The fourth generation Kindle, released by Amazon in August, 2011, is the thinnest, cheapest and best kindle ever. It rocks an all new design, added features and lower price tag than ever. We were lucky enough to get our hands on one of these brilliant devices, thus we’re writing this review. So let’s get started.
You open the packaging (which is amazingly easy to open, may we add) to find the Kindle itself, a Micro-USB to USB charging cable and a piece of paper telling you how to turn on your Kindle, and where the buttons are and what they do. Nothing else. Amazon is definitely doing it’s part to save the planet, as the packaging is recycled.
Let’s just talk about the economic factors of why Kindle’s are brilliant. Firstly, the Kindle only costs $79 (ad-supported version). Now, I’m no expert on how much everyone has in their pockets, but I believe that compared with mortgages, bills, internet costs, phone costs and whatever else you need, $79 is a mere price to pay for such a brilliant device. Now for the actual costs of each book. An average, new release, popular book sells in stores for around $30. On the Kindle, the same book would sell for around $10. After your first few Kindle purchases, your savings will pay for the device. And also, books that are out of copyright (published before 1923) are all free, every day. Also, think of all the trees that you are saving by not buying 300 pages of paper. It’s really a win win. Publishers don’t have to print books, saving the trees and saving you money.
The design of the kindle is absolutely beautiful, and has, without doubt, surpassed all previous models. The Kindle is the thinnest, lightest and chicest model ever. Weighing a feather-like six ounces, and being pencil thin (8mm), this is the lightest book you’ll ever carry. This is a space saver if you decide to travel and if you like reading. You can hold 1,400 books for just six ounces, how much do you think that they would weigh if they were paperback books? We haven’t even mentioned the screen, at six inches, it’s just like reading a regular paperback book. The screen uses e-Ink technology, meaning that it is not backlit and is designed to look just like a piece of paper (which it does) and as a result, will not strain your eyes. The only downside to this is you can’t read in the dark, but you can’t ever read a paperback in the dark so you can grab a torch. There are four buttons along the bottom, from left to right they are Back, Keyboard, Settings/Options and Home. There is also a directional keypad in the centre, and forward and back buttons along the side. One really neat feature is that there are forward and back buttons on both sides, making a comfortable reading experience whether you are left-handed or right-handed.
Reading experience is an absolute joy on Amazon’s Kindle. I was on vacation recently and read for the entire duration of my nine hour flight, and found no eye strain. We believe that this factor is the most important for any e-Reader, and the Kindle 4 certainly passes all of our tests in that aspect. Many people sitting near me on the plane asked what device I was using and how much it costed, they were very interested to swap the wads of books for one slim-line device.
As far as user interface goes, the Kindle’s is not the best. That’s really my only gripe about the system. The menus don’t look great, they look messy, plain and boring. This is something that can easily be fixed in a software update, however, and Amazon will probably roll an update out over the next year or so, as the menu design is fairly ancient. I just feel that with such an incredible device with amazing specifications, battery life, screens etc, that the interface really lets the system down.
Battery life on the Kindle is phenomenal, and by phenomenal I mean pure brilliance. If you read half an hour per day, the Kindle will last one month. Yes, you heard right, an entire month. That is the most impressive feature of the Kindle, we feel.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Kindle has a web browser, which is currently under development but is available on the Kindle right now. Although the screen is black and white, it’s really nice and generous for Amazon to include a web browser, which actually works extremely well.
All in all, the Kindle 4th Generation is the most solid, robust and efficient Kindle model than we’ve ever seen before. It has a beautiful, light, pencil-thin and chic design, with a brilliant quality e-Ink display. It has incredible battery life, lasting a month on a single charge with light usage. Let’s not forget the incredible price (both for the device and for ebooks) that will see people saving money in the long-term by investing in this device. If you were like me, opposed to the whole e-reading generation, I think the Kindle 4 is the perfect device to prove you wrong.
Star Rating: 4.9/5
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