New Amazon Kindle leaks with a significant upgrade and new colour

Amazon hasn't released any new Kindle models since 2022, but it looks like that could be about to change. A new version of the entry-level Kindle has made an appearance online – albeit not from Amazon itself.

The company has slowly updating one of its best Kindles, adding front lighting in the 2019 version and refining the quality of the display with its 2022 update. But now, thanks to a leak on retailer MediaMarkt (via Good e-Reader), the details of the next iteration of Amazon's affordable reading device has been revealed.

The 2024 Kindle will keep the form that it currently possesses, but it seems that Amazon's drive to be more ecofriendly with its materials will continue. It's said that this model uses 75% recycled plastic, 90% recycled aluminium and the packaging is 98% wood fibre. That's not the only thing that's green – it's also going to come in a matcha green colour.

The main upgrade appears to be in the form of better illumination for the display.

That display is still a 6-inch E Ink panel with a 300dpi resolution, but the illumination is said to be 25% brighter. It's likely to have more LEDs than the previous model which only had four, compared to 17 in the Kindle Paperwhite.

The aim probably isn't absolute brightness, it's probably to provide more even illumination.

Otherwise the dimensions and weight appear to be much the same and there's little other detail about any changes, but that's to be – Kindles are simple devices and we wouldn't expect Amazon to rip up the copy book at this end of the scale.

What is the Kindle 2024 release date?

Amazon is yet to announce the new device, but the leak suggests that it will be released on 1 October 2024.

The tech giant often has an autumn launch window for new devices and this year the company has been surprisingly quiet – launching this new Kindle might be a precursor to other announcements, including the new version of Alexa.

The price was listed as €119, which is likely to be for the version with adverts – which might mean there's a €10 increase in price for the one without. The Kindle 2022 was priced at £85 / $100 / €100 with advertising, while the Kindle 2022 without advertising was £95 / $120 / €110. I'd expect the new model to be closely priced.