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Still Kicks

E-readers and e-ink tablets · Amazon

Amazon Paperwhite 2

Owners keep this reader for years past its warranty, often passing it down or replacing only the battery, valuing an e-ink device that just keeps turning on.

Read from 11 owner accountsUpdated September 24, 2026Early read: 11 owner accounts so far. We usually wait for 12 before we say much.Thin evidence: 11 owner accounts so far, fewer than the 40 we want before we trust a pattern.Compare it

What keeps coming up

Longevity is praised: owners describe Paperwhites and other Kindles still working a decade or more later, in some cases with battery life that holds up better than newer devices.

Recurring in 6 of 11 accounts · See accounts

What keeps coming up against it

Longevity is not universal. One owner's account was negative, and Amazon's remote reversal of custom firmware on an older device shows the company can still reach in and undo changes an owner made.

Recurring in 6 of 11 accounts · See accounts
Life with it

For the small number who jailbreak their device, novelty gives way to routine tinkering: installing alternate reading software like KOReader for features such as dark mode. That comes with an adjustment, since Amazon can remotely undo custom firmware, so owners who go this route keep backup SD cards on hand in case they need to reflash.

Reliability & repairs

The jailbreaking theme has too few accounts to draw a real conclusion from: three owners mentioned it, all positively, but that is not enough to say how well custom firmware holds up over time. What is clear from the one documented case is that Amazon can reverse it remotely, which owners who modify their devices should expect and plan around.

More detail
What owners praise, where they are split, and the follow-up timeline

What owners praise

Nothing with a clear majority yet. Owners who raised these subjects were split, or too few to judge.

Nothing has a clear majority against it yet. Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.

Does it still kick?

2 weeks3 months6 months1 year2 years

The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.

More in e-readers and e-ink tablets: reMarkable 1, Boox 7, Boox Palma 2.

Where this came from

Where this came from

Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.

Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.

Nothing here asks for anything about you unless you write to us.