Review of Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 5 (11th Gen)

The current lineup of e-book readers from Amazon includes three models – the basic Kindle, the optimal Kindle Paperwhite, and the top-tier Kindle Oasis. During the last wave of updates in 2019, the American company introduced only the two latest models, while Paperwhite had to wait over three years for a new generation. But it was worth it, as the reader was not just updated but presented as a completely new device.

Pros: Large 6.8-inch screen, fine-tuning of brightness and light temperature, “flat” design of the front panel (screen level with the bezel), pleasant soft-touch plastic body, waterproof, USB-C port

Cons: Price and necessity for the Signature Edition, minimal package contents, expensive accessories, lack of support for popular book formats

Fans of reading e-books know that the main characteristic of an e-paper based reader is the screen size. The standard size, sufficient for reading e-books without illustrations, is considered to be a diagonal of 6 inches. It was these screens that were used in Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite until recently, and only the most expensive Kindle Oasis could boast a 7-inch E-Ink screen.

Now, however, the situation has changed and there is no need to pay from $249 for 7 inches, as practically the same 6.8 inches is available from just $139. Naturally, the more expensive Kindle Oasis has other advantages (for example, a modem Free Cellular Connectivity), but if you wanted a larger screen for less money, then the new Kindle Paperwhite 5 is exactly what you need. It should also be noted that in addition to the standard version of the model, there is a more advanced and expensive Signature Edition, which we will also discuss in our review.

Package Contents

Despite the significant price difference, the package contents for the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition are the same and quite meager.

In addition to the reader, the customer only receives a USB-C cable and a small instruction insert; everything else will need to be purchased separately if necessary.

For example, the branded 9W charger will cost $19.99, the fabric cover — $29.99, the leather cover — $39.99, and the cork-finished cover — $49.99.

If you have decided to purchase the Signature Edition, it would make sense to add a dock with wireless charging support to the package. However, considering the battery life of several weeks on a single charge, the necessity of this accessory is in great doubt.

Design, dimensions

The design of the reader is minimalist and simple; it is not as extravagant as the asymmetric Oasis, but also not as plain as the basic Kindle with its noticeably recessed screen.

The flat front face of the Paperwhite does not contain any control buttons, as the device is operated through a touch interface. If physical page-turn buttons are necessary, you will have to look towards the Kindle Oasis, as even the most affordable Kindle is already devoid of this remnant.

The width of the screen bezel is identical on three sides, and only at the bottom, where the Kindle brand name is located, it is twice as wide. On the back panel made of soft-touch plastic, you can only find the characteristic slash of the Amazon logo (by the way, the plastic on the basic Kindle is noticeably cheaper). The power button, activity indicator, and USB-C port are traditionally placed on the bottom edge for the lineup.

Interestingly, the basic Kindle can be purchased in black or white, the premium Kindle Oasis in graphite and gold, while the new Paperwhite is available exclusively in black. The protection against moisture and dust is the same as the previous generation — IPx8, which allows for a duration of 60 minutes at a depth of 2 meters in freshwater or 3 minutes at a depth of 0.25 meters in saltwater. In the first case, you can safely take the reader with you to the pool or bath, in the second case, you don’t have to worry too much in case of a short fall into the sea.

Due to a noticeably larger screen, the new generation of Paperwhite is slightly larger than its predecessor; however, the difference cannot be considered very significant. Just compare, the dimensions and weight of the fourth version were 167 x 116 x 8.18 mm and 182 grams, while the new model is 174.2 x 124.6 x 8.1 mm and 205 grams.

Screen, Brightness, and Backlight

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 5 (11th Gen) features a monochrome E Ink display with a diagonal of 6.8 inches, a resolution of 1236 x 1648 pixels (300 PPI), and displays 16 shades of gray.

The previous generation had both a smaller size and resolution, but the pixel density remained the same at 300 PPI. Thus, the font was displayed with approximately the same quality, but fewer characters fit on one screen.

For comparison, the standard Kindle has a 6-inch display with a resolution of 600 × 800 pixels (167 PPI), while the more expensive Oasis has a 7-inch display and nearly identical resolution of 1264 × 1680 pixels (300 PPI).

