cases for me.
[+] [-] unethical_ban|1 year ago|reply
Most important! The yoga cover is great for laying on either side, so I can toss and turn in bed and keep reading. Literally no e-reader I have seen since has a symmetrical stand-cover that can be used sideways both ways.
As for Kobo, I just looked the other day and saw they have some great prices for e-readers that have similar features, plus they advertise being completely repairable! And you're not in the Amazon ecosystem. My only gripe years ago was the don't rendering on side loaded books wasn't as good as Amazon, and that Calibre couldn't De-DRM Kobo books as well as Amazon. I think the game has changed a bit, though, and I haven't tested anything in a while.
If Kobo books are crackable, my next e-reader will likely take me away from Amazon. I want that USB-C in my life.
[+] [-] Wowfunhappy|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] DavideNL|1 year ago|reply
I managed to jailbreak my "Kindle Oasis 3" and install KOreader [1] and Syncthing on it (the process of achieving this, as described on mobileread.com/forums was quite horrible by the way.) Very happy with the result though, books are just synced automatically with my Macbook via Syncthing.
Hopefully somehow a similar setup will be possible with the new Kindles, if they can also be jailbroken.
PS. The Kindle Oasis 3 is still great in 2024, it even automatically adjusts brightness with its light sensor.
[1] https://github.com/koreader/koreader
[+] [-] TnS-hun|1 year ago|reply
Paperwhite 5: 124.6 x 174.2 x 8.1 mm
Paperwhite 6: 127.6 x 176.7 x 7.8 mm
[+] [-] cyberpunk|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] evanreichard|1 year ago|reply
(I want / need it to run KOReader because I wrote a small Lua plugin for it that syncs reading stats (words per minute, minutes read per year, etc) to a centralized server.)
[+] [-] sundvor|1 year ago|reply
The resolution and size just nails it, and my favourite feature is the warm backlighting for reading at night. Battery lasts forever, and I can just put it on my Samsung phone stand for wireless charging once in a blue moon - not once have I run out of battery.
I fall asleep so easily to this, currently on the Eisenhorn 40k Omnibus book - and a 184 week reading streak.
I used to be excited about new Kindle releases, have had one since the mammoth DXG - but no more, I'm good now with this, so don't see myself forking out $400 AUD for the new one (with a leather cover).
Also bought one (also a SE) for my son, with a different colour magnetic leather cover. :-)
[+] [-] andai|1 year ago|reply
Really? I had to make an account to "activate" my Kobo, but it wouldn't let me make one because I already had an old account with one of their partner websites, whose auth servers were malfunctioning, so it took like two hours to be able to "activate" the device.
Is there a way to bypass that?
[+] [-] mvdtnz|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] andrewla|1 year ago|reply
I have a first generation Kindle Oasis, which is a great device, in no small part because of its asymmetric design and page turn buttons. The newer Oasis (still last refreshed in 2022) have better lighting (temperature adjustable) and inverse text mode, which are both nice but have not been enough to get me to upgrade. It lacks the battery cover of the original oasis, which while kind of a pain was nice because it gave a very natural way to hold the device.
I'm sad to see that the Oasis line is not mentioned here. I have little to no interest in using my kindle as a writing device, and honestly would prefer that the touchscreen was as little used as possible -- an unresponsive or slow screen is the worst case for a touchscreen, since the feedback loop is terrible.
I don't know if they'll have an OS update to go along with this. I have found successive updates to be worse and worse -- my pages are all crammed with ads (not actual ads since I paid to have them removed, but "recommended books") and large page covers. I can barely fit five titles from my library on a screen; I would much prefer to have just the title/author/progress and fit twenty on a page.
The integration with the Amazon ecosystem is probably the best selling point, but until somebody shuts down Libby I've switched my habits to be almost entirely rent-based rather than buying books.
[+] [-] IPTN|1 year ago|reply
The PocketBook cloud is just as seamless as the syncing with Amazon if that is something you use. Only time I notice problems is during the weekly maintenance window which just looks like an outage. It has bidirectional sync for your progress as well as syncing new books and has a web interface and a phone app. Also offers the same email endpoint service as Kindle and you can set up Adobe DRM to use with library borrowing as well as other places that distribute ascm. The builtin store probably doesn't have the same availability of titles as Amazon but I haven't used it since I manage my library with Calibre and buy my books from various stores.
Best of all is the customizability. Don't want to use their store or cloud? You can turn off (really just not setup and hide) all the features and integrations individualy to make it an "offline" reader but still bring it online for things like Wikipedia lookup and web searches. You don't even need an account to set it up. You can also load additional dictionaries, fonts, and even applications on it. It has a healthy if small development scene.
There is a new color version but if you don't read things that require color I would get the original; Based on reviews it has the the same downside as Kobo and others that use the Kalaido screen where it's relatively dimmer in ambient light compared to the B/W one and so needs a higher average backlight level to compensate.
Overall I've been really happy with my switch and can't see myself going back to Kindle.
[+] [-] unsnap_biceps|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] mmanfrin|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] apwell23|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] krzyk|1 year ago|reply
Oh well, at least my Voyage still works and fits in most pockets (and has cool origami cover), the only downside is that if not in airplane mode, it uses up battery in 2-3 days. In airplane mode I can read 2-3 weeks.
