Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Review

Review Summary

The Amazon Kindle Colorsoft is Amazon's first Kindle e-reader to feature a color E Ink display, providing readers with a fresh way to experience books, comics, and images. With a 7-inch display and custom-built color technology, the Kindle Colorsoft is designed for those who want color without compromising Kindle’s classic e-ink readability. Here’s an in-depth look at the design, features, and performance of Amazon’s latest Kindle.

Who It’s For

• Comic and graphic novel readers: The color display makes comics and graphic novels more engaging, showcasing illustrations in vibrant hues.
• Travel and non-fiction book enthusiasts: Ideal for readers who enjoy books with photos, maps, or other visuals, as these come to life in color.
• Long-time Kindle users seeking color: For users who want Kindle’s simplicity with an added layer of color for covers and images.
• Fans of minimalist devices: The Kindle Colorsoft maintains Kindle’s simple interface, making it accessible for anyone familiar with Amazon’s e-reader ecosystem.
• Readers who enjoy color highlighting: With color-coded highlights, note-taking becomes more visually organized, appealing to those who annotate frequently.

Design & Display

The Kindle Colorsoft has a 7-inch screen with a high-contrast display, offering 300 pixels per inch (ppi) for black-and-white text and 150 ppi for color content. It uses a custom color E Ink display with an oxide backplane and nitride LEDs, ensuring the color is soft and not overly saturated, preserving Kindle’s eye-friendly quality. This design is ideal for reading in various lighting conditions without excessive glare. The device is lightweight and compact, similar to the Kindle Paperwhite, with reduced bezels for a more immersive look. However, the color display can be slower to refresh when zooming or turning pages in image-heavy content.

Performance & Features

The Colorsoft’s color functionality is optimized for book covers, illustrations, and highlights. While color content is capped at 150 ppi, the colors are vibrant enough for most use cases, like comics or maps in travel guides. Users can choose between “Vivid” and “Standard” color modes to enhance images or keep them natural. Text, however, may not appear as sharp as it does on the latest Paperwhite, especially when switching from black-and-white to color elements. Despite Amazon’s efforts, page turns can feel slightly slower on color-heavy pages, which may disrupt reading flow slightly during high-intensity visual content.

Battery Life & Charging

Amazon claims up to two months of battery life for the Colorsoft with moderate use. Like other Kindle models, it includes a front light that adjusts brightness based on ambient light. The Kindle Colorsoft supports both USB-C charging and wireless charging, but frequent use of color content may slightly impact battery longevity compared to monochrome Kindles.

Ease of Use

The Kindle Colorsoft remains user-friendly, especially for those familiar with the Kindle interface. The addition of color has not complicated the standard Kindle experience, and the basic menus and Kindle Store have not changed. Users can still highlight text in various colors, making it easier to categorize notes. However, there’s no support for stylus input, which could have enhanced its note-taking capabilities. The lack of physical page-turn buttons, which some competitors include, might also disappoint users who prefer tactile controls.

Overall Verdict

The Amazon Kindle Colorsoft brings color to the Kindle lineup, offering a richer experience for books with illustrations, comics, and travel guides. While it doesn’t replace the sharpness or responsiveness of grayscale models like the Paperwhite, it serves as an excellent option for those who appreciate visual enhancements in their reading material. However, with its slower page turns on color content and premium price, the Colorsoft might only appeal to specific users who truly value color in their reading experience.

Overall Score - 4/5

A well-designed color Kindle that enhances visual content, though some may find its price and performance limitations less compelling for pure text reading.