For Simpler Studying
{Photograph}: Nena Farrell
For those who’ve ever had a protracted studying session that offers you hand cramps, these equipment may assist. You may try extra choices in our Finest Kindle Equipment information.
Strapsicle E-Reader Hand Straps for $21: Connect one or each of those to the again of your Kindle—one is angled on your proper hand and the opposite on your left—and slide your hand in. Your palms will not cramp, you will not unintentionally hit the display and flip pages, and the reader will not slip out of your palms. There are three sizes meant to carry various kinds of e-readers. It is best to see precisely which fashions they work with on the Amazon pages, in addition to on this web page on the Strapsicle web site.
Lamicall Gooseneck Pill Holder for $20: I really like this gadget. Whereas I would not name it fully hands-free, it’s a brilliant handy and comfy expertise, notably when you have persistent ache in your wrists. The clamp is simple to connect to mattress frames and facet tables (there’s additionally a flooring stand model for $70). It’s light-weight to deploy anyplace and has sufficient resistance to the neck that it doesn’t fall ahead or out of the place you place it in. It did wobble a bit once I touched it to show the web page (or it bought bumped by a curious cat), so I often preserve a relaxation hand on it to carry it regular. If you wish to go totally hands-free, add a page-turner distant so you may learn with out lifting a finger.
PopSocket for $10: PopSockets aren’t simply on your cellphone; in addition they work nice on e-readers. Whether or not you will have a Paperwhite or a fundamental Kindle, it is one other nice answer for decreasing hand cramps.
Hiya Clio the Authentic Kindle Belt Bag for $58: For those who’re at all times touring together with your Kindle however do not wish to carry a bigger bag, it is a nice accent. It has a delicate inside to maintain your display protected, together with further pockets on your cellphone, keys, and pockets. It may possibly match the fundamental Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Oasis, and Kindle Colorsoft.
The Bookish Items Bookish Crossbody for $50: Want a bag on your Kindle Scribe? The Bookish Crossbody from Bookish Items matches the Kindle Scribe in its principal massive crossbody pocket, and matches a smaller Kindle or Kindle Paperwhite within the entrance pocket. It is a fantastic dimension to convey a couple of issues with you together with a Kindle Scribe—catch me with this bag and my Kindle within the park this summer season with my kiddo.
Nomad 65W Slim Energy Adapter for $59: Kindles have lengthy battery life, however former WIRED reviewer Brenda Stolyar nonetheless likes to hold a charger along with her on the go simply in case. This one from Nomad is her favourite. It is tremendous skinny and comes with two USB-C ports, so she makes use of it to cost her e-reader and cellphone concurrently (the left facet delivers 45 watts and the proper delivers 20 watts when charging two gadgets on the similar time). The prongs additionally fold up, so it matches properly within the facet pocket of a bag.
Do You Want a Cowl?
{Photograph}: Amazon
Kindles are, fortunately, not as fragile as our dear smartphones, however you should still wish to add a canopy to guard the display in the event you’re often toting it round in a bag. These aren’t padded for critical drops. The Children’ editions include instances.
Cloth Covers for Kindle for $32 and Paperwhite for $37: These open like a e-book and are available some variation of black, blue, pink, or inexperienced. They’re created from postconsumer recycled material.
Cloth Cowl for Scribe for $60: This one flips up and over like a notepad, and you may place it right into a stand too. There’s additionally a slot for the pen if you don’t need it to connect magnetically on a regular basis. It is also made with recycled supplies.
The Bookish Kindle Instances for $36: I actually like that this cowl additionally has a built-in strap, so you may benefit from the safety of a hand strap whereas studying and have the safety of a canopy whenever you’re not. There are a bunch of enjoyable colours too.
The Quirky Cup Collective E-Reader Sleeve for $27: Our workforce loves these attractive sleeves, notably the Solar and Moon model. They’re stunning and can shield your gadget whenever you aren’t utilizing it, so you may throw it in your bag with out fear. The surface is velvet and the within is satin, with some padding in between and a zipper closure. On the again is a small zip pocket. On every product web page, you may see which gadgets match, however seek the advice of the measurements. There are additionally separate, bigger e-book and iPad sleeves ($35).
