Nice compact size for smaller hands or reading on the go. Aluminum back makes the e-reader heavier, but not so heavy it’s uncomfortable. Colors are beautiful. Double the storage of the plastic version. Compatible with new Kindle Click remote. Aluminum is ad-free (plastic version can be ad-free if you pay extra).

Expensive for the least amount of features in a Kindle. No warm light, and no auto-adjusting light like you’ll get on the aluminum version of other Kindles. Not compatible with Kindle Page Turn Cover. The Kindle Aluminum has no right to be this beautiful.

The base Kindle is the first one available, with both a plastic version and an aluminum version. It’s simply named the Kindle Aluminum, while the aluminum versions of the Paperwhite and Colorsoft are now the new Signature Editions with extra features (like wireless charging, an auto-adjusting front light, and a couple AI features). The Kindle Aluminum only offers the AI features compared to the Signature Editions, while also including a different body, 32 GB of storage, and no lock screen ads. It’s not really enough to validate the price change, yet still I find myself loving it.

New Body, Same System. The 12th-generation Kindle still has the same 6-inch screen, but the device’s overall form factor has changed. The screen is flush with the rest of the body now, rather than sitting indented, and the new Kindle body is actually a quarter of an inch shorter than the 2024 Kindle’s. That sounds like a small increment (and it is!), but having both devices side-by-side, it was easy to spot. The new Kindle also felt like it fit better in my palm, perhaps due to the smoother aluminum backing.

Colorful Cost. Ultimately, you don’t need this Kindle if you already have one, and $190 is a steep price to pay for a model that doesn’t even have a warm option for the front light. The real draw here remains the color body, and Amazon has done a good job with this. My TikTok feed is full of e-reader fans talking about the Ube shade, while the shine of the Alpine Sky is one I would’ve been eyeing had I not ended up reviewing it. I also like that the aluminum body really does feel like an upgrade when I hold it in my hands.