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Journalism of Courage
In the Indian market, the Amazon Kindle has been able to get the better of its competition. The Kindle brand is surely becoming synonymous with the e-reader itself. But that does not mean Amazon is resting on its laurels The company is clearly pushing its devices to usher in better features and offer the best experience to the users. The Kindle Paperwhite, for instance, has just got another upgrade, its second in the past year.
Kindle Paperwhite (2015 edition)
Price: Rs 10,999 (wi-Fi), Rs 13,999 (3G)
On the outside, there is not much that has changed in the Paperwhite. In fact, nothing has changed. Everything is exactly where it was. In this version the new features are all inside.
What is good?
The best new feature is the display quality and that is what matters to you the most as a user. The Paperwhite display is now the same as the top-end Kindle Voyage. The images are sharper and clearer. Kindle claims the new Paperwhite has a 300 pixels per inch resolution, which is double that of the earlier generation. And it shows.
I own a Paperwhite that is two generations old and the difference in text quality is stark. The new Paperwhite, also seem to offer better brightness controls. But the new version clearly has a yellow tinge on the screen, which I did not particularly like.
The new Paperwhite also debuts the ‘Bookerly font’ which has been designed for Kindle. I sort of liked this text which appeared ideal for reading and does not stress your eyes too much.
The new version also seems to avoid unnecessary word breaks and seems to manage typesetting better, especially for those who like to read with large fonts. It is not that big a change, but is certainly visible when you compare the same page on the older version.
What is not that good?
The new display seems to be eating into the battery life a bit. My old Kindle can survive weeks without a recharge. This one might need to be charged every fortnight at least.
And, as I mentioned before, I am not sure the yellow tinge on the screen is a good thing, unless you love reading old books.
Verdict
The Kindle Paperwhite has got a good upgrade and makes it a better buy now as the pricing has remained constant. But this is not reason enough for people with existing Paperwhites to jump ship.
