Amazon has just refreshed its line of basic Kindles. The unhelpfully named “ all-new Kindle ” is the ninth generation of the basic e-reader, and brings with it a much-needed feature: the ability to read in the dark. That’s right, Amazon’s entry-level Kindle is finally getting a backlight, meaning you can read in bed or outside at night if you really feel like it. While this feature has been in the Paperwhite, Voyage and Oasis models of Kindle for some time, this is the first time Amazon has been able to bring it to the sub-£100 range.
“Customers consistently tell us how much they appreciate having a front light on Kindle devices so they can read in any environment — even in bed at night,” said Eric Saarnio, the company’s head of devices for Europe. “The team worked hard to bring this customer-favourite feature to our most affordable device, and we’re excited to introduce the all-new Kindle — the first Kindle under £100 with a built-in adjustable front light.” Other than the backlight, it looks pretty much identical to the generation before it, but then that’s always been the Amazon way. Small, iterative improvements that make a good experience slightly better. It still has the same 6in display packing 167 pixels per inch and seems to have the same 4GB capacity. The latter isn’t really a problem, given that translates to roughly 2,200 books at a time. The 2019 Kindle is available to preorder right now , priced at £70 – a £10 increase on the older model – and will begin shipping on Wednesday 10 April. We’ll be back with a review soon, but as preorders go, this is probably pretty safe: the same Kindle with an added backlight – how could that possibly go wrong? Buy it now on Amazon
