| Product | Amazon Kindle |
|---|---|
| Best for | Reading books, travel, bedtime reading and carrying a library without the weight |
| Good bits | Lightweight, easy on the eyes, simple to use and excellent battery life |
| Annoyances | Locked into the Kindle ecosystem and not as flexible as a tablet |
| Worth it? | Yes, if the main thing you want to do is read more. |
This is my long-term Amazon Kindle review, covering what it is like to live with as a lightweight, backlit e-reader for everyday reading.
I like reading, I've usually got a couple of books and a magazine or three on the go at once. I travel with my work and we (the family) like a weekend away. Carting books all round the place isn't very convenient and travelling light family trips preclude multiple books.
Step in the Kindle! It's a digital reader with a 150mm screen, 11.5GB of usable storage, a backlight & a battery that lasts for months.
This my second Kindle, I upgraded from the original Kindle with the keyboard at the end of 2024. Kindle 1 still works fine, but I often read in bed so the lack of a backlight was a chore.
I'm pretty sure everyone knows what a Kindle is, so there's no point me going over that.
The screen is an e ink LCD so it's slower than your phone screen but it's primary purpose is as a reading device, so it's fine. It's a touch screen and the only physical button is the power button. I miss the physical next/previous page buttons from Kindle 1, swiping or clicking the screen is fine, but a button is better. That's progress I guess.
Great reader · Clear backlit screen · Battery life
Amazon locked · No buttons