I have an ancient gen 1 Kindle Paperwhite. I use it virtually every day, and it still works like new. But it has a lousy micro USB connector. Every time a new gen Kindle Paperwhite is announced I eagerly check to see if has USB-C, but years go by and no joy. Until today:

“Get up to 10 weeks of battery life with a single charge via USB-C or compatible Qi wireless charger (sold separately).”

Hopefully that means that it has a USB-C jack. Apparently currently available only for pre-orders. I’ve waited for years, so will wait a few months longer for the beta testers (us) to find early production bugs.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B..._encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Well, the Amazon ad says it charges wirelessly or through USBC, so I guess you're GTG.

What makes the micro USB so inadequate? I understand they aren't as fast as USB C, but is it that big a difference?

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
What makes the micro USB so inadequate? I understand they aren't as fast as USB C, but is it that big a difference?

Why I don’t like micro USB:

* All of my other USB jacks are USB-C, so I need a USB cable just for the Kindle.
* The micro USB has to go in one way. USB-C goes in both ways: 0° or 180°.
* Even when correctly oriented the micro USB plug can be tedious to insert.

We bought a pair of Kindle Oasis in the last year. Love them except for the darn USB connection. While it's obviously not a deal breaker for us, we'd rather had the 'c' connector and/or wireless.

I see new Oasis in our future when these features hit. We read every day. I average 75 books per year.

"charges wirelessly"
Only the enhanced 32GB model. which also has auto backlight

I put a wireless charging pad on the back of my wife's Kindle for this very reason. It's thin, flat, & fits inside the Kindle's case. My wife struggles with charging ports, so we took it out of the equation.

Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Wireles...e%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-9

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
What makes the micro USB so inadequate? I understand they aren't as fast as USB C, but is it that big a difference?

Why I don’t like micro USB:

* All of my other USB jacks are USB-C, so I need a USB cable just for the Kindle.
* The micro USB has to go in one way. USB-C goes in both ways: 0° or 180°.
* Even when correctly oriented the micro USB plug can be tedious to insert.

Also, both USB-Micro ports and plugs are very, very fragile compared to USB-C. I have lost count of the number of USB-Micro cords I have thrown away because they quick working, and have had quite a few devices whose USB-Micro ports have gone flaky or broken completely.

For me the biggest reason is the first you list, though. Basically everything else I use on a frequent basis (laptop, phone, headphones, backup battery) is USB-C.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
What makes the micro USB so inadequate? I understand they aren't as fast as USB C, but is it that big a difference?

Why I don’t like micro USB:

* All of my other USB jacks are USB-C, so I need a USB cable just for the Kindle.
* The micro USB has to go in one way. USB-C goes in both ways: 0° or 180°.
* Even when correctly oriented the micro USB plug can be tedious to insert.

I see. All valid complaints. I just got a new tablet and it is handy that it uses USB C, as does my phone and other devices.

I'd wait for the new Oasis or replacement to the Oasis. The Paper White is older technology for Kindle. I imagine next year you will see all this plus more, including possibly color ink, in the next generation of Kindle. That being said, I get the USB C issue.

We started using magnetic adapters for all our devices so we use the same cords for everything, BUT they won't fast charge. For fast charging we just use the wireless charger

Amazon's reluctance to adopt USBC cost them my Ereader business for the foreseeable future. I needed a new e reader for a couple of years, and I held off in hope that they would release a Kindle with USBC. I finally got tired of waiting and bought an Onyx Boox. It's been fantastic since I got it and it has a whole lot more features so I don't see myself switching back any time soon.

quote:

Originally posted by eyrich:
"charges wirelessly"
Only the enhanced 32GB model. which also has auto backlight

Sounds interesting.

I've been using my old Paperwhite for 8 years now. Haven't had an issue with it but I know Amazon has decent trade ins.

I've had my paper white for 8 years also. I like it but the backlighting is a bit mottled. Might be time for an upgrade

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
What makes the micro USB so inadequate? I understand they aren't as fast as USB C, but is it that big a difference?

It's not the connector that determines the speed or lack of it, it's what's internal to the device it's connected to.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

* All of my other USB jacks are USB-C, so I need a USB cable just for the Kindle.

Just FYI, you don't need to carry around a separate micro USB cable. Just carry an adapter like this.

I carry these in my travel bag for my nook and then just have all USB-C cables.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
What makes the micro USB so inadequate? I understand they aren't as fast as USB C, but is it that big a difference?

Why I don’t like micro USB:

* All of my other USB jacks are USB-C, so I need a USB cable just for the Kindle.
* The micro USB has to go in one way. USB-C goes in both ways: 0° or 180°.
* Even when correctly oriented the micro USB plug can be tedious to insert.

I see. All valid complaints. I just got a new tablet and it is handy that it uses USB C, as does my phone and other devices.

I'll add that the micro USB connector is not very mechanically robust. The number of insertions and removals is not too bad, but not awesome either.

But where they are weak is if you have kids etc who tend to tweak on the connectors, which makes them fail due to the mechanical stresses. USB-C is supposed to be more robust.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
Amazon's reluctance to adopt USBC cost them my Ereader business for the foreseeable future. I needed a new e reader for a couple of years, and I held off in hope that they would release a Kindle with USBC. I finally got tired of waiting and bought an Onyx Boox. It's been fantastic since I got it and it has a whole lot more features so I don't see myself switching back any time soon.

Never heard of these. Was about to order a Kindle. Need something lighter to use as a reader than my surface pro.

How popular are these?

thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
What makes the micro USB so inadequate? I understand they aren't as fast as USB C, but is it that big a difference?

It's not the connector that determines the speed or lack of it, it's what's internal to the device it's connected to.

Kinda-sorta. The connector, the cable, or the device can all be the limiting factor.

The USB-Micro connector is limited to USB 2.0, which has a signaling rate of 480 Mbps.

There IS a version of the USB-Micro connector for USB 3.0, but it looks kind of like two USB-Micro connectors stuck together next to each other, is very uncommon, and is not compatible with normal USB-Micro ports.

The USB-C connector can be used on USB 2.0 cables with the same signaling rate of 480 Mbps, but it can also be used on various USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 and Thunderbolt 3 cables with signaling rates of 5 Gbps, 10 Gbps, 20 Gbps, or 40 Gbps.

Basically, depending on the actual protocols in use, a USB-C connection might be the same speed as a USB-Micro one, or it might be almost 100 times faster, or somewhere in between.

At this point, EVERYTHING is at least USB 2.0. If you want to go faster than that, the cable and the devices and both ends all need to support the faster protocol and if any one of them doesn't, you won't get it.