The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition seeks to bridge the gap between the basic $139.99 Paperwhite and the high-end $249.99 Oasis. But it falls short of the $189.99 price tag. For $50 more than the ordinary Paperwhite, you get four additional features: no lock screen ads, wireless charging, an automatically adjusting front light, and greater storage. However, none of these modifications improve the ebook reader experience considerably. So we believe most people will be perfectly content with the less-priced, Editors’ Choice-winning Kindle Paperwhite.
Pros
- Front light that adjusts automatically
- 32GB storage
- There are no advertisements.
- Wireless
Cons
- Expensive
- The new features don’t make a significant difference
Lock Screen Ads
The absence of lock screen advertisements is the first change. It’s worth noting, though, that you may remove advertisements for an additional $20 on top of the usual Paperwhite price. I enjoy how the ad-free screen now displays the cover of the book you’re reading, but I’m also amused by the strange self-published titles that Amazon occasionally promotes as advertisements. Whether these additional fees are worthwhile depends on how bothersome advertisements are to you.
Charging
It takes hours to charge a Kindle, but you only need to do it once per few books. It’s not a big deal daily, unlike a smartwatch or phone. The Signature works with Qi-enabled charging pads and some cradles.
Storage
Text-based Kindle books are only a few megabytes each, so if you listen to a lot of audiobooks, you won’t need more than the standard Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 8GB of storage. However, neither the Kindle Paperwhite nor the Kindle Fire HD are suitable for listening to audiobooks because they are too large to fit in your pocket and lack headphone ports. A phone, even a cheap one, is a superior alternative for syncing your last-read location with your Kindle.
Is it Worthy?
Although the $249.99 Kindle Oasis lacks wireless charging and USB-C, it feels substantially more quality and features physical page-turn keys, which are a welcome addition. The Libra 2 ($179.99) from Kobo, for example, is slightly less expensive than the Paperwhite Signature Edition and includes real page flipping buttons.
