The Kindle Paperwhite has a 7-inch display with a glare-free screen designed to look like paper. It's super light, so it's really easy to take pretty much anywhere. With a battery life of up to 12 weeks, you will rarely need to charge it. I've taken mine on several week-long vacations and didn't even bring a USB cord with me. As long as you've got a few books pre-loaded on your device, you don't even need Wi-Fi to burn through mulitple lengthy novels on a single charge.

Like all of the latest Kindle models, the Paperwhite includes an adjustable display for any level of light. There's even a dark mode you can switch to for reading at night that works great for reading in bed. This has been an absolute game changer for me since traditional reading lights I used to use would keep my wife awake when I used to occassionally stay up late reading a particulary engrossing book.

In addition to the discount, Amazon is also offering three months of Kindle Unlimited for free for new subscribers. You can opt out of this and still get the discount, but if you're interested in the service I recommend checking it out. Almost all of the things I like to read are included with Unlimited, like the popular Dungeon Crawler Carl books and the Fourth Wing novels. It's an excellent service for binging a series without overspending at the Kindle Store.

Should you buy the Colorsoft instead?

Amazon is also offering the Kindle Colorsoft at its lowest price ever, currently discounted to $159.99. It has a lot of similarities to the Paperwhite, but the main difference is that it offers a full-color display. This is particularly useful if you're planning on using your Kindle to read comics, manga, or colorful illustrated editions. If you're only going to read regular books, though, the Paperwhite is the better deal.

Will there be a better deal on Black Friday?

The price on the Kindle Paperwhite matches the lowest price we've ever seen on the device, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the lowest price we'll see all year. Back in 2025 Amazon didn't offer its best Paperwhite deal until Black Friday, which is the same price we're seeing for Prime Day this year. It's definitely possible that Amazon might offer an extra $5 or $10 off later this year based on what we've seen in the past.

With that in mind, this is a good deal right now and if you're in the market for a new Kindle today it's worth picking up at this price. There's no guarantee that a better deal will be waiting for you later this year after all.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and 10 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics -- from TV series to books and the latest Pokémon games.