Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite reader has a larger screen and faster page turns

Amazon’s latest version of its popular Kindle Paperwhite has arrived, marking the sixth iteration if you’re keeping score at home. The new model is the thinnest Paperwhite yet and has a refreshed 7-inch screen that’s a touch larger than the previous model’s 6.8-inch display. It also has the highest contrast of any Kindle thanks to the oxide thin-film transistor display tech.

Amazon boosted the speed as well, promising 25 percent faster page turns. It’s waterproof as before but uses a new material with a premium soft touch grip. The Kindle Paperwhite comes with 16 GB of storage and is available in three colors, Raspberry, Jade and Black. It’s now available at Amazon for $160.

As before, the company also released a premium version with more bells and whistles, the Paperwhite Signature Editing. Storage doubles on that model to 32 GB and it features an auto-adjusting front light along with optional wireless charging. The Paperwhite Signature Edition comes in Metallic Raspberry, Metallic Jade and Metallic Black for $200.

If it’s a budget reader you’re after, Amazon has refreshed the entry-level Kindle, too. The new 12th-generation model comes with an updated 6-inch screen, offering a higher contrast ratio for more legible text, plus a front light that’s 25 percent brighter at the maximum setting. It also gets a performance update that boosts page turning speeds. It comes in black or a new “Matcha” color and is now on sale for $110.

Along with those models, Amazon also unveiled its first color Kindle, the Colorsoft, that could be ideal for graphic novels and other digital color-oriented content. It promises “rich, paper-like color” using an oxide backplane display, plus high contrast on both color and black-and-white content. It’s now on pre-order for $280 with shipping set for October 30th. Finally, Amazon is releasing its second Kindle Scribe reader that doubles as a note-taking device (not unlike the reMarkable tablets). It’ll arrive on December 4, but you can pre-order it now for $400.