After reading e-books with an Amazon Kindle device of some sort for decades, I was certain that Amazon couldn’t impress me with their 2024 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.
I was wrong.
Premium Kindle devices have gone through a lot of evolution over the years, increasing screen size and clarity as e-ink technology has improved, including (then removing) page-turn buttons, adding waterproofing, and more. This year’s changes, the first in 3 years, are incremental but combine for a big impact.
So what’s new, how does it compare to the 2021 Signature Edition, and why is it so impressive (and why am I not recommending the Colorfast version)? Let’s find out.
The Best Colors
Yes, this is completely superficial, but the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition won the lottery when it comes to device colors. Black, green, and purpley-pink are standard across all the latest Kindle devices but the Signature edition gets an eye-catching metallic finish.
Paired with a black fabric cover (which is also quite nice, though I do miss the cork covers of the 2021 version) the Metallic Jade device Amazon sent me is extremely eye-catching. It makes you notice it. It makes you want to pick it up and read something. And let’s face it, sometimes we all need a little extra push to get off our phones and pick up a good book (or magazine or comic).
The Colorfast version loses in this category immediately because it only comes in Metallic Black. Boooo-ring!
Screen Size
The big news for this year’s Paperwhite (and Signature Edition) is the larger screen. It’s 7″, up from 6.8″ which isn’t a huge difference, but it is big enough for one more line of text on a standard page. Especially if you’re like me and need the font a little larger, you get more words on the screen, which is always welcome.
The ppi hasn’t changed, but at 300ppi it didn’t need to. The e-ink display looks like words on a printed page, full stop. I would say that any advances past this point are for marketing purposes only.
The screen is also “just” black and white which, given the issues with the Colorfast displays, is probably a good thing. The 7″ screen is too small for a satisfying comic read and while being able to see your library covers in color is satisfying, I don’t think it’s worth an $80 markup (though some would disagree with me). There’s also the fact that when viewing color pages, the resolution drops to 150ppi. It’s a considerable compromise.
The screen is still glare-free, making it as easy to read in full sunlight as a regular book.
Better Battery
Both new Paperwhite devices get 2 weeks of extra battery life, making this the most long-lived Kindle Amazon has ever produced. This is another place where the Colorfast is a victim of its own newness—that color screen knocks the battery life down to a measly 8 weeks.
Most often, I read before bed, which means that even if my Kindle’s battery is low, I’m most likely going to forget to plug it in when I wake up in the morning. If I can put off having to charge for 3 months, that’s a very good thing. What’s nice is that the Kindle Paperwhite and Paperwhite Signature Edition charge fast.
Of course, I could solve this by picking up a wireless charging dock since the Signature Edition also adds wireless charging to the mix. You can also just drop it on a convenient Qi charger to get a boost.
Faster Response
Speaking of boosts, the latest Kindle Paperwhite devices boast 20% faster response time…which I honestly tried to test but I had trouble figuring out where that boost was discernible. Page turn time was already nearly-instantaneous. I will say that using the current gen Signature Edition feels generally snappier than the 2021 version.
All the non-reading things that have a tendency to bog down like scrolling through your library or loading the Kindle Store is super smooth. Launching a new book may be a teeny, tiny bit faster? But again, we’re talking about something that was already measured in single-digit seconds, so shaving a second off is barely noticeable.
I will say this, a faster processor gives your device more overhead to maintain performance over time. Especially if Amazon is going to keep a multi-year cadence between hardware refreshes, it’s better to have more speed available, even if you aren’t using it.
Ultimate Reading Satisfaction
Oh…and the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is still waterproof, which is welcome news for all of you that are reading poolside or at the beach (or are just prone to spilling your tea while reading). Plus, if you’re a fan of audiobooks, the Signature Edition has double the memory of a standard Paperwhite (I mean, you can try to fill that memory with standard books but I’ve not yet been able to).
The Paperwhite Signature Edition also has auto-adjusting brightness, which is something that you will one hundred percent, absolutely, miss the first time you open a different e-book reader in a darkened bedroom and the brightness is turned all the way up. It has the amber shift as well for nighttime reading, making it a perfect bedtime companion.
All this to say, I would be completely lost without my Kindle. It is the one piece of technology that I use every single week without fail. It’s the way I consume 90% of the books I read (I was going to say “literature” here, but let’s be honest, a Kindle is a great way to read SJM “romantasy” on the plane without anyone knowing). Whenever Amazon makes a new version of their top-tier e-reader, it always jumps into my personal top 3 best hardware of the year ranking.
This year is no different.
Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is the best e-reader your money can buy. It has absolutely everything you need to deliver a perfectly optimized reading experience no matter where or how you read. If you value reading (and you get your e-books from Amazon), you must have it. There’s no better option.
Check out the Amazon site for more information (and keep your eyes peeled for Black Friday sales).
