Amazon Launches Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite at Rs. 12,999

Amazon has unveiled a new waterproof Kindle Paperwhite, which is up for pre-orders in India starting at Rs. 12,999. The new Kindle Paperwhite is going to be available from November 14. The Kindle Paperwhite is rated at IPX8, which means it can be immersed in up to two metres of water for up to 60 minutes. Kindle users have been asking for this feature for a long time, and Amazon has finally brought it to the Paperwhite as well. The first waterproof ebook reader from Amazon was the Kindle Oasis, but this feature is now available at a more accessible price point.

The screen size of the device is the same as the previous generation Kindle Paperwhite at six inches. The new variant is available in two storage variants — 8GB with Wi-Fi or 32GB with Wi-Fi and 4G. The 32GB Kindle Paperwhite 4G costs Rs. 17,999 and is the only 4G Kindle on the market. The much more expensive Kindle Oasis still ships with a 3G variant.

The display of the new Kindle Paperwhite is on the same level as the rest of the screen, which is an improvement over the previous version where the display was slightly below the bezels. This Kindle Paperwhite is thinner and lighter than the previous model (8.18mm thick and 182g). The display has a front light (five LEDs) but it lacks the adaptive brightness feature seen in the Kindle Oasis. As part of launch offers, Amazon is bundling three months of the Kindle Unlimited subscription and two years of extended warranty for those who pre-order the Kindle Paperwhite.

On the software side, there are a couple of improvements on the Kindle Paperwhite. It has a new home screen that recommends books based on your reading history and sometimes these may be free for you to read via Kindle Unlimited or Prime Reading subscription services. You can also save multiple reading settings such as the font and size and quickly switch between these profiles. This can be great for homes where one Kindle is shared by multiple people. Amazon says these software changes will make their way to the 2013 Kindle Paperwhite as well as the revised version released in 2015 too, which is good news for those who already have the device.

Finally, the Kindle Paperwhite also gets a line of covers from Amazon, which cost Rs. 1,799 for water-safe fabric covers, Rs. 2,399 for leather, and Rs. 2,999 for the rustic premium leather cover. These covers have a magnetic snap-on feature, which prevents the flap from opening unless you want it opened. It also automatically locks and unlocks the device (unless you’ve password protected it).