The weekend’s best deals: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, 8BitDo gamepads, and more
It's the weekend, which means the time has come for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best tech deals from around the web includes the lowest price we've tracked for Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite. The 8GB, ad-supported version of the e-reader is currently down to $95 at Target and Best Buy, which matches the discount we saw during Amazon's Prime Day sale. Both retailers say this deal will last through Saturday.
We gave the Paperwhite a glowing review upon its launch last year, and in general we still consider it the best Kindle-and thus, the best e-reader-for most people. Amazon's e-book library remains comprehensive-even if Kindles still don't fully support some open standards natively-and the Paperwhite itself offers a comfortable and waterproof design, battery life that lasts for weeks, Bluetooth audio support, and a sharp, 300-pixels-per-inch display. There's no urgent need for owners of the previous-gen Paperwhite to upgrade, but compared to that model, the latest version offers a larger screen (at 6.8 inches, up from six) with a smoother frontlight, faster performance (albeit not without the occasional hiccup), and a USB-C port. It's a significant upgrade from the base Kindle and close enough to the higher-end Kindle Oasis to be a better value (though both of those e-readers are also back down to their all-time lows today).
It's worth noting that the Kids version of the Paperwhite is on sale for $10 more, though. That also matches the lowest price we've tracked. This variant is marketed toward children and includes a year of Amazon's Kids+ service, but its hardware is identical to the standard model, plus it comes with a two-year warranty (compared to one year for the base model), a useful case, and, notably, no lockscreen ads. If you don't mind spending a little bit extra, it may be the better overall value.