Since June 2015, Amazon sells the new version of its eReader Kindle Paperwhite. What does she compete? Do we really crack? Answer in this test.
Summary
- 1 Specifications
- 2 Price
- 3 Design and general appearance
- 4 Interface
- 4.1 Sort to better find
- 4.2 Customize view
- 4.3 Dictionary & amp; revision sheet
- 4.4 Reading time
- 4.5 Parental Controls
- 4.6 Web Browser
- 5 Performance and autonomy
- 5.1 Performance
- 5.2 Battery
- 6 Accessories
- 7 Conclusion Kindle Paperwhite 2015
Specifications
Unlike tablets, e-readers have no need a huge power to function properly. The aim of manufacturers is rather to propose material with good battery life and above all a pleasant screen to use. In the world of e-readers, Amazon already has some experience here and offer what is does best. The touch screen 6 “ has a beautiful 300 dpi resolution , higher than the old version. Like all machines of this type, it uses electronic ink technology. Monochrome, it uses 16 grayscale (not 50 shades of Grey!). We will return in more detail later in this test.
the box is simple, as it contains the reading light
<. p> power level, the US has liseuse 2 GB RAM and a processor running at 1 GHz. internal storage is 4GB , what record hundreds of songs. download books is via Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n) or 3G for the most expensive models. Finally, Amazon has almost everything doubled from the previous Kindle Paperwhite. is it really useful ? probably yes in terms of marketing, but in the end the user will probably not see big differences compared to the old grind. Nevertheless, the little reading lamp is placed at the level of the competition by offering a catchy specifications.
Price
The Kindle Paperwhite of 2015 is slightly more expensive than its previous iteration, going from € 119.99 to € 129.99 . Like the Fire tablets, there are different models whose prices vary not only depending on the integrated hardware, but also by the presence of advertisements or not (called “special offers”). Here is a list of prices posted by Amazon in this start to the year 2016:
- Version wifi + special offers – & gt; € 129.99
- Version wifi – & gt; € 139.99
- Version wifi / 3G + special offers – & gt; € 189.99
- Version wifi / 3G – & gt; € 199.99
See details
As you can see, the bill can quickly become salty. If you do not travel often or do not load new books regularly, rather orient yourself to models with wifi only. Only adventurers will really useful 3G versions. Note that there is no SIM card needed to enjoy it, Amazon takes care of everything for free. After you purchase a reading light, 3G is free “for life” .
If you acquire a Paperwhite with special offers, it is always possible to remove them later in paying 10 €. Personally, I do not find very disturbing since they mingle with the recommendations on the lock screen and take only a small banner at the bottom of the home screen. This is less disabling than what is found on some tablets like the Fire from Amazon.
Design and general appearance
The key to a reading light outside a good quality screen is to provide a small footprint. It must be noted that Amazon is doing very well, the Paperwhite is very comfortable to use, even over a long period. Weighing only 205 grams (217 for the 3G version), it is lighter than some smaller yet PHABLET. In terms of size, it seems to have in front of either a small tablet: 169 x 177 x 9.1 mm . The edges are quite broad, allowing the hold with one hand without risk of finger pressing the screen.
The Kindle Paperwhite is designed in black plastic “soft touch”
The back is also made of soft plastic, very pleasant to the touch.
the design is very simple, just like the packaging. Black plastic mast style “peach skin” with a simple overlay “kindle” on the front. Same in the back with an engraving of the Amazon logo. There are no superfluous details and I admit I enjoyed that aspect. The micro USB port is located on the lower portion of the reading light next to the power button . Between the two is a small multi-color LED that can indicate the status of the battery during charging.
the connection comes down to a micro-USB port for charging and file transfer
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the set is very well designed and looks solid. Despite its light weight, the Paperwhite seems built to last.
Screen
Just as much as a touch pad, a good reading light has to have a good screen to be used in good conditions. Amazon has put the dishes in large to the 7th generation of its Kindle Paperwhite. Always with a size of 6 “, the resolution was increased to 300 dpi . it is therefore catch the Kobo Glo HD offering the same type slab. As I said before, this is of course a e-ink screen that is used on the reading light. The undeniable advantage of this technology is that it allows a close view of that of a real book while allowing a change on the fly the characteristics of the text font, size, line spacing. It allows more reading in bright sunlight, often difficult, if not impossible with conventional tablet.
