Foreword
In the era of fragmented reading, the Kindle is like a clear stream in the digital age. Its appearance is not cool and its function is not rich. It only silently provides you with a reading experience that is closest to a paper book, and nothing more. As early as November 2012, I purchased the Kindle 5 from Meiya. However, for Chinese users, the Kindle experience is not friendly. Even system languages ​​cannot choose Chinese, let alone localization. Interestingly, in the month after my purchase, in December 2012, Amazon released the China Amazon e-book store. In June 2013, Amazon released the national version of the Kindle, and the localization process accelerated. In the blink of an eye in June 2016, Amazon, which has worked in the Chinese market for three years, officially launched a new generation of the Kindle Starter Edition, which not only redesigned the appearance, but also added special localization features. I am also very honored to have the chance to be tested by the new Kindle! Next, I will comprehensively evaluate this new Kindle from the four aspects of appearance, basic operation, new features, and actual reading experience.
let's start!
I. Overview
On June 23, 2016, a new generation of Kindle Starter Edition was released in China and the world at a price of RMB 558. Compared with its predecessors, the new model not only updated its exterior design, but also doubled its memory to 512M, and added localized features such as intimate English word tips, English book smart recommendation books, and WeChat Weibo.
From the aspect of appearance, the new Kindle is 11% lighter and 16% lighter than the old one, with a more beautiful appearance and a more mellow feel. It is convenient for readers to hold one hand.
From a technical point of view, the new generation of Kindle Starter Edition uses electronic ink screen technology, the resolution is still maintained at 167ppi. Under the rapid advancement of fast charging technology, the charging time of 4 hours is slightly longer.
In the Kindle family, the Starter Edition has no backlight and no page-turning keys. It only satisfies the most basic reading experience. For a more advanced reading experience, it is more expensive to buy high-end versions of Voyage and Oasis.
Second, out of the box
Do not talk nonsense, out of the box! Long-term violation of the "value", sent by SF brother!
This time not only a white Kindle, also comes with an official protective shell. Very pleasant!
Then start out of the box with the Kindle! Outside is a blue envelope. The front is the product diagram, followed by the product brief.
Pull out the blue package and see the familiar black Kindle package body.
Turn over and open the adhesive seal to open the package.
Open the package and the white Kindle is on the way. The inside of the lid is a photocopy of a classic classic tree-reading book.
Package family portrait: Kindle body, simple instructions, a data line. As always, streamlined.
It is worth mentioning that the data line has a concave foolproof design, and the details are worthy of recognition. The length is also good.
Let's take a look at the unpacking of the protective shell. Consistent with the Kindle packaging blue packaging.
Inside is a purple shell, skin-like material can effectively prevent slip.
There is a Kindle switch that uses magnets to hold the Kindle. It automatically unlocks the Kindle when you open the case, similar to an iPad's smart cover.
Open, inside is a delicate gray linen lining. Good texture.
Third, the appearance
1, positive: classic Kindle face. The white version is more literary and temperamental.
2. Bottom: Consistent with previous generations, the switch key and charging port are concentrated at the bottom. In the middle is the charge indicator.
3, the back: white Kindle quite MUJI feeling.
The amazon logo is printed on top in a glossy way. Uh, very low-key. 
4, bring protective cover. Perfect match.
5. Size Comparison: Make a simple comparison with my Kindle 5 and 6S.
Contrast this with 16 open Aunt Zhang's words, quite a mini.
In terms of size, there is not much difference with K5. The use of a touch screen allows the Kindle to eliminate the numerous buttons on the K5. But from the point of view of reading, the left and right page-turning keys are still more practical than the touch screen.
In terms of thickness, K5 is a bit thin, but it is also "thinner" than a dollar.
Take a look at the back. The new Kindle uses a matte textured material. To be honest, the non-slip effect is not as good as the K5 of the skin-like material.
Fourth, the basic operation
1, boot operation. Just like the print quality boot interface, it gives shock to anyone who first got started. Too much like a book!
The Kindle is very friendly to beginners, has a very simple guide to getting started, after setting up WiFi and Amazon account you can enter the beginner tutorial.
Getting started is a test of the user's preferences, and the Kindle will push it precisely according to your taste. After a simple setup, you can start using it.
2, home page operation. The top level is the navigation bar, which are: home key, return key, settings, shopping mall, and search. The left side of the middle is the latest book, and the next is the recommended book. The bottom layer is a push advertisement that can be closed manually.
