Kindle Paperwhite review (2015): our favorite e-reader gets even better

When Amazon’s Kindle Voyage launched last year, I more or less fell in love with it right out of the gate. Sure, a handful of competitors came out with similar displays before Amazon did, but man — with that high-resolution screen and its sleek new looks, the Voyage was the first Kindle that ever felt really high-end. I didn’t stand a chance. Now, thanks to some trickle-down gadget economics, the new Kindle Paperwhite ($119 with ads, $139 without) just got a huge bump in screen resolution too. It was really only a matter of time, but now we’re left with a question to ponder: Is a new screen enough to catapult an already-very-good reader into the realm of greatness? Spoiler alert: I think it is.

Hardware

It’s been years since Amazon’s first Paperwhite Kindle hit the scene, and it’s a bit surprising how little has changed since then. In fact, if I pulled out this latest one and showed it to you with the screen off, you’d be hard-pressed to spot any differences. That curvy, soft-to-the-touch plastic body? The placement of the micro-USB port, power button and status light? How recessed the touchscreen is? All of these physical particulars have remained the same. In fact, the only differences of note between the 2015 Paperwhite and the original are the logos embossed on the back (they now say “Amazon” instead of “Kindle”) and the color of the Kindle logo right beneath the screen. The 2015 Paperwhite’s look is a classic case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and even a design snob like me is willing to give it a pass since it’s still lightweight and nestles nicely into the hand.

Of course, none of that means the Paperwhite’s design is perfect. I’m still a little miffed that Amazon didn’t enlarge the power button and slap it onto the back of the reader like it did with the Voyage. Instead, you’ve got to grope around for a tiny nub on the Paperwhite’s bottom edge, which gets old surprisingly quickly. The screen is also still recessed into the surface of the Paperwhite’s body, which can make flipping through pages ever so slightly jarring — your finger often smacks right into the edge of that plastic bezel. Yes, I know: I’m picking nits here, but Amazon really nailed the Kindle design with the Voyage. How long until that stuff trickles down too?

Anyway, before your eyes take all that minutiae in, they’ll probably settle on the 6-inch E Ink screen. This year, Amazon pumped the resolution of the Paperwhite’s screen up to 300 pixels per inch, which makes for the same super-crisp text and visuals I gushed over when the high-falutin’ Kindle Voyage debuted last year. It was only a matter of time, really, but that shouldn’t diminish the quality of what we’ve got here; the thing looks great. There have been some under-the-hood improvements too, although they’re tougher to spot unless you put a slew of Kindles side by side (we’ll get to that shortly). Meanwhile, you’ve still got 4GB of storage for your digital library, and you can opt for a model with a built-in 3G radio for $70 extra.

Display and performance

It always feels weird to lump the display and performance categories together, but with gadgets like this one, they’re inextricably linked. Since the new Paperwhite’s 300ppi screen is just as packed with pixels as the Voyage is, you might be tempted to gloss over this section — don’t. Yes, both Kindles offer crisp, highly readable text even when you dial down the text size, line spacing and margins. Try as I might, I couldn’t make out any difference in how finely text was rendered or how quickly pages refreshed. This meant lots of gushing over the Voyage out of me last year, and just about all of it applies here too. But are they identical? No way.

The Voyage’s display is a little more high-contrast, for one. It’s nigh impossible to tell when you’re just plowing through a novel, but the difference is more prominent if your books contain the occasional photo (or, if you’re brave enough to read manga on these things). No matter what image I pulled up, the Paperwhite always came away looking less nuanced and slightly washed out compared to its more expensive cousin. This certainly isn’t a dealbreaker, though, and it doesn’t impact performance outdoors; it’s just a reminder that Amazon had to keep costs down somehow.

For better or worse, the Paperwhite’s front-lighting system isn’t as bright as the Voyage’s either. That might sound like a pretty clear ding in the Paperwhite’s con column, but hear me out: I actually sort of like the fact that the screen’s a little dimmer. I can’t remember the last time I cranked up Voyage’s backlight all the way; it’s way too bright for reading in the wee, dark hours of the morning and it gave the screen a distinctly bluish tinge. I’m getting into persnickety Kindle purist territory here, but it just seemed like overkill. The restraint Amazon exercised this time around means that, even at maximum brightness, the Paperwhite’s pages look a little more like actual paper. (Whether or not companies like Amazon should slavishly attempt to recreate the look of mashed tree pulp is another argument entirely, but whatever; the screen is just peachy.)

