I bought a kindle in early January on a whim. The idea came to me when I was thinking about how am I going to spend my 1 hour commute time with the Spring semester. I can't just whip out a MacBook or an iPad, and listening to music for 2 hours while scrolling my phone seems like a waste of time. I think of y/ns reading on the train while looking out the window, and that was when I knew that getting a kindle would be a great start to 2022.
My only new year resolution in 2022 is to read and write more. I barely read a book or wrote anything (for fun) in 2021, and my literature and vocabulary skills stayed on the exact same level. A Kindle would give me some motivation with reading, and if I read more I suppose I would write more. (This speaks for itself.) Kindle has long lost its hype since 2014 or something, so I thought I might be able to get a good deal. I did a lot of research with the basic ver. vs paperwhite, ad-supported vs. no ads, and the black and white models of the basic kindle. At last, I settled on the 10th generation of the basic Kindle for $70 USD, which is less than $600 Hong Kong dollars. It is the cheapest 10th-Gen I could find, considering it is certified refurbished, ad-supported, and black in color. I was debating for a very long time whether to get the white or black model, the white one looks a bit more unconventional and... juvenile in my opinion. I thought that a black Kindle looks pretentious and cool, the general second-hand price of the black one is higher. I was very excited with the Kindle the day it arrived, it looks exactly how I imagined it, very sleek and stylish. Also, for your information, I didn't get a single ad on my Kindle, which is pretty sweet.
Let's take a look at the advantages of having a Kindle. Appearance-wise, the device is very pretty. Let's be real here, the whole idea of "getting and reading on a Kindle in 2022" is pretentious as hell. I am getting a device just for reading. So you are like 40% trying to showcase how much you enjoy reading to other people (who do not care). But it is self-gratifying, and getting this Kindle fulfills all levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. One may say that I am a material gworl. The matte plastic finish doesn't look cheap, but you need to be careful with your fingers. I have already scratched it like twice in the first week, so I will get a case later on. The screen has the classic Kindle matte touch, I love caressing the screen so much. It is a very portable and lightweight device, my iPhone 12 is much heavier than the Kindle.
Now that we have the shallow advantages out of the way, let's about the technical, practical benefits of having a Kindle that I genuinely enjoy. You can carry a lot of books in one device, it saves you a lot of money with buying books and storing them. My philosophy with purchasing hardcopies is only when the physical book has an inherent collection value. For books that I'm trying to get into and read, an e-copy would be an affordable and convenient choice. When you're 20 pages in and realize that it is not the book for you, you don't have to feel guilty for wasting 15 bucks on the hard copy. With prime reading and Kindle premium, it's like having Spotify but for books. It is very nice to have 8GB of nothing but books in such a lightweight device. This is probably the biggest advantage with a Kindle. However, if you're not a book person, perhaps you shouldn't get this just because it looks cool (ah yes gatekeeping, here we go again). My Kindle is $70, which means that I will have to read at least 4 books to recoup the price of the device. If you buy the Kindle Paperwhite or Oasis, you'd have to read more and more. So be careful, make sure you're actually reading.
I usually skip over the vocabulary I don't know. Now, I can just click on those big words and learn actual words. Great function, and honestly it can be the only reason you need to get one.
I'm no stranger to eBooks. I used to read school texts on my iPad's Books app, and I made exclusive annotated line-by-line analysis copies of The Great Gatsby and The Taming of the Shrew. I heavily utilize the highlight and notes function of my Kindle too, so it is a big win for me. I just love how I don't have to worry about ruining the cleanliness of the book, whether the edges are roughed up or if I have enough space to write my notes in the margins. It is an excellent tool for me to write personal commentary, highlight cool quotes that I can use later, and enjoy the fruits of annotation. One advantage a Kindle has compared to reading on an iPad is you don't get distracted. I must confess that I have a hard time focusing on reading with an iPad, I would open Twitter on the other tab and not read. (Sidenote: I have great memories with the iPad reader though, I once read Norwegian Wood in one sitting 9 PM-1 AM.) I also find reading on the matte paper-like screen on Kindle much more enjoyable than the glassy finish of the iPad. In short, I personally love and prefer eBooks over hard copies. I don't get distracted on the Kindle, and finishing a book on Kindle feels good.
