Since it launched in 2007, Amazon’s Kindle has been the bookworm benchmark by which all ereaders are measured. When the company introduced the Kindle Paperwhite last year, it was one of the few times that a consumer electronics device has ever neared perfection for its intended function.

But when Amazon announced that it had improved the Kindle Paperwhite we were left wondering what the company could possibly have done to improve on something that, from the outside, had so little room for improvement.

Design

The new Kindle Paperwhite is very much like the old Kindle Paperwhite in terms of design. It retains the same soft-touch, black plastic exterior with the Paperwhite display up front surrounded by bezels just large enough to keep your fingers comfortable when you’re holding it.

The only button to be found is the power button on the bottom of the Paperwhite sitting next to its microUSB charging port.

As with all Kindle ereaders, the new Paperwhite one is lightweight, weighing in at a single-hand-friendly 205g for the WiFi version and 215g for the 3G version.

Hardware

The only real hardware improvement to speak of, outside of the display, is a new processor that drives the Kindle Paperwhite. It promises faster page turns and a better response to touch inputs than its predecessor.

Putting the two Paperwhites next to each other confirms the improvement but left us wondering why we would ever be reading one book on two different ereaders next to each other to be able to notice the improvement.

Display

The Paperwhite E-Ink display that the Kindle gets its name from has been improved over the original version found in its predecessor. It boasts greater contrast than the outgoing hardware which translates into a reading experience that’s even easier on the eyes.

As with all E-Ink displays, the Paperwhite benefits from an immense battery life of up to eight weeks on a single charge. (This is due to the fact that E-Ink displays only refresh when you turn the page unlike the LCD panels you would find in tablets.)

The Paperwhite’s front light, which uses a thin sheet of fibre optic glass on top of the display, is imprinted with small holes has also been given an upgrade to give a more evenly spread glow across the face of the this Kindle than was possible in the original Paperwhite.

Conclusion

Once again, Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite takes its spot at the peak of the ereader mountain, supplanting its predecessor in the process.

While the new hardware upgrades have definitely made it into a better product, they are nowhere near enough of an upgrade to justify replacing your old Paperwhite just yet.

That being said, if you are in the market for an ereader in general, there is no questioning the fact that this Kindle Paperwhite is the best ereader available.

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Details

Price: R3 699 (3G version)

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