Anyone have a Kindle Voyage?

[IndyColtsFan]

Anyone have a Kindle Voyage? If so, I'm interested in hearing your feedback on the screen. Specifically:

1. How is the backlight? Even, or do you see darker spots?
2. Are you seeing the color gradation mentioned in many reviews where the top of the screen is yellowish or pinkish and the bottom is blue?

I do have one and am debating a return and ordering another, but if this problem is as widespread as it seems, I may just hang on to it or go back to a Paperwhite 2.

 

[Thump553]

I have a reverse question for you. I use a Paperwhite (a lot) and like it well enough. Do you think the Voyage is enough of an improvement to justify double the price of a Paperwhite, and if so why?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I have a reverse question for you. I use a Paperwhite (a lot) and like it well enough. Do you think the Voyage is enough of an improvement to justify double the price of a Paperwhite, and if so why?

If you have a Paperwhite 2, probably not. The Voyage is a fine device for sure but a few things to consider:

1. They do seem to be having QC issues now.
2. Amazon did price it too high.
3. I have not really conducted any sort of testing, but word in the forums is that the Paperwhite 2 has significantly better battery life.

In my case, I bought both a refurb Paperwhite 2 and a Voyage. I gave the Paperwhite to my wife after having used it for a few days and decided to keep the Voyage as a treat for myself. The Voyage has a higher-res screen but the Paperwhite's backlighting was much more even IMO except at the highest settings. The Voyage does have the cool haptic feedback buttons and IIRC, the case is metal rather than plastic. Another nice feature is that the screen is flush with the bezel. I'm kind of OCD and it really annoyed me how dust would sometimes get caught in the little area where the bezel and screen met on the older Kindles. This doesn't happen on Voyage.

I posted on the Kindle forums and what people are advising me to do is to hold on for a couple more weeks and then ask Amazon for a replacement. I think I'll probably wait a couple of weeks, order another Voyage, and then return the one that looks the worst. If they both have the same issue, well, I may just return both and buy myself a Paperwhite.

 

[Thump553]

Thanks Indy for the review. I think mine is a Paperwhite 2, I know it wasn't the original version and it has very even lighting.

Even though I'm probably as OCD as you about the dust I think I'll hold off buying a Voyage. If for nothing else, the amount of time I spend hunting around where I left my Kindle-I'd freak out if I lost a $200 bookreader.

 

[EightySix Four]

Anyone have a Kindle Voyage? If so, I'm interested in hearing your feedback on the screen. Specifically:

1. How is the backlight? Even, or do you see darker spots?
2. Are you seeing the color gradation mentioned in many reviews where the top of the screen is yellowish or pinkish and the bottom is blue?

I do have one and am debating a return and ordering another, but if this problem is as widespread as it seems, I may just hang on to it or go back to a Paperwhite 2.

1) Mine seems to be fairly consistent. There is a mild dark spot towards the middle of the screen but it isn't enough to distract me.
2) No.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

1) Mine seems to be fairly consistent. There is a mild dark spot towards the middle of the screen but it isn't enough to distract me.
2) No.

The main backlight issue I have is at the bottom of the screen and is noticeable at low light levels. At high light levels, the screen is pretty evenly backlit. I'm thinking maybe I should go to Best Buy and review their demo Voyage to see if it is similar. I read last night that Amazon stated that uneven backlighting at the bottom of the screen is normal. I can live with the color gradient on the screen because it really isn't too noticeable to me.

Also, the auto brightness doesn't seem to be working now. Probably just need to reboot the device. I've read that a significant portion of people are having trouble with the Voyage locking up, but I think I've only seen an issue like that once.

 

[gorcorps]

The main backlight issue I have is at the bottom of the screen and is noticeable at low light levels. At high light levels, the screen is pretty evenly backlit. I'm thinking maybe I should go to Best Buy and review their demo Voyage to see if it is similar. I read last night that Amazon stated that uneven backlighting at the bottom of the screen is normal. I can live with the color gradient on the screen because it really isn't too noticeable to me.

Also, the auto brightness doesn't seem to be working now. Probably just need to reboot the device. I've read that a significant portion of people are having trouble with the Voyage locking up, but I think I've only seen an issue like that once.

Good luck

I haven't found a Best Buy that keeps their Kindles charged. Every time I go in there they're all dead, and nobody seems to care enough to figure out what's wrong with the charging cables they're using. I wanted to see how the Voyage stacked up to my 1st gen paperwhite but all I've been able to check is how it looks.

 

[PricklyPete]

Ordered one about a week ago, but it was back ordered (possibly because of QC issues). Will report back once it shows up (hopefully before Christmas...it is a gift for my wife).

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Ordered one about a week ago, but it was back ordered (possibly because of QC issues). Will report back once it shows up (hopefully before Christmas...it is a gift for my wife).

FWIW, my order was backordered and wasn't supposed to ship until 12/9 but I received it on 11/25. You'll likely get it in plenty of time as they're very conservative on ship dates. As another example, my FireTV stick was supposed to arrive on 12/24 but shipped yesterday.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Good luck

I haven't found a Best Buy that keeps their Kindles charged. Every time I go in there they're all dead, and nobody seems to care enough to figure out what's wrong with the charging cables they're using. I wanted to see how the Voyage stacked up to my 1st gen paperwhite but all I've been able to check is how it looks.

