Digital Dominance: The Kindle makes reading much easier and more portable with adjustable settings

As an avid reader and someone who has read 50 books so far this year, I have my reading sessions down — a soft blanket, an iced latte and most importantly a Kindle.

I bought a Kindle at the beginning of the summer and with all of its bigger text size, higher brightness and subscription options that are inexpensive compared to paperbacks.

I can confidently say that it’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made in my reading life. My Kindle has been the only way I’ve read since because it makes reading so much easier for people who have specific ways they like to read. 

I purchased the 10th generation Kindle in 2023, which was around $135, but depending on which type it can range anywhere from $100-200. It comes with detailed customization options from text size to brightness level, making it adjustable to different readers' preferences. 

Annotation options like highlighting and notes are incredibly useful to be able to go back and look at important parts of a book. I like to keep my physical books looking as new as possible for the aesthetics of it, so not having to write and highlight on my books is ideal.

My favorite feature about the Kindle is that it can link to a Goodreads account. Goodreads is an app also run by Amazon where readers can track what books they’ve read and write reviews. Since both are made and run by Amazon you’re able to see all of the annotations and progress that was made on the Kindle from a person’s phone, which I love.

Whereas with paperback books, the progress on a book has to be entered manually which takes a lot of time in order to see it on the Goodreads app, and aren’t able to digitize highlights made when reading. 

With any type of Kindle that’s purchased the option to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited is included, which allows the reader to get any books in the selection for free rather than buying them. Kindle Unlimited costs $11.99 per month and users are able to download as many as 10 books at a time — which is a steal and very convenient compared to the average $15-20 per paperback.

Although I pride myself on my color-coordinated bookshelf in my room, it's less practical to lug paperbacks around with me. Risking getting a book wet at the pool or getting it beaten up in my backpack isn't worth it.

But, with Kindle being portable and electronic, it has more protection from damage. There are also so many Kindle cases available to personalize it. I’ve seen a trend of people buying clear Kindle cases and then putting some of their favorite stickers inside, which I think is unique because they are able to switch out the stickers when desired.

While the Kindle has many positive features, there are some downsides to buying one as well. The biggest cons to me are the Kindle's battery life and dependency on an internet connection. Even though the Kindle’s battery does last a few days, if I am reading nonstop and the charge is draining, I’ve noticed that it tends to glitch. 

A concern that many Kindle readers have is the increased exposure to blue light, but in 2015 Amazon added a blue light filter to lower particular light spectrums leading to negative health effects. They also included more settings where readers are able to adjust the color tones coming from the device.  

Even though some concerns are valid, Amazon has created many new and improved versions of the Kindle since the one I purchased that came out in 2019. The Kindle still has numerous advantages over paperbacks that make it much simpler to use. It’s also a blessing for people who are night readers like me and don’t want to have to turn off their bedroom light when they’ve finished reading. 

Paperbacks are outdated and aren’t able to adjust to the reader. The Kindle is an efficient and more customizable way to read, leading to a better reading experience. I’ll be leaning towards the Kindle for years to come when I want a portable book that has lots of adaptable settings and is less at risk of damage.