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• 9.0

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  Reviewed by marcozuma (Currently owns)

  February 1, 2013 09:53 am

  I've loved it since i've held it in my hands! Thin, very easy to turn page, even with one single hand, thanks to the right and left buttons.
  I don't want to talk about the pro's, but only the few con's i've found:
  - 6" display sometimes is a bit too small, with 7" i could have use it to read also manga/comics
  - i would have loved more font styles

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 9
  • Software 8
  • Display 8
  • Performance 8
  • Battery life 10

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• 9.0

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  Reviewed by Prevenge (Currently owns)

  August 12, 2012 06:17 pm

  The new Kindle is small enough for me to slip it into my pants pocket and read on the train, has enough battery life that the only time it's become an issue is when I haven't charged it for two weeks, and in general is a fantastic and cheap device.
  I bought the Kindle to take overseas: my library at home, sadly, doesn't travel with quite the same convenience. It's done everything I've asked it to do and more: the ads are somewhat annoying but are bearable for the price and convenience. The software keyboard is frustrating and the display's set to only completely refresh every sixth turn: this leads to ghosting. There also is no backlight, which should be held against this Kindle if you really need it [but then again: you can't read a normal book without an add-on booklight in those cases, either].
  That said, the Kindle (2011) seems to be the distillation of an idea: giving people e-Book reading as cheaply and as sturdily as possible. I haven't had any problems with my Kindle aside from a blemish on the screen that came about from carrying it around without a screen protector and generally being careless with it: it does what it sets out to do. It's not great for browsing the store: you have a computer for that. It's not great for notes: again, you have a computer for that. [I wouldn't recommend any current device for reading and writing notes: the mighty book still wins that war, though the touchscreen-enabled book readers are undoubtedly much better at it.]
  If you need an eBook reader and don't want or need anything else, the Kindle (2011) won't steer you wrong.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 10
  • Software 9
  • Display 9
  • Performance 10
  • Battery life 10

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• 8.0

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  Reviewed by zen933k (Currently owns)

  March 26, 2012 02:08 pm

  Love the Kindle 2011. Not much I can say outside of it being a great e-ink device that is light and fits perfect with my daily belongings.

  My biggest complaints some from the aluminum backing and casing. I prefer a rubber or 'book-back' style device that can be placed on a surface and not have to worry about scratch, goo, or anything else that might damage the device. The power button is also a little bit awkward. Software also hangs more often than I would like, but doesn't really affect the the device beyond stalling.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 5
  • Software 7
  • Display 10
  • Performance 7
  • Battery life 10

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• 8.0

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  Reviewed by Nilay Patel (Currently owns)

  December 29, 2011 09:52 am

  The new Kindle is pretty great — it's hard to knock a $79 product that does exactly what it promises to do — but for whatever reason I don't think the screen is quite as crisp and easy to read as the Kindle 3. I think it's because the new Kindle only refreshes the entire screen every six page turns or so, while the Kindle 3 blacks out and refreshes entirely every time; the new Kindle starts to look a little blurrier after the third page or so and then snaps back to clear when it does a full refresh. It's not a dealbreaker by any means, just something I've noticed.

  Still, I really like the new Kindle — it's small, cheap, and the battery lasts basically forever.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 8
  • Software 8
  • Display 7
  • Performance 7
  • Battery life 10

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• 7.0

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  Reviewed by malikona (Previously owned)

  December 20, 2011 04:50 pm

  I've always been a Kindle fan, and the Kindle Keyboard has been my reader of choice since it was released. I got a 2011 Kindle when it came out to see if I would make the switch, and while I would still recommend it to most users, I ended up returning mine. It is compact, light, fairly well-built (though one of the page-turn button recesses on the frame was machined improperly), and the UI - while bland and archaic - is extremely fast and responsive. One of the main 'advantages' of this model over the Keyboard is its' ability to turn pages up to three times without doing the whole-screen 'flash' refresh. It does turn pages a little faster because of this, but you end up with some 'ghosting' of the words from the previous page leftover on the next one. This was a real issue for me. I would much rather wait an extra millisecond for the page to turn and have a crystal clear display than feel like I'm reading an entire novel on cheap newsprint. It's just not a tradeoff worth making for me, so I sent it back. Also the device is not so much smaller or lighter than the Keyboard to make it worth losing the keyboard itself in my opinion. As a frequent note-taker and highlighter, the keyboard is just worth it to me. Also the Keyboard has speakers for audiobooks and text-to-speech, while the Kindle 2011 has no sound at all.

  For those who do get this model, remember that you can get the version with "Special Offers" and then, if they bother you, pay to have them removed later. I did not realize this, so I went ahead and sprung for the ad-free version. The fact that you can't change the default screen savers, which are just things like colored pencils and rubber printing-press stamps, actually made me wish I'd saved the money and got the ad-supported version if for no other reason than some variety. Besides that I doubt Amazon will allow any completely tasteless advertisements through in the first place.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 7
  • Software 7
  • Display 6
  • Performance 8
  • Battery life 10

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• 8.0

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  Reviewed by nathanpc (Currently owns)

  December 20, 2011 09:42 am

  I bought the International version about 3 weeks ago and I'm in love with it. For sure it won't beat my Kindle DX, but it's great to read novels and eBooks that doesn't need a large screen (like technical eBooks and PDFs). Also I made a full review of it at my site if you want to check it out: http://www.dreamintech.net/2011/11/first-impressions-on-the-kindle-2011/

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 7
  • Software 10
  • Display 10
  • Performance 5
  • Battery life 10

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