Perhaps the most well-known tablet for reading is Amazon’s Kindle devices, and the new Kindle Paperwhite released this fall is our favorite. It has all the familiar features of a Kindle (300 ppi e-ink screen, long battery life, and adjustable warm light), along with noticeably faster performance — Amazon said it features 25% faster page turns and 20% of an overall faster experience, whether you’re browsing book titles or downloading an audiobook.
But aside from speed, the Paperwhite gets up to 12 weeks of battery life (compared to 10 weeks from the previous Paperwhite generation. Staff writer Maria Diaz tested the Kindle for two weeks and never had to charge it. “After two weeks of daily reading on a single charge, some days for up to three hours a day, my Kindle Paperwhite’s battery is still at 32%,” she wrote in her review.
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The new Paperwhite also has a larger, 7-inch display (the previous generation was 6.8 inches), and it’s thinner as well, making it even more comfortable to hold while reading for hours. It’s also waterproof (how many tablets can say that?), so you can read by the pool or in the bath without worrying about stray splashes.
There is still a Signature Edition to the Paperwhite as before, and for $40 more, you get wireless charging, 32GB of storage instead of 16GB, and an auto-adjusting front light sensor.
Of course, this is definitely more of an e-reader than a tablet, and you can’t really browse the web and there is no stylus compatible with it. Still, if your primary use of a tablet will be for reading, the Paperwhite is a great option.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite tech specs: Display: 7-inch 300 ppi e-ink screen | Storage: 16 GB | Colors: Black, raspberry, jade | Weight: 7.4 ounces | Dimensions: 7 x 5 x .30 inches | Connections: USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Battery life: Up to 12 weeks
