Paperwhite 3 First Impressions

[haydnfan]

I haven't been active on the forum for quite awhile. But since I pre-ordered the PW 3 and it arrived today for me I thought I would post my first impressions.

Hopefully others will also post their impressions in this thread as well.

Typography and Font:
1. The enhanced typography feature is not enabled yet. I verified that roughly half of my ebooks have that feature, but the PW 3 is not hyphenating in any of them.

2. And the text (using the old fonts) renders with identical layout to the Voyage.

3. Bookerly is not that impressive. It's just too thin and not bold enough at low font sizes (I currently use third smallest on the PW and Voyage, second smallest on the Basic).

Bottomline: meh

The Light:
1. It is much warmer than the Voyage light which IMO is just a little too blue to me. It is also somewhat dimmer than the Voyage, but bright enough IMO.

2. Seems pretty uniform. I don't see any spotlighting or discolorations. YMMV.

Bottomline: best light I've seen since I had Kobo ereaders. Keep in mind that I just don't scrutinize the light as in depth as other readers do.

Native Contrast:
1. It looks brown compared to the Kindle Basic (7th gen).

2. It looks gray compared to the Kindle Voyage. It actually looks pretty neutral, but still feels just a bit off still.

3. The contrast is superior to my Kindle Basic. The blacks on this PW are blacker.

4. The contrast is inferior to my Kindle Voyage. The blacks on this PW are grayer.

Bottomline: within tolerance it's pretty much the same contrast as the other current Kindle models. Slightly better than the Basic, slightly worse than the Voyage. It has a very inoffensive neutral screen and does not just exude brownness like the PW 2.

Speed: pretty fast, the same as the Voyage not as fast as the Basic at turning pages, navigation, shopping etc.

[skyhopper]

Thanks for the review. Are you happy with it? I will receive mine somewhere next week.
It will be my first e-reader ever.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by skyhopper

It will be my first e-reader ever.

In which case I expect you'll be thrilled with it. I think most of us who've been bitten by the eink bug have very fond memories of our first device

[skyhopper]

I can only compare to an iPad 3 which is very heavy, has a very reflective screen and isn't usable outdoors
It will be a huge step forward...

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by skyhopper

Thanks for the review. Are you happy with it? I will receive mine somewhere next week.
It will be my first e-reader ever.

Yes I like it and you should love it. I remember how amazed I was when I bought my first Kindle (the 3rd generation). I couldn't imagine how I would feel if I started with the PW 3!!

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by skyhopper

Thanks for the review. Are you happy with it? I will receive mine somewhere next week.
It will be my first e-reader ever.

In my opinion, the Paperwhite series was the game changer. I think the Paperwhite 3 will be the best of the bunch. I still enjoy my Paperwhite 1 immensely.

[SCION]

Thanks for sharing your impressions. I decided to cancel my pre-order based on the feedback from others regarding contrast and the bookerly font looking too light and thin in videos. You have confirmed it. i'll await for Best Buy to update the Paperwhite displays to take a look in person. Guess I'll hang with the Voyage for now. Maybe sell it and get the 3G model, which is what the P3 would have been.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

The Light:
1. It is much warmer than the Voyage light which IMO is just a little too blue to me. It is also somewhat dimmer than the Voyage, but bright enough IMO.

2. Seems pretty uniform. I don't see any spotlighting or discolorations. YMMV.

Bottomline: best light I've seen since I had Kobo ereaders. Keep in mind that I just don't scrutinize the light as in depth as other readers do.

It's interesting since for me, the lights were reversed. My Voyage is a bit warmer than the PW, but with a bit more even lighting.

I will say the biggest difference I see is that the glass used for the Voyage delivers better contrast and sharpness. The display looks identical between the two models, but the plastic front on the PW winds up distorting the display a bit. Not enough to really be a huge mark against the PW (since it isn't new to the model), but it is noticeable.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by SCION

Thanks for sharing your impressions. I decided to cancel my pre-order based on the feedback from others regarding contrast and the bookerly font looking too light and thin in videos. You have confirmed it. i'll await for Best Buy to update the Paperwhite displays to take a look in person. Guess I'll hang with the Voyage for now. Maybe sell it and get the 3G model, which is what the P3 would have been.

I'm curious: why would you buy the pw3 when you have the voyage? I haven't read one review that says the pw3 is superior in any way except price (the software does not count as the voyage will get it too via update).

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Barty

I'm curious: why would you buy the pw3 when you have the voyage? I haven't read one review that says the pw3 is superior in any way except price (the software does not count as the voyage will get it too via update).

Scion has the WiFi Voyage and wants a 3G kindle. I'm in the same situation I would love a 3G Voyage but can't justify the price.I guess we were both hoping a PW3 3G would do but with all that I have heard and seen it appears not. My hubby has my old PW2 3G and he's not tempted at all by the PW3.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

It's interesting since for me, the lights were reversed. My Voyage is a bit warmer than the PW, but with a bit more even lighting.

I will say the biggest difference I see is that the glass used for the Voyage delivers better contrast and sharpness. The display looks identical between the two models, but the plastic front on the PW winds up distorting the display a bit. Not enough to really be a huge mark against the PW (since it isn't new to the model), but it is noticeable.

Hrmmm, this kind of relates to what I was wondering...
maybe you or anyone with a PW3 can help me out? They text on the Voyage looks like it kind of 'floats' ontop of the screen, like, on the very first layer... anybody know what I mean? It looks incredible... wondering if the PW3 has the same effect on text?
Cheers!

Very happy with my Voyage but man, am I a sucker for anything 'NEW!' :P

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Very happy with my Voyage but man, am I a sucker for anything 'NEW!' :P

I'm a little puzzled by this. A few days ago you said that you'd returned your Voyage and got a Kobo H2O instead, because you weren't happy with the Voyage's fonts .

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=875

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Barty

I'm curious: why would you buy the pw3 when you have the voyage? I haven't read one review that says the pw3 is superior in any way except price (the software does not count as the voyage will get it too via update).

I am reading now on a Paperwhite 1 and a Voyage. Both have a display that is fine for me to read. The Voyage is brighter which is a plus for old eyes. On the other hand, I much prefer the size of the Paperwhite. The Paperwhite is easier for me to handle. I do like the flush screen on the Voyage.

I sometimes use the haptic buttons but don't miss not having them. The Voyage and its case are $85 more than the Paperwhite 3 and its case and for me, the Voyage case is a fail.

Some prefer the keyboard and mechanical buttons of the Kindle Keyboard to the newer touch models. I assume not enough prefer it to keep it going. We'll wait and see if the Paperwhite line keeps going.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I sometimes use the haptic buttons but don't miss not having them. The Voyage and its case are $85 more than the Paperwhite 3 and its case and for me, the Voyage case is a fail.

There are lots of different Voyage cases, of course, if you don't like the Origami flip cover (which personally I do like). Josie's probably the best person to ask about Voyage cases - she has about 53 different ones .

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are lots of different Voyage cases, of course, if you don't like the Origami flip cover (which personally I do like). Josie's probably the best person to ask about Voyage cases - she has about 53 different ones .

I have 7

I have the origami, one slip in case and the rest are clip in cases. I have both the ones that cover all the Voyage apart from the bottom and ones that cover just the sides. If we are going by names I have the

Origami
Invent (slip in)
Fintie
ACcase
Omoton
Swees x 2 (Gold and Pink )

I've promised myself the Poetic Tree case if I get a updated Voyage (plus I like the Fintie map too). I prefer the cases that only cover the sides so that's the Swees and the Fintie.

Obviously I am hoping another generation of Voyage keeps the same size