Amazon’s new Kindle is only $80 and comes in white

Valentina Palladino

Amazon

The luxurious $290 Kindle Oasis moves out of the spotlight so another Amazon e-reader can be highlighted today. Amazon announced a new, more-affordable Kindle that's just $80 and will be available in white and black. The new model replaces the cheapest version of the e-reader that has been available for a while, and it doubles the memory, bringing it up to 512MB.

In addition to the extra memory, the $80 Kindle will have a slightly thinner, lighter, and more rounded design than its predecessors. It will have a touchscreen display as well, but it won't be the 300 PPI screen that the $120 Kindle Paperwhite has (it will sport a 167 PPI display instead). Some reports also suggest that the new Kindle will come with Bluetooth support so blind readers can hook up a pair of wireless headphones to listen to books, along with a note-sending feature that will let you send yourself messages and highlights, which can be exported as PDFs or spreadsheets.

Amazon has not provided an exact battery life estimate, but it did say the new device will last "weeks" on a single charge. What will really set the $80 e-reader apart is Bluetooth support, as other Amazon Kindles do not have that capability (at least, not yet). If you don't need the Bluetooth features right away, the Kindle Paperwhite still offers a sharper (and backlit) display.

The new Kindle is available for preorder now in black and white on Amazon for $79 with Special Offers and $99 without (Wi-Fi only; there is no cellular option). The $120 Kindle Paperwhite will now be available in white as well.