Amazon Kindle 16GB (2024) vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 16GB (12th Gen)

The Amazon Kindle 16GB is the smallest and lightest reader Amazon sells, and the case for it is simple: its 6-inch, 300 ppi E Ink screen is as sharp as the Paperwhite's, so text looks the same for less money. At about 158 g it slides into a jacket pocket and stays comfortable in one hand through a long train ride.

Amazon rates the battery at up to six weeks, and it charges over USB-C, so a phone cable works. The 16 GB of storage holds thousands of ebooks; only audiobooks fill it in any meaningful way.

The savings come out of three places. There is no warm-light setting, so night reading means a dimmed white light rather than an amber one. There is no water rating, which makes the bath and the pool a gamble. And the 6-inch screen shows fewer words per page, so anyone who reads at a large font size turns pages constantly. Like every Kindle, it is built around the Kindle Store: EPUB files arrive through Send to Kindle and US library loans through Libby.

Watch the price. We have tracked it between $84.99 and $149.99 since June.

The Kindle Paperwhite is the reader most people should buy, because it adds the three things the basic Kindle leaves out without changing what makes a Kindle easy. The screen grows to 7 inches at 300 ppi, so a page holds more text at the same font size. The front light shifts from white to amber, and the warm tone can run on a schedule, which matters if most of your reading happens after dark. It also carries an IPX8 rating, which Amazon defines as 2 meters of fresh water for 60 minutes, so the bath, the beach and a spilled drink are survivable.

Amazon rates the battery at up to 12 weeks, based on half an hour of reading a day with wireless off, double the basic Kindle's figure. Charging is USB-C.

The costs are real but small. At 211 g it is heavier than the basic model and less pocketable. There is no auto-brightness; Amazon keeps that for the pricier Signature Edition. There are no physical page buttons, so one-handed reading means a thumb across the glass. And the store lock-in is the same as on every Kindle.