I've tested many e-book readers over the years, including friends' Kindles and Nooks and so on, and this is the best I've ever used. I'm going to give a full review here, with all the information I would want to know about this before selecting it, so it's going to be long....
First, to the pros-list on the Paperwhite itself....
1) As compared to other e-book readers, this is the second-fasted of all e-readers tried in the last two years (including all major "new" versions of e-readers that my friends and family chose to purchase or try out). The fastest was the Oasis, at over double the cost, when on sale, and that is actually the other best one I've tried, due to speed and inclusion of buttons for page-turning.
2) As compared to other e-book readers, this has the lowest emf-output of any unit on the market currently. The Paperwhite is so low, as to emf, that it doesn't even require a shield when using, unless pregnant or trying to become pregnant. That said, this unit comes with a metal-lined case, which does prevent the tiny dose of radiation from travelling downward. It focuses the emf directionally, upward, and, when I measured this, it was well within safe limits at a distace of the standard twelve-inches away from my face. As with all tech, nothing is perfectly safe these days, but this has such a low emf-rating that, based on that fact alone, this is the winner out of all units I've tested. The readings vary, depending on distance, but they are lower than other readers and show up as nearly no radiation at all when at a distance of six inches.
3) The Paperwhite itself is extremely light in weight, which makes it the easiest to hold for hours at a time, out of all those I have tested. In fact, I have mild arthritis and wrist issues as a result of damage from microfractures many years ago, and this unit is extremely easy on my hands, causing me nearly no pain after three hours of holding it. That is unheard of, with an e-reader. The last reader I tried was so heavy that I had to stop reading after just over an hour, while the Paperwhite has yet to drad me down. I end up stopping because I have to stop, not because of pain in my wrists.
4) The Paperwhite has a true warm-light setting, not a setting combining amber-LED with 6000K-LED to average out at 2700K or 3000K. This unit actually dials down color in the diodes to a warm light that doesn't bother my skin. I have a condition where I'm sensitive to light at increasing Kelvin temperature. Ideal light for me is below 1800K, but I'm usually alright up to around 2700K. When LEDs are averaged, in order to achieve a rating of 3000K (where some diodes are true 5000K or 6000K), my skin starts to hurt, and that simply never happens with the Paperwhite. This is a true and genuine warm-light unit, where you can set it for a warm-light experience that is safe for those with Lupus and Porphyria and chemo-cause sensitivities and other-cause sensitivities.
5) This Paperwhite unit also has a dark-light setting that can be combined with the warm-light setting or the cool-light setting, such that the Kindle is black with white letters instead of white with black letters. This is ideal for contrast, for those like me who have eye issues, and it's ideal for nighttime reading. The "dark mode", as they call it, allows me to read in the dark with minimal light shed into the room, because the dark-background emits nearly no light. Combining this with warm-light for the letters themselves also has the added benefit of allowing me to drift to sleep without triggering wakefulness with a Kelvin-temperature on the light that falls above 3000K. For sleep, 1800K is ideal, but anything up to 2700K is still very good for preventing a too-high Kelvin-temperature on the light from signalling the brain to wake up and cease in producing sleep-inducing and sleep-maintaining neurochemicals. So, basically, this unit is the perfect unit for use when reading in bed before sleeping.
6) The Paperwhite has a larger screen than other e-readers I've tried, except for the Oasis which was similar, and this allows me to read much more easily and more fluidly with fewer page-turns. The overall effect of the larger screen is that I can read more like I read in a paper-book, with the same information on each page, allowing me to read without breaking up the flow of the text.
7) The Paperwhite has a very easy-to-navigate and easily applied magnification option, so that I can optimize my reading experience of each book, making the text a size that is more comfortable for me to read. Most units allow for magnification, but they don't all make it very easy to achieve selecting the new text-size. This is easy to magnify and dial back down, as to text-size.
8) The menus are all easy-to-navigate and very intuitive. The command options are simple and easy to understand. The touchscreen makes it remarkably easy to get into and out of the menus ty touching the top or bottom of the screen, and the unit has a quick response time, such that I know what each touch of each command-prompt achieves pretty much as soon as I've touched/selected that prompt.
Next to the pros-list for this specific Kids' Paperwhite and Case bundle....
