A comparison that is coming up quite often is Kindle US Vs Kindle International. The new Kindle US & International Wireless works all over the world and people are wondering whether it’s a better choice than the standard Kindle 2.
In this post we’ll look at which Kindle makes more sense for you. You could also check the Kindle 2 International Review post for a review (as opposed to this comparison) and a list of countries that support international kindle whispernet.
Kindle US Vs Kindle International - All about International WhisperNet
The two Kindles are not different in ANY way except for the International WhisperNet. In particular -
- The international kindle uses AT&T’s network, has a HSDPA wireless modem using GSM technology, and has WhisperNet capabilities all over the world.
- The US Kindle uses Sprint’s EVDO network and has a wireless modem which cannot work with international GSM networks.
In every other way they are the exact same device.
Kindle US Vs Kindle International - Areas International Kindle Wins
The International WhisperNet is the International Kindle’s main advantage over the US Kindle. International Kindle Owners get -
- Access to the Kindle Store in 81 countries - Here’s a list of International Kindle Wireless countries and here’s the International Whispernet Wireless Coverage Map.
- Access to your Archive in these countries i.e. ability to download any of your previous purchases. See Roaming Charges for more.
- Ability to Change Your Home Country if you move to live in another Whispernet Country. See section below on Home Country for more.
- In 3 countries, Mexico, Hong Kong and Japan, you get Free Internet and an in-built Browser.
It’s worth nothing that as Amazon extends its wireless agreements WhisperNet will probably extend to more and more countries.
Kindle Roaming Charge
The main disadvantage of International Whispernet is the roaming charge when you are outside your home country –
- Books bought when you are outside of your Home Country cost an extra $1.99.
- Books re-downloaded outside of your Home Country also cost $1.99 per download.
- $4.99 per week for getting newspapers, blogs or magazines delivered via WhisperNet.
- $1.99 per issue for an individual newspaper or magazine.
- $.99 per MB for getting a personal document.
Amazon has not specified if non-US Kindle owners will have to pay this charge when they travel to the US.
Home Country
Thanks to Pierre for this information.
- For the International Kindle you can go to the Manage Your Kindle section and set a Home Country.
- In that country purchases and archive downloads are not charged $1.99.
- You can change your Home Country.
- There’s probably a rule that allows for permanent moves and moves of a few months or longer.
- On the other hand changing your home country every 2-3 days is probably not allowed.
4. and 5. are guesses. Please check with Kindle Customer Service.
Kindle US VS Kindle International – Advantages of Kindle US
There are three main advantages -
- The $20 lower price.
- In the US Sprint’s Network is much better and faster than AT&T.
- No accidental roaming charges when outside of the US.
International Whispernet is not that big of a deal if you’re in the US most of the time
While International WhisperNet is a great feature, its worth noting that International WhisperNet is very limited i.e.
- The roaming Charges make it rather unattractive.
- Only 3 countries have free Internet access (Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong).
- Several huge countries (China, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, etc.) are still excluded.
Most people are going to end up using a PC to download their books when they are roaming and will then transfer their books to the Kindle. You can do that with the US Kindle too. Plus there’s no Free Internet (except in three countries) so most of the benefits of US WhisperNet are missing internationally.
Kindle International Vs Kindle US – Recommendations
Here are my recommendations for whether you should get Kindle 2 US Wireless or Kindle 2 US & International Wireless based on your situation -
Live in the US
- Never leave the US – Kindle 2 US.
- Travel rarely and cannot afford the charges – Kindle 2 US.
- Travel rarely and can afford the charges (or can expense them) – Kindle International.
- Travel a lot and can afford the charges – Get the International Kindle.
- Travel a lot and cannot afford the charges – Still get the International Kindle.
- Thinking of moving to a non-US country – Kindle International.
Live outside the US
Always get a Kindle International. You might not have WhisperNet in your country or you might not like the charges. However, things change – this is just Version 1 of the service.
Closing Thoughts
Kindle US vs International Kindle is a straightforward decision. The difference is not very compelling – However, if you travel a lot or live outside the US the Kindle International is the one to go with. Mostly because International Kindle Service and capabilities will evolve and improve with time.
Filed under: kindle 2 | Tagged: kindle us vs kindle international, kindle vs kindle international
Thanks! The ability to change countries is something I hadn’t hear and makes the decision much easier. Any idea if you can share the device among accounts that are in different countries?
Sprint EVDO may be faster than AT&T, but it’s not as widely available in some parts of the US. This is why I’m sending back my new DX and waiting for the international version; AT&T is the only cell service that works in this rural Vermont town.
