Invariably in the first place. Month with Kindle Paperwhite 4

Kindle Paperwhite 4 came to me for tests with a long delay. So instead of writing a dry review, which everybody has probably already read in 10 other places, I decided to spend more than a month with this reader to get to know him and answer the question whether it is worth buying.

If the e-book reader is Kindle. I have checked almost all e-readers that have appeared on the market in recent years and unfortunately, none of the products of the competition is close to the Amazon equipment in terms of the quality of workmanship, smoothness of operation and the pleasure of communing with electronic books on a daily basis. Yes, there are readers that have more features. Yes, there are readers that are cheaper even from an inexpensive Paperwhite. However, if we are looking for undisturbed readers' experience, Kindle is still number one.

Kindle Paperwhite has long been one of the Amazon readers who were the most worth buying. It offered the backlight which was missing in the cheapest Kindle model, and from the Paperwhite 3 model it was also a screen with a pixel density that would not be more expensive for the more expensive models. There was no point in saving or overpaying - Paperwhite was a model "for the masses".

Today, however, the situation looks a bit different. The cheapest Kindle 10 finally got a backlit screen, while the most expensive Kindle Oasis 3 is bigger, nicer to use and offers an adjustable color temperature of the display.

Is Kindle Paperwhite 4 still Kindle the most worth buying in such a landscape?

Yes, although you can not see it at first glance.

The Kindle Paperwhite 4 (depending on the version), which costs around PLN 500-700, differs from the Kindle 10, which is cheaper by PLN 200, to the extent that each individual has to answer the question whether it is worth paying extra.

The key difference here are two features: waterproof and Bluetooth connectivity.

The first one is useful in bad weather (or in the bathtub, if someone likes to read in the bath), the latter - in theory - is to make Kindle a machine not only for reading, but also to listen to audiobooks from the Audible website, which has been here integrated with the e-book library on Kindle.

In practice, neither one nor the other function has ever been useful to me for a whole month. I did not use to pull the book out in the rain, and I do not need waterproofness inside my backpack or bag. The Kindle has also been certified IPX8, so if it is resistant to fresh water, it is not dust and dust resistant. It is a pity, because I would like to welcome the opportunity to take Kindle to the beach without stress, rather than stress-free reading in the bathtub.

As for Bluetooth, it is a nice addition, but rather for visually impaired people who can use the Text-to-Speech feature and let the reader read books aloud. For audiobooks it is still better to use just a smartphone, for one simple reason: Kindle Paperwhite 4 has 8 or 32 GB of data memory built-in. I bet that most buyers will opt for this first option. Unfortunately, to listen to the audiobook, you must first download it, and audio books can take a huge amount of space in the device's memory.

In addition, the interface of audiobooks in Kindle Paperwhite 4 works quite languorously. While the reader works perfectly smoothly in the case of e-books, audio books slightly exceed its computing power. The same applies to TTS - it's nice that such a function exists, but it slows Kindle to an unacceptable level. So it is better to use these voice functions on a smartphone that has much stronger components than an e-reader.

Kindle Paperwhite 4 can also be purchased in a version with a built-in modem. Such a variant, however, costs nearly PLN 1000, and the drainage of the battery is so significant that I do not really think that it would be worth it to bother with this version of the head. In a better situation (and cheaper), it will be possible to share the internet from the phone.

How does the Kindle Paperwhite 4 do every day?

When we get to the agenda over a few novelties and the new look for Paperwhite 3, Kindle Paperwhite 4 is just ... Kindle.

I invariably love the interface of this reader, even if in the new version it exposes slightly too intrusively the recommendations from the Amazon bookstore. I like the clear layout of the library combined with my wish list on Amazon or Goodreads, which is integrated with Amazon.

I also like the fact that the said integration with Goodreads works automatically (if we buy a book from Amazon). Every book we start can be marked as "now I read" and evaluated after reading, directly from the reader level.

Those readers who do not use the Amazon bookstore will surely like the send-to-kindle solution. After sending this book to the reader, it is automatically added to the Amazon cloud. We do not need to keep it permanently in the device's memory or remember to move it manually if we ever change the reader. Items added to the cloud stay in it and can be downloaded on every Kindle reader. Unfortunately, there is one "but" - the books sent in this way do not display covers on the Kindle. This can be done only by uploading files manually and only in the old Kindle book format.