Amazon seems to hate talking about the silicon that powers its Kindles, but I’m guessing the Paperwhite has the same processor and RAM as the Voyage since they’re more or less identically quick. Page flips (even fast and frenzied ones) never choked up the Paperwhite, nor did sifting through Amazon’s menus and book listings. It’s still not completely friction-free, but we’re getting very close. Naturally, none of this would mean much if it took a toll on the Paperwhite’s battery, but you can cast those worries aside — I’ve only topped up on juice once in the week and a half I’ve been testing it, and that’s only because the Kindle shipped half-charged.

Software

Honestly, this part’s going to be a little sparse. Amazon’s more a fan of occasional, over-the-air software updates so there’s not a whole lot here that we haven’t already seen. This year’s Paperwhite is the first Kindle to get the new “Bookerly” typeface (others will get it via software update soon), which is a sleeker, more spacious alternative to the default “Caecilia.” Oh, and when you first fire up the Paperwhite, it asks you if you want to turn on Word Wise, a feature that displays brief definitions above potentially tricky words. It’s a neat little thing that comes in handy if you’re trying to pick up English or plan on giving the Kindle to a kid, but it throws your line-spacing preferences out of whack.

The competition

This year’s Kindle Paperwhite is a fine blend of price and page-flipping performance, but keep a few other options in mind if you’re not sold just yet. The Amazon-averse out there will want to consider the Kobo Glo HD, which also sports 4GB of memory and the same 6-inch, 300ppi Carta screen as the Paperwhite for $130. Yes, that’s just a touch more than the most basic Paperwhite, but you’re getting a reader that comes free of ads and isn’t tied into Amazon’s tentacular e-commerce operation. Then there’s the other Kindle in Amazon’s lineup with a high-res screen: the Voyage. Even if its screen and backlighting system work a little differently than the Voyage, the Paperwhite just made its cousin irrelevant to all but the nerdiest e-paper buffs. Let’s run through the physical niceties that premium gets you: touch-sensitive buttons to turn pages, a much nicer design, an ambient light sensor and some chemically etched glass to cut down on that pesky glare. Really, though, it’s the screen that people will flock to, and the gap in performance is so small that you shouldn’t feel bad going Paperwhite over Voyage.

Wrap-up

This is the third Kindle Paperwhite in as many years, and it’s the first to bring a dramatic upgrade — that mostly lovely screen — into the fold. While the total package isn’t as whiz-bang impressive as its cousin the Voyage, it’s still easily the best bang for your Kindle-buying buck. If you’re cool with surrendering yourself to Amazon’s e-commerce empire and you’re not a raging e-book nerd like me, this decision is a no-brainer: Skip the basic Kindle and the Voyage. The Paperwhite works well, looks great and will make for a lovely summer reading buddy.

Filed under: Amazon

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How I learned to love Alexa (and Amazon’s Echo)

After the failure of the Fire Phone and the so-so Fire TV, it was hard to get excited about Amazon’s $180 Echo wireless speaker. At best, it seemed like a superfluous device that simply mimicked voice-powered tech from our phones in monolithic speaker form. At worst, it felt like yet another way for the company to insert itself into your life — all in an effort to make you buy more crap from Amazon. I’ll admit, I wasn’t in any rush to nab an Echo of my own after it was first announced (Prime members with a special invite were able to get it for $99). And, curiously, Amazon didn’t make review units available at the time, either. But now that Echo is widely available to everyone, I was finally able to get my hands on one to test out. Surprisingly enough, I ended up falling for it big time.

To be clear, I fell for Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa. Sure, she’s just another spin on the likes of Siri, Cortana and Google Now (time for a friendlier name there, eh Google?), but Alexa also differs in a few key ways. For one, she’s always listening, and she generally does a better job of understanding me than other virtual assistants. Alexa also has the uncanny ability to hear me even when I’m on the other side of my living room, thanks to Echo’s seven microphones. That’s something I’ve never seen with any other virtual assistant. (I even have trouble getting Siri to wake up and accurately hear my voice on my Apple Watch — and that’s right on my wrist!)

All of this is due to Amazon’s unique approach with the Echo. It’s not a portable speaker like we’ve seen from Jambox and Logitech. Instead, it’s a rather large, cylindrical device that needs to be plugged into power. It’s something you’ll likely just leave in a single spot in your home. But what you give up in portability you gain in overall reliability, as Alexa is ready to listen to your commands at the drop of a hat. After all, it’s harder for battery-powered devices to always be ready for voice commands without slowly draining power (Motorola went to great lengths to make that possible on the Moto X).

