There was a time when the Kindle range set the example for other ereaders to follow, but looking at the new 2024 Kindles from Amazon, I'm quite sure that time has passed. It now seems that Amazon is doing just enough to keep up with Kobo and that's particularly true for the new Kindle Colorsoft.
The first-ever color Kindle doesn't come to Australia (where I'm based) until 2025 – date and price TBC – so I haven't even seen it yet, but just going by what my colleagues in the US have said about it, I'm not convinced it should cost as much as $279.99 / £269.99 (about AU$420).
In comparison, both of Kobo's 2024 color ereaders – the Libra Colour and the Clara Colour – are more affordable, with the former actually offering far more value for money. Oh, and they're both repairable too, which none of the new Kindles are as far as I can tell.
Show me the features
There were rumors (via Good eReader) that Amazon's first color Kindle would have stylus support and could adopt the new E Ink Gallery 3 screen technology, which promised better saturation than the current E Ink Kaleido 3 displays used in other ereaders, including the Kobo Libra Colour and Clara Colour.
Neither of those, as we now know, are true. The Kindle Colorsoft uses the Kaleido 3 panel and there are no writing features. While it shares the same screen size as the Libra Colour (7 inches) and the same amount of internal storage (32GB), it misses out on the ergonomic build of its Kobo counterpart as well stylus support. Both offer Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity too, but the Kindle Colorsoft does get you wireless charging.
However, given how fiddly wireless charging was to use on the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, I'm not quite sure this one feature alone should account for the higher price over the $219.99 / £199.99 / AU$359.95 of the Libra Colour.
I'm still not convinced
Without the asymmetric thickness and the page-turn buttons, the Colorsoft seems to be in direct competition with the Kobo Clara Colour instead, which retails for $149.99 / £139.99 / AU$259.95. This price, however, is for a 6-inch ereader using the same screen tech and with just 16GB of onboard storage.
Despite the color display, the Clara Color is cheaper than the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite ($159.99 / £159.99 / AU$299) which, however, now sports a 7-inch E Ink Carta 1300 display. I'm really keen to see this display in action on the new Paperwhite as I loved it on the Kobo Clara BW. It proved to have not just faster page turns, but I said that it was the best display on any monochrome ereader to date in my Kobo Clara BW review. If Amazon has managed to optimize it well for its new 7-inch ereader, I could justify the purchase of the 2024 Paperwhite, but I am struggling with the Colorsoft in context with the competition.
While the entire Kindle range (other than the Scribe) really needed a facelift, I'm not entirely sold on the new releases. That said, I haven't yet seen – or tried – any of them in person and will happily stand corrected when I've done the usual in-depth testing I do for ereaders. Until then, if you need me to recommend ereaders, I'd probably say go for a Kobo.
Also, Amazon, where the heck is an updated Kindle Oasis? It was too lovely an ereader to have been killed off!
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