What You Should Know About the Amazon Kindle Voyage

By Don Reisinger

One of the key features in the Amazon Kindle Voyage is its new and improved HD display. According to Amazon, the device packs 300 pixels per inch of screen space, easily topping the Kindle’s 167 pixels per inch and the Paperwhite’s 212 pixels per inch. More pixels mean it’s easier to read.

The Kindle Voyage is the thinnest e-reader Amazon has produced. The device comes in at just 0.3-inches thin, beating the Kindle’s 0.4-inch depth and the Paperwhite’s 0.36 inches of thickness. That might not seem like a big difference, but the thinner the e-reader, the easier it is to hold the device and go mobile with it.

The Kindle Voyage comes with something Amazon is calling an “adaptive light sensor.” According to the company, the sensor is able to identify whether it’s day or night and modify the screen’s brightness and clarity accordingly. That should limit any issues with glare during the day or reading books in bed at night.

In the past, users have been forced to employ the touch-screen built into the Kindles to flip pages. The new Kindle Voyage has a feature called PagePress that is pressure-sensitive and sits on either side of the screen, where users typically hold their thumbs. With a quick press on the pads, users can flip pages back and forth.

While allowing users to read books might be the central function of the Kindle Voyage, it’s by no means its only feature. The device has a Smart Lookup feature to let users find information on a topic in Wikipedia and a dictionary. The Kindle Voyage also supports in-line footnotes, improved search and the ability to translate content instantly.

One of the best aspects of Amazon products are the children’s features. The Kindle Voyage comes with FreeTime, which lets parents create personalized profiles for their kids and then give them badges when they complete a collection of titles. In addition, there’s a Vocabulary Builder for kids to quiz themselves on difficult words and a classroom feature if the Kindle is used in the classroom.

The battery life on the Amazon Kindle Voyage is shockingly strong. The device, according to Amazon, can last for “six weeks” on a single charge, easily outpacing any other device on the market. In terms of total battery life, the Kindle Voyage is a real stand-out.

To provide a better experience for those who go mobile with Kindle Voyage, Amazon offers a WiFi-only version and a WiFi-with-3G model. The nice thing about the latter is that Amazon pays for the 3G access, so users can download books without worrying about data chargers.

Compared with other Kindle products, the Voyage is somewhat pricey. The Kindle standard edition goes for $79, while the Paperwhite is available at $119. The Kindle Voyage, on the other hand, is available at $199. Customers are paying a premium for Amazon’s highest-end product.

The trouble for Amazon Voyage is that, when compared to its predecessor, the Kindle Paperwhite, it’s not that big of a jump. The Paperwhite, which is $80 cheaper, has the same 6-inch screen, albeit with fewer pixels per inch. It has a touch-screen and a built-in light. It also has the free 3G with WiFi. Plus, it’s only slightly wider, taller and thicker than the Voyage. One would be forgiven if they chose the Paperwhite instead of the Voyage, simply because it’s cheaper and has many of the same features as Amazon’s latest e-reader.