In addition to the screen size, the lighting system has been significantly redesigned. While the previous generation used only 5 white LEDs, the new Paperwhite is equipped with 17 LEDs that shine 10% brighter (according to the manufacturer) and can also adjust the color temperature (24 brightness levels and 24 temperature levels).

This feature allows manual or scheduled adjustment of the color temperature, adding a warm yellow hue after sunset. The Signature Edition version also received a light sensor, which allows for fully automatic adjustment of the backlight, adapting the text display to the external lighting.

In both versions of the reader, there is an option for “Warm Backlight Schedule” where the gradual change in temperature can be set automatically (taking into account sunset and sunrise times) or manually (by selecting the hour and minutes for the start and end of the process).

There is also a “Dark Mode” option, which inverts the image — the background becomes dark and the symbols become light.

Interface

There is no special sense in detailing the reader interface, as it is very simple to master. We will take a closer look at the display settings in reading mode.

Selecting the “Aa” option in the upper left corner of the screen grants access to the choice of Theme, Font, and Layout design, as well as additional settings such as the clock in the top bar of the interface. Three pre-set themes and one custom theme, 14 font size gradations, and 9 font types are available, and in the Layout section, there are options for orientation, margins, spacing, and alignment.

Naturally, the Table of Contents, Bookmarks, and Notes are available, as well as quick navigation between them. By pressing and holding on a specific word, you can see its translation and meaning from the built-in dictionaries.

Interestingly, there is also the option to disable the touchscreen to avoid accidental activations (swiping to turn pages will still work).

In the book settings, you can set the screen refresh interval (with each page turn or after several), display the cover of the active book in standby mode, access code for the device, and other options.

Specifications, Battery Life

The reader is built on the same NXP i.MX7D processor with a clock speed of 1 GHz as the Kindle Oasis model, while having twice the amount of RAM — 1 GB instead of 512 MB. As a result, according to the manufacturer, the interface speed has increased by at least 20%. In real-world use, the reader works noticeably faster than the budget Kindle model, but overall speed is typical for devices of this class.

Amazon assures that a single charge of the 1700 mAh battery is enough for reading for 10 weeks (half an hour a day with Wi-Fi off and average brightness), however, for obvious reasons, it was not possible to verify this claim in practice.

A full charge from the PC’s USB port takes approximately 5 hours, while using the proprietary 9W charger reduces this time by half — to 2.5 hours. In the case of the proprietary wireless charger Wireless Charging Dock for Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, the charging time is only 2 hours.

The regular version has 8 GB of memory, while the Signature Edition has 32 GB. This amount can be filled with content in formats MOBI, PRC, AZW, AZW3, TXT, PDF, HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and AAX. In the latter case, Bluetooth headphones can be connected to the e-reader to listen to audiobooks or the dictation of regular books (available only for books in English).

Books in MOBI format can be directly transferred to the e-reader’s memory using a USB-C cable or sent to a personal email address. Finding books in this format or converting them from another popular format will not pose any problems.

Conclusion

Amazon has created an almost perfect reader that will satisfy most reading fans. It has nearly the same large screen with backlighting and a “warmth” setting as the significantly more expensive Oasis, while being fast and waterproof. In the end, it’s only worth choosing the Oasis if you need a metal body, page-turning buttons, and Free Cellular Connectivity modem for free content synchronization.

On the other hand, the attitude towards the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is quite the opposite – the light sensor, 32 GB of memory, and wireless charging clearly do not justify the additional $30-50. The thing is, adjusting the brightness doesn’t take much time, such a large memory capacity is frankly excessive, and even the most active readers do not charge their devices every week. This is why we recommend sticking with the standard version of the Kindle Paperwhite priced at $139.99 / $159.99 (for the ad-supported / regular versions).

As for the basic Kindle reader for $89, it is now worth purchasing only if saving money is the top priority. In all other cases, it is again worth paying extra for the Paperwhite. We should also note that Amazon holds promotional sales several times a year, during which Kindle readers can be bought at quite noticeable discounts (for example, the basic Kindle with ads was recently sold for $49.99, the Paperwhite for $104.99, and the Oasis for $174.99).