CoBak Clear Case for $9: The very best half about having a transparent case is that it protects the again of your Kindle and lets you embellish it with stickers beneath. We advocate this enjoyable sticker pack ($5).
Nice Studying Lights
{Photograph}: Simon Hill
For those who learn earlier than mattress however do not wish to disturb sleeping associate, youngsters, or roommates, put money into a studying gentle. All of the Kindles now have a entrance gentle, so you do not want one, however these can nonetheless be useful, particularly in the event you change between your Kindle and bodily books. Beneath are a couple of of our favorites. You could find extra in our Finest Studying Lights information.
Vekkia 14 LED Guide Gentle for $16: That is our high decide. It is a clip-on gentle with an adjustable gooseneck and two swiveling gentle bars that pack seven LEDs every. You may cycle by means of 5 ranges of brightness and three heat colours. It is comparatively massive, although, so it isn’t nice for small paperbacks. The clamp opens as broad as 2.1 inches and serves as a secure base to put on a nightstand.
Glocusent LED Neck Studying Gentle for $22: This studying gentle wraps round your neck, so it seems to be foolish. But it surely’s a superb different to a clip-on studying gentle whereas remaining hands-free. It is light-weight, adjustable, and comes with three coloration temperature modes in addition to six brightness settings. It is rechargeable and provides as much as 80 hours of battery life at dimmer settings.
Black Diamond Wiz Headlamp for $28: That is our favourite headlamp for youths. It is snug, and the adjustable straps are available numerous colours. It has three brightness settings and an IPX4 water-resistance ranking, so you do not have to fret about splashes. It turns itself off routinely after two hours, in case they go to sleep with it on. It takes two AAA batteries.
About These Older Kindles
Amazon would not launch new Kindles usually—the corporate takes a couple of years between fashions. Each time a brand new one arrives, its predecessor’s inventory begins to dwindle. It is not that we do not advocate these per se, however we solely recommend these if yow will discover them on sale for the proper worth. In any other case, we advocate shopping for the newest model.
Earlier than making your buy, cross-check the value with the newest mannequin to ensure you’re spending a good quantity much less on the older gadget.
- Kindle (2022, eleventh Technology): That is the smallest of the lot at 6.2 inches tall and 4.3 inches broad, with a 6-inch display. For those who discover tablets too cumbersome to carry with one hand, take into account this one. With this mannequin, Amazon doubled the storage to 16 gigabytes and upgraded the show to 300 pixels per inch (PPI) decision (up from 167 PPI). It is powerful to search out, however in the event you handle to snag one, you should not spend greater than $50.
- Kindle Paperwhite (2021, eleventh Technology): That is the subsequent step up from the fundamental mannequin. It has a vibrant 6.8-inch display with adjustable heat lighting, a quick page-turn fee, a USB-C port, and 16 gigs of storage. It is waterproof too. I just like the Signature Version (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which additionally contains auto-adjust brightness and 32 gigabytes of storage. I do not advocate spending greater than $100 if yow will discover them.
- Kindle Scribe (1st Technology): The Scribe (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a superb possibility for note-takers. It has a large 10.2-inch display for taking notes, marking up PDFs, or drawing, and quite a few paper codecs you may select, like college-ruled or dotted. It additionally comes with the Primary Pen, which feels pure to write down with and attaches to the facet of the Kindle magnetically. I solely advocate it for $230 or much less.
- Kindle Children (2022): That is the kid-friendly model of the entry-level Kindle. It comes with a canopy, a yr’s subscription to Amazon Children+, parental controls, and a two-year guarantee. I do not recommend spending greater than $70 on this one.
- Kindle Paperwhite Children (2021): The Paperwhite model is a step up from the Kindle Children. It has a high-resolution 300-ppi show with an adjustable heat display and can also be waterproof. You should not spend greater than $110 on this one.
What’s the Finest Method to Purchase or Promote an Older Kindle?
Have an outdated Kindle mendacity round? Are you a used one on the market? For those who’re making an attempt to determine what mannequin it’s, this Amazon web page contains photographs, specs, and launch years for all the lineup. As soon as which one you will have, you could possibly commerce it in for credit score towards a more recent mannequin.
