The new Amazon Kindle for 2022 has a few upgrades over its 2019 predecessor, making it a tempting alternative for anyone on the market for a new ereader.
This latest entry in Amazon’s line of ereaders is an update to the company’s lowest-end device. It’s aimed at people who want an affordable Kindle without all the bells and whistles – by that we mean, fancy features – of the Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Oasis alternatives.
The new Kindle is out now, and we have a review on the way, but this article will run you through everything important about the device, to tide you over until we’ve done our testing for a full review.
Amazon Kindle (2022) release date and price
The Amazon Kindle (2022) went on sale on October 12, so it’s available to buy now.
The gadget starts at $99.99 in the US, £84.99 in the UK and AU$179 in Australia. In the US and UK that’s for a version with lock screen adverts – without these it costs $119.99 / £94.99.
For context, the last Kindle model started at £69.99 / $89.99 / AU$139, so the new model is a touch pricier.
Amazon Kindle (2022) design and display
In terms of design, the new Amazon Kindle looks very similar to the last version from three years ago.
That means it’s a plastic block with a screen on the front and a port and a single button on the bottom edge. Amazon has made the step up to USB-C from micro-USB for the port, which means faster charging.
Color options for this version are blue, replacing the white option from before, and black.
Thanks to the plastic frame, the entry-level Kindle is lighter than the premium Oasis. The plastic is quite hardy, too, though it doesn’t feel as premium in the hand.
As on the last-gen version, the screen is 6 inches across diagonally – frankly, that’s probably enough for most people. A nice upgrade is a resolution of 300ppi (pixels per inch) over 167 in the last version. That extra crispness should be useful for images and illustrations.
Amazon Kindle (2022) features
As with all Amazon Kindle ereaders, the 2022 entry-level model comes with the company’s proprietary software, which provides easy access to your library and the Kindle Store – after all, those are the main things you’ll be using on the device.
Despite being locked to Amazon’s services, the software can be surprisingly open. For example, you can send PDFs to your Kindle to read them.
Subscription services from Amazon can give you extra features. Prime Reading, available to all Prime subscribers, gives you free access to a select library of classics and newer works, and you can have 10 books downloaded at a time. Kindle Unlimited supercharges that, giving you access to a huge library, though it does cost extra. You can check out our Kindle Unlimited review to see if it’s worth it.
ComiXology and Audible both give you extra ways to use your ereader – the former is for comic books and the latter is for audiobooks.
Most of these services have free trials, so you can see if they’re right for you before financially committing.
Amazon Kindle (2022) performance and specs
Amazon says the new Kindle will have a battery life of six weeks. While it’s not clear how much use you’ll get over that six weeks – whether it’s daily reading or one short story per week – the company is presenting it as an upgrade over the battery in the last-gen version.
For context, we found that an hour of reading per day got us through two weeks of use for the previous device, so hopefully, we’ll get more this time. We’ll have to test the device to find out for sure.
As we’ve mentioned, the USB-C port means that charging will be quicker. A bonus will be that you likely already have a charger that will work on the device – USB-C is the modern charging standard, and most smartphones, tablets, headphones and other gadgets use it.
Another upgrade is that the storage space for the default Kindle has increased. While it was 8GB before, the 2022 model has 16GB, getting you more space for your books.
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