…And I thought it might be a good idea to do a little review of this, since it will be accompanying me on my travels in the future! The version that I bought is the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which comes with 32GB of storage, a 6.8″ display, the ability to wirelessly charge (with the correct charging stand, sold separately), and an auto-adjusting front light.

Please note this review is not sponsored and I don’t have any affiliation with Amazon or Kindle!

Aesthetic

This Kindle has a sleek, slimline design, with a tactile, grippy feeling exterior and edges. Technical and other information is shown on the back at the bottom of the device, under a relatively low-profile Amazon logo. The Kindle brand name is shown at the bottom of the front of the device, which is slightly more prominent. Covers can be purchased for this Kindle, however I do not have one of these to showcase here, since I decided to go coverless. The screen is clear, readable, and paper-like. Although this edition has a built in auto adjusting front light, the screen can also be adjusted manually for brightness to relatively high and low levels, depending on your reading environment and preferences. A low, warm light can even be used to read in the dark, which is great for bedtime readers.

Usability

In short, this Kindle is very easy to use. I was up and running with this device within minutes, having bought it through my own Amazon account and therefore having already linked it to my account & library. As you can see in the photo below, this Kindle has a charging port and on/sleep button at the bottom of the device. This device can either be charged using a standard USB-C cable or a Qi wireless charger.

Something of note is that this Kindle doesn’t fully turn off! You can only sleep/standby the device, and this is done so that when you want to quickly pick it up to read, you can, just like a book! The battery lasts a long time anyway, so this really isn’t an issue. The battery is said to last up to 10 weeks – from my experience so far, this appears to be a valid claim. The benefit of this in my eyes is the ability to fully charge the device pre-travel, doing away with the need to pack a charger. Something else of note with this device is that it is IPX8 rated, which means that is it protected against accidental immersion in up to 2 meters of fresh water for up to 60 minutes, and up to 0.25 meters of seawater for up to 3 minutes… so you can also read in the bath, care-free, if that is your thing!

Cost

At £179.99 (converting to $224.86 USD) at time of writing, this edition of the Kindle doesn’t come cheap. On top of this, if you would like to wirelessly charge the device or use a cover on it, these will be extra expenses over and above the purchase of the device itself. In total I spent over £200, therefore I had to be sure before making this purchase that I was going to use the Kindle regularly and (hopefully) for many years to come! So far so good, as I have been using it most days since it arrived, and plan to use it for my travels going forwards!

Verdict

Overall, I would recommend this handy little e-reader for both the avid and the casual reader alike. I can see the Kindle’s appeal for both sides, although I also recognise that for some, the enjoyment of holding a physical book in hand is just too much to pass up, and that is also okay! This would come in super handy for travelling, as no heavy or space-hogging physical books need to be packed and lugged around, and you can literally store thousands of books on it, thereby ensuring that you will never run out of reading material on holiday again! For now, I will be giving the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition a solid 9 out of 10.

What are your views on the Kindle? Do you own one yourself, and if so, have you had a positive experience?