Ever since Amazon announced the new lineup of Kindles yesterday, I’ve been seeing a lot of complaints about how expensive they are, especially compared to the previous lineup.
I think a lot of people missed the news back in August when Amazon increased the prices of Kindles by $40-$50 each, and in some cases people are comparing old sale prices with the new retail prices, and they’re shocked by the difference.
Kindles used to always be cheaper than other brands, and that’s still often the case when they’re on sale, but Kindles definitely aren’t as affordable as they used to be, and the price of covers and accessories has steadily increased as well.
Here’s how the prices of the new Kindles compare to the previous gen models before the price increase in August 2026. I also included the Prime Day Price (PDP) for each previous gen model from the most recent Prime Day sale back in June (that was peak Kindle buying time, in retrospect).
Kindle 2024 – $109.99 (PDP $84.99).
Kindle 2026 – $149.99 ($189 with aluminum back and double the storage space).
Kindle Paperwhite 6 – $159.99 (PDP $124.99)
Kindle Paperwhite 7 – $199.99
Kindle Paperwhite 6 SE – $199.99 (PDP $144.99)
Kindle Paperwhite 7 SE – $249.99
Kindle Colorsoft 1 – $249.99 (PDP $159.99)
Kindle Colorsoft 2 – $289.99
Kindle Colorsoft 1 SE – $279.99 (PDP $219.99)
Kindle Colorsoft 2 SE – $319.99
Amazon also finally released a remote page turner called the Kindle Click, but at $34.99 it’s more expensive than other Bluetooth page turners. Cheaper options should work too (TBD), but Amazon was smart to add brightness controls and a sleep button to their remote, something other remotes don’t offer.
The prices of electronics has gone up across the board with rising RAM and hardware costs, and that’s the excuse being used for Kindles too. But that doesn’t explain the sudden increase in the cost of Kindle covers (they must be using some expensive magnets!). Check this out:
Previous Gen Paperwhite/Colorsoft fabric case – $36.99
New Paperwhite/Colorsoft fabric case – $44.99
Previous Gen Paperwhite/Colorsoft plant-based leather case – $42.99
New Paperwhite/Colorsoft plant-based leather case – $54.99 – (The Page Turn Cover with buttons is $79.99).
Previous Gen Paperwhite/Colorsoft premium leather case – $64.99
New Paperwhite/Colorsoft premium leather case – $69.99
Previous Gen Wireless Charging Dock – $44.99
New Magnetic Pogo Pin Charging Dock – $59.99
So yeah, the prices of Kindles and accessories has gone up a lot over the past few months. You can still get 20% off with trade-ins so that helps some, and you can stack that discount with sale prices, but it’ll probably be a while before the new models go on sale, especially since the new Paperwhite and Colorsoft aren’t getting released until the end of October. But Amazon will probably have big discounts on the previous gen models for Prime Day next week and Black Friday next month.
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