Some people have started asking if they should wait to buy a new Kindle because they are worried that a new Paperwhite 5 could be released in the near future.
Some blogs like to make baseless claims about Amazon coming out with new Kindles all the time, but the truth is nobody outside of Amazon’s Kindle department really knows (they certainly don’t leak new product information to bloggers), and when it comes to Kindles new models are released much less frequently than you’d expect.
If Amazon follows the same timeline as the last time a new Paperwhite was released then a new model won’t be available until early 2022.
It took Amazon over 3 years and 4 months to move from the Paperwhite 3 to the Paperwhite 4.
The Kindle Paperwhite 4 was released on November 7th, 2018, so that’s only been about 2 years and 3 months.
In years past they released new Kindles more frequently, but things have really slowed down in recent years now that Amazon is more focused on Alexa and Fire products.
Many people keep assuming that the next Paperwhite will have a warm frontlight like the Kindle Oasis, but I’m not so sure about that. Warm frontlights have been around since 2016. They’ve had all that time to add a warm frontlight to the Paperwhite and they still haven’t so why would they do it now?
There’s also the fact that the name “Paperwhite” would make no sense if they added a warm frontlight to change the screen to yellow/orange.
Personally, I would like to see Amazon retire the Paperwhite line and come out with something new. The Paperwhite has been out since 2012 with the same general design. It wouldn’t kill them to come out with something new for a change. The Kindle Voyage design was much nicer and it was released way back in 2014.
A new model would be better than yet another Paperwhite with the same design. Bring back page buttons (or sensors) on a 6-inch model, add a warm frontlight and USB-C, and let the entry-level model have a basic design. We don’t need two 6-inch Kindles with a 90% overlap in features and design.
IMHO. Amazon will not release a new midlevel Kindle this year like a Paperwhite 5. I do not believe there would be much demand for it. Anyone who wants a lower priced e-reader will have already snatched up a basic kindle or PW4 by now. These devices last a long time, go on sale frequently and there isn’t any wow feature that can be added to justify upgrading. Color screen? Warm lighting? That’s not enough to produce and sell a new model in 2021.
I loved my voyage. I had no problems until the charging port quit charging. I have a very old paperwhite I’m currently using, but might buy a voyage from ebay. I really dislike the aesthetics of the Oasis and so have no intention of buying that. If my paperwhite dies before I get a different kindle, I’ll use my old Fire or my old iPad mini. I read a LOT.
I have the Voyage as well as a Onyx Boox Nova 2 which has a 7.8 inch screen. The Voyage fits in my pocket.
I would be willing to pay for color eink. I’ve got the Voyage now.
I honestly don’t think they’ll release a new device is here. On a different topic, being that the Kindle iOS app is technically superior, is there a way to sideload fonts onto the Kindle app?
No, that’s one of the main drawbacks of apps over dedicated ereaders. Kobo’s app is so bad I don’t know how anybody uses it. The last time I tried it there were only two font choices and very few options to adjust the layout, with none of the advanced options that are available on Kobo ereaders.
Onyx Boox Nova 3 (7.8) and Note 3 (10.3) are excellent choices to have over Amazon’s devices. No page turn buttons, but the larger screens are great and the colored warm lighting is very even. The battery life on the Note is excellent – I read for hours at a time – and I do not have to charge it a lot – once every two weeks. In standby mode the battery holds its charge unlike the Paperwhite 4 which drains within a couple of days of screen off non-use. The Onyx Boox are more expensive but in my opinion – well worth the money and saves me from pining for a larger Kindle and being disappointed at what Amazon comes up with.
I have the latest Paperwhite and really like it. They finally have a strong charging port. When they come out with something new I’ll wait to see reviews because the charging port has got to last.
I love the paperwhite I have. It’s cimportant to me that I can read it as a passenger in a car and in the sun. I can’t on a kindle Fire. I’d like 5g.
Same I love mine
There is an obvious wow feature that many readers would love to buy. That would be an 8 inch screen. 6 inch e-reader screens were invented when phones were only 4 inches big. E-readers need to get bigger. Especially since Amazon has monoploated the industry and refuses to allow other e-reader companies to put amazon books on their device. It’s amazing no one has sued them for it.