> text customization possibilities are rather complete.
the integrated front light allows reading even night. and to have it tested, it’s really great to quietly read at night without disturbing his spouse (or spouse)! There are a total of 25 lighting levels, the lowest completely off the light. for Personally, I use the reading light at 7, which is enough for a black full read without draining the battery quickly and hurt the eyes.
The front lighting is discreet and very practical at night
All grayscale , the screen is not really designed for reading comics. However, it is surprisingly pleasant to read manga are often black and white. And as these are titles in pocket format, it is not necessary to zoom constantly even in small boxes (except in rare cases).
mangas read very well on the Kindle Paperwhite
Totally. touch tile meets the demands , even if you have to press a little harder than on a shelf. it manages the multi-point, allowing the shares of zoom by simply pinching / stretching at reading.
in short, Amazon is doing very well with his new screen. it’s almost a no-fault, but is that the interface is up? response to following paragraph.
interface
the former owners of versions of the Paperwhite will not be disoriented by the interface of the 7th generation. The American bookseller has kept the same formula while making slight adjustments. New features have been added, but concern over the substance and form. The homepage thus provides access to your local library as a carousel. If you wish, you can switch the display as a list, more convenient when the books are piled. Note that the owners of a reading light with “special offers” (read thus: ‘advertisements on the home screen “) will see a small banner at the bottom. It is not especially uncomfortable and remains fairly unobtrusive. The lock screen will also display in alternating with personalized recommendations.
> The simple interface is taken quickly by hand.
Sort to better find
Various options to sort your titles: author, title, or even newer file (called “collections”) overall, we find fairly quickly a title if we take. the time to classify it properly. at worst, a search engine make your job easier, providing access to e-books already purchased or to the store as needed.
> the sorting options are quite extensive.
Customize view
especially when reading the reading light offers the best of itself. From an aesthetic point of view to start by offering 8 different fonts, including a new specially created by Amazon and named Bookerly. Very nice, my choice was quickly stopped on it to my reading. The text size is changed, again with 8 different possibilities. Margins and line spacing allows three different spacings. Everyone can adjust the playback at their convenience for maximum comfort.
> the Bookerly Police was created specifically for the new Kindle Paperwhite
Dictionary & amp;. sheet review
During playback, you can press and hold your finger on a word or set of words to bring up a dictionary definition, translation and even an article on Wikipedia . of course, Internet access is necessary, but it’s really convenient to read a complex book without having to drag the Petit Larousse to permanently side. on top of that, you can also share your selection on Facebook or Twitter, take a note or do research in the book or the shop. it’s complete and intuitive, although very rarely there is no match in the dictionary or on Wikipedia. In addition, each highlighted word is available as a review of records, to review at the end of a book definitions and jobs that was done-silent. An original function even if it will not be useful to everyone.
The function of highlighting is incredibly convenient and quickly becomes indispensable
The revision sheets will be used for most regular.
playback Time
Another nice feature: the playing time. The Reader Amazon is able after a while to give you an estimate of the remaining time in a chapter or the entire book. The more you read, the more accurate the estimate will be. After my tests, it is clear that it works very well and with fairly good accuracy. If you are not interested in this feature, it is also possible to remove.
For people wishing to improve their English, Word Wise might be of their great help. It displays aids for understanding the books in the language of Shakespeare. The most complicated words have synonyms of display and English definitions. Although friendly, this option already requires a certain level and do not necessarily show the most relevant results, but remains substantial. Future updates will probably improve.
Word Wise simplifies the understanding of the English text
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parental control
for parents, FreeTime is an option to use without moderation. This is a parental control that not only to limit access to the reading light via a password, but also to motivate children to read by offering to earn rewards based on their performances as “success” (on the same principle as video games) . Create profiles, protect the reading light with a password and choose books that your children can read or not. The goal here is to encourage reading and not limit the time of use as conventional parental controls.
> the success FreeTime encourage children to read more and more while having fun.
