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7 reasons why Amazon Kindle Paperwhite may be the sleeper hit of Black Friday

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If you’re struggling to find the perfect, yet affordable (think under $100/ £ (opens in new tab)100) gift for family, friends and kids, let me point you to a personal favorite: the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite e-reader. This Black Friday deals season has seen savings of up to 45% on this purpose-built digital reading device (in fact, these are some of the best deals ever). Honestly, there are a lot of good reasons to stuff one of these into someone’s stockings.

First, though, let’s pursue some of the best Black Friday Kindle deals available right now.

Best US Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Black Friday Deals

Best UK Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Black Friday Deals

Let me start by saying that I’ve been using Amazon Kindle e-readers since the second edition (it had cute, physical buttons on the side for turning pages). Since then I’ve had several Kindles and my current one has been in my hands for at least four years. In other words, I am a user and a fan.

None of this makes my observations any less valid. I think it at least adds credibility to all the reasons I think the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite sits in the sweet spot between affordability and enjoyment, making for a near-perfect Black Friday Deals buy.

Purpose built

In a world where every wearable device tries to do as much as possible, where watches measure our blood pressure, and smartphones can feel like a car crash, the Amazon Kindle line of e-readers do just one thing: they’re designed for reading.

That’s kind of obvious, but it means that every improvement since the earliest Kindles has been to improve the reading experience and pretty much nothing else. The Paperwhite’s 300ppi display is designed for clarity of letters and reading. Plus, it’s called “Paperwhite” because the E Ink screen has been refined to provide as close to a white background as possible on an electronic ink display (admittedly, you can also read in dark mode that puts “white” text on a black background ).

The 8 GB of storage may not seem like much, but files on e-readers are incredibly small. You can fit thousands of books and magazines (even black and white graphic novels) on a single Kindle Paperwhite. Again, the system is built for reading and you’ll never need space for video or photo files, for example.

Easy to use

Amazon Kindles are generally simple devices. Almost the entire face consists of a 6.7-inch display. There is only one button on the bottom for power and sleep. A touchscreen means the gesture you used to turn pages in physical books works just as well on a Kindle Paperwhite.

There are numerous on-screen controls to enhance and customize your reading experience, including reducing and increasing the font size with a pinch and zoom gesture (what could be easier than that?), and a slider to raise or lower the backlight.

Basically, you can hand a Kindle Paperwhite to even the most tech-averse person and they’ll figure out how to use it in no time.

No distractions

Spend five minutes reading on your iPhone, iPad or Galaxy S22 and you’ll be interrupted at least a few times by a notification or even a pop-up on, say, the web page where you’re trying to dig into that lengthy book.

There are no such interruptions on a Kindle Paperwhite. You can read for hours without a single text message or warning, save the person next to you who gently pushes you out of your reading rance.

Lightweight and portable

Fun fact: While the Kindle Paperwhite is significantly larger than Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro, it weighs one gram less (205g vs. 206g). It’s also so thin — just 8.1 mm — that the Kindle Paperwhite fits in any bag, jacket pocket, or even your back pocket.

I usually carry mine everywhere in my backpack. And if there’s no cellular or internet service, I can pull out the Kindle, which doesn’t need an internet connection unless you’re browsing or downloading a book, and start reading.

Sustainable

Although the Kindle has a glass-covered screen, it is not prone to breakage. I’ve dropped my Kindle and even thrown it away and the screen barely has a scratch. The case is also virtually drop-resistant.

Better yet, all of these Kindle Paperwhites for sale are waterproof, making them perfect beach and pool companions.

Incredible battery life

I challenge you to find another category of gadget that can provide weeks of battery life per charge. The Kindle Paperwhite lasts up to 10 weeks on a charge. Prolonged use of the built-in light will reduce that time, but it’s still more than reasonable to get at least a few weeks of reading per charge.

The point here is that, if you want to read, the Kindle is almost always ready. It’s one of my favorite things about the device.

Read for free

Do you remember libraries? I haven’t gotten into it in years, but I use my local library all the time. In the US, we have the Libby app, which allows you to log into your local library and then view e-books just like you would physical books.

That’s how I read everything—even bestsellers—for free on my Kindle Paperwhite. However, there is one caveat here. Just like with a normal library book, your payout expires after 14 days. The good news is that if you don’t close the book, you can keep reading until you finish it.

There are, of course, many other wearable gadget deals in our collection of Black Friday deals. Check it out before they’re all gone.

More US Black Friday deals

More UK Black Friday deals

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