While in recent years, Amazon has been pushing out newer Internet-of-things devices such as Echos and Alexa, and have also increased their media presence by their Fire Tablets and Fire TV sticks, the company has not forgotten their roots as a book-selling website. While they still move thousands of books by the day, they also hold the most well-known e-book reader: The Kindle. The device has undergone through a lot of iterations, with Amazon currently selling three distinct models. Today, we'll take a deeper look at one of their newest offerings: The Kindle Kids Edition.
Right out of the box, the unit looks the same as the most recent 10th generation Kindle. As far as we can tell, there are no discriminable differences between the two save for the included cover (Which can either be Blue, Pink, Rainbow Birds, or Space Station). It's probably safe to say that the Kindle Kids Edition is a modified version of the base Kindle.
The Kindle Kids Edition costs around $110, while the base Kindle costs $89 at the cheapest. The difference in price, around $20, go to the Kids Edition additions: a year-long subscription to FreeTime Unlimited, Two-year warranty and a pure reading environment for your kids. Let's go over the three-features point by point:
FreeTime Unlimited
FreeTime Unlimited is Amazon's subscription service to kid-friendly content. At $2.99/month, the service grants access to thousands of books, movies, shows, videos, apps tailored and screened for younger audiences. While the Kindle Kids Edition doesn't show any kind of video content, it grants its young readers access to a wide array of books, including popular titles such as Harry Potter. Parents also get to access and control their kids' time over their devices, allowing them to set limits on how much they can use the device. They can also track reading habits and progress and manage goals.
Two-year Guarantee
We can all say that we've broken something when we were young. Whether it be through careless accidents or curious tinkering, it's impossible for something not to break when there are young children around. Luckily, Amazon knows this all too well and offers a generous warranty that covers almost all kinds of damage. While the Kindle itself is already sturdy, it's nice to have peace of mind knowing that when it breaks, there won't be a need to buy a new one.
A Pure Reading Environment
Nowadays, everything is connected to the internet. Kids can easily get distracted by how easy it is to switch apps in devices. The Kindle Kids Edition doesn't have any of that. It doesn't have any other app or mode other than its intended e-book function. It also has zero ads (of which can be seen in the cheapest non-Kids Edition Kindle) to keep kids focused on reading. As a bonus, it also has pretty cool screensavers that should appeal to kids.
Overall, the Kindle Kids Edition is a great pickup for parents who wish to cultivate an interest in reading in their children. Amazon's FreeTime Unlimited is generous for the price that it asks, and the device's no-frills functionality should help young readers focus on discovering the joys of reading.
