Now is a great time to buy a second-hand or older Amazon Kindle
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The new Amazon Kindle (2022) has been unveiled and brings a USB-C port and a high-resolution screen to the company’s line of budget ereaders, but it continues a worrying trend among the brand’s E Ink gadgets called rainforest.
The new Kindle costs more than its predecessor, the Kindle (2019), with an entry-level price of $99.99 / £84.99, meaning you’ll pay $10 / £15 more for this new model than you would have spent on the cheapest version of the older one.
We saw the same thing happen with the Kindle Paperwhite (2021), at least in some regions, as it cost £10 more in the UK than its predecessor (but the same in the US and Australia). Other Amazon gadgets are not exempt from these price increases, with the Amazon Fire 7 (2022) costing $10 / £10 more than the previous generation model – keep in mind that these are all super affordable devices, so even a low double price figure price increase is important.
Of course, these price increases are justified in myriad ways – the newer devices are all eschewing the older micro USB port for the standard USB-C, and they also come standard with more storage, so you’re not losing any value in terms of value.
But that’s to forget the fact that if you just want the hardware without spending a lot of money, and not worrying about specs, you’ll still have to spend more for the newer gadgets than the older ones.
However, you don’t need to have a lot of money out of your pocket when you buy a new Kindle reader – no, this is a good reminder that it is possible to buy a gadget on a budget.
Previous versions exist
While Amazon likes to make a song and dance about its new, flashy Kindles, it generally leaves the older generation models for sale.
In the case of the standard Kindle, it’s the 2019 model, while for the Paperwhite it’s the 2018 model – the high-end Oasis hasn’t had an upgrade since 2019, so the current-gen version of that is quite old at this point. .
These older Kindles don’t have the upgrades and tweaks of the new ones, but those changes aren’t always worth the cost anyway, so some users might not mind getting an older version.
Plus, as we’ve already discussed, these versions are cheaper than the newer ones – and that doesn’t take into account the frequent price cuts and discounts they see, making them generally more affordable.
Pre-owned Kindles
The secondhand market for Kindles isn’t quite as thriving as it is for technology like smartphones or tablets — ereader gadgets are generally designed to last much longer than smart ones, meaning people probably won’t get rid of them unless it’s completely broken.
But there are a few refurbished and redesigned Kindles on the web, and buying one of these can be a great way to save some money on an older device that works just as well as a newer one.
That’s especially true prior to the release of a new Kindle, as many people will be trading their older models for the new ones, especially since the 2022 model has USB-C, which is a popular feature.
Amazon has its own revamped section, but if you search around online you can find other revamped sites as well. You can also just buy used devices, which have not been refurbished, from many other sites, including eBay and the Facebook Marketplace, but these have less quality guarantees.
It’s worth saving money
More than with most gadgets, we recommend buying older or updated Kindles.
While buying second-hand or older gadgets generally comes with pitfalls — these gadgets are sometimes slower, with shorter battery life and wear marks — these issues aren’t as problematic on Kindles. Amazon’s eReaders are already slow, with batteries lasting so long that it takes years of use to have a noticeable impact on their lifespan.
As we mentioned, the second-hand market for Kindles isn’t the same as for smartphones, but that makes buying previous-generation models more attractive. If you’re looking for a ‘new’ ereader, it’s well worth checking out alternative markets before buying one of the brand new devices.