Since June 2015, Amazon sells the new version of its Kindle Paperwhite reading light. What does she compete? Do we really cracked? Answer in this test.
Overview
- 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 Run
- 6 accessories
- 7 Conclusion Kindle Paperwhite 2015
Specifications
Unlike tablets, e-readers have no need enormous 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 offers 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 greater detail later in this test.
The box is simple, as the reading light it contains
<. p> power level, the US reading lamp has 2 GB RAM and a processor of 1GHz. The internal storage is 4GB , enough to store hundreds of titles. Downloading books is via WiFi (802.11 b / g / n) or 3G for the most expensive models. Finally, Amazon has almost everything doubled compared to the previous Kindle Paperwhite. Is it really worth ? 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 competition by offering a catchy specifications.
Price
The Kindle Paperwhite of 2015 is slightly more expensive than its previous iteration, increasing from € 119.99 € 129.99 . Like Fire tablets, there are different models for which prices vary not only depending on the built-in hardware, but also in terms of the presence of advertisements or not (called “special offers”). Here is a list of prices posted by Amazon in early this 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 offer
As you can see, the bill can quickly become salty. If you do not travel often or you do not load new books regularly, rather orient yourself to models with wifi only. Only adventurers will really usefulness of 3G versions. Note that there is no SIM card needed to enjoy it, Amazon takes care of everything for free. Once purchased liseuse, 3G is free “for life” .
If you acquire a Paperwhite with special offers, it is always possible to remove them later on Paid € 10. For my part, I do not find them very disturbing as 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 Amazon Fire.
Design and general appearance
The basics for a reading light outside of a good quality screen is to provide a small footprint. It must be noted that Amazon is doing very well, the Paperwhite is very pleasant to use, even over a long period. Weighing only 205 grams (217 for the 3G version), it is lighter than some smaller phablettes yet. 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 to keep it with one hand without risk of finger pressing the screen.
The Kindle Paperwhite is designed black plastic “soft touch”
The back is also made of soft plastic, very pleasant to 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 detail 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 lightness, 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 comes up so the Kobo Glo HD offering the same type slab. As I said before, it is of course a electronic ink screen that is used on the reading light. The undeniable advantage of this technology is that it allows a close view to that of a real book while authorizing an amendment to the flight characteristics of the text: font, size, line spacing. It allows for more reading in the sun, often difficult, if not impossible with conventional tablet.
> text customization possibilities are rather complete.
The integrated headlights 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 turning off the light. For Personally, I use the reading light at 7, which is enough for a solid black in playback 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 constantly zoom in even in small boxes (except very 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 of reading.
In short, Amazon is doing very well with his new screen. It is almost faultless, but is that the interface is up? Response to following paragraph.
Interface
The old 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 lamp with “special offers” (read thus: “advertisements on the home screen”) will show a small banner at the bottom. It is not particularly troublesome and is 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 allow you to categorize your tracks: author, title, or even newer file (called “collections”) Overall, we find fairly quickly a title if one takes. time to classify it correctly. At worst, a search engine make your job easier, providing access to electronic books already purchased or shop according to your needs.
> Sort options are relatively complete.
Customize View
Especially when reading the reading light that offers the best of itself. From an aesthetic point of view to start by offering 8 different fonts, including a new specially created and named by Amazon Bookerly. Very nice, my choice was quickly stopped on it to my reading. The text size is changed, there also with 8 different possibilities. Margins and line spacing allow 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, an Internet connection is necessary, but it is really convenient to read a complex book without having to drag him to constantly Petit Larousse side. On top of that, you can also share your selection on Facebook or Twitter, take a note or research in the book or the shop. It’s complete and intuitive, though rarely there is no match in the dictionary or on Wikipedia. In addition, each highlighted word is available as revision sheets, to revalue the end of a book definitions and jobs which was done-silent. An original feature 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 assiduous.
Reading 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 a fairly good accuracy. If you are not interested in this feature, it is also possible to remove it.
For people wishing to improve their English, Word Wise might be of their great help. It displays aids understanding for books in the language of Shakespeare. The most complicated words synonymous benefit from the display and English definitions. Although friendly, this option requires some level already and do not necessarily show the most relevant results, but remains substantial. Future updates will probably improve it.
Word Wise simplifies the understanding of English texts
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Parental Controls
For parents, FreeTime is an option to use without moderation. This is a parental control which 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 performance as “successful” (on the same principle as video games) . Create profiles, protect the reading light with a password and choose books that your children can play or not. The goal here is to encourage reading and not limit the time of use as conventional parental controls.
> The success FreeTime will encourage children to read more and more while having fun.
Latest addition from Amazon: a Web browser still experimental, it will allow you to surf the Internet Unfortunately, the use is quite chaotic, the fault in ink.. electronics that is not designed for such use which requires a fast display. Unlike a tablet that displays the image in real time, electronic ink slabs require a refresh almost one second with every movement. Add to Facebook at 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 you go to paragraph on performance, it seems important to recall the political Amazon for electronic books. 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 … Sure, you can transfer it 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 light. A policy that Amazon has not unique, but still very restrictive for users.
> The Kindle Store offers only titles as DRM.
For the reverse procedure, ie sending books Kindle Paperwhite personal about, no worries. PDFs are accepted, it must however 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.
Free software Calibre can convert MOBI to EPUB compatible with the Paperwhite.
This concludes this big software part. Amazon did a good job with a neat and accessible interface, full of nice little features. Too bad American society come compartmentalize all with DRM and lack of support for the EPUB format.
Performance and autonomy
Performance
As readers, the Kindle Paperwhite 2015 is doing pretty well. Difficult to quantify these performances, 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, see less than a half 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 becoming long enough pages to refresh, especially during successive zooms.
The speed is therefore the appointment, which is not necessarily the If stability. It thus came 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 change temporarily help matters. This book is filled with pictures, I imagine that it is their assumption that was the problem, but these are only assumptions. Not having had other problems like this on other securities, it may be that the said book-was not well optimized.
It’s also happened to me once the reading light is completely blocked at the exit standby. Only a long press the power button to perform a reset me out of this mess. Since everything works well and the bug has not reproduced. Faced with the time spent on reading light, I think it is far from a big inconvenience. Who has not had at least one crash on a mobile device even high end?
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 discuss in the comments.
Run
Another advantage 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 data sheet Amazon, Kindle Paperwhite would have a battery life of six weeks with the lighting to 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 three weeks with lighting 7 and activated wifi, with a daily reading time between 30 and 60 minutes. After contact with the customer service, I got confirmation that it was necessary to build a maximum of 4 weeks or in airplane mode with low light.
Anyway, autonomy is more than enough to keep for a long trip away a USB port . Once downloaded books locally wifi or 3G only serve to synchronize your progress on each title or use Wikipedia. Count pretty ready 4 hours to fully charge your reading light from a USB port of PC . Amazon offers adapted fast chargers, but did not provided 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 back 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 case is Kwmobile leatherette. More colors and illustrations exist.
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