Review: Kindle 7th to 10th Gen Upgrade

First Impressions

Posted 9th April 2022

This week I decided to upgrade my Kindle to the 10th gen model with the main motivation being adding a backlight. Got to take care of my hard-worked eyes! I did consider various models including rivals with bigger screens. Although I'd like some of the features offered, I decided that the light would have the most impact so I settled on the basic model.

So does the light improve the reading experience? Yes it does! It's not that I didn't have reading lights available but the steady constant backlight is just better. I have read several short stories and it feels like less work for my eyes. The Kindle is about the same size as before - a bit more compact and a slightly better shape. The screen is slightly different - sort of a matte texture to it when showing graphics but text is what matters.

The software is much the same and books can be loaded via the usb (2) cable. Adverts are slightly different on the cover. They appear to be more personalised than before. Maybe takes a second or two to wake up but as it is slightly snappier than the old model, it overall feels faster. I tested the bluetooth audio - maybe a bit lower quality than my phone but fine. Not sure I would ever use Audible on it for real. I should mention setup was fairly painless using the Android app to sync it one time. Only major config was the small step of adding a PIN. Easy enough.

The web browser seems to work okay. Handy for testing lo-fi sites. I also picked up a cover. It is great but I think it is a smidge overpriced. Both were on offer - the Kindle was £40 and the case was £20. The cover costing 50% of the device just seems crazy but overall it was a good deal.

So I am feeling positive about it so far. The experience seems improved. I don't think I could go back to the old model!

Long Term View

No change really - all working well. The longer time to unlock and get going is a little annoying but I guess it is saving power that way. I have looked at other readers since this purchase but I am still happy with choosing this one.

Posted 15th May 2022