Memorandum
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- Caroline Mercer via Fast Company
- Date
- Filed
- Business·3 min to read
- Re
Amazon Sells Back Kindle Page-Turn Buttons as $35 Clicker
ReAmazon Sells Back Kindle Page-Turn Buttons as $35 Clicker
Amazon's new Kindle lineup drops physical buttons but adds a $35 Bluetooth clicker and an $80 cover with page-turn buttons, reversing a decade-long design shift.
Amazon has unveiled a redesigned Kindle lineup that removes physical page-turn buttons entirely, then offers them back as paid accessories. The company is selling a $35 Bluetooth clicker and an $80 Page-Turn Cover, both of which restore the tactile page-turning that earlier Kindles had built in.
The move marks a reversal of sorts. Amazon began phasing out physical buttons with the first Kindle Touch in 2011 and discontinued the last button-equipped model, the Oasis, in October 2024. In 2025, the company added a Double Tap to Page Turn gesture for the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Colorsoft, but that gesture only moves forward, not back.
The new Kindle Click is a Bluetooth remote whose sole function is turning pages. It works with all current models and with Kindles released from 2024 onward. The Page-Turn Cover, which only works with Special Edition models, includes physical buttons on the cover itself.
Amazon says the new Kindles were redesigned from the ground up. The front is now completely flat, with no seams or raised bezel, using what Amazon calls a reverse-stack display construction. The company claims this is a first for e-readers. The screen and its layers are assembled so the glass sits level with the frame, eliminating a ridge that could collect dust or catch a thumb.
The lineup includes a basic 6-inch Kindle at $150 with 16 GB of storage, up to six weeks of battery life, and book-opening speeds 30 percent faster than before. It comes in ube, described as a rich purple, and graphite, with a fully recycled cobalt battery and recycled enclosure materials.
An aluminum version, a first for these devices, doubles storage to 32 GB, uses an 80 percent recycled matte aluminum back, and comes in alpine sky and seaglass colors. The waterproof Paperwhite starts at $200 with 12 weeks of battery life and a warm adjustable light. The Signature Edition costs $250 and adds an aluminum back, auto-adjusting light, pogo-pin dock charging, and double-tap page turning.
The Colorsoft runs $290, or $320 for its Signature Edition. Kids versions start at $180 and include 12 months of Amazon Kids+. Amazon says the color finish now wraps from front to back on every model.
Amazon claims Kindle sales have grown at a double-digit rate worldwide for three straight years, and that readers turned more than 720 billion pages in 2025. That volume of page turns suggests many users might have benefited from physical buttons built into the devices rather than sold separately.
The standard Kindle and aluminum edition are on sale now in 19 countries, with Paperwhite and Colorsoft preorders open in those same markets.
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