Amazon has discounted various Kindle e-readers 3 times in the past month, in the US. The company has never had this many sales on any of their e-readers to this degree. This makes me wonder if they are trying to clean out their current inventory to make room for new devices. I believe the company is going to release the Paperwhite 5 this year, and add a color temperature system, the same type of lighting that the Kindle Oasis 3 employs.
The Paperwhite is the most likely e-reader to be refreshed, since it sells really well and the last hardware refresh was four years ago, back in 2018. When we reviewed at at the time, we praise the waterproof design, making it easier for people to read at the beach, pool or in the bathtub. We also dug the modern high resolution display with 300 PPI, which made text really pop. It was also compatible with Bluetooth wireless headphones to listen to audiobooks purchased at Audible.
What type of features would the Kindle Paperwhite employ? I believe Amazon should leverage the new On-Cell Touch e-paper module. It increases performance of black and white displays by 30% and provides better contrast ratio, which has clearer and more defined text. With the optimized module stack design, e-paper modules using this On-Cell Touch technology can be more price competitive, and the technology is applicable to both flexible and glass TFT-backplane e-paper modules. I also believe that there will be amber LED lights, in conjunction with the white LED lights. This would give users the ability to blend the two, providing a more muted, less white screen, perfect for reading at night.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
