You can now highlight a book in color, but the most popular highlighter -- yellow -- looks very drab. Still, it's way better than grayscale. (Rick Broida/Yahoo)
Amazon is working in reverse. The company's first-ever color Kindle, the Colorsoft Signature Edition, arrived late in 2024, followed roughly nine months later by a base-model Colorsoft. In other words, the "Pro" version preceded the standard one, which is opposite how these things usually go.
No matter. What matters is there are now three models in the Colorsoft lineup, the third being a Kids Edition. The question is, how do they differ? And is there a clear choice for which one to buy? Here's my Kindle Colorsoft review.
Note: Because this new model is virtually identical to the Signature Edition, which I reviewed previously, I'm not going to repeat all the same details regarding setup, design and the overall user experience. Instead, I highly recommend reading that review before proceeding here, as I'll largely be discussing the differences between the two and sharing some final conclusions.
Related:
VERDICT: Amazon's newest color Kindle has the same core issues as its Signature Edition predecessor. It's too expensive and the screen is something of a letdown. For less than half the price you can get a perfectly good grayscale Kindle.
Price, for one thing: This Kindle costs $250; the Signature Edition, $280. That doesn't provide much incentive to choose the former, especially considering what you give up:
Auto-adjusting front light: The base-model Colorsoft can't automatically raise or lower brightness depending on ambient light.
Storage: Here you get 16GB, versus 32GB in the Signature Edition. If you primarily read e-books, 16GB is ample — but if you're an audiobook listener or graphic novel enthusiast, you'll likely want that extra space.
Wireless charging: A pretty superfluous feature in a device that lasts up to eight weeks on a charge, but still nice to have.
Everything else about the two models is identical: size, screen resolution, battery life, etc. (For the record, my Colorsoft review unit showed no signs of the faint yellow band that beleaguered the Signature Edition at launch.) I think if you're willing to spend $250 on a color Kindle, you might as well pay the extra $30 for those three benefits.
Here's where it gets interesting: For $20 more (i.e., $270) you get the Kindle Colorsoft Kids Edition, which comes with a case and 2-year worry-free warranty. Even if you're not a kid, those two extras are well worth that $20. (And if you are, there's also the free one-year Amazon Kids+ subscription, which affords access to age-appropriate books, comics and more.)
Let's address the pink elephant in the room: A color e-reader relies on e-ink technology, which is very different from that used in phones and tablets. Thus, don't expect anywhere near the same level of vibrancy; a lot of people are disappointed when they see these things for the first time. (See some of the Amazon user reviews for examples.) Colors can seem drab and washed-out in comparison to what we're all used to.
And I'll be honest: Having used the Colorsoft Signature Edition for the better part of eight months, color adds nothing to the overall reading experience. Granted, I don't use my Kindle for comics, graphic novels, magazines or any other such content; I use it for books. And while it's nice to browse book covers in color, the actual book contents are just black text on a white background, same as always.
Look, the revolution is coming; at some point all e-readers will have color screens and we'll remember their grayscale predecessors as novelties. Right now, however, I don't think it's worth the extra money — especially when the colors just don't look that great.
This is where I'll once again urge you to read my Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition review, which contains a much more in-depth analysis of the screen and other features. Virtually everything I said there applies here as well.
Amazon may be the e-reader pioneer and market leader, but the Colorsofts aren't the only game in Book Town. I've also looked at the Boox Go Color 7 (which has subsequently been replaced by a Gen II model) and Kobo Clara Colour — the latter a much more compelling option at just $150. There are some differences, of course, but it points to what I think is one of the Colorsoft's main problems: price.
With a delta of only $30, it's hard to make a case for choosing the new Colorsoft over the better-equipped Signature Edition. Amazon should have priced this at $200 or even $170, at which point anyone eyeballing the $140 Paperwhite would likely think, "Oh, for just $30 more I get color? Deal."
The key here is to wait. During Amazon's Prime Day event last month, the Signature Edition was marked down a whopping $100. I think that's more in the ballpark of where this device needs to be — and may well end up during the next big Amazon sale, which is expected in October.
The catch is that the outlook for holiday deals — including that Prime event and Black Friday — is more uncertain than ever, thanks to new tariffs ticking up the prices of various electronic goods.
That said, I still think it's worth waiting. Because for now, a color e-reader is merely nice to have, not essential. I'm enjoying the hell out of Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, but the only part that's in color is the cover. No way am I paying $250 for that.