Kindle (basic)

"All the Kindles across the board were refreshed this year, so they’re all new. Some got a bigger refresh than others. The Kindle basic—that’s what I call it—is the entry-level Kindle. It got a very minor upgrade from what it was before. The biggest change (in my opinion) is the new matcha colour. It’s beautiful. A lot of people who like matcha will love the colour of this Kindle and are buying it for that reason. It sounds silly, but it’s just a fun device to hold. In terms of the features and highlights of the Kindle basic, it’s the smallest Kindle. It has a six-inch screen size, which is a full inch smaller than the next model up. It’s also the most affordable Kindle you can buy, so that’s very appealing for a lot of people. In terms of what it can do, the basic Kindle can do everything all the other Kindles can in terms of reading books. If your primary focus is reading, you’ll be just fine on the entry-level Kindle. The two features that you’re missing because it’s the most affordable Kindle is, firstly, that it’s not waterproof, so you can’t read by the water. You’re also missing the adjustable warm light. It does have the regular front light—so you can still read at night—but you can’t adjust the colour temperature, which could be helpful for people who read before bed. You can’t make the screen a bit more orange before you go to sleep or early in the morning. It’s not a big difference, but some people really like that feature. So those are the only two things you’re really missing, plus the smaller screen size. Nice! They don’t say it’s water-resistant, but I guess it can survive a bit… Yes, but that’s not a new feature for 2024. The last time they updated the Kindle basic was 2022 and that included USB-C. The only difference between the last version and this one is the new colour. It’s also a tad faster and they say it’s 25% brighter. But if you ask me, I can’t really tell the difference."