Wired says Amazon's aluminum Kindle has the looks but not the features to justify its price

When the Wired reviewer showed people the Alpine Sky model, they asked for one. In the reviewer's words, "every single reader friend I've shown it to has said they want it for the color alone" ^[3]. The reviewer's editor, who prefers physical books, said the photos made her want one too ^[4].

The review argues that a new finish can sell upgrades for Amazon, noting that most generations came only in black and that the new colors could have existing owners "champing at the bit to upgrade" ^[18]. Then it backs off. "It's not really enough to validate the price change, yet still I find myself loving it," the reviewer wrote ^[13]. On color alone, the reviewer added, "it's hard to say it's worth it just for the color, since you could always buy a case instead" ^[17].

The premium buys more than looks and storage. The aluminum model is ad-free, while the plastic version is ad-free only if you pay extra ^[11]. It has 32 GB, double the plastic version ^[9], which puts the plastic model at 16 GB ^[25]. It works with the new Kindle Click remote ^[10], and the reviewer's list of what it adds includes the AI features ^[20]. Against that, it has no warm light, no auto-adjusting light ^[8] and no Page Turn Cover support ^[21]. The aluminum Paperwhite and Colorsoft get the auto-adjusting light as Signature Editions ^[7]. The review says neither the aluminum Kindle nor the 2024 Kindle has a warm-color front light ^[16], so the missing warm light is an old gap that the metal back does not close. Wired sums it up as "Expensive for the least amount of features in a Kindle" ^[12]. The review text does not include a price for either version, so the premium cannot be put in dollars here.

On build, Amazon says the Kindle Aluminum weighs 5.7 ounces, the plastic 2026 Kindle 4.9 and the 2024 plastic Kindle 5.56 ^[1]. That makes the aluminum model 0.8 ounces heavier than the plastic 2026 one ^[22], about 16 percent ^[23]. Against the 2024 model, Amazon's figures give a gap of 0.14 ounces ^[24]; the reviewer's kitchen scale found 0.2 ^[2]. The body is a quarter inch shorter than the 2024 Kindle's, the screen sits flush with the frame, and the screen is still 6 inches ^[14]. The reviewer found the size good for smaller hands and reading on the go ^[19]. Books opened much faster than on the 2024 Kindle, while page-turn speed looked nearly identical ^[15]. That comparison is to the 2024 model, not the plastic 2026 one, so it is no reason to choose metal.

We'd put the aluminum Kindle in front of one buyer: someone getting a first Kindle, or replacing an old one, who reads with the lights on and wants a compact device with a good finish. The trade-off is 0.8 ounces over the plastic model and a front light that neither warms nor adjusts itself. Two questions sort everyone else. If you need a warm light, an auto-adjusting light or the Page Turn Cover, the aluminum Kindle is out, and the Signature Edition Paperwhite or Colorsoft is where the auto-adjusting light is ^[7]. If you need none of them, price the plastic Kindle plus the ad-free fee against the aluminum Kindle, and set 16 GB against 32 GB. When the gap is smaller than what a case costs, buy the aluminum. Otherwise buy plastic and buy the case.