Thanks for the post. I will be very interested to learn how often you can change countries. If you live and travel in Europe being able to change countries will be important. As always, we shall see…
I don’t have a Kindle yet, but I have installed the PC version, just to see how it works. I have even bought a book, which has been delivered to my pc in a matter of seconds.
While navigating Amazon, I noticed my home country was set to unknown – so I changed it to Poland, where I currently reside.
Today I realized that if the home country is different than US, all ebooks are charged 2 to 5 bucks more, even free ebooks – I suspect this is the delivery cost (despite they say there is no additional charge for wireless usage).
Today I changed my home country to US, and from Poland I “bought” a free ebook – and I received it with no additional costs (on the K4PC).
The point is, nothing has blocked me from changing my home country 2 times in less than 48 hours, although the first change was from unknown to poland.
the charge should be $2 for all ebooks – I think you can get customer service to look into it if a book you like is $5 more for your country.
Any speculation on Unicode font given the International version?
Thanks for the good article. Just contacted amazon support about the cost of the personal document service. If you send 10 PDF documents of 100kb during one day, you will be charged only the total size once (1 mb or usd 0.99). If you send 10 PDFs of 100 kb on 10 different days, you will pay 10 times the minimum of 1 mb, so usd 9.91 in total.
This means it is better to combine your uploads through whispernet.
Just my small tip.
Excellent research! It’s good to know they are doing the “right thing” by truly charging by byte size (per day) rather than purely “per document”.
I think that all potential customers should know that there is a marked difference between the US book store offerings and International.
The page for the store changes dramatically when you select US as your home country, compared to an international location.
The US page is much better. You get a list of all the top New York Times Bestsellers to choose from, and if you go to specific categories the listings include far more recent and popular titles.
International pages do not show the best seller’s lists, and the titles are either much older or obscure.
Amazon will also email you asking that you prove your US Residency if you switch your home country to the United States, but then proceed to download US-Only books while OUTSIDE the United States.
In the digital age, Region locked books, DVDs, Games and CDs have NO place. I am already paying More for my Kindle, and then paying even more for each book. On top of that the books I can purchase are restricted: that is a ridiculous situation.
It makes me feel like a third class customer who has to pay more to get the same things that the others get. Americans get all the advantages, and all the latest content, and the rest of us have to pay extra for the privilege of accessing less.
I hope that customers speak out and force a change to these authoritarian and draconian distribution policies that have no place in the 21st century. I also hope that Blogs and mainstream websites start asking questions and opening dialog and discussion as to why this is the case, and demanding that this system be changed.
Gel,
I completely agree with your observations and feelings about feeling like a third rank customer.. I wonder why Amazon is acting so shortsighted. If A wants to become a wordlwide player in e-books and e-readers, one would think that they are mrketing ther stuff in such a way?
Making separate classes of customers suggests that the market is the US and customers outside the US are sponsoring the broader and cheaper supply of books for the US customers…
I think that it will change overtime, with the competition of Apple and Google. Too bad, that Amazon is not taking the lead in the worldwide e-book market, with equal opportunities for all customers.
I run a Kindle usergroup in the Netherlands, and we would like to make liaisons with other like groups. One of the primary goals would be to start a serious conversation with Amamzon marketing.
Please email me for contact!
Meindert, I think you’re overdramatizing it. Prices in the UK show that Amazon intends to reduce prices everywhere. It’s not going to happen overnight.
Turning ‘we just started and are figuring out stuff’ into ‘Amazon is treating people outside the US like third rank customers’ is rather unfair.
Tim, you are right – Amazon says the Kindle does not work in Singapore. Indeed it won’t send it to me here but I received it by a freight forwarder. It doesn’t matter that Amazon does not have agreement with Singtel or whoever. The point is that it works and I can access the US bookstore and subscriptions. It is great.
The above information is mainly wrong.
1. I am in Hong Kong but if I switch my country to USA I can download books more cheaply and with no additional download charges.
2. The ‘Whispernet’ coverage is basically irrelevant. My Kindle connects wherever I am, so I can download books, receive subscriptions and surf the web when, eg I am in China or Singapore (where the Kindle is not shippable).
3. I can subscribe to newspapers as a US user and get the lower rate and then switch to the Hong Kong setting to receive my subscriptions at the lower rate AND without the roaming ‘international delivery’ fee.
So, it’s all about how you play the system. Even Amazon hasn’t figured it all out yet.
Congratulations on doing something illegal and ‘playing the system’.