Amazon's New Kindle Buttons Come With a Compatibility Catch

Amazon unveiled two ways to turn Kindle pages with a button on October 1: a $34.99 remote and a $79.99 cover. The cheaper one can work with a Kindle you already own, provided it was released in 2024 or later. The cover puts buttons on the reader you're holding, but it fits only two new Signature Edition models. Same action, very different shopping cart.

The Kindle Click is a Bluetooth remote. It lets you prop up the e-reader and turn pages without reaching for the screen. It recharges over USB-C, has brightness controls and is available for preorder ahead of scheduled October 28 shipping. Its compatibility rule is based on a Kindle's release year, not on whether it belongs to this week's refreshed lineup. A qualifying older model can use it, as can a qualifying new one.

Amazon suggests the Click for reading under the covers, on a treadmill or with the Kindle on an airplane tray table. I can see the appeal of the last one: get the screen at a comfortable angle, then stop doing the little lean-forward-and-poke routine at the end of every page. That convenience comes with a loose accessory to keep track of and, eventually, recharge. If you generally hold your Kindle, reaching for a separate remote may be more choreography than a screen tap.

The Page-Turn Cover answers the thumb question instead. Its buttons stay with the Kindle when you pick it up. The $79.99 cover uses pogo pins and works only with the new Paperwhite Signature Edition and Colorsoft Signature Edition. The regular versions have nearly the same names and don't support this cover; neither does the basic Kindle. For an accessory that looks like a case, the exact model name does a surprising amount of work.

Why the Oasis Still Belongs in This Conversation

Amazon discontinued the Kindle Oasis in 2024, removing its built-in page-turn buttons from the lineup. The new cover brings back a similar thumb-operated action on a current Kindle, while keeping the controls in a removable accessory. An Oasis owner who liked buttons that were always part of the device faces a change in the deal: the cover can travel with a compatible Kindle, but it isn't built into one.

Putting the controls in a cover gives screen-tapping readers a choice to leave them behind. It also lets the refreshed Kindles keep their flush-front designs without adding permanent page-turn buttons to each device. That's an inference from the products Amazon has introduced, rather than a stated design rationale. The catch is visible at checkout: readers who want attached buttons must buy one of two Signature models before the cover becomes an option. A reader who wants to keep an existing, compatible Kindle has a much shorter path to the remote.

Amazon didn't invent the remote-reading habit, either. Third-party Kindle page-turners have been around for years. The Click is Amazon's first official Bluetooth remote, and it turns pages without physically touching the display. That's a useful contrast with page-turners that do touch the screen, though it doesn't establish that the Click is the better accessory. If your Kindle predates its 2024 compatibility cutoff, a third-party option might still be worth checking against your precise model. Its fit, price and reliability depend on which product you choose.

The Cover's Price is Only Part of Its Price

The refreshed basic Kindle starts at $149.99, the regular Paperwhite at $199.99 and the regular Colorsoft at $289.99. The Paperwhite Signature Edition starts at $249.99; the Colorsoft Signature Edition starts at $319.99. Only those Signature versions take the Page-Turn Cover. Adding $79.99 for the cover isn't the same decision as adding $34.99 for a Click to a Kindle you already have: the cover may require replacing the reader, too.

At least the Signature tier buys features beyond a case connection. The Paperwhite Signature has an aluminum shell, 32GB of storage and an auto-adjusting front light. The Colorsoft Signature has aluminum housing, 32GB and an auto-adjusting front light. Both offer double-tap page turning. That gesture gives someone considering a Signature model another way to change pages without tapping the display, though it still requires touching the device. A cover button offers a different grip and a control your thumb can find while you're holding the Kindle.

Those extras may be welcome if you were already shopping for a Signature Edition. If you mainly want to stop touching the screen while your Kindle sits on a stand, paying for that device tier and then adding a cover solves a more expensive version of the Click's problem. Conversely, a remote left beside your chair doesn't put a button under your thumb when you're reading on the move. The products overlap on page turning; they don't replace each other's reading posture.

Engadget's Cherlynn Low tried the Page-Turn Cover during a brief hands-on preview and said the devices refreshed quickly as she pressed its buttons, without lag she noticed. That's a promising first check of the button's job, with a short-session limit. It leaves open how the cover feels over long reading stretches, and it says nothing about how the Click performs in a reader's usual setup. Anyone whose screen taps already work fine can wait for those everyday questions to be answered. The no-purchase option remains wonderfully compatible.

The Oasis made the button part of the Kindle. Amazon's new lineup makes you choose where the button lives: in your hand, on a compatible cover, or nowhere beyond the screen. Before paying for a page turn, picture where the Kindle usually is when you reach the end of a page.