Blankbaby

A year ago I reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite for TechHive and I said:

I’d like to see Amazon bring back physical page forward and back buttons. Having dedicated buttons allow you to rest your finger on the button and press down when you need to turn the page, instead of moving a finger to tap on the screen. A minor detail, but one that would make for a more pleasant reading experience.

Amazon listened, kind of, with the Kindle Voyage. The Voyage doesn’t have dedicated page buttons in the traditional sense, it has page turn areas either side of the screen. One is marked with a dot (page back) and the other is a line (page forward). Squeeze either and the Kindle buzzes to let you know and the page turns.

I love PagePress, though I will say that the first few times I used it I accidentally paged back by touching the screen when trying to squeeze the PagePress button. It isn’t happening now that I’ve got the hang of it, but something to be aware of.

Now, this isn’t a full review because other people have done that, but I will say that screen is great. Not being recessed makes a big difference (even though I didn’t think it would), and the light seems a little more even than the Paperwhite 2.

The Voyage is without a doubt the best Kindle ever. You should buy one and use my link to do it.

Since this isn’t a full review I asked folks on Twitter if they had any questions, and some did. Here they are:

@blankbaby have you tried @Oyster? how does it compare

— Philip Brocoum (@stedwick) October 22, 2014

I think this is a reference to Kindle Unlimited (Amazon’s subscription library of ebooks). I haven’t tried it, and Oyster doesn’t work with the Voyage.

@blankbaby How fragile does it feel?

— Jamelle Ghoulie (@jbouie) October 22, 2014

Not fragile at all! In fact, since the front is one solid surface it feels a little sturdier to me than the Paperwhite 2 (which wasn’t a flimsy device itself!). I don’t think a case is needed, but I do like the Amazon case that I bought.

@blankbaby Waste of money?

— Dallas Brown (@kdbdallas) October 22, 2014

Nope.

@blankbaby the biggest one is if it’s worth upgrading from a PW1….

— Ron Ifferte (@rifferte) October 22, 2014

I think so. The screen is much better, and I didn’t like the unevenness of the lighting on the Paperwhite 1. The Voyage (and the Paperwhite 2) doesn’t have the same issue (and the screen is much better).

@blankbaby Is the new high res screen as great as it sounds (and how is the new flush screen)?

— David Crooks (@drcrooks) October 22, 2014

Sometimes you should believe the hype, and that is the case with the Voyage’s screen. It is great.

@blankbaby How does the typography compare to previous versions? Does it have auto-hyphenation? Anything fancy like widow/orphan prevention?

— Benjamin Esham (@bdesham) October 22, 2014

The Voyage’s software is nearly identical to that on the Paperwhite, which means the typography is the same as well. No cool auto-hyphenation or widow/orphan prevention.

@blankbaby is my paperwhite 2 a piece of shit now? Need I feel shame whilst using it?

— Lex Friedman (@lexfri) October 22, 2014

Yes and yes.

@blankbaby lol. Tweetbit on the iPad doesn’t like custom keyboards. I asked for your impressions of the cover compared with the PaperWhite.

— Phil Lee (@philrlee) October 22, 2014

I didn’t have a cover on my Paperwhite, but I’m a fan of the origami cover for the Voyage.

@blankbaby does the vibration on page turn become annoying and can you switch it off?

— Flow (@fjkraemer) October 22, 2014

I like the little buzz when you use PagePress, but you can turn it off (or make it even more buzzy).

@blankbaby How would you describe the responsiveness of the touch screen? How does the touchscreen feel to touch?

— Harry Donovan (@qortex) October 22, 2014

It is just as responsive as the Paperwhite 2, which suited my needs. There is a slight lag when you press to select something, but page turns are quick (and that’s what I’m doing most of the time on the Kindle.