Amazon has been consistently updating their Kindles each year or so for several years (I had the second generation Kindle and I got it back in 2008). Each generation brings things like a slightly faster page-turning experience/refresh and other minor enhancements.

The Basic, All-New Kindle Has a Built-In Light and Audible

As usual, a big selling point of the Kindle is the readability in sunlight

Link: All-New, Basic Kindle – $89

It will start shipping April 10

However, this past year, Amazon has really streamlined their Kindle lineup as they introduced some awesome upgrades to their lower-tiered Kindles. This week, we have the latest and greatest basic Kindle and, for the first time, it has a built-in light!

The basic Kindle normally sits at a $79 price point with frequent sales to get it down to $49. This year, Amazon has bumped the price up to $89 as their regular price for the basic Kindle. What makes it cost $10 more? How about a built-in light!

The Kindle Paperwhite used to the the cheapest model with a built-in light and the basic Kindle was good for all daylight reading. Today, that has changed and even the cheapest of Kindles has a built-in light. It is not the same exact thing as the Paperwhite has 5 lights but the Kindle (basic) has 4 lights which is still pretty good!

What is the Difference Between the Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite?

Other than that, the other things that separate the two devices and their $50 difference in price is that the basic Kindle is still not flush with the edges and the screen and the storage is at 4GB instead of 8GB/32GB with the Paperwhite. Finally, the Paperwhite’s latest feature of waterproofing is not something you will get on the cheaper Kindle.

But, what is probably an even starker change is the look at the basic Kindle from last year to this year. With this new model, you get two huge upgrades – a built-in light and Audible support. With Amazon having the features to auto switch to the same spot in an Audible book that you are at with reading, this is great if you want to take a break from the reading for a bit and just listen.

3 Months of Kindle Unlimited

For a limited-time, you can get 3 months of Kindle Unlimited (a $29.97 value) when you purchase the new Kindle. This is good for new and current subscribers so that is better than the promos that come out for free months at other times of the year (since those are only for new customers). I absolutely love Kindle Unlimited and think it is something every traveler can benefit from (with things like the whole Lonely Planet library available).