1) This unit comes with a case, and it's actually a very good case, as to quality. I made the mistake, when helping a friend choose a unit a couple of years ago, of dismissing the Paperwhite 16 GB Kids' option, because I believed she wanted to use Kindle Unlimited. She didn't, at that time, and so it was a mistake to guide her to a different 8 GB on-sale unit that didn't come with a case. She bought one of the best on the market, truly the highest rated option out there, and it cost her thirty dollars and it was flimsy by comparison to the one that came bundled with this Kids' unit. This unit is identical to the other Paperwhites, in every way. The unit itself is black, as to outer-color, just like the standard black Paperwhite in either 8 or 16 GB. You cannot yet get this in 32 (here's hoping there will be a 32 GB Kids' Paperwhite in the future), but the 16 GB holds thousands of books and is identical to the 16 GB standard Paperwhite, with the addition of a very sturdy metal-lined case. The outer surface is highly durable and has not yet begun to fray or warp in nearly one full year of usage. The metal lining actually decreases emf and blocks it from my abdomen, so it's safe to use when trying for children and when pregnant. The case itself wipes clean and has a strong magnetic closure, far stronger than the most highly rated case out there. Across every measure of quality, this case from Amazon itself, as part of their bundle, is better than the other cases I've evaluated, both as a reviewer and as a friend of people who use all kinds of e-readers. The design choices, of course, will either inspire you or not, and that's highly personal, but I got the Robot Dreams case and it always puts a smile on my face to see it, because it's fun and whimsical and, more importantly, extremely durable compared to every other case I've seen. This little case keeps my Paperwhite safe and it keeps me safe at the same time, so it's the best I've seen and I'd love to see them come out with a full line of five to seven case-designs for the Kids' model Paperwhite, because nobody makes a case this nice and this functional.
2) This comes with a full year of the children's version of Kindle Unlimited, the Kids' Unlimited library, which has a truly staggering number of books for free, including many that adults would want to read and also read with their kids. To evaluate books for safety, for your kids to read, involves checking the books first, and this allows for parents to not only enjoy books of the past and even present books that are very popular, but it also allows for checking up on what kids are reading today, so that you can see if what your child wants to read is appropriate for your specific child based on your child's specific stage in development and their feelings about different plotlines. Some kids are okay reading about death, while some are not. Some kids are okay reading about fantasy-violence and dangerous-situations, while some are not. And this service lets you check up on what a child wants to read, so that you can decide together on what will work for your child and what is too adult for them or too scary or even too boring. With a standard Paperwhite, you get three months free of Kindle Unlimited, but this is a full year of a service with a ton of books, and that just can't be beat, as to the quality of the deal.
Now to the cons-list for this amazing but not quite perfect unit....
1) One flaw with this unit is that the Paperwhite experiences a hiccup in page-turning every twenty to thirty pages or so, where you tap to turn the page and the unit suddenly skips five to ten pages at random. When this happens, you then have to scroll back to find the page you were on, then tap again in order to turn the page to the very next page, so that you can continue reading. This breaks up the reading a tiny bit and is moderately irritating, but not a severe issue or a dealbreaker, when you consider that other e-readers often do the same thing. I would say this irritates me, but nowhere near enough for me to ever consider using a different brand.
2) Another flaw is that this e-book reader doesn't have a color-screen, so you can't see the pretty book-cover or the artwork in books that include artwork. Those books are best read on a tablet or computer, via the Kindle App, rather than on an e-reader, because of this issue. That said, the lack of color-emitting diodes greatly reduces the weight of the unit, which is a huge part of why the Paperwhite is so light. So, it's tecnhically a con that you need to be aware of, but it's actually a plus, as to making the unit lighter and easier to hold for hours on end.
3) Perhaps the biggest issue with this unit is that it cannot be easily plugged into the computer to allow for computer-cable based transfer, like older models. Trying to use a USB to transfer titles fails, while using Wi-fi succeeds. We don't have Wi-fi, so I have to use a friend's Wi-fi once in a while to update my library. That's a bit of a pain, as I'd rather update my library at home and at will, but it's not a dealbreaker. Those of us who are sensitive to emf and who get sick over time, which is a significant portion of the human population, can't have Wi-fi at home, and those who are the most sensitive can't even go to grocery stores or restaurants that have Wi-fi in them. I'm very fortunate to be able to spend a couple hours in a Wi-fi zone and not fall ill. So I use Wi-fi elsewhere to update my library, and that works well enough. I wish to be clear that I greatly prefer using a cable and updating that way, but this unit simply won't work that way. Some said that it would, but it's never worked for me to use a USB cable. Every time, I fail to upload the desired book, while going to my brother's house and using his computer to select books to send to my Kindle will always send the desired book to my Kindle once I dial the Kindle in to his Wi-fi. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's what I'd call a bit of a pain, an irritation, and an inconvenience.
Lastly, my overall impressions and opinion....
Overall, this unit has far more pros than cons. In comparison to my other favorite, the Oasis which is also by Kindle, this is lighter and easier to hold for hours on end, which makes it the travel-favorite but also the late-night-readathon favorite. I think this is the best e-reader ever made, as to ease-of-use for someone with any wrist issues or a tendency to binge-read for many hours at a time, because it's so very light in weight and so convenient as to sizing, with a large screen that nearly fills the size of the unit itself (wasting no space on oversized borders when the borders only need to be big enough for fingers to grip easily) and with easy-to-navigate controls. The list goes on and on, as to what I love about this e-book reader, and I could write about it for hours, adding much more to this very lengthy review. But, after nearly a year with this one and having compared it to many others on the market, in the end, the core of what impresses me about this unit is what I've stated here.