Most aged Kindles most likely nonetheless work, simply with fewer bells and whistles. It is best to keep away from Kindles with keyboards or every other bodily buttons apart from page-turn buttons. Some older Kindles misplaced the flexibility to browse, buy, or borrow new books instantly from the gadget. Nonetheless, you may nonetheless be capable of do that by way of Amazon.com in your pc or cellphone and have it despatched to your Kindle, which is a greater expertise anyway. These fashions embrace the Kindle 2nd Technology (Worldwide), Kindle DX Worldwide, Kindle DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4th Technology, and Kindle fifth Technology.
How Do You Get Free Ebooks on a Kindle?
For those who purchase each single e-book you wish to learn on a Kindle, it might probably add up! However there are methods to avoid wasting cash whereas studying as a lot as your coronary heart needs. You could wish to subscribe to Kindle Limitless for $12 a month. You may solely select from the Limitless catalog, however there are thousands and thousands of titles there, together with audiobooks and magazines. Begin out with the 30-day free trial.
For those who already pay for a Prime account, you are eligible for some free ebooks by means of Prime Studying. There are usually not as many choices as with Kindle Limitless, and in quite a lot of instances, you may see each Limitless and Prime choices lumped collectively; you may need to look intently to search out the free ebooks. It is nonetheless one thing, and there are even a couple of magazines.
If you don’t need one other month-to-month subscription and do not wish to proceed giving your cash to Amazon, make the most of the ebooks obtainable together with your library card. Searching a digital catalog is just not as magical as spending a day wanting over each shelf in a library, however such is the e book life (nobody says you may’t learn each!). Now we have an in depth how-to on this you must try, however listed below are a number of the takeaways:
- Get a library card on your native department.
- Test your department’s web site for its e book choices. Many libraries use a service referred to as OverDrive.
- Obtain on to your Kindle library. They’re going to routinely be eliminated after they’re due again.
If another person with a Kindle, you may lend books between your libraries, simply as you’d with a bodily copy. Observe these directions from Amazon if you wish to share an e book, however remember the fact that not all books could be loaned.
What Else Can a Kindle Do?
Kindles have useful options you could wish to make the most of. Lengthy-press a phrase or phrase to see its definition, spotlight it, or take notes. You too can search all the e-book for that exact phrase or phrase or translate it to or from different languages.
Phrase Sensible reveals brief definitions in small textual content inside the strains. Sadly, it isn’t obtainable for all books, however when it’s, you may flip it on or off and select extra and fewer hints. Clicking the brief definition opens an extended one from Phrase Sensible and the New Oxford American Dictionary or Oxford Dictionary of English (you may change between the 2), plus translations, and a Wikipedia web page, if relevant.
Whereas studying, faucet the highest of the display and click on “Aa” to vary font dimension or sort—there’s even a font referred to as OpenDyslexic that helps make studying simpler for folks with dyslexia. You may management margin sizes and line spacing from that menu too.
When a Kindle is related to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones, VoiceView Display Reader (accessed by means of Settings > Accessibility) lets you use gestures to navigate your gadget and reads aloud what you have pressed. It is going to additionally learn a e-book aloud, although it would not sound practically as good as an audiobook.
Amazon owns Goodreads, so it syncs seamlessly to Kindles (press the three-dot menu > Goodreads). When you’ve got a Goodreads account, you may overview the Kindle books you have learn or browse your bookshelf and suggestions. Lengthy-pressing a phrase or phrase, along with what’s talked about above, opens up an choice to share quotes on to Goodreads.
There is a internet browser too in the event you’re related to the web (three-dot menu > Internet Browser). It is not the very best, so I might reserve it for emergency searches.
How Do You Replace a Kindle?
When Amazon releases a brand new software program replace, it can obtain and set up to your Kindle routinely when it is related to Wi-Fi. You may verify in the event you’re on the newest software program by going to Settings > System Choices > Superior Choices > Replace Your Kindle. If it isn’t on the newest software program model, you may see an replace obtainable and the Kindle will then immediate you to obtain and set up it.
Is This a Good Time to Purchase a Kindle?
Sure. Amazon refreshed all of its Kindles throughout the board in October 2024, with a brand new Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Scribe, and Kindle Children editions. The corporate additionally launched the Kindle Colorsoft—its first-ever coloration Kindle. Nonetheless, the very best time to purchase a Kindle is throughout a significant sale occasion, as a result of Amazon usually has steep reductions.
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