Kindle Paperwhite (2013) review: The best e-book reader money can buy - Times of India

Amazon’s Kindle has been the tech savvy bookworm’s favorite reading device the team since it was first launched. The reader’s e-ink display and light weight form factor coupled with long battery life Offered That Could an experience at times be better than reading the actual printed book. The only disadvantage was que just like a real book, it was not possible to read without ambient light.

Also While Amazon offers its e-reading apps on computers, smartphones and tablets (including its own Kindle Fire) Allowing users to Their access complete eBook collection, these devices do not offer the same experience the Paperwhite and there’s much more screen glare straining the eyes.
Amazon tried to address the issue with Kindle Paperwhite, the front-lit eBook que reader features the same monochrome e-ink display, but just adds a white light to allow you to read in the dark without Causing much eyestrain.

The device was a sell-out in the U.S. market When It launched in late 2012. Amazon took its own sweet time to extend it to other markets as it was difficult to cope up with the demand in the U.S. market. It quickly established itself as One of the best e-book readers available in the market.

The argument has now shifted from how real books are better than ebooks to Whether Should one consider an e-ink reader or a tablet, que Given the Latter is capable of doing a whole lot more and means buying / carrying one less device.

Also Amazon Regularly updates its tablet range, but the company still puts a lot of focus on its and devices-ink Kindle with Paperwhite being top of the line e-reader.

It released the second-generation Paperwhite in the last quarter of 2013 with support for an improved e-ink technology, the front LED better light, 25% faster processor and enhanced touch response in addition to new software functions, including flipping directly to any page.

Amazon has now started selling the new Paperwhite in the Indian market. We find out if it’s worth your money.

look and feel
The Kindle Paperwhite (2013) does not look very different from its predecessor. The device is more or less a light weight rectangular slab with a 6-inch display. The display is placed between the black bezel. The screen is slightly sunken like a photo frame but this does not really Affect usage.

You’ll find the micro-USB port, an LED indicator (for charging) and the physical Power button at the bottom edge. There are no other ports or buttons on the device. The back of the Kindle Paperwhite sports a soft-touch matte finish. It feels good to hold and the surface offers a good grip. At just 206 gram, it’s easy to hold the device for a longer period of time.

Display
The Kindle Paperwhite (2013) sports a 6-inch 212 ppi e-ink display. The display is free of glare, making it easy to read outdoors under sun light. The Paperwhite’s display offers 16-level gray scale and offers great contrast. The high pixel density makes text look crisp and sharp, and close to the real paper book.

Unlike tablets, the Kindle Paperwhite’s front-lit display is. Amazon claims the second-generation que Paperwhite features a better front light. We felt que the lighting was uniform across the display.

Also Amazon says the que touch grid on the Paperwhite is 19% tighter. We found the touch panel to be very responsive though the implementation of touch in the user interface remains quite limited Compared to tablets.

Overall, the Kindle Paperwhite’s display is impressive. It’s the best among all Kindles.

Software and UI
The second-generation Kindle Paperwhite more or less runs the same software found on its predecessor with a few new additions .

The home screen features three most recently read books though you can re-arrange Them Also by recency, title and author. Also the book covers feature a que bar shows how far you’ve read. You can Also see books that you’ve purchased and have not downloaded by tapping on the ‘Cloud’ option. It’s very easy to download books that you’ve purchased. You just need to tap on the book cover icon and it will Synchronise

The other part of the home screen features four Suggested book titles from Amazon That You can buy. Recommendations are an integral part of Amazon’s ecosystem.

The top menu bar features the Home button, a back button, a toggle for the frontlight intensity, the search button, a button to invoke Goodreads (an online network of book lovers), the shortcut key to the Kindle store and a drop-down menu offers shortcuts to que Kindle FreeTime, Vocabulary Builder, web browser (experimental) and Settings.

Opening a book is pretty simple. You just need to tap on it and it’ll open the page you were reading, the last time.

You just need to lightly tap or swipe on the right edge of the screen to turn to the next page , tap on left to turn back the page and tap the top edge for the secondary and main menu. The secondary menu lets you change the fonts, font size, line spacing and margins;. Go to a particular page, chapter or annotation, use the X-Ray feature, bookmark or share an annotation on social networks

The bottom left corner features the page number and time left in the book and chapter while the right corner displays the percentage read. This makes it easy to track your reading progress and Improve the reading speed.