Other defects? I did not find them too many. Specifically, two constructional natures that have been following Kindle for years and have still not been repaired:

• the power button is located in such a way that by supporting the reader it is easy to push it with a small finger,
• rubberized backpacks get dirty cruelly and collect fingerprints more easily than glass smartphones.

Both disadvantages can be solved by buying a reader case - it covers the button so as not to accidentally push it in and protects the backs against dirt, and the screen from possible contusions or scratches.

However, what distinguishes Kindle the most from other readers is his action during reading.

Virtual cards turn over with perfect fluency. There is no effect of page penetration (so-called ghosting), appropriate for many e-paper screens. There is no doubt about which part of the display you need to touch to scroll the page, and which we bring up the device menu - we learn everything when first started from the built-in instructions, and in everyday use Kindle unmistakably recognize the touch.

Reading accessories, built into Amazon readers, are also always sensational. The most commonly used by me is highlighting important parts of books, which are then grouped into one file, which in .txt format can be copied from the reader to the computer, if we so wish.

For people who read in foreign languages, the built-in dictionaries, especially English-English Oxford and Merriam Webster, will also make life easier. When I studied English philology, I used it in combination with the "vocabulary builder" function - the tested words automatically land in a separate file, where they can be viewed for repetition. It's really useful.

If we do not understand a certain issue, the Wikipedia definition will help us when we select it (if we have Internet connectivity), and books purchased on Amazon can additionally be "X-rayed" with the X-Ray function, which is basically a very advanced set of footnotes explaining all unknown terms and events in the book.

Most importantly, however, all these useful supplements do not stand in the way of reading pleasure. There are many readers that have more functions. There is no reader of another manufacturer, in which these functions would not adversely affect reading experience. Kindle is still the best way to convince unconverted e-books, who can easily alienate e-books if they first have contact with them on the average competition reader.

Kindle Paperwhite 4 also remains an unmatched model when it comes to working time on a single charge. I have this reader for a month and only loaded it once. A month away from the socket does not pose any challenges for this reader, even with the backlight permanently turned on and constant Wi-Fi connection, reading on average for an hour or two a day.

After a month with Paperwhite 4, I also have to admit that I liked the change in the way the screen was mounted in relation to the previous model. In my Paperwhite 3 dirt and dust regularly get to the edge of the display, which is not placed flush with the casing. Kindle Paperwhite 4 does not cause this problem, because the screen "sits" flat in the reader's design.

The 6-inch screen itself does not look any better or worse than the one in the Kindle Paperwhite 3. The text is just as clear and sharp, the backlight is just as white. Which leads me to a question I tried to answer for a whole month:

Who is Kindle Paperwhite 4 for?

After a month, I can definitely say who it is NOT for - definitely not a reader for the owners of the previous generation of Paperwhite. As a Kindle Paperwhite 3 user, I do not feel the slightest need to change the reader to a new one. The more so that, apart from the new construction, they do not differ from each other in their mode of operation, and unfortunately, the new Paperwhite is also not noticeably faster than the previous one and does not exceed it in any significant way. The only reason why someone might consider switching from PW3 to PW4 is noticeably lower mass and size of the reader. The old model in comparison with the new one seems to be large and sluggish, although in practice it is divided only by 10 g of mass.

It is also not a reader for those who are looking for something more - Bluetooth and water resistance are nice additions, but apart from them, Paperwhite 4 is a "just" reader. There are no more goodies above the norm - such bonuses as adjusting the color temperature, light sensor or automatic rotation of the screen we must look in the Oasis.

Who is Paperwhite 4 for?

Despite the fact that in theory it does not differ much from the cheaper Kindle 10, Paperwhite 4 will be the best choice for someone who is looking for their first reader, or wants to change from the competition reader to the Amazon reader.

Paying only 200 PLN, we get a device with double the amount of data space (Kindle 10 has 4 GB, while Paperwhite minimum 8 GB) and a much better screen with a density of 300 PPI, backlit with 5 LEDs (Kindle 10 has only 167 PPI and 4 LEDs) .

Kindle Paperwhite 4 also costs as much as most competition equipment, and is better than any of them. It overtakes rivals with interface quality, smooth operation and Amazon's excellent reading ecosystem.

Objectively speaking, this is not the best, most "bargained" reader available on the market. But if we look at the price-to-strict readership, combined with the complete trouble-free operation, Kindle Paperwhite in its fourth iteration is still the most reasonable purchase from all e-readers.

Invariably in the first place. Month with Kindle Paperwhite 4