Kindle Colorsoft review: Color is a treat, the price is difficult

The Kindle ColorsoftAmazon's first color e-ink e-reader costs $280 (£270 or about AU$530), making it an expensive proposition. The big question is whether Amazon will release two more powerful new e-readers Beginner's Kindle ($110, £95, AU$199) and new Kindle Paperwhite ($160, £160), how much does color change the Kindle reading experience and is it really worth switching to color? The answer ultimately depends on how you use your Kindle.

Read more: Best e-readers of 2024

8.8/ 10
SCORE

Kindle Colorsoft

Advantages

• 7-inch E Ink color screen with custom display stack for improved contrast

• Relatively fast performance (for E Ink device)

• Completely waterproof

• Automatically adjusting light sensor

• Wireless charging

Disadvantages

• Only 150 ppi resolution for color (300 ppi for black and white)

• No pen support

I say this because I consider the Colorsoft to be the new Kindle Oasis. By this I mean that the Colorsoft is the new luxury Kindle. It's certainly attractive to people who read a lot of e-comics or consume content with color images and graphics. But in reality, Colorsoft is aimed at the same demographic that bought the now-discontinued Oasis, which had a similarly high price when it was released.

Kindle Colorsoft theme

The Colorsoft and the new Paperwhite have the same body and weigh almost the same weight – the Paperwhite weighs 215 grams while the Colorsoft weighs 219 grams. And they're both fully waterproof with an IPX8 rating, meaning they can be completely submerged and survive.

Both also have 7-inch screens. While the Paperwhite has a 300ppi monochrome display, the Colorsoft is equipped with an E Ink Kaledio color filter built into a custom display stack, according to Amazon. The new Paperwhite also features a bespoke display stack.

Amazon talks about how the Colorsoft and the new Paperweight have a smaller bezel around the screen than the previous Paperwhite. It is also said that the Paperwhite (2024) and Colorsoft are slightly slimmer devices. That's true, but it's not like Amazon took the previous Kindle case and slimmed it down, shrinking the bezels around the entire screen to make room for a 7-inch display (compared to the 6.8 -inch display of the Paperwhite 2021). The frame of the new Paperwhite and the new Colorsoft has only been shortened at the bottom. The sides and top have the same frame around the screen and the dimensions of the new devices are actually slightly larger, so none of them fit into my old case for the 2021 Paperwhite.

Half resolution for color

With Colorsoft, the resolution for color elements is halved. The color resolution is only 150 ppi for color while for black and white it is 300 ppi. While it lacks sharpness at 150ppi, it's still nice to see e-book covers in color, and color brings comics, graphic novels, and images more to life. Some people will appreciate that you can also highlight text in different colors, like you would with real highlighters.

When reading standard black and white text, I didn't notice any difference between the Colorsoft and the new Paperwhite, which has slightly better contrast than its predecessor and faster page turns – although 25% faster according to Amazon. It's hard to measure as it's a fraction of a second acts. With the Colorsoft you get the same performance benefits, but the battery life is eight weeks. For the Paperwhite you get a battery life of 12 weeks.

Like the Oasis, the Colorsoft is intended for Kindle power users who view their Kindles as indispensable devices alongside their smartphones. It doesn't have the physical page turn buttons that the Oasis had (those buttons were a major selling point for some people). It also doesn't have a fancy aluminum casing. However, it has a color screen, giving it a more premium look than the Paperwhite.

Unlike the Paperwhite, which comes in a standard version and a Signature Edition, the Colorsoft only comes in a Signature Edition. Like the step-up version of the Paperwhite, the Colorsoft Signature Edition has 32GB of storage instead of 16GB. There's also wireless charging and an auto-adjusting front light sensor that adjusts the integrated light to a brightness setting that suits your environment.

As I said in a previous article, I'm not entirely sure why Amazon chose the Colorsoft name. This could be because the color appears slightly softer and more muted compared to a tablet with an LCD or AMOLED screen. These screens offer much richer colors and much faster performance.

Kindle Colorsoft compared to Kobo's Libra Color e-reader

When I first tried Colorsoft at Amazon's launch event for all new 2024 Kindles, including the second-generation Kindle Scribe that ships in December, I thought the Colorsoft's color display looked slightly better than the displays on it Kobo's color e-ink e-readerswhich cost less and use E Ink Kaleido 3 displays. I also found that Colorsoft performed slightly better. But I wasn't sure because I didn't have the Kobos on hand to do a real A/B comparison.

Well, it turns out my first gut impression was correct. The Colorsoft has a slightly better contrast and the color appears a little more saturated, which makes it stand out more.

According to Amazon, the Colorsoft uses the same oxide backplane with custom waveforms as the new Paperwhite. And this custom display includes a new light pipe with nitride LEDs. Combined with custom algorithms, this improves color and increases brightness.

Although these E Ink displays are inherently slower than LCD technology, you can view images and text more closely by pinching and zooming. I downloaded some e-comics and compared the pinch and zoom functionality between Colorsoft and Kobo Libra Colorwhich also features a 7-inch screen. I thought Colorsoft had smoother performance overall.

To be clear, the display and performance differences between the Colorsoft and the Kobo Libra Color are small, but they're noticeable when you look closely.

The Libra Color is cheaper – it costs $220 – and is slightly larger. But it has the physical page turn buttons that some people love, and it's compatible with them Kobo's Stylus 2which allows you to take and save notes. However, the Stylus 2 is a $70 accessory.

Amazon hasn't said anything about whether its new Premium Pen for the Scribe will work with the Colorsoft. As far as I know, the Colorsoft will never have stylus support. But it would be nice if it were like that.

Like some people, I find it annoying that Amazon continues to place the power button at the bottom of the device rather than at the top. Kobo e-readers have the power buttons integrated into the back of the device, which is better than placing the button on the bottom of the device.

Final thoughts on the Kindle Colorsoft

The bottom line is that you've either bought into Amazon's e-book ecosystem – it's the largest on the market and includes some free content for Amazon Prime members – or you haven't.

In addition to the Kobo, there are several other color e-readers based on E Ink's Kaleido or Gallery color displays. Some of them run on Android. I know people who like it Color models from Boox and I've seen some positive comments about it PocketBook ink pad color 3 ($300). Then there are the larger and much more expensive high-end e-ink tablets like this reMarkable Paper Pro ($750), which are more note-taking devices than e-readers.

Check this out: Kindle Colorsoft review: Amazon's new luxury e-reader

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And yes, a larger color tablet seems to be better for reading comics and graphic novels, regardless of the display technology used. Still, I think Amazon has done a good job creating an attractive first-generation color e-ink e-reader that seems to make the most of existing e-ink color technology.

While the Colorsoft is a bit overpriced at $280, I felt the same way when the Oasis first came out. This model eventually went on sale like all Kindles, and you can trade in your old Kindle to get a 20% discount on most new Kindle models.

It's safe to say that the new, improved Kindle Paperwhite or entry-level Kindle is a better choice for most people. But if you're a Kindle fan and want something really different from previous 7-inch Kindles, the Colorsoft is for you. I definitely preferred it to the Paperwhite.