As someone who’s tied to a smartphone, tablet or computer most of the day, it was tough for me to get the hang of the Echo initially. Most of its functionality, like asking for the weather, checking on my calendar or looking up facts, is comprised of things we’re all used to doing on plenty of other devices. But eventually, its hands-free access to information began to feel downright empowering. If I’m on the way out the door, or in the middle of making dinner, it’s far easier to shout commands to Alexa rather than try to activate Siri on my phone, or load up an app. Alexa is the first virtual assistant I’ve used that actually lives up to that title.

It also helps that learning to use the Echo involves far more delight than frustration. Alexa has her limits, of course, but she also ended up consistently surprising me with her capabilities. I learned that she could tune into my local NPR station just by asking her to “play WNYC,” which pulls in a stream from TuneIn. Once I linked my Pandora account (through the separate Echo mobile app), it was easy to start playing any of my saved radio stations, or any random Pandora channel. And Alexa never failed to resume whatever I had playing whenever I interrupted her to ask a question.

Echo also shines as a decent speaker for music listening. Amazon packed in a 2-inch tweeter, a 2.5-inch woofer and an elongated reflex port in Echo’s 9-inch tall frame, giving it enough power to fill a small room with distortion-free music. It’s certainly no match for a dedicated hi-fi setup, but it’s about on par with Bluetooth speakers in this price range, with thumping lows and crisp highs. Don’t expect it to capture the nuances of a good jazz or classical performance, though. Echo’s circular design is reminiscent of Logitech’s UE Boom lineup, allowing it to spit out sound in every direction.

You can connect Echo to any mobile device over Bluetooth, after which it’s recognized just like a typical Bluetooth speaker. There’s also some basic hands-free support, allowing you to use voice commands to have Alexa do things like pause and skip media tracks. Unfortunately, Echo doesn’t work as a speakerphone yet, but that’s something I’m hoping Amazon adds eventually. Its complex array of microphones and noise-canceling technology would make it pretty useful for phone calls.

On top of the functions mentioned above, Echo can also do things like set a timer or alarm; play music from your Amazon library, Prime Music and iHeartRadio; and play Audible audiobooks. Echo can also control WeMo and Philips Hue smart home devices, but I wasn’t able to test that functionality since my home isn’t very smart yet. You can also add items to a shopping list and even re-buy things from your shopping history with voice commands. To Amazon’s credit, Echo offers enough other compelling features that it doesn’t feel like a crass e-commerce Trojan horse in your home, lying in wait for your late-night impulse purchases.

I probably sound like a pretty big Echo fan by this point, but there are still things I hope Amazon improves on eventually. It’d be nice to be able to activate Echo with your own custom voice command, other than saying “Alexa” (or “Amazon,” which is just boring). Amazon also needs to add more services to make Echo more useful — it kills me there’s no Spotify support yet. And while I can understand why Echo has to be plugged in, it would still be nice to have a small battery built in to give us a few hours of portability. As much as I like Echo, its current $180 price tag (down from its original $199 non-Prime price) also seems pretty steep, especially when select Prime members were able to snag it for $99.

The good thing is that the company is constantly updating and improving Echo. I didn’t run into any of the voice-recognition issues that earlier reviewers saw, which makes me think Amazon wasn’t just twiddling its thumbs for the past few months.

Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give the Echo is that it just works in a way that Siri and Google Now don’t — at least, when it comes to actually listening to and understanding voice commands. Once it’s plugged in, you just need to learn the basic Alexa commands and you can start feeling like a pro Echo user. It’s also pretty clear that Amazon is committed to making Echo a compelling platform. It just announced a $100 million Alexa Fund to promote voice-powered apps, and it’s offering an SDK that will let developers bring their apps to the Alexa platform. Echo may have just seemed like a weird speaker gadget when it was first announced, but it might just end up being as transformational as the Kindle over the next few years.

Filed under: Misc, Amazon

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Deal Alert: JLab Omni Bluetooth headphones now just $60

Good news music lovers. Amazon is currently running a promotion on the JLab Omni Bluetooth over-ear headphones, cutting the price from $199.99 all the way down to $59.94.

Not only is the company offering a huge $140 (70 percent) off, but shipping is completely free too. The headphones also come with a universal USB to micro USB cord to charge them up and a free Plush Travel Case to store them in.

