Reviewed by Marcus Knapman, BSc (Hons) Computing ·
Researched from 100+ Amazon customer reviews
· How we review
Amazon's basic Kindle has been the sensible choice for casual readers for years, but sensible doesn't always mean exciting. The newest generation changes that formula slightly, promising a brighter front light, snappier page turns, and better contrast whilst maintaining the sub-£100 price point that made its predecessors so popular. I've spent time digging through the technical improvements and early user feedback to see if this refresh addresses the main complaints about previous models. The short version? This feels like the Kindle Amazon should have released two years ago, but better late than never.
The headline improvement is the 25% brighter front light at maximum setting. If you've ever squinted at an older Kindle in a dim room, you'll appreciate this upgrade. Amazon has also tweaked the contrast ratio, which should make text appear crisper against the background, and promises faster page turns. These aren't revolutionary changes, but they tackle the most common grumbles I see in Kindle reviews: sluggish performance and inadequate lighting.
The 16GB storage is generous for a basic e-reader. Unless you're planning to download your entire local library, you'll struggle to fill it. Amazon claims it holds thousands of books, and that's not marketing speak – even large novels rarely exceed 5MB, so you're looking at genuine long-term storage capacity.
The 6-inch glare-free display remains the same size as previous generations, which is both good and bad news. Good because it's proven to work well for extended reading sessions. Bad because competing e-readers have moved to larger screens without significant price increases. The display technology itself appears unchanged from recent Kindles, so don't expect any dramatic visual improvements beyond the brighter backlight.
Dark mode is included, which flips white text onto a black background. I know people who swear by this for night reading, though I find it slightly harder on concentration during longer sessions. Your mileage will vary, but it's useful to have the option.
Amazon's claim of six weeks battery life sounds optimistic until you remember how e-ink displays work. They only consume power when changing what's displayed, so if you're reading for an hour each evening, six weeks is entirely believable. I've tracked similar performance on previous Kindles, and Amazon has been consistently honest about battery estimates.
The faster page turns are harder to quantify without side-by-side testing, but early user reports suggest a noticeable improvement over the 2022 model. It's not going to transform your reading experience, but every little helps when you're deep in a page-turner.
This £94.99 model comes with Amazon's 'Special Offers' – basically ads on the lock screen and bottom of the home screen. You can pay £10 extra to remove them, or live with seeing book recommendations and Amazon deals. The ads aren't intrusive during reading, but they do make the device feel slightly cheap when you first pick it up.
For what it's worth, the ads are usually book-related and occasionally highlight genuinely interesting titles. But if you're giving this as a gift or value a clean interface, factor in that extra tenner.
The biggest limitation remains the lack of physical page turn buttons. I know Amazon removed these for design reasons, but many readers still prefer the tactile feedback. The touch interface works fine, but it's not quite as satisfying as clicking through pages.
At this price point, you're also locked into Amazon's ecosystem. While you can side-load other ebook formats with some technical knowledge, most people will buy exclusively from Amazon's store. That's fine if you're already invested in their platform, but worth considering if you prefer shopping around for ebooks.
This is the most refined basic Kindle yet, and the improvements address real user complaints about previous models. If you're new to e-readers or upgrading from a Kindle that's several years old, the enhanced lighting and performance make this worth the £95 asking price. However, if you own a recent Kindle that still works well, the upgrades aren't compelling enough to justify an immediate replacement.
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