One of the most requested features that people ask for on a new Kindle is a larger screen. Year after year a huge number of people hope that Amazon will finally release a larger Kindle.
Will 2016 finally be the year?
With Kobo likely to release a new ereader with a 7.8-inch screen, according to FCC paperwork, what are the odds that Amazon would release a Kindle with the same size screen as well?
Most likely the odds are considerably improved. Amazon doesn’t like it when Kobo takes people’s attention away from Kindles.
But then again it might not mean anything at all. When Kobo released the 6.8-inch Kobo Aura HD, Amazon didn’t counter with a 6.8-inch Kindle. They didn’t counter when Kobo released the 5-inch Kobo Mini either.
At least Kobo is willing to change up screen sizes once in awhile. Amazon has released over a dozen various 6-inch Kindles and only two 9.7-inch Kindles, and they haven’t released a Kindle DX since 2010.
At some point you’d think that Amazon would finally release a larger Kindle again for all the people that want one, especially older folks and people with vision problems that need to uses larger font sizes.
The largest fonts sizes on the 6-inch Kindles are basically useless you want to turn the pages after every six words.
A larger Kindle has to get released eventually. Hopefully this will be the year…
Totally hoping THIS is the year!
Time to get out those four-leaf clovers, and our lucky rabbits feet (artificial type, lol) and keep our fingers crossed.
Users shouldn’t have to “cross their fingers” to get a product which meets their needs.
So, how come Amazon *doesn’t* deliver what users demand? They have a virtual monopoly in the major markets of America and the UK. Monopolies don’t *have* to care about giving users what they want; monopolies *tell* users what they want. take it or leave it.
Will Amazon release a larger Kindle? They already did. It was the Kindle DX and it didn’t sell. Never mind the reason it didn’t sell, Amazon the monopoly won’t go big again. Why should they? They are a monopoly.
My dream is an 8 inch Kindle. Come on Amazon!
I think Amazon knows that kindles are primarily used for ebooks…which six inches is fine for.
I don’t know if they’ll invest in something larger, knowing that the higher price will limit their market.
Their bread and butter right now has to be the Paperwhite.
A bigger Kindle sounds nice in theory, but considering the Oasis already costs as much as a mid-range laptop I’d expect a prohibitive price.
Also, some of those who need larger text could get by with a tablet, gaining the additional audiobook capabilities.
Anyway, if tablets are any indication, Amazon seems more interested in targeting low-end, high volume markets…
6 inches for an ereader is not “fine” for everyone. For a person like myself with large hands 6 inches is just too small and uncomfortable. I have a couple of 8 inch tablets. They are great. The size is perfect, but considering battery life, sunlight visibility, etc. they are limited as far as reading e-books are concerned. What I want is an 8inch Kindle E-READER. I still have my old 9.7 Kindle DX but it’s OS is outdated, and The reading experience was never the greatest from the start. I have even tried the 8inch-9inch Onyx/Icarus e-reader devices and their software and e-Book stores are unacceptable and/or completely unusable.
Try the H20 it doesn’t sound much bigger but it really feels VERY different then a kindle. I have a paperwhite, various Chinese e-readers, some older nooks, a base kindle 3rd gen and a few others.In short a LOT of e-readers and about as many tablets.
Out of all of the tech I own the H20 is my favorite for reading books. Not only is the display and device sized nicely, the OS is functional and the font options are really good. It also has an sd slot, I regularly have 500+ books on at hand which I use Calibre to manage.
The only downsides are the Kobo store is consistently higher priced than Amazon or Google; also I miss Audible syncing a little bit.
My two wishes are for Amazon to release a ~7 inch e-reader (preferably waterproof). And for a way to get books from my Scribd subscription unto an e-reader or alternatively for Kindle Unlimited to not have such awful content.
There are several manufactures besides Kobo who have released larger ereaders. If we really want Amazon to release a larger ereader, we need to stop buying Amazon and buy a big reader from somebody else. Amazon is not going to respond to online complaints/requests/wishes. They will respond to a drop in ereader, and especially ebook sales.