Other features include 15 hours of battery life with Bluetooth on, a foldable headband for easy storage, music track and volume controls, and 40mm drivers which promise vibrant highs, mids and a pumping bass. There’s also a microphone hidden inside the headphones and one in the tangle free cord that ships with handset, meaning that you can use it to take and place wireless calls too.

If these aren’t quite what you’re after, Amazon is also offering $59.99 (35 percent) off the JayBird BlueBuds X Sport Bluetooth headphones, which are currently available for $110.

There’s no indication on when Amazon’s offer will end, so you might not want to wait around too long. Here’s the link.

Amazon’s Prime Now service brings one-hour deliveries to London

If you live in London and have wished that your Amazon Prime deliveries would arrive even quicker, you may be happy to find out that Amazon has just announced the arrival of its Prime Now service to subscribers in the UK capital. Over 10,000 items are now available to have delivered within the hour if you are eligible for Prime Now. We have more details after the break. 

Depending in your postcode, your options will vary between 1-hour, 2-hour or same-day delivery when buying an eligible item ranging from nappies, gaming consoles or more importantly, coffee. Orders can be delivered between 8am – midnight, with 1-hour deliveries carrying a £6.99 charge, although 2-hour and same-day deliveries are free. We have the list of eligible postcodes below, and you can also download the Amazon Prime Now app from the Play Store via the QR code and link below to place your orders. If you are eligible for the Prime Now service and enter LONDONNOW at checkout, you can also get £20 off your first order of £50 or more.

Amazon’s Prime Now service is available to the following postcodes: E1, E2, E3, E14, E1W, EC1A, EC1M, EC1N, EC1P, EC1R, EC1V, EC1Y, EC2A, EC2M, EC2N, EC2R, EC2V, EC2Y, EC3A, EC3M, EC3N, EC3R, EC3V, EC4A, EC4M, EC4N, EC4R, EC4V, EC4Y, SE1, SW1Y, W1B, W1C, W1D, W1F, W1G, W1H, W1J, W1K, W1S, W1T, W1U, W1W, WC1A, WC1B, WC1E, WC1H, WC1N, WC1R, WC1V, WC1X, WC2A, WC2B, WC2E, WC2H, WC2N, WC2R.

Currently, the Prime Now service is only being offered in London, although Amazon has stated that it plans to bring the service to other UK cities before the end of 2015.

We have the full press release below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

LONDON — June 30th, 2015—Amazon.co.uk today announced Prime Now, the newest benefit for Prime members, which offers one-hour delivery on over ten thousand items through a mobile app. Prime Now is powered by Amazon’s growing network of fulfilment centres that utilise high-end technology to speed up order delivery times for customers. Now, Prime members can get daily essentials such as coffee, batteries and nappies, as well as other popular items like games consoles, toys and sports equipment, delivered right to their door in an hour or less. The service launches today in selected London postcodes and is expected to reach all of London and additional UK cities by the end of the year.

“Millions of customers across London can use the Prime Now app today and discover over ten thousand items for one-hour delivery, or select a free two-hour, same-day delivery slot,” said Christopher North, Managing Director of Amazon UK. “This is just the beginning. London is our first Prime Now city in the UK and we are already working on making Prime Now available in more postcodes in London and beyond.”

All Prime members can immediately download the Prime Now app, available on iOS and Android devices, to find eligible delivery postcodes and request notification when the service is available in their area. Customers can also visit www.amazon.co.uk/primenow to discover eligible delivery postcodes. Prime Now customers can choose delivery within one hour of ordering for £6.99, or free delivery within a choice of two-hour, same-day delivery slots between 8am and midnight, seven days a week.

Prime Now is made available through Amazon Logistics, Amazon’s technology and logistics platform that empowers independent local, regional and national delivery companies across the UK to deliver Amazon parcels to customers seven days a week. Amazon Logistics’ delivery station in East London will serve as the first hub for delivery of Prime Now orders.

Amazon Prime is already an immensely popular service with millions of members in the UK. On a base of tens of millions, worldwide paid membership to Prime grew 53% last year. Prime members in the UK enjoy unlimited One-Day Shipping on more than 9 million items, unlimited streaming of more than 15,000 popular movies and TV shows through Prime Instant Video, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive, and access to more than 800,000 books to borrow for free with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Customers can sign up for the Amazon Prime Free 30-day trial at www.amazon.co.uk/prime.

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