Amazon Kindle 10th gen. Review: Entry-level Kindle with front-light and a better display

Amazon Kindle 10th gen. Specifications

Display: 6" (diagonal width) with E-Ink Carta, 4 white LEDs, 600 x 800 pixels resolution (167 ppi)

Storage: 4GB

Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.5 x 0.34 inches

Weight: 174 g

Connectivity: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Battery life: Up to four weeks on a single charge

Formats support: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PMP through conversion.

 

What’s new in New 10th gen. Kindle?

The biggest upgrade in the new 10th gen. Kindle is the display. The new 6-inch touch display features a built-in light that solves the non-lit display problem with the entry-level Kindle. With the new glare-free screen on 10th gen. Kindle, you can read comfortably even in dark. Earlier, you had to spend more than Rs. 10,000 to get the same feature. The new Amazon Kindle has 4 built-in LEDs, one less as compared to 5 LED lights on the Kindle Paperwhite. As there's no integrated ambient light sensor, you have to manually control the brightness depending upon where you are reading the books.

It is also worth mentioning that the new 6-inch display is not as crisp as the screens offered by the premium Kindles; however, it still serves the job. The screen offers a resolution of 600 x 800 pixels, limiting the pixel density to just 167 PPI. It's not extraordinary but I did not face any major performance issues while reading books. The text is easily readable as the new capacitive screen uses an improved E-Ink technology to produce better contrast levels to make the text easily readable in various lighting conditions. You can also comfortably read books in direct sunlight on the new Kindle e-book.

Thinner and compact than predecessors

The 10th gen. Amazon Kindle comes in a pretty functional and straightforward design. It measures 160 x 113 x 8.7 mm, giving it a very sleek and compact profile. At 174g, the new entry-level Kindle e-book reader is slightly heavier than the predecessor on papers; however, I found it quite light to hold in one hand for long reading sessions. The design is not IPX8 certified and the device also skips dedicated buttons to turn pages.

Big bezels surround the screen on all four sides. The chin at the bottom of the screen is surprisingly wide; however, you won't mind it as it improves the grip to hold the e-book reader comfortably for extended reading sessions. A microUSB 2.0 charging port along with power button is placed at the base of the chin. The new Kindle is available in two colour variants- Black and White. A case is recommended for White variant as it can take smudges and scratches quite easily.

Software and Reading experience

With 4GB of built-in storage, you can download plenty of books to read on the new Kindle. The screen works well for reading in ample lighting and in a dark room, thanks to the improved E-ink technology and LED bulbs that spread the light evenly on the 6-inch panel. Press the power button and swipe the screen to jump on the Home-screen. Here you can see the library with book recommendations based on your reading habits.

The main menu offers the frequently used tabs- Home, Back, Settings, Goodreads (reading list), Store and a search tab. You can navigate to the device's main settings by clicking on the three-dot menu placed in the top right corner. Here you will find your account details, Wi-Fi settings, basic Kindle settings, reading options, etc. The UI and menus are pretty much the same that you get with any Kindle device. If you have been a long time Kindle user, you will feel right at home.

Read filter, text highlight and more

While reading a book, you can long tap to highlight passages and look up definitions from Oxford and Wikipedia. You can even translate words as per your requirement, which will come quite handy to readers fond of learning new languages. A double tap at the top opens up the menu section. You can navigate to a specific page or location from Go To section. Fonts and page settings menu allows you to change font type and font size. You can even change page's orientation, set margins and enable a clock to be visible at the top of the display to keep track of the time while you dive deep in your book worlds. The 10th gen. Amazon Kindle also gets Read filter that allows you to filter your library to see the books you have read or unread. The new Kindle is quite snappy and the display is responsive. Pages load quickly without any noticeable lags.

No support for audio books

Sadly, the device does not support Audible audiobooks service in the Indian market, which was unveiled in November 2018 in India. This comes as a disappointment as the service is available in India at Rs. 199 per month. The service for Kindle devices is available for the US market though.

Battery Life

Battery life has always been the strong point of Amazon Kindle e-book readers. The 10th gen. Kindle can easily a week if you are always glued to the e-book reader. For occasional readers, the device can last up to 3 and even 4 weeks depending upon your usage.

Verdict

Amazon Kindle devices are brilliant e-book readers, a must-have product for avid readers. For someone buying their first ever Kindle, the 10th gen. Kindle offers a lot. However, you must also know that the entry-level Kindle (8th gen.) without the built-in light feature is also available at Rs. 5,999 on Amazon.in. In comparison, the 10th gen. Kindle is selling at Rs. 7,999. You are paying Rs. 2,000 extra for the 4 LED lights placed under the display. The built-in adjustable lights give you more bandwidth to read books which further elevates the reading experience. As it is mostly going to be a one-time investment for most users, we would recommend you go with the new 10th gen. Kindle.

In the end, we would really like Amazon to integrate the ‘Audible' service for Kindle devices knowing the fact that the subscription service is now available in India. This will add a lot of value to the reading experience for consumers.