I'm not surprised. I went to Best Buy a week or two ago for the first time in about a year and the place looked like a tornado had gone through 10 minutes before I arrived. In fact, I generally only step foot in Best Buy around the holidays because there is a Michael's next door and rather than be forced to go there with my wife, I let her go and I walk down to Best Buy. Last year, I had a $100 Best Buy card and I went in and bought $100 in Amazon cards. They gave me a $15 Best Buy card on top of that for my troubles.

I think I'll probably just get used to my Voyage and live with it to be honest because it does seem like I have a pretty good one. I may still decide to order another for comparison and then return it, but we'll see.

 

[PricklyPete]

FWIW, my order was backordered and wasn't suppose to ship until 12/9 but I received it on 11/25. You'll likely get it in plenty of time as they're very conservative on ship dates. As another example, my FireTV stick was supposed to arrive on 12/24 but shipped yesterday.

That's good to know. With prime shipping, it is only scheduled to show up on the 23rd...which seems like s close call.

 

[nickbits]

I have a voyage-wifi w/ special offers. I haven't noticed any of the issues you mentioned.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I have a voyage-wifi w/ special offers. I haven't noticed any of the issues you mentioned.

What do you generally have your backlight set to? If I crank mine up, I won't really see any issues. If I am in a dark room and have it set to 7 or so, I see spots on the backlight. It isn't terrible but maybe my eyes are just oversensitive. The color gradation is definitely there but isn't really that annoying to me.

 

[gorcorps]

I think I'll probably just get used to my Voyage and live with it to be honest because it does seem like I have a pretty good one. I may still decide to order another for comparison and then return it, but we'll see.

Maybe you're sensitive to it, and may not be happy with it regardless. There were people flipping out over the original paperwhite having uneven lighting, but I don't see the big deal on mine.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Maybe you're sensitive to it, and may not be happy with it regardless. There were people flipping out over the original paperwhite having uneven lighting, but I don't see the big deal on mine.

That's why I definitely won't return my Voyage and rely on Amazon shipping me a replacement -- I may not be happy regardless and I could end up with one much, much worse. I've seen pictures of some of the Voyages out there and mine is much better. So, if I decide to do anything, I'll order another so I'm assured of getting a new one AND can see them both side-by-side. If you ask Amazon for a replacement, they're just sending out units that were returned at this point.

 

[lopri]

How usable is either one for web browsing? Let's say predominantly text-based pages like forums.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

How usable is either one for web browsing? Let's say predominantly text-based pages like forums.

No clue -- it has an "experimental browser" and it has been awhile since I tried but it wasn't great before.

 

[gorcorps]

I got one for christmas. It definitely has more even lighting than my 1st gen paperwhite, and I don't notice any color gradient (I still don't fully understand how you can see a color gradation on an eink device). It's also more responsive than my other one. It's a pretty sweet device, I like it.

 

[PricklyPete]

My wife's voyage that she got for Christmas seems to have even lighting...but it could be that we are not sensitive to subtle variations. She is very happy with it.

 

[zoiks]

I had one that I returned. I got a Nexus 6 so I decided lugging both of these around would not be ideal so I returned the Voyage. I do all of my reading on my nexus 6 even though it's a bit heavy. The other thing about the voyage was that the soft buttons to move between pages were a bit flaky. Sometimes they would register a touch and sometimes they wouldn't. In the end paying around over 200 for a reader seemed a bit much; I definitely would have kept it if it were around the 120-150 range.
One other small issue I had was that this thing is a finger print magnet. Especially oily stains are tough to get out. The soft matte black plastic is grippy but susceptible to fingerprints and I really hated that.
To the right person, this would be an ideal device but not to me.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I guess I should update this thread. I ordered a second Voyage and received it. The backlighting is much better than my first Voyage. The color gradient issue is definitely still there, but I am convinced ALL Voyages have this issue. Neither of the units I have are that bad. So I'm going to return my first Voyage and keep this newer unit.

Also, definitely agree that it is too expensive.

 

[PricklyPete]

I guess I should update this thread. I ordered a second Voyage and received it. The backlighting is much better than my first Voyage. The color gradient issue is definitely still there, but I am convinced ALL Voyages have this issue. Neither of the units I have are that bad. So I'm going to return my first Voyage and keep this newer unit.

Also, definitely agree that it is too expensive.

It is too expensive, but she will use this for years, so not that bad in the grand scheme of things.

 

[corkyg]

Can the image be inverted on a Voyage, IOW, white text on black?

 

[mcveigh]

Can the image be inverted on a Voyage, IOW, white text on black?

No, unfortunately.
Why? I did that when reading on an LCD but don't feel the need to on an e-ink screen.

 

[corkyg]

Thanks. McVeigh. Then I'll just keep reading my Kindle books on my FireHD. It can do that, and when one has cataracts it really helps. With white on black, I can read without glasses - that is a joy!