Is the Kindle Worth It?

There are three questions I’m asked almost daily and one of them is this: Is the Kindle worth it? I am here to tell you that simply, yes. My Kindle is one of the best purchases I have made for my reading life in YEARS. I use it daily and I truly can’t imagine what I was doing before. I used to read e-books on my iPad and I rarely reached for it because I hated the experience of reading on it. Now, I almost prefer my Kindle to physical books because I can read it anywhere, anytime with any light!

Here is my review of the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite and of the 2022 Kindle Paperwhite.

Favorite Features

1. Waterproof—Quite possibly one of the biggest selling points for me because I love to read in the bath in the Winter and pool in the Summer.

2. Dark Mode—I keep all of my electronics in Dark Mode and I’ve seen such a difference in my eye strain. The Kindle doesn’t use blue light, so it doesn’t strain your eyes the same way an iPhone or computer screen would, but I love to use it to read to sleep and the dark mode doesn’t keep me awake longer than I need to be.

3. Reading Time—I personally really love the different way the Kindle tracks individual reading time. Sometimes I only have 20 or 30 minutes so it’s nice to see how long a chapter is!

4. Storage—The storage is out of this world. I have the 32G 2022 Kindle Paperwhite and it holds SO many books. But I used to have the 2018 model in the 8G and never worried about running out of space on it either.

5. Highlights

   I love to highlight and annotate in my physical books. But I LOVE the highlight feature on the Kindle so that I don’t have to interrupt my reading flow. When I’m done, I can go back to my highlights and transfer them digitally! It’s so convenient.

Comparable Options

I know were all trying to use less Amazon in our lives (or maybe that’s just me) so you can get e-readers from other places! I used to have a Nook from Barnes and Noble but it was before I had my own credit card and I never asked my parents to hook up theirs lol so I don’t think I gave it a fair chance.

1. The Nook

2. Kobo—This is a Canadian company that really champions use of the library! I LOVE the buttons and I’m really intrigued by it. There isn’t a Kindle Unlimited equivalent, but they do often have Kobo originals/exclusives that are tempting.

3. Kindle Oasis—This will probably be my next big purchase, if I ever get the urge to change up my e-reader. According to friends, it’s even lighter than the Paperwhite and that the buttons are a great feature.

4. Kindle Scribe—I love this in theory, but I’m not sure I’d ever purchase it for myself. It allows you to “write” on the pages and has a cool notebook feature!! But it is quite large, like the IPad Pro size almost, so it’s not as much of a hand-held option as the others.

5. Kindle Fire—I think this is more of a tablet like option, so it has the blue light and you can download other apps onto it!

Resources for Downloading Books

I’ve heard rumors that soon Bookshop.org is going to offer e-books and how amazing will that be?! It’s not available yet, I’ll definitely keep you posted on when it’s revealed, so here are some options to read e-books!

1. Libby App—Probably my favorite library app to use for audiobooks!

2. Overdrive/Hoopla Apps—My favorites to use my library for e-books

3. Amazon—I love looking at the Kindle Daily Deals!

4. Kobo—Kobo supports libraries and I think independent bookstores! Only downside is that you can’t read from Kindle Unlimited on there, obviously.

So, in sum, the Kindle is absolutely worth every cent and it’s one of the best investments I’ve made in my reading life. Let me know if you have any questions!