John Lewis, a British luxury department store chain, has briefly listed a new Kindle that is not available anywhere else. What Amazon hasn’t announced yet is its upcoming 12th generation Kindle ereader, but that information was leaked several times before Lewis posted the listing early. The list is no longer published, but good ebook and The Verge I was able to take screenshots and record device specifications. In a retailer description, Amazon called the 12th-generation basic Kindle the “lightest and most compact” product it has ever designed, with a 6-inch 300ppi display and 16GB of storage.
The front lighting is 25% brighter than the previous version at maximum settings and has a higher contrast ratio, but you can’t change the lighting to cooler or warmer like you can on more expensive Kindles. However, the device is said to enable faster page turns than the previous Kindle and features a new dark mode feature that inverts the colors of the e-ink display. The Verge. If you prefer to listen to books, you can also run Audible on your new Kindle and connect headphones or speakers via Bluetooth.
In addition to the basic 12th generation Kindle, John Lewis has also posted a listing for the Kids Edition version. It’s the same device, except it ships in a colorful case and comes with a free six-month subscription to Amazon Kids+. Previous Kids Edition Kindles came with a free one-year membership to the subscription service, but that meant paying $6 a month to keep access to a selection of books, videos, and games for kids after half a year. As for the 12th generation Kindle itself, the John Lewis listing says it will set you back around £95 ($124), or £10 more than the previous version. Meanwhile, the Kids Edition is a little more expensive, with retailers selling it for £115 ($150).