Latest addition from Amazon: an experimental web browser Still, he allows you to surf the Internet Unfortunately, the use is quite chaotic, the fault of the ink.. e which is not designed for this kind of use that requires quick viewing. Unlike a tablet which displays the image in real time, electronic ink slabs require a refresh almost 1 second to every movement. Add to Facebook to that loading images on large sites and it becomes quite unacceptable to use the browser. It is also very limited and too basic. This time, Amazon may be too deviated from the basic principle of the reading light. So I mixed this enough and I expect to see in the future if the updates come fix things.
Very heavy, experimental browser does not currently providing much …
Before we go to the paragraph on performance, it seems important to make a point about politics on Amazon eBooks. If there is one word to remember is DRM. any book purchased at the store Kindle is digitally protected. so not read the book you just bought elsewhere than on Amazon applications and devices … Certainly, you can transfer through the cloud, any purchase is linked to your life account but does expect to pay the latest novel you speak so long at one of your friends. In this case, it will itself buy it or else you will have to lend your reading lamp. A policy that Amazon has not unique, but still very restrictive for users.
> the Kindle Store offers only titles under DRM.
for the reverse procedure, ie sending books personal the Kindle Paperwhite, no worries. the PDF is recognized, it is necessary however to convert MOBI to EPUB format. the Calibre software can do it for free by offering numerous conversion options. Word files (DOC and DOCX) are also supported, as HTML or JPEG, GIF, PNG or BMP.
the free software Calibre can convert EPUB MOBI compatible with the Paperwhite.
this concludes this big software part. Amazon has done a good job with a neat and accessible interface, full of nice little features. Too bad the American company comes compartmentalize all with DRM and lack of support for the EPUB format.
Performance and autonomy
Performance
as an eReader, the Kindle Paperwhite 2015 is doing pretty well. Difficult to quantify performance, no benchmark exists for this type of device. Still, the machine responds well to requests, the requested pages that appear in less than a second, or even less than half a second. Even navigating the store that requires many images the display does not seem to hinder the Paperwhite. Only the experimental browser puts undermined machine the rather long pages to becoming cool, especially during successive zooms.
So the speed is waiting for you, which is not necessarily the if stability. It thus happened to me while reading a book that just shows me an error message while refusing to go further. It turns out that after a few tries the font size changes temporarily help matters. This book is filled with images, I guess it’s their support that was the problem, but these are just guesses. Not having had other problems like this on other securities, it may be that the said book-was not well optimized.
It happened to me once the reading light is completely blocked at the exit standby. Only a long press on the power button to perform a reset me out of this mess. Since everything works well and the bug does not play. Faced with the time spent on reading light, I believe that this is far from a big inconvenience. Who has not had at least one crash on a mobile device even upscale?
Overall, the Kindle Paperwhite is a very good reading light, responsive and stable. Only the browser is problematic, but is it really useful on this type of gear? I let you judge and debate in the comments.
Battery
Another advantage of screens e-ink is the autonomy they provide. By their operation they refresh less often than conventional screens, resulting in very low power consumption. According to the specifications of Amazon, Kindle Paperwhite would have a battery life of six weeks with lighting 10, the disabled wifi and 30 minutes of reading a day. As often, it seems that this time is slightly overestimated. Ideally, I managed to hold a full charge for about 3 weeks with lighting 7 and activated wifi, with a daily reading time between 30 and 60 minutes. After contact with the service, I got confirmation that it was necessary to build a maximum of 4 weeks or in airplane mode in low light.
Anyway, autonomy is quite sufficient to take a long trip far from a USB . Once downloaded books locally, wifi or 3G only serve to synchronize your progress on each title or use Wikipedia. Count just ready 4 hours to fully charge your reading light from a USB port of PC . Amazon offers adapted fast chargers, but do not supplied in the box.
Accessories
On the occasion of this test, I got an essential accessory for anyone clumsy or very conscientious (your choice!): a protective case. Designed by Kwmobile, it has a relatively thick plastic backs mixed with synthetic leather. The seams are very well done, no wire wanders even after several weeks of use. A magnetic closure allows to securely hold the case closed during transport. The Reader fits together well and remains firmly in place.
The Kwmobile case is faux leather. More colors and illustrations are available.
