If you asked me what my favorite thing to do, on the list would be floating in the ocean, reading. Several years ago I found a floating waterproof case for my Kindle 2. And up until recently I had still been using it. It finally broke and on impulse I picked up a refurbished Waterfi Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite two weeks ago right before I went to the beach for a week’s vacation.
The first thing you notice about Waterfi’s waterproofed Paperwhite is that it is basically indistinguishable from a regular Paperwhite. The waterproofing is not visible and doesn’t add any weight (at least not enough to be noticeable).
Waterfi is an aftermarket system. So you purchasing one from Waterfi voids the Amazon warranty. A refurbished Waterfi has a six month warranty. The refurbished Paperwhites are a mix of 1st and 2nd generation Paperwhites, but you can ask them for one or the other.
There are two main negatives about the Waterfi system that was not true of my old floating Kindle case. First, it does not float. So if I dropped it in the ocean, I would have go grab it. I have thought about how to create some type of float for it, but I haven’t worked that out yet. (I think some type of foam case should work.) I was just careful when I was swimming with it.
The second negative is that because the Paperwhite is a touch screen device that moves by electrical conduction, hard spray from salt water can turn the page or turn on the screen commands. It was not a huge problem, but I did need to try to keep it out of the spray to actually pay attention to the book. (And it really makes me wish that either Amazon had real page turn buttons or that Waterfi had waterproofed a Kindle Voyage).
But those two negatives aside I am really happy with the purchase. It is waterproof, the screen was not at all fuzzy as the one waterproof case for the Paperwhite that I have tried was and while I would not normally spend the extra $20 to get rid of ads, it is nice to not have ads.
The refurbished Waterfi Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite is $165 and has free shipping. A standard Paperwhite is $119, but this is a second generation and refurbished. When available the you can get a refurbished 2nd Gen Paperwhite for $104 or less. The Waterfi Paperwhites are the ad-free version, which is $20. So essentially the waterproofing is a $40 premium if you get the refurbished versions.
The new Waterfi Paperwhites are the 3rd generation with a higher 300ppi screen are $240 (2nd Gen is a 212ppi screen). Buying a new 3rd Generation would be $119 plus $20 for ad free with $100 extra for the waterproofing. (Amazon just started carrying the new Waterfi 3rd Gen Paperwhites). For me spending over $200 on an ereader just is a psychological barrier, but the refurbished one for $165 was a great purchase.
My original Waterfi Paperwhite had a broken power button. It worked for a day then stopped working. Waterfi sent a replacement overnight to my vacation address so I could keep reading in the ocean.
Waterfi also sells waterproof iPod shuffles (and headphones) for swimmers, waterproof Fitbits and several other waterproofed items.
Bookwi.se Note: Waterfi does not have a referral program and I did not get any discount or benefit for writing this review.