Amazon has redesigned its whole Kindle lineup, and every model now has a flush screen, with no raised border around the page. The base Kindle went on sale October 1st in 19 markets, including Japan and Australia. Sadly, other countries like Singapore, India, and the Philippines didn’t make the list.
The 6-inch Kindle is $149.99 (about Php 9,400), or $189.99 (about Php 11,900) with an aluminum back and 32GB of storage. It’s 6.8mm thin and weighs 140g, down from 158g. Meanwhile, the 7-inch Paperwhite is $199.99 (about Php 12,400), or $249.99 (about Php 15,600) as a Signature Edition with an aluminum back, an auto-adjusting light and dock charging through pogo pins (small magnetic contacts instead of a port). Finally, the Colorsoft, Amazon’s color Kindle, is $289.99 (about Php 18,000) with 16GB, or $319.99 (about Php 20,000) for the 32GB Signature Edition.
Amazon’s headline promises “edge-to-edge color.” Read on, and that’s mostly the paint: new shades like Ube (read: purple) and Fig wrap all the way around the body. Only the Colorsoft shows color on the screen. The Kindle and Paperwhite are still black and white, which is fine for novels.
In the US, the base Kindle is already available. The Paperwhite and Colorsoft, meanwhile, are on pre-order; Amazon’s announcement gives no date, but TechRepublic puts it at October 28th or thereabouts.
Here in Asia, Japan gets the base Kindle now at ¥29,980 (about $190 or Php 11,900), per Amazon Japan. The Paperwhite (¥39,980, about $255 or almost Php 16k) and Colorsoft (¥51,980, about $330 or Php 20,700) ships there November 11th. For Australia, the Kindle is A$279 (about $195 or Php 12,200), the Paperwhite A$369 (about $255 or almost Php 16k) and the Colorsoft A$449 (about $315 or Php 19,700), with the bigger two on preorder.
If you’re in one of the left-out markets like those who are in the Philippines and want the flush screen or the new ube color, you can wait for Amazon to remember your country exists or just pay a shipping forwarder. On past form, the wait runs six months or more – plenty of time to read some real books to tide yourself over.