[+] [-] andai|1 year ago|reply
I agree in principle (slow feedback is the bane of my existence) but I had one of those 10 inch Kindle DX without touch, and it was a pretty bad experience compared to the Paperwhite.
Physical buttons (and possibly the orientation sensor?) were definitely nice to have though.
[+] [-] buovjaga|1 year ago|reply
"The Colorsoft is based on E Ink’s Kaleido technology but uses an entirely new display stack for Kindles, all the way back to a newly designed oxide backplane that makes it easier for E Ink panel’s tiny bits of ink to move around quickly. The E Ink world has been working on similar tech for a while, and Amazon thinks it’s the key to making color work well. The Colorsoft has new LED pixels, and a new way of shining light through them individually to enhance colors. It’s also brighter than ever, to help the whole thing feel more vivid. Some of this tech also helped the new Paperwhite turn pages faster and easier, but it was designed to make Colorsoft work."
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/kindle-color-specs-...
"...Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition packs a suite of innovations that make every hue and shade pop.
Those include custom formulated coatings between the display layers to enhance the color, a light guide with micro-deflectors to minimize stray light, and an ultra-thin coating in the display stack to improve optical performance. We built the display on an oxide backplane for sharper contrast, faster page turns, and better image quality."
[+] [-] sangeeth96|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] TZubiri|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] eigenvalue|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] lelandfe|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] BlindEyeHalo|1 year ago|reply
apart from the physical buttons the paperwhite signature has all of these.
[+] [-] disillusioned|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] 303uru|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] jsheard|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] shbooms|1 year ago|reply
Amazon boasts "up to 8 weeks on a single charge" in all their selling points, then, in the fine print states "A single charge lasts up to eight (8) weeks, based on a half hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13".
So, it has 28 hours of actual use time, got it. Why not just say that?
[+] [-] packetlost|1 year ago|reply
Either way, sad there's no Oasis refresh. I'm not super attached to the physical buttons, but I'd prefer it to not. Oh well.
[+] [-] habosa|1 year ago|reply
I have a 10+ year old Kindle Paperwhite (I think first gen). I use it daily and it’s still just nearly a perfect device. It’s withstood rough treatment, battery life is still ~2 books long, and it has never been made obsolete by a software update.
No other electronic device I’ve ever bought has had this kind of longevity and it’s not even close.
Cool to think that if I do upgrade now that $159 will probably get me to 2035.
[+] [-] robertwt7|1 year ago|reply
I've bought an ipad since and just read book from my ipad. at least my old ipad doesn't break even after 8 years
[+] [-] lagrange77|1 year ago|reply
Rooting it was a hassle, but it was worth it.
The excellent hardware (display, enclosure) combined with Koreader makes it really joyful to read technical books and documents, especially when combined with Calibre.
As one of those books was about Lisp, i also installed Kterm, tmux, the joe editor and tinysheme, which served as a decent Scheme Playground/IDE while i was on vacation!
[+] [-] foxyv|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] throwaway091290|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] legohead|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] hyperpl|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] laweijfmvo|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] grecy|1 year ago|reply
I don’t love Amazon, but this may be the best device I’ve ever owned. It does one thing really, really well.
[+] [-] Yeul|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] animal531|1 year ago|reply
Pros - Lightweight, I can even fit it into a holder on the side of a chair or bed so I don't have to hold it.
- I don't have to physically manipulate the 1000 page book to try and get to certain pages.
- No dust.
Cons - I can't tell you the authors or names of most of the books I've read on it. When you have a physical book you're confronted by the book and author's name, along with an image to burn the combination into your mind. As a kid going to the library I knew whether I had read a book just from the jacket.
- Amazon shenanigans.
- Battery won't last forever and you'll need to replace the whole unit.
[+] [-] diffeomorphism|1 year ago|reply
- The standby screen is the book cover of your most recent read.
- No amazon shenanigans. Works just fine with calibre or the local library (onleihe).
- I bought my kobo aura hd in 2013 IIRC. Battery is still fine. Apparently newer models even have an ifixit partnership https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/21137184146071-Repai...
That said, there are some additional drawbacks which make me like physical books still:
- For physical books you have an intuitive understand and memory where in the book something happened, e.g. in the first quarter or on an earmarked page. On an ereader every book and every page feels the same.
- Easy multi page view and crossref. For instance, I can have two textbooks about the same subject open and easily compare different sections by just using bookmarks and spreading them on my desk. For that I would need multiple ereaders. Same reason a tablet with pen is nice but feels limiting.
- DRM is annoying enough to be basically an ad for piracy. Get the ebook, download, add it to adobe software, connect cable, transfer to ereader, disconnect cable, still doesn't work, reauthorize device, maybe it works. Meanwhile without drm: add to calibre, get book via wifi, done.
- Maybe better with newer tech, but eink was still somewhat lower resolution and contrast compared to a printed book. Also, page turning is fast enough but not seamless.
[+] [-] theshrike79|1 year ago|reply
It broke because I had it in my back pocket and I sat on it. Bought a new one immediately.
I've yet to have any measurable battery degradation on either and I read 1-3 books a month. (Including 1000+ page monsters by Brandon Sanderson).
[+] [-] hasbot|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] thimabi|1 year ago|reply
Of course, the situation reverses when you’re trying to search a word rather than a page. It’s too convenient to use a global search function on e-readers.