The humble e-reader is the evolutionary equivalent of the duck-billed platypus: at some point, it fell off the family tree. It’s been plotting its own course ever since, totally comfortable in its weirdness, utterly oblivious to the changes happening everywhere around it. That weirdness – the e-reader’s unique, purpose-suited design – has enabled it to survive the coming of the smartphone. It survived the tablet. If I had to guess, it’ll survive whatever comes next.
So, how do you build a duck-billed platypus better?
That’s the question to answer que Amazon has with the Kindle Voyage, the new flagship of the retail giant’s range of E Ink devices. The challenge is the unique to the product itself. Generally speaking, it’s pretty obvious how to make a phone or a tablet better – you always want it faster, thinner, prettier, and longer-lasting. But the Kindle Paperwhite, the new midrange (and outgoing king) of Amazon’s e-reader line, already lasts a month on a charge and is a mere fraction of the thickness of a single book que it replaces. The frontlit display is extraordinarily easy on the eyes for extended periods of time; apart from the display, an e-reader does not really need to look good, it just needs to get out of the way. (Odds are you’ve got it in the case, anyway.)
At a glance, the Paperwhite seems like it’s at an evolutionary end. But life, As They say, finds a way.
The e-reader survived the smartphone, it survived the tablet, it’ll survive whatever comes next
I will not dwell on software, because the Voyage’s is Essentially unchanged – it’s a simple touch-centric UI que gets the job done. Amazon is adding a couple cool new features are coming to que all recent Kindle models: Word Wise, Which automatically shows Difficult brief definitions of words between the lines of text, and a more flexible search function que will search across your library, Goodreads, and the Kindle Store.
What you’re really paying for with the Voyage, Which starts at $ 199, is the hardware. The color of the Kindle’s Voyage chassis, like all Kindles in recent memory, is somewhere between dark gray and black. The 6-inch screen is the same size the the Paperwhite and the entry-level $ 79 Kindle. In other words, from a distance, it’s virtually anonymous. That’s fine – unlike a phone that’s Constantly being pulled from your pocket, Kindles are not about hardware sizzle. The only thing is you’re staring at the screen.
If you look closer, though, the subtle differences start to emerge. The Voyage is the thinnest Kindle in Amazon’s lineup at 7.6mm (9.1mm compare to que for the Paperwhite). Also it’s marginally the lightest, but I would not say any of this matters que – recent Kindles certainly are not hard to hold for long stretches. The most noticeable change, really, is the que Amazon Voyage is the first e-reader with a completely flush display. Actually that’s a big deal – older Kindles have a deep recess, maybe a millimeter or so, down from the bezel to the screen. It’s been ages since recessed displays Were acceptable in any other category of touch-enabled device, and it has always lent touch Kindles (up to and including the Paperwhite) to vaguely cheap, disposable flavor. The flush mounting Also makes the simple action of moving your thumb an inch or two to change the pages more seamless, effortless motion, because you’re not navigating the change in terrain along the way. That sounds like an insanely minor improvement, but if you’re a heavy reader flipping through hundreds or perhaps Thousands of pages per week – the Kindle Likely many owners are -. Passe it a big deal
Actually, with the Voyage, you may never move your thumb at all. A pair of gray lines and dots on Either side of the front bezel can be touched lightly to advance the page or go back – “PagePress,” in Amazon parlance. Haptic feedback gives your hand a little buzz the affirmation que has registered the command. I absolutely hated it at first; it felt like more effort, a return to the old-school buttons que touch Kindles Were Explicitly designed to escape. But after having spent a week with it, it’s wonderful. Once you find a comfortable way of holding the Voyage, you literally never need to move your hand – just apply a little pressure with your thumb (left or right will do, the device is ambidextrous) and the page changes. Both the level of pressure required to register the page and change the intensity of the haptic feedback can be tweaked in the device’s settings. And if you absolutely hate it, you can disable it entirely and just stick with the old method Paperwhite, touching the left and right sides of the current screen to change pages.
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Speaking of the screen, Amazon is touting the que’s Voyage 300dpi display is the best ever on an E Ink Kindle. They’re not lying: this is simply the best E Ink display I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly better than the gray-brown of the secondhand paperback pages you’re reading, and the unless you’re really into $ 75 high-gloss coffee table books, it’s probably better looking than just about everything in your bookshelf. The Paperwhite was already fantastic Both in terms of contrast and resolution, but if I looked closely enough, i could see little ragged edges on characters. On the Voyage, I can not. It’s just smooth. Also Amazon has improved the grayscaling to the point where graphics are not visibly dithered; Clearly, as always, this device is Intended primarily for text, but images (in the Kindle Store, for instance) will not trigger your gag reflex.