Several? Please do list them because Onyx is pretty much the only one left that I know about, and their lack of distributors and half-assed software makes them an unlikely choice for most people.
Perhaps their are not as many left as I thought. My point remains though. Unless Amazon gets hit on the bottom line, nothing will change.
Here is at least one other, the Cybook Ocean:
http://www.bookeen.com/shop/usa/index.php/cybook/ocean/cybook-ocean.html
I’m not sure about that logic. Amazon likes taking people’s money either way. They didn’t have to release a Kindle Voyage or a Kindle Oasis to compete with anybody but they did anyway. There’s more Kindles to choose from now than ever before, even if they are all 6-inch models. A new larger Kindle would be the number 1 thing to get existing Kindle owners to upgrade because upgrading to a Kindle with the same screen isn’t much of an upgrade at all. I think there’s a huge market for 8″ and 9.7″ ereaders if done right. The main problem with the Kindle DX was Amazon marketed it the wrong way. They wanted it to be for schools and textbooks, but it wasn’t good for that at all, especially once tablets came along, and they never put any real effort into improving the software.
I believe that Amazon will eventually have no choice. Will it be this year? Probably not but there are only so many things you can do to upgrade the same 6″ device year in and year out. How much better can you do than 300ppi on a 6″ screen? Not much and it isn’t necessary. How about adding buttons to the Paperwhite? Nope, that would mean undercutting the Oasis. More LED lights? Nope, that would also mean undercutting the Oasis. So what can Amazon do to improve the 6″ screen without undercutting the Oasis? Nothing! They have to go big. Change is progress and technology (even e-ink) must change and evolve.
If Amazon can sell an overpriced 6″ eReader like the Oasis, I believe they can definitely go the 8″ route with premium design, materials and technology for $399. If people don’t want larger, that’s fine they can stick to what’s already available but people want options. I for one and excited to see what the new Kobo Aura one will bring..
Another thing that I firmly believe is that the Oasis actually boosted sales of both the Paperwhite and Voyage due to people believing the Paperwhite was such a great deal and the Oasis a rip-off. Perhaps that was Amazon’s mission all along? Adding a Larger 8″ Kindle will only help boost sales of all Kindle devices so what’s not to like?
Another note, the Oasis was just recently released as well as a new White version of the Paperwhite which means Amazon will most likely not release another 6″ Kindle this year, unless they plan on upgrading the Voyage which means undercutting the Oasis. I just don’t see how anything other than a larger Kindle at this point makes any sense.
In the interim, if Amazon continues to stall on an 8 inch (8.9 is the REAL sweet spot!) let me recommend the Pocketbook 840 Inkpad (Linux based OS) with its 8 inch 1600×1200 ePerl screen. Pocketbook is currently releasing a new model of this called the Pocketbook 2. I have had two (first developed a cracked screen for reasons unknown and was replaced) for almost two years now and had no problems with either (other than the cracked screen). Reads multiple formats including azw3, mobi, and epub with equal ease. I use it exclusively for e reading books all of which I sideload so cannot comment on its browser, etc.
http://www.pocketbook-int.com/us/products/pocketbook-inkpad#specifications
It is a reasonably priced compromise for those who don’t need an Android based reader with all the bells and whistles that brings into play. My only wish is that the Prestigio ereader software could be ported for use on this unit!
Too bad they aren’t available anywhere in North America. There’s not even one single retailer…
Got both of mine via eBay from a reliable sales point/person in Romania! eBay was the only place I could ever connect with one. Do not understand the reticence involved with making them available directly in the USA.
PS: Latvia, not Romania! I just checked eBay and their is one seller from Israel and two from Germany. One of the German offerings is the new Pocketbook 2 version just released.
I just looked it up and even with international shipping it’s still slightly cheaper than the Kindle Oasis. 🙂