Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition | 32 GB with a 6.8" display, wireless charging and auto-adjusting front light | Without ads | Black (Previous generation)

The Kindle Signature is well made, light in the hand and has great software. Like previous models it provides a pleasurable, but now improved, reading experience. I have tried other brands/models from time to time and they never quite do it for me. I succumbed to the new spec of the new Kindle Signature which on balance had a few features I liked compared with the slightly cheaper New Paperwhite. As it happens I am not crazy about auto-adjust lighting (see below), but the wireless charging seems like a good idea (I will buy a charger soon) and the larger memory allows me to carry more books and documents (but to be honest I’m not sure I really need 32MB). I don’t regret my choice because I am lucky that I could afford it, but if budgets were tighter then the New Paperwhite would serve me just as well. Overall the Signature has some great improvements and I give it 5 stars overall, though with the few reservations I note in this review. I upgraded because although my six year-old Voyage is still a good ereader it is a bit past its sell-by and I don’t think it is getting any more software updates. The Signature is good to use. The slightly larger screen is great (after this the Voyage now feels somehow cramped) but it is physically larger in the hand and, for me, not quite so easy to hold (and my hands aren't small). What makes it more awkward is the position of the on/off switch on the bottom edge of the device. I cannot describe it as anything less than a really daft design decision. I read a couple of reviews that pointed this out but I figured I could manage. It does take a bit of getting used to but it is not a game-changer. (see the picture for some idea of what I am saying) Due to its larger size, it is difficult to wrap my hand around it without my fingers contacting the switch. I find that holding it by the bottom left corner is the most comfortable grip for me but that puts my fingers close to the switch. I know a case/cover might help but, until now, I have never used cases. They just add bulk, flaps, and other fiddly bits that get in the way. I abandoned them long ago as more trouble than they are worth. For comparison, the Voyage button is on the back of the top right corner - the perfect position. Goodness knows why the designers thought the bottom edge was a good idea. What's more it is very light touch so only requires a fly to breathe on it and switch the device off! So, the other evening while reading in bed and resting it on the duvet, it switched off. The duvet! Having said all that, I like it very much. With all gadgets, there is always a need to adapt to their quirks and I can learn to live with this very bad switch design. I am not sure yet about the battery life. It seems OK although I haven't yet left it lying around untouched for more than a day. So, only 4 stars for battery life to reflect my uncertainty. The lighting is good although for me adaptive lighting never seems to make a lot of difference to my reading experience. I rely more on manual adjustment as and when needed. However, the lighting controls on the Signature are much more flexible with separate controls for warmth colouring and brightness. This is a 5 star feature but overall, I only give 4 stars for lighting because, after some 10+ years of using ereaders, I still don’t get the benefits of adaptive lighting even though it is usually marketed as a flagship feature. The touch screen is superb and the speedy response from the hardware is excellent. For example, highlighting passages of text (which I use a lot) is greatly improved especially across screen breaks (aka 'page' breaks). Even on the Voyage this could be difficult to manage. At times the Signature can almost be too good and on a few occasions I have highlighted two or three screenfuls before I even blinked! But that's easily corrected and definitely not a problem. I should also note the improved design of the screen keyboard with more space around 'keys' and so far fewer errors when typing notes with highlights. For me that’s a very helpful redesign. Page turning is nice and fast although I don't use the animation. While it's a clever and thoughtful detail it seems more decorative than functional. Quite a few other subtle improvements to the interface enable easier organization of books and settings. The overall performance improvements on the hardware side make all the settings and adjustments smoother to use. The screen down-swipe to get at the display settings is particularly neat. However, one area that I think still needs improvement is the awkward design of the 'all' versus 'downloaded' aspects of library management. I’m not sure how to suggest this could be improved but at times it really does seem to get in the way. In my usage I rely almost totally on local storage and management of my books (using Calibre) so I typically download files from Kindle Content to transfer by USB. In use, I find that the Kindle seems to have a weak separation between texts held on Amazon's storage versus my local copies. This seems to interfere particularly with the management of Collections. While this is a very useful library management feature the Kindle can be annoying because it doesn't seem to ‘realise’ that the local copy of a book that’s downloaded and transferred via USB is the one I want to use in my Collection and not Amazon’s online copy. Of course, I understand that many reading people may rely more consistently on the online storage provided by Amazon so this is unlikely to be an issue for everyone. After all, it's not like managing email - there's only occasional downloading required. I just find that managing my books locally is so much better and because I also buy EPUB books and convert them (Calibre works well for this most of the time) so I can transfer them to my Kindle. I haven't yet checked out how well the Signature handles PDF (always clunky on ereaders, even those that claim to support them), or its image handling. I don't have any expectations either way on these features so won't be disappointed if it is the same as before (i.e. not brilliant but adequate). Finally, given my difficulty in gripping the thing (a personal issue) I might even succumb to a case after all. Once I have fully adapted to the shape and size of this new gadget I look forward to 4/5/6 years of software support and enhancements and pleasurable reading