Amazon's Kindle Voyage is its Most Advanced E-reader Yet
Are electronic book readers (e-readers) going out of style? Not according to Amazon, which is adding three new members to its Kindle family, including an all-new model, Kindle Voyage. The new products aren’t just fancy hardware, though. There are slick new features in the latest offerings.
The Kindle Voyage
The Kindle Voyage is Amazon’s thinnest Kindle yet, measuring just 0.3 inches thick. It is also featherweight, tipping the scales at a measly 6.4 ounces. Aside from a slimmer frame, the Voyage also gets a sharper Paperwhite display, with a better contrast and improved brightness.
There’s also a new adaptive front light sensor that can automatically dim the Voyage’s display over time based on your viewing environment. The company says that the adaptive light is meant to adjust just like your eyes do as they get used to the dark.
In other words, the adaptive light will slowly lower the display’s brightness to match the rate at which your eyes become accustomed to the darkness.
The Voyage also features a new way to turn the pages of your ebook called PagePress. Instead of tapping the display, you now rest your thumb on the Voyage’s bezel and lightly press.
The Kindle Voyage also comes with free 3G connectivity, so you don’t have to worry about finding a free Wi-Fi hotspot whenever you want to download a new book.
Other Updates
Amazon has also updated the Kindle Paperwhite, giving it twice the storage of the previous model. At 6.7 x 4.6 x 0.36 inches and 7.3 ounces, the Paperwhite is both thicker and heavier than the Kindle Voyage.
The company also rolled out an improved version of the original Kindle, adding a touch screen display, a 20-percent faster processor, and two times the storage of its predecessor. The Kindle measures 6.5 x 4.5 x 0.34 inches and weighs 6 ounces. Unlike the Voyage and Paperwhite, the Kindle with touch doesn’t get a built-in backlight.
The Kindle Voyage and updated Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle all come with Word Wise, a feature that automatically provides definitions for difficult words based on your custom reading level. Amazon says the feature is great for people learning English, as well as children.
The e-readers also get improved X-Ray for Books, which makes it easier to find important sections in your books, and enhanced Goodreads integration. Goodreads recommends new titles to you based on your favorite genres and books you’ve already read. You can also check out what your friends are reading and rate books.
Each of the e-readers is also compatible with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service, which gives you unlimited access to more than 700,000 ebooks and audiobooks for $9.99 per month. For kids, there’s FreeTime Unlimited, which lets them access to books for new and early readers all the way up to the Harry Potter series for $2.99 per month.
The Kindle Voyage is available now and costs $199. The updated Kindle Paperwhite costs $119, while the Kindle with touch costs $79.
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