Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

While this Kindle Paperwhite 2021 finally brings a whole host of long needed improvements, the likes of which competitor Kobo has offered for years and at various price points, it’s not without its flaws. For starters the overall footprint of the device has increased despite room enough to fit the larger 6.8” display within the footprint of the former body. While it’s not a deal breaker it hurts portability and single-hand use that little bit. The latter is especially noticeable because, unlike it’s pricier sibling the Oasis, it lacks an asymmetric grip and page turn buttons. While the resolution of the new display is the same 300 PPI, I encountered noteworthy issues with display sharpness when compared to the 2018 model. As pictured (to the best of my ability) my new model lacks sharpness and contrast all around the edges and in particular on the left side which results in a soft almost fuzzy lack of crispness to all text or images. To make matters worse the consistency of this issue varies wildly across the display. In the image you can almost make out the random diagonal plane of sharpness towards the center of the display. This means that you find yourself consistently reminded how soft the fuzzy portions are compared to the properly sharp portions. I’m thrilled to see Amazon finally include USB-C and warm-light adjustment, but I find it especially hard to look past the display issues on a device expressly built for reading. If you have the previous generation Kindle Paperwhite or Oasis I’d recommend holding off for now or consider a Kobo equivalent model with native OverDrive support for library borrowing.