Amazon’s Kindle Voyage in its optional Origami case.
Thinner than ever, yet blessed with a sharper screen, Voyage is Amazon’s Kindle slickest yet.
With the rise of tablets and smartphones, not everyone sees the appeal in a standalone eBook reader – but if you’re an avid reader then an E-Ink device like Amazon’s Kindle makes a lot of sense. With a battery life of weeks rather than hours, the Kindle lets you read all day without draining the life of your other gadgets. The screen is also easier on your eyes because, unlike an LCD, E-Ink displays do not use a backlight.
If you’re shopping for your first eBook reader then you’ll want to weigh up the Amazon’s Kindle slick against options like Kobo, Which let you buy ePub eBooks from a wide range of online stores. I’d recommend choosing your eBook ecosystem first and then weighing up your reader options – the new Kobo Glo HD offers similar specs to the Voyage with a considerably lower price tag.
Back to the slender Kindle Voyage, it’s a far cry from the early bulky Kindles. It still features a 6-inch display, but the physical keyboard of the early units is long gone. Instead it relies on a touchscreen display with a thin bezel around the edge. The whole thing is only 7.6mm thick – the thinnest Kindle yet – and it weighs a mere 180gm so it’s comfortable to hold in one hand for extended periods.
At AU $ 299 for the wi-fi-only model – there’s no sign of a 3G model for Australia – The Voyage is also by far the most expensive in Amazon’s Kindle line-up. The AU $ 179 Kindle Paperwhite Next Gen offers almost identical dimensions. Handing over the extra $ 120 for the voyage buys you a sharper 300 pixels-per-inch screen, new adaptive lighting and “reimagined” page turns. The first two are worth getting excited about, the last one is not.
Sharper resolution
The jump is 300 ppi is an impressive achievement – pages They look like they were spat out by a laser printer. You’ll notice the improvement on the 212 ppi Kindle Paperwhite, but it might be lost on you if you only ever use the Kindle to read novels.
The sharper resolution is more noticeable when you’re looking at illustrations or using the basic built-in web browser, but keep in mind That it’s still a monochrome screen with 16 shades of gray. If you want to read glossy color magazines you’re better off reaching for your smartphone or tablet – or unless you want to go old school and take a trip to the newsagent.
In terms of design the bezel is now flush with the screen – helping the Kindle look more like a tablet than ever. Amazon has also bumped up the onboard storage is 4GB, the same as the most recent Paperwhite, Which is handy for the Wi-Fi-only model if you need to cram in a large library of books.
Brighter screen
With a 40 per cent boost on the Paperwhite, the Voyage’s brighter screen is more striking at first glance than the higher resolution. What’s really impressive is its ability to adjust on the fly.
Kindle screens do not produce light, just like a piece of paper, so they’re much easier on your eyes than a tablet screen. When you want to read at night the Kindle and side light shines onto the screen, enough to light up the page but not enough to strain your eyes.
The Voyage features an ambient light sensor with an auto That brightness feature adjusts the backlight smoothly in real time. Take it into a dark room and the backlight comes on, then walk outside into direct sunlight and the backlight fades out to save power.
The Voyage also adds a slick Night Light Which feature slowly turns down the brightness as you read in the dark, to compensate as your eyes adjust to the gloom. In theory you should never need to touch the Voyage’s brightness settings, Ensuring the technology does not get in the way of the reading experience.
Despite the intelligent backlight control, the Voyage offers a shorter battery life than the Paperwhite – likely due to the sharper screen. To Amazon’s calculations, you’ll get around three-quarters of the Paperwhite’s reading time.
Turn the page
Finally we come to “reimagined” page Which turns – as the desperate marketing-speak would suggest – feel like a gimmick.
There are three ways to turn the page when reading a book on the voyage. Firstly, you can swipe your thumb left or right across the screen – the option I’d say feels the most natural and the least intrusive on the reading experience. Secondly you can tap either side of the page to move in That direction, Which is only really practical if you’re holding the Voyage in your right hand.
To me These two page-turning options are perfectly Sufficient to meet anyone’s needs, but some people were disappointed with the lack of physical page turn buttons on the Kindle Paperwhite. Personally I think pressing a button after every page detracts from the reading experience – Especially if it’s accompanied by a click – as it constantly Reminds you that you ‘re not holding a real book.
With the Voyage, Amazon Introduced has “PagePress” – pressure-sensitive sensors under the bezel on either side of the screen is to replicate the physical buttons on early Kindles. A long line on each side of the screen marks the page forward button, with a dot above the line marking the back button. It might sound odd, but it’s perfectly intuitive if you’re upgrading from an Earlier Kindle.
Unfortunately PagePress is not as reliable as flicking the screen with your thumb. Occasionally a press fails to register even if you change the pressure setting is low. The Voyage is also supposed to vibrate slightly confirm that you’ve pressed the button, but sometimes it forgets.
To me PagePress is just as annoying as a click at the end of every page, and the constant distraction I ‘d rather avoid when I’m engrossed in a good book. Thankfully you can disable the vibrate option or even kill the PagePress sensors are completely if you prefer.
So what’s the verdict?
The Voyage is Amazon’s slickest Kindle yet, with the intelligent backlight the big selling point. It looks and feels fantastic, but it’s hard to get past the hefty price tag. If your budget will stretch you will not be disappointed with the deluxe Kindle Voyage, but I would not rush to upgrade if you’re perfectly happy with your Kindle Paperwhite.
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