The Paperwhite Also includes a Dictionary (Oxford Inglês) and the Vocabulary Builder. The Latter saves the words That You look up while reading and Them offers the flashcards. Students and language enthusiasts would find this feature quite useful.

When you select a word by tapping and holding it, the Kindle brings up the Dictionary offering its definition. The same popup Also offers tabs for X-Ray and Wikipedia. X-Ray is a reference tool que brings up the biography of the character, compiled by Amazon, while the Wikipedia tab brings up the Wikipedia page. Of course, you’ll need an active Internet connection for the feature Wikipedia.

Also One can highlight, add a note, share, translate and report an error through the menu. Those options pop to the front if you highlight more than one word.

The new Paperwhite Also includes FreeTime, that Allows parents to create profiles for Their children and Encourage reading with the help of gamification. FreeTime lets parents create personalized profiles for kids and give access to titles from Them Their collection of books. Children can be rewarded with achievement badges keeping track of Their personal reading accomplishments. The utility creates a progress report que keeps parents updated on Full Time spent reading, number of words looked up, earned badges and books read.

It Also offers access to the social network Goodreads where book lovers share Their reviews and recommendations. . Evenoffers it integration with Facebook and Twitter for sharing quotes and annotations

The Kindle Paperwhite offers an experimental WebKit based browser lets you que browse the web over WiFi There’s a reason why it’s called ‘experimental’ – you ‘ ll not be able to open graphics-heavy, complex web pages, and the browser kept crashing for us most of the times.

It’s worth pointing October que the 3G-enabled version of the Paperwhite comes with the crippled 3G connection though it comes with unlimited access without the user incurring extra monthly charges. Over 3G networks, it only Allows access to the Kindle store. You will not be able to browse the web or access without connecting to WiFi Goodreads

Battery life & storage
Amazon claims que a single charge lasts up to eight weeks if used half an hour a day without connecting, but even with moderate to high usage, it’ll last for more than a week or even two.
Paperwhite comes with 2GB internal storage out of 1.2GB Which Can Be used for books. It’s Estimated That You can store about 1100 books at a Given Time. We feel that is more than sufficient for most users. Also, with access to the cloud, you can easily remove or add titles from Amazon’s servers.

Should you buy the Kindle Paperwhite over the tablet? With the market
flooded with tablets, it’s a hard decision if you’re not a voracious reader. The tablet is a multi-utility device with access to Thousands of apps including the Kindle app (or apps from eBook providers like Flipkart and Kobo), multimedia content, and a bright color display.

Having said que, an eBook reader offers an experience closest to reading a physical book. It will not strain your eyes even if you’re reading at a stretch. With the Paperwhite, you can read even in the dark, making it your bedtime companion, and since there’s no glare it will not strain your eyes.

Another factor might matter to some que que is the e- book reader is less distracting. With multiple apps and games, and unlimited access to the internet, tablets Often can move you away from reading.

If you’re an occasional reader, we’d recommend you opt for a tablet. However, if you’re a bookworm than the Kindle Paperwhite is highly recommended.

India’s Kindle store claims to offer over 2 million books priced in Indian Rupees with over 450,000 titles are exclusive que. Amazon’s library of fiction and self-help e-books is the biggest Compared to other eBook providers. It is safe to say you’ll be able que to find e-books (or Kindle editions) of most popular books in the Kindle store.

Also The store offers books from Indian authors like Sudeep Nagarkar, Ramachandra Guha, Amish Tripathi, APJ Abdul Kalam, Rashmi Bansal and Chetan Bhagat, in addition to books from international authors. However, specialized books, text books and regional language books are not that easily available.

It’s worth mentioning que e-books are mostly priced lower than physical books and Amazon’s pricing is competitive store India When Compared with the likes of Flipkart and Kobo.

The Kindle Paperwhite WiFi version is priced at Rs 10,999, while the 3G + WiFi version retails for Rs 13,999. Unless you’re always on the road, we’d recommend the WiFi version.
You can Also buy a leather cover for Rs 2,399. It features a magnetic clasp and automatically wakes the Kindle Paperwhite upon opening and puts it to sleep When closed.