Ever since Amazon released the 6.8-inch Kindle Paperwhite in October of 2021, it’s surprising to see how popular the Signature Edition model has been. It’s the first time Amazon released an upgraded version of a Kindle Paperwhite, and it appears to be a big success.
Every time I check Amazon’s Kindle best sellers page, it’s right there toward the top. Right now as of this writing it’s ranked #3, just behind the 2022 Kindle that sells for $99, and the 8GB Kindle Paperwhite with ads at #1, which sells for $139.
Considering the Signature Edition model sells for $50 more than the base Kindle Paperwhite, it’s surprising how many people choose it over the cheaper regular version.
Amazon never releases any sales figures for Kindles, but between the best sellers list and the number of overall reviews you can get an idea of the pecking order of Kindles.
It’s been almost 17 months since the 6.8-inch Kindle Paperwhite was released. In that time the Signature Edition has amassed over 14K reviews. Meanwhile the regular version of the Kindle Paperwhite has over 26K reviews, so about 35% of buyers are choosing the upgraded Signature Edition (oddly enough, the cost increase over the base version is about 35% as well).
The Signature Edition’s numbers are even more impressive when you compare it with the Kindle Oasis. In 17 months the SE has over 14K reviews, and in about 44 months the Kindle Oasis has only 15K reviews. The SE is way more popular than the Oasis based off the overall review numbers. In fact it’s hard to believe the number is that low for the Oasis.
There are only a few differences with the Signature Edition model over the regular Kindle Paperwhite. For the extra $50, you get more storage space (32GB), wireless charging, and an auto-adjusting frontlight. Plus it doesn’t have ads on the lockscreen. Other than that it’s exactly the same as the base Kindle Paperwhite. It’s surprising how many people are willing to pay a bit more for a few upgrades. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more “Signature Edition” Kindles in the future.
But is 50$ bucks really just a bit more Nathan? Its almost a quarter of the price of a new one and half the price of the used ones on that best seller list.
Sure it’s nice to have those features but I would consider them mostly nonessential.
A card slot would benefit the buyer much more than a few extra gigabytes allowing another loading/backup option for content and future expansion we don’t really need extra reading speed for a dedicated book reader.
The wireless charge is a slight bit of comfort unless you’re constantly picking up and putting down your reader.
The ambient light detection might be good, but probably only as long as you’re using natural light to read.
I bought my first Signature PW when it was on sale and I had traded in my Oasis 3. (Because the Oasis had terrible battery life.) I decided to get another one so that I could have one in the living room and one in the bedroom and my PW 10th generation would be my traveling Kindle. (My poor Voyage finally started having battery issues…) Why the Signature? Well, for the wireless charging. But I did get good deals with the sale prices plus 20% off.
The battery life is amazing with the new PWs – at least my Signature model. I like being able to just set “Siggy” or “Siggy 2” on the charger and that’s all I need to do.
If only there’d be one with buttons of some kind. I’d settle for the haptic buttons like the Voyage but real buttons would be better. I just want the shape to be symmetric. 🙂 I can’t help that this really bugged me with the Oasis.
I agree about the buttons. Physical is better but haptic is good too. That was one of the most unique Kindle ideas Amazon ever came up with. I wonder why they only did it once. It’s surprising no one else ever stole the idea. A Scribe with haptic buttons would be pretty cool, I think. It doesn’t even have to be buttons. Just make it so squeezing down with a bit of pressure on the handle side turns pages forward (I don’t think having to touch the screen to go back is that inconvenient).
Boox actually did steal the Voyage’s haptics, but it was way back when they were running android 4 and weren’t very popular.
Really? Which model was it? I don’t remember anything ever having haptic sensors like the Voyage. I recall one of the older Nooks having a sensor button below the screen but it didn’t have haptic feedback and it didn’t work for turning pages.
Edit: I went 38 pages deep into the Onyx Boox archive on this blog back to my first Boox post in 2010 and couldn’t find anything with sensors, but wow, Onyx has always released a crazy number of devices, even going back 10 years. I forgot about most of them since they never stayed around long. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did release something with sensors at some point.
Considering how long these things last $50 for quality of life improvements is pretty reasonable. That’s how I justified a 4g Oasis 3 that has been used. Most days since it was brand new. When I bought it I didn’t have cell hotspot so 4g was a big quality of life improvement and was for over 2 years. So it was 100% worth it. Even now, not having to turn on the hotspot is still a quality of life improvement.
If you opt for an ad-free Paperwhite that increases the price to $159.99, if you then opt for 16GB of storage then the price increases to $169.99. People might just see it as $20 more for double the storage and additional features. Alternatively, I do know some people who would pay a premium for tech with wireless charging.
Like J.C. I also consider the features non-essential, although when it comes to wireless charging I consider it a detriment for an e-reader. Not only is wireless charging still inefficient, it also degrades the battery faster than wired charging so I hope they properly designed the Paperwhite or wireless charger.
Since Amazon has not released any solid specs on the inside of their kindles, I think people are purchasing the PW SE out of ignorance. Not talking about those who know definitely they wanted the device for the wireless function and the extra space for PDFs and Manga and Audiobooks. In a world where generally speaking paying more for a computer devices (tablet, phone, computers, etc.) gives you better material, faster CPU, more solid build, people probably think the same is true for kindles. Which is far from the truth. All three levels of kindles (not counting the scribe) are pretty much the same quality build. There might be a slight CPU difference between the basic and the PW5. In short, the user experience generally is the same no matter how much money you spend on it. It is tempting to get the most expensive device available, unless you know better.
I bought the 2021 Paperwhite Kids edition and changed it to standard interface. It is the exact same kindle hardware. I got it on sale all for $100.00. However I think it’s normal price of $150 is a better bargain than the SE. for 150 you get a 2 year warranty instead of 1, no ads and it comes with a choice of three Amazon cases. I chose the black vase. When my kindle arrived it was already in the case in the box ready to go.
So for the extra 10 or 20.00 buck these are great upgrades compared to SE’s upgrades for an extra 50.
I think the same. I think the Kids edition is a better value that the signature. I actually can’t stand auto-brightness so I never would have used that and wireless charging is a lot overrated to me. I charge my kindle maybe 6 times a year. I don’t read as often as I would like as life is busy but its last me about 2 months with sporadic reading. I would have to have a wireless dongle sitting somewhere to only use 6 times per year. My kid has an Amazon tablet so she got Amazon Kids + for a whole year and the case is a really good quality.
It can be wired charged also as that’s how I charge mine. Amazing battery life as good as my old kindle keyboard.
I got a PW SE too when my Voyage suddenly stopped responding to page turns a couple months ago. I saw SE as only twenty bucks more expensive than the basic PW because I didn’t want one with Ads and knew that I had to get one with a larger storage for audiobooks. What pushed me to SE was the ambient light sensor! I got used to it with my Voyage and now using any ereaders like my Kobo Forma bug me a bit when they don’t adjust to the room lighting. I’m so glad I cashed in with that extra twenty bucks for the SE because the light sensor is a big quality of life update and I hope that this device will be in use for the next five years at least. That much time makes the twenty seem like nothing.