Amazon's newest Kindle lineup, announced earlier this month, splits the base model into two versions for the first time: a plastic Kindle and a pricier Kindle Aluminum. Wired's review of the Kindle Aluminum, published Monday, lands on a simple verdict: it looks better than any Kindle has a right to, and $190 is still a lot to ask.
The aluminum model is the one grabbing attention mostly for its colors. Wired's reviewer singled out the Alpine Sky finish, describing it as glinting in sunlight and drawing unprompted praise from friends and even a Kindle-skeptical editor who prefers physical books. A Seaglass Green option rounds out the aluminum lineup, while the cheaper plastic Kindle comes in classic black or a new Ube purple. Previous generations mostly shipped in one color, so Wired frames this as Amazon's attempt to give existing owners an actual reason to upgrade, something smartphone makers have leaned on for years.
Spec-wise, the Kindle Aluminum carries 32GB of storage and drops the lock-screen ads that ship on cheaper Kindles by default. It also gets two AI features: Story So Far, which recaps where a reader left off, and Ask This Book, a question-and-answer tool Amazon says is coming soon. That's the full list of what separates it from the base plastic Kindle, and Wired's reviewer isn't convinced it adds up to the price jump on its own.
The body itself did change. The 12th-generation Kindle keeps its 6-inch screen but now sits flush with the surrounding frame rather than recessed, and the whole device is about a quarter-inch shorter than the 2024 Kindle. Wired's reviewer said that was noticeable side by side and that the aluminum back made the device sit better in the hand, despite Amazon listing the Kindle Aluminum at 5.7 ounces against 4.9 ounces for the plastic 2026 model. The reviewer called the aluminum version noticeably heavier in hand even though a kitchen scale showed only a 0.2-ounce gap, a discrepancy a second household tester also noticed.
Wired also reported that books opened noticeably faster on the new hardware than on a 2024 Kindle, though page-turn speed felt about the same. The front light runs slightly warmer than the 2024 model's blue-tinged output, the review said, but there's still no true warm-light mode, something rival e-readers already offer.
What the Kindle Aluminum doesn't get matters as much as what it does. Amazon reserved wireless charging and an auto-adjusting front light for the new Signature Edition versions of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Colorsoft, both built on the same aluminum chassis. Only those two models will work with Amazon's new $80 Kindle Page Turn Cover, which adds physical page-turn buttons. Wired's reviewer suggests shoppers torn between models might be better off waiting to see whether the pricier Paperwhite or Colorsoft Signature Edition is the smarter buy, rather than settling for the base aluminum Kindle on looks alone.
The Kindle Aluminum is now Amazon's first e-reader to ship, with the Paperwhite and Colorsoft Signature Editions expected to follow as part of the same October rollout.
RRFiled by The Reviews Roundup Desk
What the reviews are saying: verdicts on new devices from the outlets that tested them, summarised and credited to each. This desk does not test products itself.
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