Review: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2024 — a worthy upgrade on a great e-reader

The Kindle is still the king of e-readers, whether because of the massive behemoth of an ecosystem behind it or because it is just a better device is often in the eye of the beholder.  For this reason, it can be difficult to decide which is right for you.

All companies continue to upgrade their e-readers and this year Amazon has upgraded their Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition with a bigger, better display offering an easier reading experience.

After checking out the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition in 2021 read on to see what we thought of the 2024 version.

Display and design

The 2024 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition arrives sporting a new 7-inch 300ppi E Ink Carta 1300 screen.  It features a built-in front light and a 16-level grey scale, providing for a display that can be easily seen in all conditions, the dark of night or outside in the bright sun of summer.

I found it comfortable to read in each dark or night conditions and the ability to easily change from dark to light mode and back again makes it even easier.

The display is once again flat to the front of the device, making not just the reading easy and comfortable but the holding and navigating as well.

The back of the device is slippery and can be a bit slippery to hold, but I used a case most of the time, so I didn’t have any issues at all.  You can buy a simple folio cover for it from Amazon, which gives you a basic, more traditional book feel.  Personally, I am more of a fan of an origami-style case where the case will hold the book up for you to easily read while sitting or lying down.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2024 once again charges using USB-C or Qi wireless charging.  Amazon states the battery will last up to 12 weeks when using the book for 30 minutes a day.  I read a lot more than that and it lasted closer to 5 weeks for me – still awesome.

The 2024 edition arrives with 32GB of storage, allowing for storage of “thousands of books.”  I don’t have any need to store that many books but it is certainly good not to have to worry if you will have enough space on your device for all the books you want if going on a long holiday.

While this may sound simple but there is a simple turn on and off button at the bottom of the e-reader that can be accessed with the case on which I have found that some brands do not have. Super simple I know but it is something I like.

IPX8 waterproofing is included, allowing you to feel comfortable reading it wherever you are, such as in the bath or beside the pool.

Software

I’ve often veered away from Kindle devices in the past due to the difficulty in getting them to support all types of books, especially those not from the Amazon Kindle Store.  Now it is super simple.  

The Kindle itself supports Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively and PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

So how do you get these books onto your device?  You can use a simple drag and drop on your PC but I found the easiest way to go into the settings of youe Kindle and find the email address for your Kindle.  Simple email the book file to that email address and it will be added to your library on the device.  You can attach up to 25 books to a single email and they will appear in your Kindle’s library automatically. 

Navigating the Kindle is relatively simple.  

Firstly with the reading.  There are no options for you to change the areas of the screen to tap to turn a page either way, it is simply the left or right side of the screen to move the page backwards or forwards.  

Other brands offer you the ability to change the touch areas based on how you ghold the device and how you are sitting or lying while reading.  I much prefer options, but once you are used to the left and right side of the screen, it is no big deal not being able to change it.

My usual e-reader offers the ability to easily slide up or down the far left side of the display to increase or decrease the brightness of the display.  The Kindle is different though – it requires you to slide down from the top of the screen to open the viewing menu.  This brings up the Brightness and Warmth sliders as well as the toggles for Airplane mode and Dark Mode, and a Sync and Settings shortcut.

Tap on the top of the screen and you will see basic functions you can change including the font and its size.  Not super easy to do but it’s there.

Kindle Store

The best thing about the Kindle experience is the Kindle Store – and also the Amazon Prime membership benefits.  The sheer amount of books on the Kindle store is mind-numbing.  If you have an Amazon Prime membership, you will also get a selection of books included for free – in my experience, this selection is pretty average but may do some folks.  

For this review and probably in the future I subscribed to Kindle Unlimited.  It gives you unlimited books – of a selection that usually does NOT include best-sellers, but the library is massive, and I have had no issues finding books that I ended up loving.  

If you like your best sellers, you can easily buy them yourself on the Amazon/Kindle Store, and they will be downloaded to your device to read.

Should you buy this?

If you are someone who is already in the Amazon ecosystem and want an e-reader then this is the one you should get. It won’t play audio and isn’t in colour but it does what it does very well. Add in the simple ability to add books from other sources and this is my recommended e-reader for you.

It is not cheap at $259 but is worth shelling out the extra money over the basic model. It is comparable to other e-readers of similar pricing and when you add in the Amazon and Kindle ecosystem it is a compelling device.

You can purchase the new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2024 from Amazon and selected retailers now. It is a great stocking stuffer for those looking for a present for the reader in their life.