The Kindle Paperwhite has been the most popular Kindle for a long time, and the current version is no exception.
In fact the Kindle Paperwhite 4 is probably the most popular Kindle model of all time in terms of gross sales, except we’ll never know that for sure since Amazon never releases any Kindle sales figures (but it has accumulated way more customer reviews than other Kindles).
Looking over Amazon’s best sellers list for Kindles, it’s clear the Kindle Paperwhite is still the number one Kindle by far.
Even during the current Mother’s Day sale where people can get the entry-level Kindle for only $65, the Paperwhite still dominates the list.
Twelve of the top 15 best sellers are various versions of the Kindle Paperwhite.
The base Kindle in black did manage to grab the 2nd place spot, but it’s surrounded by Paperwhites in slots 1-6. Even the 32GB version of the Paperwhite 4 without ads is ahead of the base Kindle in white. The Kindle Oasis doesn’t even crack the list until #16, but it’s not on sale so that doesn’t help its case any.
Amazon offers a lot more versions of the Kindle Paperwhite with four different colors and two different storage capacities, all with or without ads (Special Offers), and there’s also the upgraded version with 4G wireless, so that’s why so many different Paperwhite models populate the list, but even still they’re selling more of those sub-variants than other Kindles so that’s pretty telling just how popular the Paperwhite is, even compared to other Kindle models.
Personally I don’t think the Paperwhite 4 is really all that great. I’d still rather use the older Kindle Voyage because it has a better screen and a nicer design, but the Paperwhite 3 out sold it too so that’s probably why it’s not around anymore…
The colors offered for the Paperwhite really don’t seems worth it to me since it’s only the back that is in color, not the front face. So you get a color Kindle and then a cover, which mostly hides the back. It would have been nice if the front of the device matched the back. I like my Kindle basic because it is all white, front and back. Even with a case I still benefit from the white body of the device.
Aside from the Kindle voyage, I am not a fan of flush bezels and find them inferior in quality, not to mention glare and fingerprint magnets. In my experience they are not as sharp or crisp as non-flush bezels. This includes both kindles and Kobo models. The screen and text on the PW4 is nowhere near as good as the PW3. The text on my kobo forma and Kobo libra Is abysmal compared to the Kobo Clara HD, Kobo Glo HD and Aura H2O first generation. Even the newest Kindle Oasis is no match for those models. The only one that matches the quality of non-flush bezels is the Kindle voyage but that is a rare exception. If you are one of the lucky ones to get an evenly lit Voyage (almost impossible) you have yourself the best Kindle ever made. Problem is that since 2014 I have probably purchased around 20 different voyage models in search for a decent lit screen to no avail.
How sharp exactly do you want your font?? All of those ereaders you mentioned and even the 167 ppi readers that you didn’t mention are sharper than actual ink on paper.
If you’re talking contrast it was only the launch models of the PW4 that had poor contrast, must have been a manufacturing defect.
Oh yeah btw the Libra is a matte screen reader, not a glossy screen. If you don’t like the font display on it, well you just shot your argument in the foot.
I personally think that people saying that some ereader is night and day better than another one is absolutely full of it. They’re just subtle differences. They all use Carta screens and have the same contrast within tolerance, sorry that is reality.
“167 ppi readers that you didn’t mention are sharper than actual ink on paper.”
This is the dumbest comment I’ve heard in quite some time. Congratulations. Go and buy a book, for example atomic habits in hardback and compare the font and that book, to the Kindle keyboard. Then come back and apologize for your ignorance
“I personally think that people saying that some ereader is night and day better than another one is absolutely full of it.”
Then I guess you don’t really follow this blog much do you. It has been stated numerous times that there are the Ereaders with much better screens than others. Most people would agree. Even Nathan at the end of this article mentioned how the PW4 isn’t that great compared to older readers.
You may disagree but you are the exception to the rule.
I have both the 2017 Oasis and the most recent paperwhite (got with a trade in of a 2013 model and prime day).
I prefer the Oasis, but find the battery life is better on the Paperwhite. I actually had the warranty for the Oasis and was going to return it but would have been sent a refurbished unit- no thanks.
I would like if these items had grouping such as purchases per year, alphabetical etc.
Does anyone speculate a new Oasis for 2021?
The Oasis is the least likely to be updated. Maybe the Paperwhite or the entry-level model, but there’s virtually no chance the Oasis gets updated this year.