An almost-perfect Kindle? Why the Colorsoft left me torn

The Kindle Colorsoft hasn’t had the easiest launch. Last year, Amazon made headlines when it announced its first color E Ink tablet, with early looks at the device promising vibrant color for graphic novel readers, all within that familiar Kindle interface that we’ve grown to love.

However, upon release, things quickly went haywire, with reports surfacing that many units had a noticeable yellow strip at the bottom that wouldn’t go away no matter how many times the device was refreshed or reset. After pulling the device from their website and offering an untold number of refunds and apologies, Amazon quietly fixed the issue, which was reportedly caused by glue, and very subtly re-launched the Colorsoft, hoping that this initial blunder would soon be forgotten.

After several months, I finally got my hands on the Kindle Colorsoft, and now that the yellow strip issue is well and truly gone, this e-reader is an easy recommendation for comic and graphic novel enthusiasts. For everyone else though, there’s a bit more to consider from the colorful Colorsoft.

Recommended

Kindle Colorsoft

Amazon’s first-ever Kindle e-reader with a 7-inch color E Ink display, perfect for reading magazines, comic books or graphic novels.

Pros & Cons

• Vibrant color E Ink display is easy to read
• Auto-adjusting front light sensor works well
• Amazing battery life, even with color

• Expensive
• Doesn’t come with a wireless charger
• Slower page turns

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Price, availability and specs

The Kindle Colorsoft is undoubtedly the new “ultra-premium” Kindle model, replacing the fan-favorite Oasis as the model above the Paperwhite. And the price certainly reflects this status, as it is currently the most expensive (non-Scribe) Kindle, costing an eye-watering $280, almost double the price of the standard Kindle Paperwhite.

Of course, the key upgrade users get for this price is the color E Ink screen, but the Kindle Colorsoft also boasts a slightly bigger frame housing the same 7-inch screen, as well as a battery capable of eight weeks of life (based on 30 minutes of daily usage) which Amazon says is the same no matter whether the color function is being used or not.

All Colorsoft units come with 32GB of onboard storage (enough for a few hundred books) and are also ad-free by default, meaning users don’t have to pay extra to remove Amazon’s lock screen “suggestions,” and users can enjoy color book covers, or one of Amazon’s premium color screensavers when not actively reading.

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What I liked about the Kindle Colorsoft

A vibrant world of color

As someone who frequently reads manga, graphic novels, and comics, I was pretty excited when the Kindle Colorsoft was announced. Though there are a few other E Ink color e-readers out there, I was curious to see how Kindle, which has become more or less synonymous with e-reading in the US, would handle this new feature.

I downloaded Moon Knight in the Night (2014) and Hellboy Wake the Devil (1994), two comics that I actually own hard copies of, to test out the color function. And though the E Ink doesn’t exactly mirror the pages of the books perfectly, it’s vibrant and features a very high contrast that helps to capture the mood and tone of these two, very dark volumes.

This was helped by the Colorsoft’s vivid color mode, which increases the intensity of colors in less-saturated imagery. According to Amazon, this mode doesn’t produce any additional strain on battery life, so I found myself just leaving it on as it made whatever I was reading look better, instantly.

Page turns were quick, though speedy comics readers will need to get used to a small pause while the screen does a full refresh during each turn. Users also might also notice a little pause if they use the zoom and pan functions to see certain panels up close, as the display switches to a lower resolution while adjusting the image, and then will reload the image in its highest resolution once finished. The effect is pretty quick, and though it might feel annoying the first few times a user turns the page, I found myself soon getting used to it as I paged through familiar volumes, even as I zoomed and swiped through different panels.

When I switched over from comics to reading a regular text-based book, I found the experience to be pretty much the same as reading on a Kindle Paperwhite, with speedy page turns on the unit’s bright, 7-inch screen. The auto-adjusting front sensor (which can also be found on the Paperwhite) makes reading just about anywhere feel effortless, and I found the Colorsoft duplicated this experience exactly. The only real improvement that the Colorsoft brings to the table over the Paperwhite is the ability to highlight in color, which is nifty, but wasn’t a feature I used much in practice.

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What I didn’t like about the Kindle Colorsoft

The premium price may be hard to justify

As mentioned previously, the Kindle Colorsoft isn’t cheap. At $280 it is the most expensive Kindle for reading only, and for a price that is nearly double that of the Paperwhite, users aren’t actually getting that many new features, other than the ability to see comics and graphic novels in color. And unfortunately, because of its color E Ink screen, the Colorsoft actually loses the dark mode feature, which is a bit of a bummer.

It would have been nice for the Colorsoft to include some extra features to help justify its premium price point. Several Reddit users on the unofficial Kindle Subreddit have bemoaned the loss of physical page-turning buttons (like those that were included in the erstwhile Oasis model) or the addition of a wireless charger so that users could take advantage of the Colorsoft’s wireless charging feature out of the box.

Such inclusions might have helped this unit feel more like a premium-level Kindle instead of just an expensive Kindle with color, and could also have made this a more appealing choice for readers who don’t necessarily read graphic novels or comics.

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Should you buy the Kindle Colorsoft?

It all depends on what you read

Let’s get this out of the way. If you only read text-based books, the Kindle Colorsoft is an unnecessary upgrade. Though seeing color covers is neat, it’s not worth almost double the price of the Kindle Paperwhite, which itself provides a premium-feeling reading experience. The high price is a big factor for those considering an upgrade to this newest member of the Kindle family, and if you don’t read comics or graphic novels, you simply do not need this unit.

However, if you are a graphic novel enthusiast, or even just a casual comic reader, the Kindle Colorsoft is definitely worth a look. The premium feel of the unit and the vivid color E Ink display make reading on this unit a breeze and switching between image-based media and regular novels makes this a great all-in-one device for the constant reader.

Recommended

Kindle Colorsoft

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