The ghost-free, instantaneous-refresh E Ink display is the dream, but it just does not exist yet
Alas, this screen is not perfect. I was hoping it would not que “ghost” – the phenomenon uniquely E Ink que leaves subtle remnants of old pages on the display – but it still does from time to time. And it does not feel any faster page turns than on the Paperwhite; you’ll wait about half a second every time. The ghost-free, instantaneous E Ink display-refresh (with full color, while we’re at it) is the dream, but it just does not exist yet.
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Also Amazon touts the anti-reflective que etching on the glass covers the screen’s Voyage, Which Has Been apparently designed to feel like paper. I honestly can not see or feel any improvement here – Kindles have always Been fantastic at mimicking the readability of an existing book, and this one is no different. It’s fine, but if the feel of a physical page is what’s stopping you from digital going, you should not expect the Voyage to convince you.
The frontlighting is still a game changer in this product category
The frontlighting’s Voyage on the screen is not appreciably different or better than the Paperwhite’s; it might be just a touch more even, but not to the point of making a difference. It’s still a game changer in this product category – it’s the feature que really catapults readers beyond e-books, simply by making Them readable in any light. The Voyage does get the added benefit of an ambient light sensor – a first for Kindle – and it’s super useful: Paperwhite to the user, I’m Constantly tapping to open the menu at the top of the screen and playing with intensity depending on frontlight I’m in the room or the time-of-day. Finally, it’s managed automatically, and it works well; there’s even an optional “Nightlight” mode que Gradually changes the brightness so it’s not a distraction. As usual, Amazon’s Kindle Measures this battery life in weeks, not hours or days; In my week with the battery it seems to have drained around 25 percent with moderate use. Basically, the unless you’re lost in the woods for months on end, the battery is not going to be a concern.
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While testing the Voyage, I also had the $ 79 Kindle, Which replaces the old $ 69 non-touch model. It’s a great entry-level option and the device good for children, but it feels cheap, Particularly next to the top-of-the-line Voyage. I did not mind the $ 79 model’s thicker shell or cheaper plastic, but the screen is in an entirely different category. The contrast is not good at all, and perhaps worse, it does not have the system lauded frontlighting que makes the Paperwhite Voyage and usable in any environment. E Ink For skeptics, it’s a far less convincing product.
The back of the device harkens back to the bizarre first-generation Kindle just a little bit with its harsh lines and angles (do not worry, it’s tasteful). The power button Has Been moved back here from the bottom edge, Which is a little odd, but you’ll probably never touch it if you’re using the case – the magnetic latch automatically powers on the Voyage When it sleeps When opened and closed .
Unfortunately, the official Amazon case for the Voyage is not good. It attaches magnetically to the device, Which is cool, but it inexplicably flips over the top, not from right to left – you know, like a book does . It’s Also an origami case, meaning it can be folded to prop up the Voyage upright on the surface. Origami cases make sense for tablets, but for the life of me I do not know why you’d want one for the Kindle; you’re not going to be watching a movie on it. . All it does is make the case’s cover and floppy needlessly annoying to open and close
On the whole, Amazon accomplished its goal: it built a better platypus. This is the best E Ink e-reader I’ve used, and it’s unquestionably the best que Amazon has ever made. The thing is, it’s only marginally better than the fantastic Paperwhite in several ways, and in none Significantly better. Also Amazon is asking a lot of money for the Voyage – it starts at $ 199, while the 3G model without special offers runs $ 289 Not since the late days of the doomed Kindle DX has an Amazon e-reader brushed up against the $ 300 mark
The Voyage is an easy recommendation. – but if you’re on a budget, the $ 119 Paperwhite (Which Is staying in the lineup) is still the way to go. The Voyage is a joy to use and a wonderful way to read; only voracious readers with laser-sharp eyes, though, will find it $ 80 better.
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The Breakdown
More times than not, the Verge score is based on the average of the subscores below. However, since this is a non-weighted average, we reserve the right to tweak the overall score if we feel it does not reflect our overall assessment and price of the product. Read more about how we test and rate products.
- Design 9
- Software 9
- Display 9
- Performance 9
- Battery life 10
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