Even in 2015 Amazon has updated one of its most representative and most successful, the Kindle Paperwhite. We face the seventh generation of e-reader par excellence and the giant e-commerce Seattle believes, in no uncertain terms, that it is one of the largest update ever, much to call it “All-New” compared to the previous model. The Kindle Paperwhite 2015 presents, in general, three new features: display with 300 PPI Paper e-paper technology and built-in light, new font “Bookerly” and graphics engine, dedicated to the layout of the user interface and to the printing, revisited in order to ensure a reading experience much more rewarding and relaxing. The Kindle Paperwhite is available in two versions, a Wi-Fi (€ 129) and one with, in addition, 3G connection (189 euro), offered for free from Amazon. Both provide non-invasive advertising, only appearing in the screen saver mode or bottom of the screen and not in any way disturb the reading. These “specials” can be eliminated by paying a premium at the time of purchase, 10 euro. The version we tested and reviewed is the Wi-Fi + 3G with advertisements.
Specifications
The seventh-generation Kindle Paperwhite comes in a compact package graphically minimalist and well crafted and with a compartment in stiff cardboard that protects the reader from bumps and drops. Inside we find, in addition to the device, the quick multilingual, the two-year warranty offered by Amazon and the USB / microUSB (without power supply) for charging the computer. The overall size, 169 mm x 117 mm x 9.1 mm, unchanged edition 2014, make the Kindle Paperwhite smaller than a paperback book, while 217 grams (the WiFi only model weighs 205 grams) make it a not exactly light. However it is quite small and compact to hold with one hand only and without fatigue, for hours. It did not look excited. The shell is basic, black plastic and rubber (engraved with “Amazon”) on the back, the frames are high, interrupted only by the logo translucent “Kindle”, while the only physical button, used as switching on or off the screen , it is positioned at the side of the micro USB connector on the bottom edge. Despite such simplicity, the construction is solid and the assembly of the individual components impeccable. Chapter display. The screen of the Paperwhite is, unlike top version Voyage, slightly recessed into the chassis, but keeps the same technical characteristics and size (6 inches) and resolution (1448×1072 pixels, equivalent to 300 PPI , double that of the previous generation). Since the first approach was possible to admire the incredible brilliance and sharpness of text . The display of the e-reader Amazon does not suffer from the sunlight. Read outdoors, in these hot summer days, it was not a problem and reflections that normally undermine the experience of readers on common tablet, including the iPad, are virtually absent. In the dark, thanks to the built-in light of the new generation that is projected to the screen and not to the eyes of the reader, the view does not get tired and reading remains comfortable and relaxing. Missing sensor automatic lighting, on the Kindle Voyage, but the manual option is still present in the main menu and the lack does not justify the substantial difference in price between these two models. Complete technical specifications processor from 1 GHz , 512MB of RAM (double the Paperwhite 2014), connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11n 2.4GHz and 4GB internal memory (requires “a thousand ebook “to fill). It lacks support for external memory cards, but the service offered by Amazon Free Cloud Storage to store an infinite number of ebook consulted on their devices, iOS, Android or Windows Phone that is, through the Kindle app.
Interface and reading experience
If you’re familiar with any Kindle Paperwhite in previous years, you will not have difficulties interacting with the model 2015. On the device, are icons appear at the top of the screen: Home, Back, Brightness, Shopping (from which you can access the store Amazon), Search and Settings. The rest of the screen is made up of the cover of ebook purchased and stored in memory on the Kindle or on the Cloud. Selecting a book any and clicking in the upper area, in addition to the series of icons described above, you’ll see a toolbar, you need to customize the text (change the font size or appearance, change line spacing and margins), browse contents and notes, share their impressions and readings via social (Facebook or Twitter) and set bookmarks. At the bottom instead, they appear information about the time required to finish the book, according to the reading speed up to that moment. A tap on the right or left allows, finally, to turn pages.
Amazon has this year introduced a new font, known as “ Bookerly “. This is an exclusive character, created from scratch for reading on digital screens: “ Warm and contemporary Bookerly is inspired by the art of the best character traits of the modern printed books, but is created by hand for maximum readability text in any dimension “. After reading a few pages with Bookerly, we can call it a good font, easy to read and pleasing to the eye and not out of place. However the text options include seven more fonts to choose, at any time. Other tools for reading, not selected from a set menu but activated by a long tap on individual words or portions of text, are the highlight, the search tool definitions, the translator of foreign words, the sharing option on social, to add notes and refer to Wikipedia. As for the overall layout of the pages, Amazon has made some improvements in this edition, not of little importance. Primarily engineers Jeff Bezos solved the problem layout of the text when the player selects a large font. The new graphics engine has text in harmony , going to justify the space between the words without creating some real gaps between them. The problems of spacing between letters have been fixed. The basic element is no longer represented by a single letter, but by the couple. The distance between the pairs of letters has been adjusted in such a way that the entire set to appear better adapted. Even the layout of the page got a workaround. They have been added to the drop cap, while text and pictures conform as closely to the respective parts of the print edition. All of this makes reading the Kindle Paperwhite (2015) faster, easier and more enjoyable than ever. However those who own an older Kindle should not despair, as the new engine of the text and character Bookerly will be integrated via software update also on older models.
The autonomy is one of the strengths of historical Kindle Paperwhite. According to Amazon on a single charge provides several weeks of use, and we can only confirm that. We used the player for a week, at least for a couple of hours a day, with brightness set to a medium-high level, mainly in Wi-Fi. The charge present at the time dell’unboxing was 75% and, to date, has reached 45%. Impeccable.
A final study we dedicate to Virtual Store Amazon. The ecosystem put on by Jeff Bezos and his team is unrivaled in the market and represents an added value compared to the competition. The Kindle Store is full of content, with about 3 million books available (more than 100 thousand in Italian and more than 10 thousand exclusively for Kindle devices). Navigate this ocean of culture from Kindle Paperwhite and select what you want is not simple, nor intuitive, as on PC. The screen in black and white, and its slowness in the process of input / output via touchscreen interaction with menus and categories of the Store do not favor the user direct purchase through Kindle. Fortunately Amazon, as mentioned earlier, can buy content on the smartphone, tablet or PC and send them directly to your Kindle Paperwhite. The prices are very competitive and often giant of Seattle offers flash offers or promotions that last several weeks. What’s more, Amazon offers Kindle Unlimited service, a kind of ebook that Netflix offers a choice of over 800 thousand titles by paying only 9.99 euro per month. In addition to the Kindle’s native format, AZW (or AZW3), the Paperwhite supports files in TXT, PDF, MOBI, PRC, HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP. It lacks compatibility with the free format EPUB, widespread online.
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