3, book purchase experience. Thanks to a wealth of e-book stores, Kindle has unparalleled advantages in e-books. The book buying experience on the Kindle is also very convenient. First, click the store button on the main screen and enter the name of the book you want to buy in the search.
Click on the purchase and select the payment method to purchase. Payment methods include third-party payment methods such as line cards, Amazon gift cards, and Alipay. It is worth noting that the third-party payment method requires you to go to the computer to scan code payment operations, there is no credit card to buy one by one refreshed.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the Kindle e-book store, the average price is still very cheap, compared to paper books dozens of hundreds of times, the general bestseller price is less than 10 dollars, most of which are in 3 99, One block of 99, this ultra-low price, in my opinion, as society's awareness of copyright increases, the era of using pirated books on the Kindle will fade away.
4, reading operation. In the reading interface, click on the top of the display toolbar, click on the right part is the next page, click on the left to return to the previous page. There is a problem here. If you hold it in your right hand, there is no problem with one-handed operation. If you hold it with your left hand, you need right-handed help, which limits a lot of holding postures. This is used to turning left and right entities. After the key K5, it is more touching. The Kindle also supports multi-touch, two fingers open to zoom in and out of the font adjustment dialog. In addition, for Chinese books, Kindle can not only select different text sizes, but also can choose different fonts to satisfy readers' different preferences.
X-RAY : There is an X-ray function in the toolbar. In simple terms, this is an advanced indexing function. With just a click, you can summarize all the characters, terms, and pictures in the reading book so that you can find it.
As its name suggests, an X-ray shines on all the "dry goods" in the book. For example, if you look at “Lonely One Hundred Years,†a novel with a large number of characters, similar names, and intricate human relationships, the more you see the more confused the back end, and X-Ray puts the relationship between the top and the bottom of the eye. It is undoubtedly a gospel for procrastinators.
Translation of New Words: For readers of English original books, seeing the new words can be accessed by simply pressing a long-term “modern English-Chinese dictionary,†which has become a tool for learning English.
Cross-platform reading experience: When you don't carry your Kindle device with you, just download the Kindle free reading software and you can choose to read Kindle books on your phone, tablet or computer. In addition, Amazon's Whispersync technology can synchronize your reading progress in the cloud.
Slightly inadequate, whether it is on the Kindle reading APP or shopping app on Amazon China, can not directly buy Kindle books, only try sample chapters only. Amazon has done so, just as before, only the Apple device can use the iTunes store to ensure the selling point of the Kindle, but personally think that Amazon can do a little more open, to buy books on the mobile phone, reading on the Kindle is also a good choice, and then It is said that Apple has opened iTunse stores to Android. What else can Amazon do for you?
5, screenshots. In the screenshot, hold both hands of the kindle at the same time. The screen flashes to represent the screenshot. Tap on the corner (in the red dot in the image below). The screenshot file will be stored in the root directory of the kindle memory. .
6, personalized settings. If you suspect that the default homepage is cluttered (bottom left), then you can set it to remove the ads and recommendations and change to a neat and tidy book display style (bottom right). Setup Steps: Settings - Device Options - Personalize Your Kindle - Advanced Options.
V. New Localization Functions
Since Amazon launched the National Bank’s Kindle, it has begun the process of Kindle localization. The new version of the Kindle has added two new features. On the one hand, it has improved the reading experience of English books, including new word prompts and smart recommendation books, and is eager to turn itself into an American “learning lang†English learning machine. The other party added WeChat and Weibo sharing to allow the Kindle to have social attributes so that knowledge is not blocked in a small box. This not only facilitates the user, but also greatly enhances the usability and competitiveness of the product.
1, new word tips. Compared to the previous generation, the vocabulary function has supported Chinese/English translation. The new word prompts increase the function of Chinese interpretation. A short Chinese translation will automatically appear above the new words without stopping the search of the dictionary, greatly improving the reading experience of English books.
Setting method: As shown below, open the English book, click on the top of the screen, select the word prompt in the drop-down menu. After setting to Simplified Chinese, return to the text, you can see the Chinese new word prompt.
If your vocabulary is OK, you can adjust the number of new word prompts and reduce the frequency of low-level vocabulary prompts.