I couldn’t agree more. Smaller ereaders are good for portability, but if you do most of your reading at home what’s the sense in being confined to such a small screen, especially for those that want to use larger font sizes. I do most of my reading on a 10″ Onyx Note these days. The Paperwhite never gets any use from me; if I’m taking something with me outside the house it’s going to be the Kindle Voyage because the screen is nicer and I prefer using page buttons over swiping.
Also consider screen tech improvements in recent years, they could very easily fit 7 or 8 inches in the same physical size cause smaller bezels. That would be a huge improvement to tout, more words in the same lightweight, easy to hold space
I agree that screens need to be bigger. I’ve owned a Paperwhite and an Oasis. It makes me laugh to think I was excited about the “bigger” screen of the Oasis; but, the design just wasn’t comfortable to me. I’d love to see a Paperwhite as thin as the Oasis with an 8″ screen. I had a Galaxy Tab A 8.0 and loved he screen size; however, like my iPad, I just do not like reading on tablets. I have always preferred e-ink readers.
I think Amazon don’t want the Kindle Paperwhite to be too dissimilar to the siza and weight of the average novel, so I doubt they go for a larger screen size/surface area.
I’d pay a lot of money for the Oasis screen in a Voyage shell with a warm frontlight. I have an Oasis and it gathers dust, since it is a pain to hold, is cold and slipperty (or bulky if I use a cover), and simply an ergonomic nightmare with its unbalanced wight, too wide form factor and completely wrong materials. I just hope my Voyage will last me a long time still.
I doubt it. They seem to mainly release new versions of the standard Kindle and the Fires. I don’t see them updating the Paperwhite yet.
In a sense they did update the basic Kindle by doubling the memory to 8 GB. So no need to update that unless they upgrade the screen resolution.
I’d really like to see an 9″ Kindle or larger!
Maybe they could aim it at seniors?
Lighter, larger fonts, easier to grip!
I’m considering a Kindle for the first time in my life and find the options bewildering.
From what I’ve read it seems many still love the Voyage and much prefer it to the current models due to it being more of a premium model.
Since I would not be buying it for audiobooks, would I be an absolute fool to consider a used Voyage in good condition over the latest Paperwhite?
Thank you in advance for your help.
The Voyage does have the nicest screen of any Kindle ever released, and they are currently on sale for $49 refurbished at Woot, but it’s still so popular that those will probably only last a few hours. The only problem with the Voyage is the batteries are probably starting to wear out on some of the older ones by now. Some people say they are easy to replace but I’ve never tried. The battery is still good on my Voyage. Lots of people are happy with the current Paperwhite too. It just depends. The only thing the Voyage lacks compared to it are a couple of the newer software features, like being able to invert the color for white text on a black background.
I’ve committed to buying a Kindle Paperwhite soon. This article states that a Kindle Paperwhite won’t be released. However several tech sites have stated that a Paperwhite will be available in 2021. I’m not interested in purchasing the new Paperwhite four and then purchasing the new Paperwhite. I’d only purchase the Paperwhite four if updates weren’t coming. Can individuals point me toward the general consensus of this timeline? This timeline is confusing. Thanks for your assistance and have an awesome day.
Nobody outside of Amazon really knows, and very little changes with each new model anyway so I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. The Kindle Voyage that was released in 2014 is still better than the Paperwhite so a new model doesn’t guarantee it’s going to be better than the current one. Some people still consider the Paperwhite 3 better than the newer model, myself included. There have been no improvements to E Ink screens so not much can change unless they finally decide to release a larger model.
My eagerness in a new release has really nothing to do with the actual reading part but the practicality of a few specs of the device. The mini usb is a drag. I have other devices that use USB-C and having yet another cable I need to keep track of is a real bummer. This one feature alone would be relieving. The other one is WiFi. 2ghz is here to stay but I much prefer having some flexibility on what I can do with my home WiFi without having to stick this device on the same network as all my other IOT devices. That all being said, I need a new one and I’m not going to sit on my hands waiting what will likely be another 6-12 months for a new model to arrive 🙂