I was so hesitant to buy myself a Kindle. I haven’t been in the habit of reading often, so I wasn’t sure if it would be worth it. Let me tell you, this thing has made a change in my life! Now, I use it every single night before I sleep, replacing my habit of phone games or scrolling social media. The screen truly does make such a big difference from reading on a phone. Even with the “proper” settings, my phone feels much harsher on my eyes and to my brain. The Kindle screen is wonderful for nighttime reading, and has adjustability in the display. The quality is phenomenal, I couldn’t believe how vivid the picture looked with the type of screen it has. Even the screensaver looks so dimensional it’s shocking! My boyfriend asked “how’d you do that?” and I had to explain that’s just what it does! Although I love the idea of collecting hard-copy books, this device is way more convenient and makes reading what it should be - easy and peaceful. I don’t have to worry about a light or holding the pages or moving the book or my body around to feel comfortable in my hands. I also love the size and how lightweight it is, it’s so portable and even fits in my small crossbody bag or my nursing scrub pocket! I can bring this thing anywhere with me! My only complaint is that it’s a bit slow in reaction to touch. I’m also still getting used to tapping in the right spots to designate whether I flip forward or back a page, but that’s just a small learning curve on my part. Overall, this has been beyond worth the investment and giving all that it does, I’m amazed at the price I paid for it.

Okay, just do it. Buy this. Hey, buy yourself a Kindle! I am a “hold a book in my hands and smell the pages” kinda girl. Always have been. Bookstores are some of my favorite places and before owning this you’d be hard pressed to find me without a book in my possession. However, busy mom life and tossing my books in my bag made for a rough life for my books. (Not to mention falling asleep with them in my hands!) My sister in law got one of these and I was a hater for a bit. But she finally convinced me to try it. Great price so I thought I’d give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did! I love this little machine! I still have my book by my bed, but this is fabulous for when I leave the house and want to continue my reading. It’s great for quick access to books that pertain to my job, it’s great for even the ball field watching my kids play soccer. The size is small enough to slide in the back pocket of my jeans or the side pocket of my leggings. Easy to use. Love the backlight so when I start falling asleep I can turn my lamp off and keep reading until I fall asleep without ruffling my pages or folding up the cover of my paperbacks. Battery life is excellent. The matcha color is soft and beautiful. I’m normally a pink girl but added some of my favorite pink/green Bookish stickers to my cover and I’m loving the vibe. It makes me so happy just to look at it! I’ve read twice as much since owning this and can’t wait to keep diving into more adventures!

It was a big toss-up between the Kindle White and the Kindle Basic (this one). I haven't read books in years and the last kindle was about four years ago. I read from my iPhone or iPad, but never felt it was good for my eyes. I wanted something easy on the eyes, and something I can pick up in the middle of the night, or wherever and read. Just read. A lightweight, pocketable device that I can pick up, turn on and get right to the page I left off. When I saw that Amazon had released new devices for 2024 - across the board, I wanted to get one so I can start my habit of reading going again. I have over 500 books in my library and it's time I start moving off of social media scrolling and use most of that time reading. I saw an interview with Panos Panay, who was brought on to head the Kindle division and really like what he had to say and the journey he took for the year to make improvements. He helped to bring the color kindle to life, though there are some display issues at time of release, I'm sure those will get addressed. I definitely would love to have one of those, but for now, my needs are more of the smaller and lightweight size. It was a hard choice - between the basic and the paper white. A lot of reviewers say they bought the Paper White and then bought the 2024 basic because the portability was important to them. After using it for a week, I have to agree. It is smaller, lightweight, and easy to hold in one hand. Once you are in the book, the experience of page flipping is fast and getting to the settings is easy and the speed is adequate. Working with the library is more difficult. You can manage the device better via Amazon's website. I was able to download the current few books I was reading. I did put the library in list view and that seemed to help. When I first got the device, it went through the battery pretty quickly. After a couple of days of use it is better, but I had to turn down the display a little bit. I am going on an international trip, which is one of the reasons for getting the Kindle basic. The battery life is a concern, but I feel like the long multi-stop trip will be enough for one charge with enough to spare. I would rather have this lighter version rather than more battery having something that won't fit in my jeans pocket. The important thing is that this Kindle Basic is with me a lot of the times and I enjoy picking it up and reading. Yes, I will get the color version at some point - maybe in a couple of years. For now, the Basic surprisingly will be my go-to. I would recommend they clean up the library view for the Amazon Basic and they upgrade the processor to be even more power efficient while being faster. However, if they made performance improvements I would not upgrade - I would continue to use the Amazon Basic that I have.