Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) vs Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025)

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Kindle Paperwhite (2021) compared with Kindle Scribe (2025)

	AmazonKindle Paperwhite (2021)	AmazonKindle Scribe (2025)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2021	December 2025
Screen
Screen size
Screen size	6.8″	11″
Sharpness
Sharpness	300 pixels per inch	300 pixels per inch
Colour
Colour	No	No
Front light
Front light	Yes, adjustable warmth	Yes, adjustable warmth
Display detail
Display detail	Glare-free Paperwhite display, 16-level grey scale; flush front with thinner borders than the previous Paperwhite	Glare-free Paperwhite display, 16-level grey scale; textured, paper-like surface; flush front
Front light
Front light	Adjustable front light with adjustable warm light	Auto-adjusting front light with adjustable warm light
Page turns and refresh
Page turns and refresh	Amazon says page turns are 20% faster than the previous Paperwhite	Quad-core processor; Amazon says writing and page turns are 40% faster than the previous Scribe
Reading and writing
Stylus
Stylus	No	Yes
Page-turn buttons
Page-turn buttons	No	No
Audiobooks
Audiobooks	Yes	Yes
Storage
Storage	8 GB, 16 GB	32 GB, 64 GB (better)
Software
Software	Kindle	Kindle
Formats
Formats	Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI and PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP through conversion; Audible (AAX)	Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI and PRC natively; PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP through conversion; Audible (AAX)
Book store
Book store	Kindle Store	Kindle Store
Stylus
Stylus	–	Premium Pen included (17 g, 155 × 8.8 mm); no charging or pairing; built-in eraser and shortcut button
Note taking
Note taking	–	Notebooks, writing in documents and books; AI notebook search and summaries; import from cloud services
Connections and battery
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 weeks	Up to 12 weeks
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 10 weeks at half an hour of reading a day with wireless off and the light at 13; Audible streaming over Bluetooth shortens it	Up to 12 weeks reading or 3 weeks writing, at half an hour a day with wireless off and the light at 13
Charging
Charging	USB-C; full charge in under 2.5 hours with a 9 W USB power adapter, or about 5 hours from a computer	USB-C; full charge in under 3 hours with a 20 W USB-C power adapter
Connectivity
Connectivity	Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz; WEP, WPA and WPA2)	Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz; WEP, WPA, WPA2 and WPA3)
Audio
Audio	Bluetooth audio for Audible and the VoiceView screen reader	Bluetooth audio for Audible and the VoiceView screen reader
Design
Weight
Weight	205 g (better)	400 g
Water resistance
Water resistance	IPX8	–
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	Tested to withstand immersion in 2 metres of fresh water for 60 minutes	–
Size
Size	174.2 × 124.6 × 8.1 mm	245 × 189 × 5.4 mm, excluding feet
Colours
Colours	–	Graphite
In the box
In the box	Kindle Paperwhite, USB-C charging cable, Quick Start Guide	Kindle Scribe, Premium Pen, USB-C charging cable, replacement tips