Amazon is launching colorful new Kindles — and a case with physical page-turn buttons
A wave of little changes, including new colors, the option of an aluminum case, and some neat accessories.
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Kindles don’t usually change much with each new version, but Amazon is launching next-generation models today that look and feel a whole lot nicer. The base Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, and Kindle Colorsoft are a millimeter thinner and 30 percent faster at opening books, and their power buttons have moved from the bottom to the right edge near the top.
They ship in vibrant new colors with a soft-touch plastic case, and, for the first time, there’s the option for a couple shades of aluminum, giving them a higher-end look and feel, not to mention double the storage of the plastic version (32GB versus 16GB). Amazon VP of Kindle Kevin Keith told The Verge that they all feature user-replaceable batteries to be in compliance with EU regulations , too.
The updated base Kindle is available today starting at $149.99 in a new purple color called ube and a plainer graphite color. It comes with 16GB of storage and lockscreen ads, and it looks nicer than the last-gen version, thanks to a seamless transition from frame to screen, moving on from the old design that had a recessed display.
New for this revision is the choice of aluminum , which bumps the price up to $189.99, doubles the storage, and ditches ads. The Kindle in aluminum is a very nice, compact thing to hold, especially in its new folio case that it can magnetically attach to. Though, at $239.98 all together ($189.99 for the e-reader and $49.99 for the case), you’re firmly in the territory of the Paperwhite, with its more pixel-dense and auto-dimming screen for $199.99 .
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