In the end, this unit has everything needed, nothing that's not needed, cuts weight effectively, puts out lower emf than any other unit on the market today, has the dark-mode for reading at night and has the warm-light for reading at night or for reading when light-sensitive and allows for those modes to be combined for even greater impact of allowing for sleepiness to set in at the right time of evening, has quick response time, has intuitive and easy controls, has a larger screen, has great magnification options, and comes with an included and high-quality case along with a free year of Kids' Unlimited book-subscription, and does all of this for half the price of the other leading option (on sale). This one is my all-time favorite of all e-readers ever tested and I can't wait to see what else Amazon does to the Paperwhite in the future to make it even better.
When comparing this e-reader to other e-readers, there really is no contest for me between the Paperwhite and other models, because the Paperwhite is superior across nearly every measure I examined on every unit I tried these last couple of years. Everyone knows that the battery-life is spectacular, but where this shines is in the ability for someone like me, with several health conditions, to be able to safely use this unit without any negative health-effects and without having to stop due to any issues with my wrists. On top of all that, I tried a Kindle-friendly tablet-pillow for kids, really small and designed to sit on your lap, and this unit is so light (even in the metal-lined case) that it didn't fall over or have any difficulty remaining in place, while my brother's tablet fell off of the pillow repeatedly when he tested it. When I realized that this even works better with accessories, like tablet-holders, than other models, that was my final moment of "The Paperwhite's the best on the market". I have a book-stand that has an option for a complicated-to-switch-out tablet attachment, but the Paperwhite is so light that it can simply sit on the prongs beneath the book on the standard book-plate attachment. In fact, I can put the Paperwhite on top of the book and it stays in place on that bookstand.
The Paperwhite is basically perfect, although I'd still love for them to outfit it with the ability to use a cable to transfer books by simply plugging into the computer and opening the Kindle App and selecting a book to send to the device, such that it would be sent. That has never worked for me, but it's hardly a dealbreaker, given all the things this unit does so remarkably well. The truth is that this unit does nearly everything perfectly, and the hiccups I experience with it are too small to ever lead me to choose something else. The Paperwhite is the best I've ever used. I wish you luck in finding what will work for your needs. If you have any wrist-issues or light-sensitivities or difficulty falling asleep after using tech too late at night, or you're just looking for something light and easy to carry in your bag, this is the winner.
And, as an aside, if you are still debating Kindle versus other brands, Kindle has more books available in a compatible format than any other brand of e-book reader. You can use your table with the Kindle-App, but you'll have to hold a heavy tablet for hours to read the books you wish to read. That's why most of us end up with an e-reader in the first place. A specific e-reader is lighter in weight and easier to carry around and far easier to replace if lost or stolen. Beyond the issue of having more books for Kindle, you also have more free-books than any other brand-compatible e-book-freebies on the market. On the slowest sale-days of the year, it's at least two free Kindle-books to every one free for the second-top-brand which is Nook. On the biggest days of the year, where they have an entire day of hundreds of freebies, Kindle has more like ten free books for every Nook-compatible book, and the other brands trail behind even the Nook. That's just a measure in freebies. For sheer volume of available titles, the Kindle format has hundreds of thousands more books than other vendors in the four to five-star range alone, not including unrated or low-rated books. As to brands, the Kindle is the absolute best option, as to the sheer number of available books and also free-books. My Kindle paid for itself when I spent a few months using only free books, instead of buying books to read, but, then, when I began tracking prices, I found that the best and most famous authors often have sales on their titles, such that I can track them on my wishlist and grab them at remarkably low prices on sale days, just by checking that list every day. The savings on books was remarkable when I switched from paper books (and I LOVED paper books) to digital books, not only from freebies but from being able to buy a Nora Roberts book for two bucks on a sale day. So, just in case you were wondering about brands themselves, after exhaustive research, I concluded that the Kindle line is the best available, when you factor in the remarkable number of four-star and above titles for Kindle that are not available at other vendors and when you factor in your ability to track pricing on books through your wishlist and grab the best titles on sale-days in order to save money. Nothing beats a Kindle.
I hope this helps you in wading through your options and making your decisions about what will work best for you. Sorry it's so long. I normally try to be brief, but, when I was choosing an e-book reader, I wanted to know everything I could about this unit before purchasing, and the very long reviews were far more helpful to me.
Beckie
Kaizoku!
Reviews I'd Want My Kids To Read Before Buying