Amazon has simplified its Kindle e-reader line, by setting the Kindle Voyage off on a one-way trip into the ocean. According to new reports, the $200 device was removed from Amazon.com last month, with no fanfare or announcement.
An August 1 post on the e-reader blog GoodEReader noted that the Voyage "is no longer available to be purchased on the main Amazon website in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States." The Voyage also never received the Dec. 12 software update that added Audible audiobook-listening capabilities that Amazon pushed to its other e-readers.
The Kindle Voyage, originally released in 2014, looked to provide voracious readers with a premium experience. The Voyage's best perk, its sharp, 300 ppi (pixels per inch) display, was soon found in the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, the company's $119 e-reader.
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Amazon later brought the Voyage's other high-end feature, its automatically-adjusting light-sensitive display, to the $250 Kindle Oasis. That higher-end tablet, which is still for sale, comes with two other perks: a luxe-feeling graphite-aluminum shell and IPX8-rated water-resistance, which enables it to survive underwater.
The Kindle line's last remaining family member is its cheapest, the $79 Amazon Kindle, which features a lower-resolution 168 ppi screen and lacks backlighting.
A Tom's Guide report published earlier this year noted that the e-readers industry "took a huge dive" starting in 2012 that only got worse over time, with Amazon shipping 7.1 million Kindles in 2016, as opposed to the 23.2 million units moved in 2011. Meanwhile, the Barnes & Noble Nook line has suffered, as our review of its recent Glowlight 3 found it to offer a "laggy, convoluted interface" and "broken features."
