R.I.P. Amazon Kindle Voyage (2014-2018)

For a time, we actually had some pretty decent competition in the e-book reader arena. Some people opted for the Nook from Barnes and Noble. Others liked the Kobo from Chapters/Indigo. And then there were those who preferred Sony’s series of e-readers. And while some competition still exists, the Amazon Kindle lineup is the de facto “Kleenex” or “Q-Tip” of the e-reader world. And the population of that lineup is now one fewer as it appears the Kindle Voyage is officially discontinued.

In many ways, this quiet decision by Amazon makes a lot of sense. When the Kindle Voyage first made its debut four years ago, it represented a step up from the regular Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite. It offered some advantages, like the pressure-sensitive haptic controls for flipping pages.

For my part, as you might recall from my review at the time, I wasn’t a big fan of the haptic controls. I said that while it seemed like a perfectly fine e-reader, it was hard to justify the premium over the Paperwhite. If you wanted an e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite was the way to go.

And then Amazon went ahead and jumped further upscale with the Kindle Oasis in 2016, updating the model in 2017 with a bigger screen and waterproof design. Realistically, this just made the Voyage even less compelling. If you wanted to save a few bucks, you’d get the Paperwhite. If you’re a hardcore e-reader, you’d step up to the Oasis. The Voyage ended up in a Goldilocks zone that no one wanted.

This news hardly comes out of left field. Amazon quietly took the Kindle Voyage off its online storefront last month. Now, you won’t even find it mentioned in the comparison table. If you must get one though, refurbished models seem to be up for grabs starting from $129.99 for the time being. How long that stock will last is anyone’s guess.

In any case, the Kindle Voyage has set sail for the wild blue yonder for good.