This cover provides neat, close-fitting protection for your Kindle. The Kindle slots into a moulded plastic tray at the back of the case, with nothing intruding onto the device itself. A section at the bottom of the Kindle is left exposed to allow permanent access to the micro USB port. The front cover is thin and lacks additional padding, but 12 months of carrying a baby Kindle around in a case with a similar-style cover has resulted in no harm, so I'm reasonably confident in the protection this will provide.

The leather is textured and has been applied as a surface covering to both the front section of the cover and the plastic tray at the rear. The leather doesn't have the lovely, soft tactile sensation that went with Amazon's Kindle Keyboard covers but doesn't seem to mark as easily as the Amazon leather covers for the baby Kindle/Kindle Touch models (a fingernail is enough to leave a permanent scrape on those). The purple colourway I ordered is disappointing - much darker than product photos suggest.

The cover bends back easily enough for one handed reading, but the 'spine' section on the latest version of the Amazon brand cover does seem to have been reinforced, so that it doesn't flop awkwardly backwards if you prefer to hold the cover two-handed. The microfibre lining of the interior is very shallow-piled and resembles black denim.

The biggest problem I had with the last generation of Amazon cases - the lack of closing mechanism - has been addressed here, courtesy of a lightweight magnet. This works simply, engaging when you shut the cover, and requires no extra fiddling.

The cover isn't cheap, but is comparable in price to cases currently offered by Verso and Marware. The auto wake/auto switch off facility this brings to Kindle usage is what really sets the Amazon cover apart from competitors - all that's needed to wake your charged Kindle is to open the cover... It's a nice idea, but not one I'm altogether convinced by since turning a Kindle on/off by flicking a switch really isn't that onerous!

The cover is presented in a printed cardboard sleeve: if you're planning to make this (part of) a present, this is a much more attractive set-up than the simple plastic bags in which the Amazon covers for Kindle/Kindle Touch arrive.

PROS

- Cover has an inbuilt closing mechanism
- Lightweight and snug-fitting
- Textured leather doesn't mark ridiculously easily
- Includes auto wake/switch off facility

CONS

- Feels a bit hard and plastic-ey

I have the persimmon cover for my new Kindle and I must say that I like the colour immensely. It is less orangy that it appears in the picture and even has a slight tinge of pink. Almost impossible to describe. It is really nice to have a cover that it is an unusual colour and not just bog standard red, black or blue.

The kindle slots in easily enough to a sort of rubberised frame and is gripped really well. It's certainly not going to fall out in a hurry but you don't need to worry about clips like you do with the keyboard covers. The closed cover is small and neat with rounded corners which I like as my KK cover has discoloured significantly with dirt at each end of the spine. Compared with the KK in a cover it is about an inch smaller in length, the same width, but much thinner. It just feels more compact.

There is no elastic bungee closing but a magnetic clip which reinforces the simple lines. I am trusting that the clip will stay magnetised as if it ever failed the whole thing would flap open (I have no reason to believe that it would fail and to be fair, I worried about the elastic on the KK cover and it has lasted intact for 18 months). I can't see that it will come open accidentally unless you have it in a bag with other objects which might jostle it - you wouldn't really want that to happen and I am not sure how likely it is.

Somehow, every time you open and close the case it activates the Kindle so you never see the screensavers unless you turn it off manually. It's a gimmick, clever but probably unnecessary except that the on/off button on this kindle is fiddly and if you have problems with your fingers this is probably more satisfactory.

The back of the Kindle is very well protected but I do think that the front cover is a bit flimsy, although well padded. The KK cover felt very substantial in comparison and I might be suffering from comparing the two.

For reading, the case cover bends back on itself very nicely leaving a nice, coloured frame around the Kindle screen. The inside of the cover is a grey material, denimlike and relatively smooth.

I like the case although I have some questions in my mind about the durability of the catch and the padding on the front cover - these may be totally unfounded but I didn't have the same feeling of overall protection as I did with the KK cover. It is neat and compact and I like the colour a lot.

Finally - cost - I just cannot see that this is worth almost one third of the cost of the Kindle. It seems madness to me that it costs so much, even though people tell me that it is a comparable price, but I said the same about the KK cover and it has served me well which is why I chose to go with the official cover again. I am not as confident in this case overall as I was with the one for the KK and if I were purchasing another Kindle I just might explore other options next time.

This arrived yesterday, well packaged and on first examination it looked rather nice. As promised, the Kindle Paperwhite fits very snugly into it without the need for any bits of elastic etc. holding it in. What I am a bit disappointed about is that it doesn't have the luxury feel I was expecting for thirty pounds. Yes, it's made of leather (not top quality leather may I add), yes the magnetic catch works and is rather sleek, yes it's a nice colour but there is nothing out of the ordinary which justifies Amazon's rather inflated price. I will be keeping it, partly because I think it's the best case on the market at the moment and partly because I really can't be faffed with packaging it back up and sending it back. I reckon that as time goes on there will be better and cheaper cases available.