Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: a strange in-between

Amazon’s Kindles have carved out quite a reputation for themselves in the e-reader market. It is true that these are generally safe bets. In September 2021, Amazon unveiled the new generation of Kindle Paperwhite, its mid-range e-readers. Jeff Bezos’ group offers two versions in France: the standard Kindle Paperwhite 2021 at €149 euros and a better-equipped “Signature Edition” version at €189.

The latter has an interesting technical sheet with a 6.8-inch 300 dpi screen, 10-week battery life, 32 GB memory, IPX8 certification and compatibility with Qi wireless charging. Enough for this Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 to join our guide to the best e-readers? This is what we thought of it.

Reading comfort of the Paperwhite 2021

What we expect above all from an e-reader is not very complicated: it is that it offers us a pleasant reading experience. The recipe for success, however, depends on several factors, including the comfort of handling and the quality of the screen of the reader. On these points, not everything is perfect, but this Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 defends itself well overall.

Unsurprisingly, this new mid-range e-reader isn’t as comfortable in the hand as the Oasis, Amazon’s most premium e-reader which costs $60 more. The Kindle Oasis is thinner and lighter than this new Paperwhite. Above all, it has a thicker edge that can be placed on the left or on the right (the screen turns) and which ensures a perfect grip. Conversely, our Paperwhite has a much more classic design with a flat plastic back and fairly basic rounded edges. It is also a little bigger and therefore a little heavier than some of its competitors with a weight of 207g. However, this is not too embarrassing: the reader remains pleasant to hold, even during long reading sessions.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 201 also offers a nice range of brightness. Amazon has increased the maximum level and it has done well: outdoors or in bright rooms, being able to mount the lighting further ensures better readability. The Paperwhite’s minimum brightness is low enough to read in the dark without straining your eyes.

Quick access makes it easy to activate a dark mode (white text on a black background) or change the color temperature. Depending on your preferences and the time of day, you can opt for a more blue and cold light, or on the contrary for a more yellow and warm lighting – an option that an increasing number of reading lights offer.

With a definition of 300 dpi, the screen of the Paperwhite 2021 is of good quality and its larger size (6.8″) allows you to display more text at a time. This avoids having to change the pages too frequently. The responsiveness of this Kindle is also excellent: when you “turn” the digital pages, they are displayed very quickly. A crucial point, because it is very unpleasant to use a slow reader and to see, with each page change, an ugly fog of letters persisting for too long.

An easy-to-carry Amazon e-reader

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 is a bit wider and slightly lower than a classic paperback, while being much thinner. It therefore slips into a backpack or a handbag without any problem.

This eReader is IPX8 certified, so there’s no need to worry if you get caught in a downpour or use it near a swimming pool. This e-reader can withstand accidental immersion in fresh water up to 2 m deep for 60 minutes and in sea water up to 0.25 m deep for 3 minutes “, Details Amazon on its site.

The autonomy of this Kindle e-reader is very good. It can easily last twenty consecutive hours. With the wireless connection deactivated and a brightness set to a medium level (13 out of 24), it should even last much longer: Amazon promises that the Paperwhite 2021 can last 10 weeks, at the rate of 30 minutes of use per day, i.e. around 35 hours.

The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 interface

Like that of its Kobo competitors, the interface of Amazon eReaders is generally practical and easy to use. This Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 offers a bunch of tools such as a highlighter, bookmarks, notes – and even a web browser which one wonders what it is doing here. There are almost a few too many options for our taste, even if each one can be useful in certain circumstances and according to your uses.

As often on e-readers, whether Amazon brand or competitors, the interface is quite simple, but could be more intuitive. For example, here swiping down from the top of the screen opens up handy quick settings which provide access to brightness settings and the icon to access the full settings menu. On the other hand, if you want to modify the parameters of the book you are reading (the character size in particular), you have to go to a different menu, accessible by tapping once at the top of the page. Nothing really bad and after a few days, you quickly get used to the architecture of the interface. But it can be slightly confusing at first.

The Kindle store is still well stocked. You should have no trouble finding the book you’re looking for if it’s available in digital format. Fortunately, that said, the Amazon catalog is rich, because Kindles have the particularity of not accepting the open ePub format, which is the most common format for ebooks. You will therefore not be able to read books purchased elsewhere on your Kindle – unless you circumvent the technical lock by converting your files, but this takes a little time.

What is the difference with the basic Paperwhite 2021?

The Paperwhite 2021 “Signature Edition” is very similar to the basic Paperwhite, but it offers three small bonuses:

• Automatic lighting adjustment : depending on the brightness of your environment, the reader will increase or lower it automatically,
• Wireless charging,
• 32 GB of storage instead of 8 GB.

Three little more pleasant, but dispensable. With the 8 GB of storage of the basic Kindle Paperwhite, you can already store a very nice library – which can of course be modified as you wish, before a trip for example. As for wireless charging, it’s a nice bonus, but less important than on a smartphone since the reading lights do not need to be recharged very frequently. Moreover, to take advantage of it, you must have or buy a wireless charger, because it is not supplied with the reader.

For these reasons, the classic Kindle Paperwhite 2021 offers, in our view, a much better value for money than this Signature Edition version, which is ultimately a bit expensive for what it offers.