Amazon’s new cheap Kindle update comes with 3 useful upgrades

It’s been over three years since the launch of the Amazon Kindle (2019), but finally, the tech giant has decided to update its entry-level ereader line with the launch of the Kindle (2022).

This new ereader, released alongside a Kids’ Edition version, sits below 2021’s Kindle Paperwhite, as well as the Kindle Oasis line which also hasn’t seen an update since 2019, in the company’s line-up. The entry-level Kindles are the budget options for people who don’t need all the bells and whistles of the premium alternatives.

The 2022 Amazon Kindle brings five key changes from its predecessor, and three of them are pretty useful.

The first of these is a USB-C port, replacing the micro-USB of the older devices, and this port is quicker for the transfer of power and data. That means that the new Kindle will charge quicker than its predecessor, and if you use cables to connect the ereader to your computer, it will be quicker to send ebooks over too.

Closely linked to faster charging is the battery capacity, as Amazon has bumped up its estimated battery life on this new Kindle. Now, it’ll apparently last for six weeks – for context, from our testing, the last-gen model gave you about two weeks of reading for an hour per day, so this is a big increase.

The third useful upgrade here is in the storage space, because Amazon is offering double the capacity – the base configuration is now 16GB, over 8GB in the last model. That’ll give you more space for books, comics or magazines, and we imagine most readers will find 16GB more than enough.

A smaller change here is the screen. While it’s still 6 inches diagonally, like the one on the 2019 Kindle, it’s getting a resolution upgrade. The Kindle (2022)’s display has a pixel-per-inch count of 300, which is a big step over the 167 of the last model. This will make text sharper, but should be most useful for illustrations and images.

One other small change in this new Kindle is the price. It starts at $99 / £84.99 while we’re still waiting on pricing in other currencies. That’s actually more expensive than the previous model, which started at £69.99 / $89.99 / AU$139 – however when you consider that you’re getting more storage this time around, an increase you’d otherwise have to pay for on the older models, this slight price increase isn’t as galling.

The Kindle is up for pre-order in the US now, and will hopefully be made available in other regions before too long, however we weren’t provided with a final release date.

Here at TechRadar we haven’t tested this new Amazon Kindle yet, but we’ll make sure to get our hands on it as soon as possible so that you can find out whether it’s a worthy upgrade or not. Perhaps soon it’ll hit our list of the best ereaders.