A lost Kindle is an opportunity for a big upgrade on Amazon Prime Day

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)

I started slowly, but within minutes I was frenetically tearing through my backpack’s seemingly 200 pockets searching for my beloved Amazon Kindle. It had to be there, somewhere. But it wasn’t; and I soon accepted that I’d left it behind on my flight to Paris for Samsung Unpacked.

Twelve years – that’s how long I owned that Kindle. It was the first Paperwhite edition, bringing higher contrast to the 212ppi reflective E Ink screen. It had built-in 3G that no longer worked, and an experimental web browser that was all but useless. There was a built-in LED light to illuminate the screen when there wasn’t enough sun or ambient light for comfortable reading, but I usually turned it way down because the vaunted weeks of battery life had shrunk to maybe a week (I also kept the built-in Wi-Fi turned off most of the time, until I was ready to download a new book).

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Yet, I loved my Kindle for its portability and simplicity. It flew all over the world with me, made many trips to the beach, and probably watched me fall asleep reading more times than I care to admit. I contacted Delta airlines, which has tried in vain to locate the the 6-inch-screen device. I appreciate the effort, but I know what I have to do: buy a new Kindle.

Prime Day to the rescue

If there’s a silver lining to the timing of my gadget misfortune it’s that Amazon Prime Day (July 16-17) is upon us, which means there’s a solid chance that I’ll find an excellent deal on one or more of the three core best Kindle ereader options: Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, and Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. Amazon also lists the Kindle Oasis if you search for it, but it doesn't appear to ship globally anymore, and more importantly not to my neighborhood in the US.

The differences across the three core Kindle models are now small, but worth considering. All offer 300ppi screens and weeks of battery life, but screen sizes vary from six inches to 6.8 inches, and the basic Kindle does not offer a flush-front design. You can get an ample 16GB of storage in both the basic Kindle and Paperwhite, while the Signature Edition gives you 32GB.

My Paperwhite had just 2GB of storage and, to be honest, it was enough. Part of the reason is that it makes little sense to read, for instance, graphic novels (lots of color graphics and larger files) on the monochrome E Ink display, and even a 300-page book of text might only take up 2.6MB of space.

All the Kindles I'm looking at have touchscreens, but you don’t get waterproofing unless you upgrade to at least the Paperwhite, and only the Signature gets you wireless charging.

My lost Kindle was so old it still used a micro USB charger, which meant that when I did have to charge it I had to go hunting for one of my few remaining micro USB cables.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (Image credit: Amazon Kindle)

The price variation across these three core options is considerable. In the US I could pay from $99.99 for the basic Kindle up to $189.99 for the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. However, as I noted above, it’s almost Prime Day, which means often considerable discounts on Amazon's own devices.

Naturally, I want to go for the Signature model, but paying almost $200 for a device that essentially does one thing very well (I guess Audible book playback sort of makes it two things) does not appeal to me.

The Paperwhite, which is currently $149.99 in the US, might drop to $99, which would make it an excellent deal, but it’s unlikely that my desired Signature will fall below $150; it might, but I’m not counting on it. Also, do I really need to pay that much more just to get wireless charging? Even the number of LEDS – 17 – is the same as on the regular Paperwhite, I also don’t think auto LED-light adjustment is worth the extra bucks.

Okay, I think I decided. As soon as the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite goes on sale this Prime Day, I’ll pull the trigger. Unless of course, Delta finds my old Kindle, in which case I might keep using it – at least until Black Friday.

@techradar
♬ Rock and Roll Session - Canal Records JP

The best early Amazon Prime Day deals

Amazon Devices: Fire TV Stick from $14.99
Apple: iPads and Apple Watch from $189
Audible: three months free
Back to school: essentials and tech from $5
Cameras: $100 off GoPro bundle
Gaming: free PC games until July 16
Headphones: deals on Anker and Bose
Health: electric toothbrushes from $14.99
Kitchen: up to 22% off KitchenAid
Kindle: three months Kindle Unlimited
Laptops: record-low prices for MacBook Air
Music Unlimited: five months free
Smart home: up to 61% off cameras
Tablets: Fire and Samsung tablets from $64.99
TVs: cheap TVs from $64.99
Vacuums: Shark from $149.99

Kindle Scribe: was $339.99 now $234.99 at Amazon
This is the new lowest-ever price for the Kindle Scribe, beating the previous record-low by $5. It combines some of the best features of the Kindle Paperwhite, such as the glare-free and auto-adjusting display, with the option to take notes, comment on documents, and doodle using the included stylus pen. In our Kindle Scribe review we were initially disappointed with some missing features, but these have since been added in recent updates, so this price is great value for such a multi-functional device.

A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.