Thanks to some friends/relatives, I had a chance to briefly check side-to-side four $69 Kindles in black (aka Kindle 5 or Kindle 4B to some folks). As some have had different experiences as to how black the $69 Kindle text actually is, I thought it would be useful to see what the variances are - so people can adjust their expectations and understand where others may be coming from. There are some differences between late 2012 and late 2013 models, at least if these samples are anything to go by.
Differences between late 2012 and late 2013 $69 Kindles:
- Late models have 2013 copyright on the box and a smaller Kindle logo on the box (like Paperwhite 2)
- Not sure if this is a model or U.S. vs. international model, but out of these the 2012 model has a B023 and 2013 models 9023 serial number
- All the 2013 models have slightly warmer screen backgrounds and little less black text than the 2012 model, 2012 is blackest/coldest
All of these Kindles, in isolation, are perfectly fine screen-wise. But it is in comparison that one can see the difference.
Here is a photo, the 2012 model in the bottom left corner which has visibly the blackest blacks.
The camera/ambient lighting makes the two top Kindles look a little more grey texted than they actually are, but all three 2013 models do have greyer text than the 2012 model:
Bigger image:
http://imageshack.us/a/img11/8638/tv6e.jpg
Even larger image:
http://imageshack.us/a/img41/4633/a8vr.jpg
Of course, even in the grey $79 Kindle aka Kindle 4 launch in 2011 some were
reporting contrast issues, so these may be overall variances - or they may be year-to-year differences. But it is good to understand that some contrast variance will be part of the game even on the $69 Kindle. Like I
reported on the lighted Kindle covers LED differences, some variance is there too.