Book reading is a fun activity that ought to be far more popular than it is. Reading books is an easy way to dwell into a different fantasy world, learn something new, improve your vocabulary, take a break from work, or to simply just laze around on a weekend. There are a lot of people who read a lot, who swear by physical books, but the concept of eBook readers is quickly catching up, and for good reasons.
Amazon’s Kindle as a product has fixed some of the problems physical books come with. Books are thick and flipping through pages can be annoying; the Kindle is none of those things. The Kindle Paperwhite even lets you read books at night, with its in-built light. If you want to know more what the Kindle reading experience is like, our Paperwhite review is a good place to get context. All the Kindle products are great, and have seen some revisions. Amazon has now launched yet another, even more expensive Kindle, the Voyage. What does it set out to achieve, is exactly what we plan on doing in this review.
Design
The Kindle Voyage is a whole new product, unlike the Paperwhite that has seen some iterations. In terms of size, the Voyage is a very tiny bit smaller than the Paperwhite and the other Kindles. It still has the book-sized 6-inch screen but it is lighter by a good 20 grams. It's not just the specifications, you also notice it when you hold the Voyage in your hand.
The big differences are the pressure sensitive buttons on either side of the screen, and the power button that has been moved to the back. The power button is larger, thus more accessible, not that you'll be using it very often. The materials used are a bit different in the Voyage too. While the Paperwhite has a matte finish across the product, the Voyage holds a glossy panel at the top. It also has some seams, something the Paperwhite didn't have. It's not quite as rounded as the Paperwhite. These are all minor complaints. The other major feature of the design is that the screen is clean flushed with the rest of the body. The screen also feels smoother, and harder. All-in-all, it feels more or less like a Paperwhite apart from a few things.
Features
The Amazon Kindle Voyage has a 6-inch screen too, with a 300 dpi display, the same as the new Paperwhite but better than older generations. It's still a touchscreen device, but there are left and right page switching pressure-sensitive buttons on the bezel. These are built into the frame but they are pressure sensitive, so you to apply some pressure to use them. There's also a very subtle vibration feedback when you press on it. It's not distracting, but it feels just about right. The Voyage too has a lighting component, like the Paperwhite, that can be adjusted using the on-screen interface.
The other features are the same standard ones as the Paperwhite. Pages can be flipped using the touchscreen as well, and bookmarks added by tapping the right top of the screen. Holding down a word brings up the definition for it. Page rendering customisation options exist as well, so you can choose from a selection of tasteful fonts, line spacing and margins so make the most of the screen space. Goodreads support is present too, so your reading habits can be made social and you can get recommendations on what books to read next. Our Paperwhite is a good place to read about these features on length.
Performance
In terms of usage, the Kindle Voyage feels exactly like the Paperwhite. It's pretty much the same performance. Page turns are as quick as the latest generation Paperwhite. The fonts look smooth, and detailed, because of the 300 dpi density of the screen. Unlike LCD panels, the display doesn't hurt your eyes and the text doesn't look razor sharp, but just like any printed text. The lighting on the Voyage is a bit more whiter looking than the latest Paperwhite, and it's a tad bit brighter as well. Of course, like with any Paperwhite, you will rarely need to use all of the brightness if you're reading in pitch darkness. The new auto brightness feature allows the Kindle to manage the brightness settings for you. This is a great feature if you're sitting in a place where the lighting changes constantly. For most of us, it's reading under a steady light at home or at night in bed. This means, you could remember the brightness levels that suit you, then change it on the Paperwhite in a few seconds. Unlike a phone where you walk from indoors to outdoors all the time, an eBook reader doesn’t absolutely need the light adjustment functionality. As far as the quality goes, there are practically no complaints. Battery life like with every eInk Kindle display, is extraordinary. You can literally go for a month without having to recharge. We recommend keeping WiFi turned off, if you’re not going to be using it that often.
Verdict
The Kindle Voyage is a great device for reading books. However, it doesn’t improve on the experience a lot more than the Paperwhite. Loyal Kindle users who didn’t like the Paperwhite for its touchscreen-only interface will be far more welcoming to the Voyage. For us, the increased price isn’t worth the added features. For someone who has been waiting to buy a Paperwhite or those who read a lot of books, the Voyage is still a great long-term purchase and worth considering seriously. For existing Paperwhite users, the upgrade doesn’t quite make a lot of sense.