I have now picked up the habit of reading on my bed. That means I read before going to sleep, and I pick up where I left off the first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, I found that I have a hard time sleeping when my phone is right next to me. I just end up mindlessly scrolling on TikTok's For You page, and I know it isn't healthy. With the Kindle, I don't have to worry about reading with the lamp on. I just push the off button whenever I felt sleepy, and pick it back up when I wake up. It is relaxing and winds my mind down, I feel very girlbossy doing it. I heard the battery life is amazing, you don't have to charge it for 2 weeks; I would get mildly infuriated every time the battery drops to less than 70%, so I personally don't know. But so far, I feel that the battery lasts long. I would read for 2 hours, and the battery drops from 100% to 85%.
This seems like a sponsored post. I wish I could be sponsored so I can get the newest Kindle Paperwhite (2021 edition), but that isn't the case. Let me tell you about some problems I have with my basic Kindle. I'll first talk about the problems I have with my version of the basic Kindle specifically, then I will tell you about the general drawbacks with, well, any Kindle.
For my basic Kindle, the resolution/ pixel size is not that good. For your reference, the basic Kindle has 167 ppi, while Kindle Paperwhite has 300 ppi, which is almost double the resolution. Is it a deal-breaking problem? The words are still very clear and readable, but if you squint your eyes and pull the device closer, the pixels are very visible. If you find that mildly infuriating, I suggest you go for Paperwhite (or Oasis). I personally was a little annoyed with the low resolution at first, but it is not THAT bad. I still find reading on it very enjoyable, and the pixels aren't distracting unless you pay attention real close. It is just a little bit blurry.
Now, here's the deal breaker. THERE IS NO DARK MODE. Amazon knew that some of us are dark mode stans, and they intentionally left it as a premium feature, exclusive to Kindle Paperwhite and Oasis. I personally am very passionate about dark mode, and it sucks that I can't read with it. It would have been very helpful with reading at night, and I am overall a very "dark mode" person. On the topic of display, this Kindle does not have warmth adjustments either. I think the new version of Kindle Paperwhite allows you to choose the display's warmth/ coolness, and it is an excellent feature. My basic Kindle has a blue hue by default, and I can't do anything about it. Therefore, if you are okay with paying a couple more bucks for dark mode and warmth adjustments, I completely understand. I might do an upgrade later when the price of the 2021 version drops.
The keyboard's a little bit slow and insensitive, just like my grandma. I think the touchscreen works fine for the most part, but you can't type as fast as you can on a phone. So, you might just want to know this if you are a big notetaker like me. If I need to do a line-by-line analysis on a novel, I will probably go back to my iPad, or work on the Kindle app. It's kind of time-consuming.
I mentioned how a Kindle may help you with getting less distracted with your reading. Well, I kind of need to put a disclaimer here. This would only work if you put your phone away and get your mind to set on the book. If your phone is right next to you while you read, you'll probably get distracted all the same. I am literally procrastinating on the book I was reading 10 minutes ago by typing this review out. You get the point. This is not a con necessarily, but getting a Kindle would not encourage you to read in a long term. You either guilt trip yourself into reading, or you try to read and end up not reading. Either way, a Kindle is just a medium of your willpower to reading. At the end of the day, you would have read your book no matter what medium you're reading it on. Kindle, iPad, paperback, your computer... a Kindle just makes your life a little easier, but you must have the will to read beforehand. It is definitely an environmentally-friendly and affordable device, but you need to be physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to READ. Not me gatekeeping Kindles again. Capiche?
So, the final question. If I get to choose again, I would probably still go for the basic model, just to try it out. The 2021 Paperwhite is like $120 USD, mine’s about half of the price. If you are 120% sure that you will spend time on your kindle and you want the sweet sweet dark mode + better resolution, then by all means, go for the paperwhite. It is probably a prettier device anyway. I personally don’t want to spend too much on a vanity item, and if it gets stolen at least I won’t be too unhappy about losing it. I mean, the pixels, the dark mode and warmth adjustments will cost you $30-$50 bucks more. Alternatively, you can buy a pre-loved (fancy word I see people use for second-hand) Kindles for a better deal, and you’d still get a lot out of it. I heard the Kindle is very, very durable, people are still using the one they bought in 2013.
In conclusion, it’s all about personal preference, bro. I’d give my Kindle 4 stars out of 5, but I bet the 2021 version can get a 5 out of 5. I still love it though!