Video: How to listen audio books on Kindle e-readers?

Older Kindle e-Readers (Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Touch, Kindle 4) have 3.5mm headphone jack so you can just plug your headphones and listen to audio-books. Kindle Keyboard even has high-quality built-in speaker. They support mp3 audiobooks but the files should be sorted well in metadata.

But newer Kindles (Paperwhite, Oasis, Voyage) don't have the headphone jack - only microUSB. Can you listen to audiobooks via this connector?

$19.95 Kindle Audio Adapter (microUSB-to-headphone) does not support audiobook playback, even Amazon’s own Audible audiobooks. It's designed for blind and visually impaired customers and enables to navigate the device using a screen reader and listen to Kindle books compatible with text to speech (but not regular audiobooks).

You can also buy standard USB-to-audio adapter + microUSB-to-USB adapter and make such device yourself. But the result is the same. VoiceView and text-to-speech work, but audiobooks - don't.

The good news is that the entry level 8th generation Kindle and first generation Amazon Kindle Oasis both received firmware updates that allow users to purchase and listen to Audible audiobooks with bluetooth headphones.

To pair a Bluetooth speaker or headphones with Bluetooth-enabled Kindle E-reader:
- Put the Bluetooth device into pairing mode.
- Tap the Quick Actions button on the toolbar.
- Tap All Settings.
- Make sure Bluetooth is set to On.
- Tap Bluetooth Devices.
- Tap on the device you want to pair.
- Tap Connect.

You can also connect a Bluetooth device right from the Audible player screen by tapping on Bluetooth not connected and following the prompts.

Of course, you can also listen to Audible books on Amazon Fire tablets and using Kindle app for iPhone/Android. You can also listen online via a “cloud player” or use a compatible MP3 player. Audible has its own file formats – AA, AAX, AAX+ and M4B – which include DRM copy protection.

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