If you’re looking to buy a Kindle, whether for yourself or a child, you might find yourself wondering. . . “what’s the difference between the Kindle Kids and the regular Kindle?”
I’ve been talking about Kindles for years and I’m THRILLED to give you the full rundown on the Kindle Kids v Kindle dilemma so you can choose the best one for your needs.
kindle kids vs kindle
The most important thing to know about the Kindle Kids vs the Basic Kindle is that they are the exact same hardware. If you take the case off, you literally will not be able to tell a difference between them.
Literally the only difference between a Kindle Kids and a basic Kindle is based on whether you’re signed in as an adult or a child.
And you can sign in to either device as an adult or a child. Which means that if you buy a Kids Kindle and log in as an adult, it’s now a basic Kindle. And if you buy a basic Kindle and log in to a child’s account, it’s now exactly the same as if you’d purchased a Kids Kindle.
So how to decide which one to get?
It really depends on the current Kindle pricing (which changes all the time). Generally, they run about $20 different with the Kids Kindle being the more expensive one.
Here’s the difference between the Kids Kindle package and the Basic Kindle package:
- The Kids Kindle comes with a case included (there are three options to choose from) while the basic Kindle does not have a case. So if you are happy with one of the kids case options, you’ve probably saved yourself some money right there. The Kindle cover I have, for example, is $30 so getting a Kindle for $20 more that already has a case saved you $10 right out of the gate.
- The Kids Kindle comes with a 2 year, no questions asked guarantee. Drop it in the bathtub? They’ll replace it. Run over it with your car? Replaced. So if you think there’s any chance you’ll damage it in two years, that warranty is a really nice feature to have.
- The Kids Kindle generally comes with a year of Amazon Kids+ while the basic Kindle generally comes with 3 months of Kindle Unlimited. I don’t particularly love Amazon Kids+ and if I were buying a Kids Kindle as an adult, it wouldn’t hold a lot of value for me (I’d rather have Kindle Unlimited). So that’s one potential downside of buying a Kids Kindle as an adult, although you can almost always get a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, so it’s not MUCH of a downside.
Basically, you can’t go wrong with either, so it really depends most on what the current price is. If the Kids Kindle price drops LOWER than the basic Kindle price, absolutely I would recommend you buy the Kids Kindle. If you don’t like the Kids cases and are going to buy your own either way, it’s probably better to buy the basic Kindle unless the price is more than the Kids Kindle.
The other question that comes up is about the Kindle Paperwhite Kids vs Kindle Paperwhite and it’s the same story – they’re the same hardware, just with a case or no case and either the Amazon Kids+ subscription or the Kindle Unlimited subscription, plus the two year warranty on the Kids version. So check the prices, make your decision about the case and pick the one that makes more financial sense.
(If you’re curious about the basic Kindle versus the Kindle Paperwhite, the main differences are that the screen is a little bigger (6.8″ instead of 6.0″) and it is waterproof. The screen is also a flush front screen and has warm light options, plus the battery lasts up to 10 weeks instead of the 6 weeks of the basic Kindle. Plus, the page turns are 20% faster. Again, the Paperwhite Kids and the regular Paperwhite are identical hardware, so all the things I mentioned in this paragraph will be the same on both devices because .. . they’re the same device).
Any other questions about the Kindle kids vs Kindle? I’m happy to help you decide which one is right for you!
if you liked this post about kindle kids vs kindle, you might also like these other posts:
- Kindle 101: Everything You Need to Know About How a Kindle Works
- The Best Kindle Unlimited Books
- 4 Times to Use eBooks for Kids
I feel like I remember you talking about the kids Kindle being ad free versus the basic Kindle you had to pay to turn off the ads. Is this still the case?
I’m getting mixed messages about this so I haven’t mentioned it recently!
we have the kindle with free time. We also use the dot devices in our home. My daughter likes to listen to audio books while going to sleep on the kids dot in her room. I am trying to figure out how to manage her audible account she gets via our free time subscription and i’m having a terrible time trying to find where i can see the audible free time selection and add those to her account. Help?
We’re having trouble with my daughters paperwhite kindle. It only lasts for 2-4 weeks on a charge no where near 6-10 weeks! What are we doing wrong? Or is she just reading too much? 🤣🤪🤷🏼♀️
I don’t know! I’m sure it depends on usage or you might have a faulty battery or it may be an older model – I’d contact customer service if it’s an issue!