- Kindles from 2012 and older are being sunsetted on May 20
- Amazon has started emailing users about the imminent loss of support
- First to fifth-generation Kindle and Kindle Fire devices will be affected
RIP, 1st gen Kindle, I loved your keyboard.
A decade after users of older Kindles were required to update the software to retain access to the Kindle Store, Amazon has decided to completely sunset them on May 20 this year.
Reddit user Amorisaiya posted that they’ve already received an email from Amazon advising them that Kindle and Kindle Fire devices “from 2012 and earlier” will no longer be supported. Others still using these older models, however, are yet to be notified.
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While owners of these older Kindles will still be able to use them to read already downloaded content and access their accounts, they will no longer “be able to purchase, borrow or download additional books on them after that date”.
If any of these devices have been deregistered or a factory reset performed, users will not be able to re-register them after the May deadline, making them entirely defunct.
The full list of Kindles affected are:
- Kindle 1st generation from 2007
- Kindle DX from 2009
- Kindle DX Graphite released in 2010
- Kindle Keyboard also from 2010
- Kindle 4 launched in 2011
- Kindle Touch also released in 2011
- Kindle Fire 1st generation from 2011
- Kindle 5 released in 2012
- Kindle Paperwhite 1st generation also launched in 2012
- Kindle Fire 2nd generation from 2012
- Kindle Fire HD 7 tablet also released in 2012
- Kindle Fire HD 8.9 from 2012
It’s clear from the Reddit thread that users of the third and fourth-generation Kindles are still quite happy with their ereaders, but it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Amazon has finally pulled the plug on these pioneering models.
First, the 3G-enabled Kindles lost internet access, although that wasn’t Amazon’s fault, then the company announced it would pull Kindle Store access across devices that were older than 10 years.
Every time, Amazon offered its customers an incentive to upgrade and this time is no different. According to The Verge, Amazon will discount new Kindles by 20% for affected users and throw in a $20 ebook credit for the Kindle Store, although the offer will only be valid until June 20.
So, is it time to re-Kindle?
Unless you factory reset or deregister your older Kindle, the affected older models will still be usable, albeit you’ll only be able to read books you’ve already downloaded to the device. And while you can still purchase new content through the Kindle mobile app or via a web browser, you won’t be able to access the fresh content on the affected devices.
That said, you might still be able to sideload books onto these older devices as USB Download & Transfer was stopped only for newer models.
I would still recommend an upgrade at this point, mostly for ease of use and staying connected to the Kindle Store via the device. Also, in all honesty, the performance on the newer devices is excellent, although I struggle to justify Amazon’s price hike across the current 2024 range of Kindles.
If you are looking to upgrade, my pick would be the base model of the 12th-gen Kindle Paperwhite (2024), especially if it’s discounted. It’s fast and the screen is excellent — I think the implementation of the E Ink Carta 1300 display on the latest Paperwhite alone justifies the upgrade, but I am a little biased as it’s the best grayscale ereader screen I’ve used to date (and I’ve used a fair few since 2012, when I purchased my first ereader).
You can take a look at my picks of the best Kindles below or, if you’d like more options, consider something else from what I consider to be the best ereaders available right now.
The best Kindles
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sharmishta.sarkar@futurenet.com (Sharmishta Sarkar)
