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At the beginning of 2024, I swapped lugging physical books around for traveling light with e-readers. The Kobo Clara B&W e-reader was the first e-reader I ever used, and truthfully, I loved it. The design is simple and portable; it fits perfectly in my fanny pack and has an impressive battery life. However, my e-reader journey changed once I began using the Kindle Paperwhite.

I’m still a big fan of the Kobo Clara B&W, but the Kindle Paperwhite instantly became my preferred e-reader. As a loyal Amazon user, Amazon’s e-reader makes it much easier to buy books linked to my Amazon account instantly. On a more technical side, the Paperwhite has a faster page turn rate than the Kobo and a slightly larger display and longer battery life, all of which put it ahead of the Kobo Clara B&W e-reader for me.

Read on for the four reasons why my Kindle Paperwhite will be my only travel companion from now on.

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Kindle Paperwhite (12th generation)

The newest generation of the Kindle Paperwhite comes in an ultra-thin design with a glare-free screen that’s larger than its predecessors. With up to 12 weeks of battery life, waterproof safety, and free cloud storage, this e-reader can go wherever you do and take your whole library there as well. 

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1 Amazon library

Convenience and books galore

The most significant advantage a Kindle Paperwhite has over Rakuten’s Kobo Clara is the easy Amazon connectivity. Obviously, this is only a big perk if you’re as loyal to Amazon as I am. When I first got my Kobo last year, I had to make a free account on the company’s website, which is a champagne problem at worst but still a slight inconvenience.

Seamlessly linking my Amazon account and using Amazon gift cards to buy books on the Kindle store makes reading on the Paperwhite so much easier.

Avid readers can look into subscribing to Kindle Unlimited. For $15 per month, you can get unlimited access to books, audiobooks, and magazines. Kindle users can borrow as many titles as they want without purchasing each book individually, and the subscription includes access to over four million books and can be used on any device that uses the Kindle app.

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2 Longer battery life

If you forget your power cord, you’re fine

Aside from the Amazon store, the Kindle Paperwhite’s longer battery life is what really pushes it ahead of the Kobo Clara for me. Even though I live in the world of tech, I’m the friend who’s notorious for always having a dead phone or AirPods.

I like to think of it as pushing myself to go without technology, but in reality, I’m lazy and forget to charge my devices. So, when I found out the Kindle Paperwhite has a 12-week battery life, I was sold. I brought the Kindle Paperwhite on my two-week vacation and left the charger home.

After two weeks out in the sun and reading an average of three hours per day, my battery only went down to 68%. The Kobo Clara, on the other hand, only has about 53 days (eight weeks) of battery life if the reader reads an average of 30 minutes per day on 10% brightness. My Kobo also survived a two-week trip of constant reading, however, the battery dropped to 40% by the end of the trip.

3 Faster page turns

Because I can’t get to the next one quick enough

Amazon claims that the 12th generation Kindle Paperwhite has a 25% faster page turn rate than any other Kindle. At first, I didn’t think it would be noticeable, but the faster turn rate was extremely obvious once I started reading. When reading on a Kobo, sometimes the page-turns on my device lag or highlighter residue from the previous page remains on the next page. However, I have yet to encounter that issue with the Kindle Paperwhite.

The faster page turn rate makes reading a breeze, and there are hardly any issues when highlighting or adding notes to a page. To be fair, the Kindle Paperwhite (12th gen) does have a slight lag at times when shopping on the Kindle store or browsing the library, but overall, the Paperwhite feels like it runs much faster than the Kobo Clara.

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4 Slightly larger display

Bigger is better

The Kindle Paperwhite (12th gen) has a seven-inch display compared to Kobo Clara’s six-inch display. While I prefer Kobo’s smaller design when I need an easy e-reader to put in my fanny pack or purse, Kindle Paperwhite’s larger display is better for casual reading. With a resolution of 1264×1680 (300 ppi), the Paperwhite’s new seven-inch display is clearer than previous generations and much easier to read compared to Kobo’s smaller screen.

The larger screen also means there are more options when changing the font sizes. My mom, who wears glasses with a prescription so strong I’m not sure if she really has any eyesight left, praised the Kindle Paperwhite’s large screen and sharp display. She even gave me her exclusive review: “Much better than reading on my iPhone.”