Amazon Kindle (2024 release) Review

When thinking about e-readers it’s hard not to think of Amazon’s Kindle. Originally released in 2007 with a four level grayscale E Ink display and 250MB of storage, it was impressive for the time. But 2007 is a long time ago in tech and with a new Kindle for 2024… what has changed?

Amazon lists the features as:

• The lightest and most compact Kindle – Now with a brighter front light at max setting, higher contrast ratio and faster page turns for an enhanced reading experience.
• Effortless reading in any light – Read comfortably with a 6“ glare-free display, adjustable front light—now 25% brighter at max setting—and dark mode.
• Escape into your books – Tune out messages, emails, and social media with a distraction-free reading experience.
• Read for a while – Get up to 6 weeks of battery life on a single charge.
• Take your library with you – 16 GB storage holds thousands of books.
• Find new stories – A Kindle Unlimited subscription unlocks access to millions of titles.
• Designed with sustainability in mind – This Kindle uses 75% recycled plastics, 90% recycled magnesium, and 99% of this device’s packaging is made of wood fiber-based materials from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources

They aren’t kidding with it being light… it almost feels like the box (with the charging cable in it) weighs more than the Kindle itself (I haven’t weighed them both but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the case). That first release featured a 6inch screen so the size hasn’t changed (honestly it’s a pretty good size for comfortable reading so there’s no real reason to change that). The clarity of the image though is very impressive and would no doubt put the original version to shame if compared side to side, not surprising when the dpi is 300 and the greyscale has been bumped up to 16-levels.

Setup is extremely easy, just follow the prompts on screen. Connection for me was quite simple and I was up and going before long. To get you started you have a few options… you can use a web interface to send compatible files from your computer to your Kindle. If you don’t have any texts to read yet you have a few options… you can browse Amazon’s extensive book options where you can find a number of classic titles for free and plenty of books for a quite reasonable price. You can also use Amazon membership benefits to get started with your reading material.

The e-ink display is extremely impressive. When I first took it out of the box I thought it had a “demo” image on a cover that had to be removed from the device… I soon learnt that it was simply a wallpaper that the Kindle displays when it is in “sleep” mode. Do that with a mobile phone screen, i.e. have a permanent wallpaper screen on, and you would quickly burn through your battery… the Kindle has been sitting on basically the same level of charge for days (as stated by Amazon they estimate you can get about 6 weeks of battery life on a single charge… I’m inclined to believe that).

All of that is all well and good but what about taking it out and about… how readable is it “in the wild”. Well I took my children to the Zoo and while we had a bit of a break I took a seat and brought out the Kindle and was pleased to see the screen was easily readable and indeed that glare-free display meant there were no issues at all.

Final Thoughts:

I am a big fan of traditional books and will always want to have physical books where possible. But I’m not such a purest that I don’t see the value in having a device that can hold thousands of books all while taking up less space than most physical books. I have been known to read digital copies of books while traveling by train in the past and the Kindle makes that super easy and the battery life and storage mean it is absolutely perfect for taking on holidays so you can get through your “to read list” without having to bring extra suitcases for all the books. The only thing that would make it better is having colour.

Definitely worth grabbing if you love to read but either don’t have room for a home library or you do a lot of travel!