2, intelligent recommended book. Can recommend suitable books according to the English level of readers, such as setting your own grades or passing English grades (such as grade 46, TOEFL, GRE, etc.) for assessment, recommending English books suitable for reading, and helping readers gradually improve their English level . Judging from the actual experience, the books recommended by Amazon are moderately difficult to read and highly available.
How to use: Open the Kindle store and click on "English smart recommendation".
The first step: Choose the test level or test score. Step 2: Select the test type.
Step 3: Fill in the test scores. Step 4: You can read a paragraph of English to determine the current reading ability. If you can read it, then you can choose to increase the difficulty. After that, you can find the right book in "Recommend for you".
3, WeChat share. Readers can add and edit reading notes at any time. Supports Weibo and WeChat sharing to facilitate sharing of favorite e-books or their elite contents with family and friends.
Sharing method: Long press the words to be shared, jump out of the alternative menu, click on “shareâ€, choose to share words and phrases via WeChat or Weibo.
If you share Weibo, the Kindle will connect to your Weibo account for seamless sharing.
If you are sharing to WeChat, you can use mobile phone WeChat to scan the QR code to share it. After you open it, it is the phrase you originally selected on the Kindle. Then, you click on More in the upper right corner to share it with friends.
Six, reading experience
1, one-handed holding. The Kindle's large frame and rounded edges make it easy to hold, making it easy to find a comfortable grip. In addition, the weight of 161g is very light, even if reading for a long time is not difficult.
However, a matte textured shell does not guarantee good slip resistance and can easily fall out if sweating or loss of center of gravity occurs. However, this is not a problem after wearing a protective cover.
2, reading experience. The Kindle's e-ink screen can provide a relatively clear reading experience. There are no problems with vector text at a resolution of 167 ppi, but looking at raster text, such as a jpg-turn pdf, the effect is not very good if the font is small.
Compared with the text reading experience of paper books and e-books, the paper-book reading experience can be almost restored. The Kindle's contrast seems to be higher.
The high-contrast electronic ink screen can suppress strong light reflections, and there is no reflective interference even in direct sunlight, and reading under bright light is completely free of problems.
3, response speed. Due to the memory upgrade, the delay of the operation speed of the touch screen and the refresh rate of the screen is still acceptable.
4, half disabled web browsing. The Kindle's web browsing function is also called the "experience web browser." If you are used to the web browsing experience on the iPad, then the Kindle's browsing function is almost unavailable - subject to the electronic ink screen: 167ppi resolution, touching The refresh rate and the slow response speed, from K4 all the way to the present, can not say no progress, but there is still a distance from the available targets. If you look at the touching Amazon China page below, you'll know a little...
Seven, purchase suggestions
1, advantages:
(1) An e-ink screen with a beautiful paper book and long battery life is ideal for long reading times.
(2) One-handed holding without pressure;
(3) Super English reading aids such as new word prompts are called English learning machines;
(4) Kindle e-book store with a large number of books;
(5) Social sharing makes Kindle more popular.
2. Disadvantages:
(1) The screen resolution of 167ppi is still unsatisfactory for PDF and comics reading needs.
(2) The anti-skid performance of the airframe is general;
(3) No physical buttons, no backlight, limit the use of the scene;
(4) The mobile Kindle has no purchase function;
(5) Compared with devices such as smartphones, the overall machine's response speed is slightly slower.
3, buying advice: The new Kindle Starter Edition can meet the general user needs for reading text books, especially for the first time to buy e-books or lower budget student party, the starter version is fully enough, and new English learning The function is very practical. For Kindle users or heavy users, there is no backlight and physical buttons have a greater impact on the reading experience, Paperwhite and Voyage is a better choice, but still hope that Amazon can slightly down the price a little ...
Eight, summary
The whole new generation of Kindle Starter Edition has a sleek, simple look that makes it easy to add, and adds practical English learning aids and social sharing features to Chinese users, undoubtedly reinforcing the already perfect reading experience. From the launch of the first generation Kindle in 2007 to the present day, Amazon has been quietly working in the field of e-books for nearly 10 years. Whether it is from the reading experience of the Kindle itself or from the massive resources of the Amazon online bookstore, the Kindle is the first choice for electronic reading. “Because it is pure, beautiful,†the Kindle brings the user a immersive immersive reading, allowing users to enjoy the “pleasure†of reading – perhaps, enjoying the joy of reading quietly is the humanistic Zen contained in the Kindle. The unique charm of tranquility!