Like all Kindles released in the last 18 years, Amazon’s new $290 Kindle does just one thing well: read digital books. This one, called Colorsoft, also shows color.
It may not sound like terribly exciting technology. But I couldn’t resist trying one.
That’s because e-book readers are suddenly trending. Amid the hype surrounding artificial intelligence and discourse about smartphone addiction, e-readers are flying off the shelves. Last year, sales of Kindles were the highest in over a decade. People seem to be looking for a respite from the noisy chatbots and brain-rotting social media memes polluting the web.
The popularity of the Kindle is also part of a quiet resurgence happening with our personal tech. Lots of consumers, especially young people who grew up with smartphones, are turning to minimalist tech like wired earbuds, retro music players and “dumbphones” without traditional screens. A lack of features has become a feature in itself, and the Kindle is a rare example of an old-school technology that continues to be upgraded with modern features.
I tested the Kindle Colorsoft for about a week and found it to be a worthwhile upgrade from a black-and-white e-reader. There are downsides to adding color — the battery life is shorter, for one. But the addition of color enhances the reading experience, especially for comics and books that include photography.
The Colorsoft also includes a tiny bit of A.I. software that provides story recaps, but it’s thoughtfully designed and simple to ignore if you want to stay focused on reading.
Here’s what you need to know.
Pros and Cons
Amazon’s Kindles and the vast majority of e-book readers on the market have relied on e-ink technology that showed text in grayscale. Amazon introduced color to its e-reader in 2024 with the first Colorsoft. This year’s Colorsoft is slightly thinner and lighter than the original, which is a win for commuters.
Battery life is a noticeable drawback. Amazon estimates the Colorsoft will last eight weeks compared with 12 weeks on its $200 black-and-white e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite. That’s still plenty of juice, but because my reading sessions tend to be a few hours a day, I needed to plug in the Colorsoft after about five days; with past Kindles I’d typically recharge every two weeks.
Reading text on a Colorsoft is easier on the eyes than with a bright touch-screen tablet such as an iPad. Text looks clearer — this e-reader shows text at about double the resolution than Kindles from many years ago. There’s also the option to adjust the color temperature of the screen based on the time of day, like a warmer, orange hue for late-night reading.
I have done most of my reading on a black-and-white Kindle for years, and I didn’t realize what a difference color would make. All e-books previously purchased on Amazon can be transferred to the Colorsoft and shown in color whenever applicable. I feel like I have more of a personal connection with my library of e-books now that the covers are shown in their intended colors. For a cookbook I regularly consult for bread recipes, it was helpful to see a color photograph of the crust to determine whether I had underbaked a loaf.
When it comes to reading media with more vibrant colors, such as comic books, don’t expect the Colorsoft to be on a par with an iPad mini. The Colorsoft’s screen has a slight blue tinge, and its color range is limited. As a result, comics in color look more muted and less vibrant than on an iPad, but it beats reading them on a black-and-white Kindle. If your want to read a lot of comics, an iPad may be a better fit, though a tablet may lure you toward social media distractions.
With the internet now flooded with A.I. slop, the Kindle benefits from including the bare minimum of A.I. applied in a useful way. If you have to put a book down and return to it days or weeks later, you can press a button labeled “Story So Far” to get a spoiler-free refresher on what has happened up to the point where you left off. As a sleep-deprived parent of a fussy toddler, I found myself using that tool quite often.
Bottom Line
The biggest drawback of the Colorsoft is the price. At $290 — a $40 increase from last year’s Colorsoft — this device is expensive for just reading books. The version I tested, the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, comes in an aluminum case and costs $320. But with a global memory shortage driving up the cost of most consumer electronics, paying a hefty price for nice tech is becoming a new normal.
Prices might come back down eventually, but until then, we can at least appreciate that a single-tasker like the Kindle not only continues to exist but keeps getting better.
The post Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Review: The Single-Task Gadget of Our Times appeared first on New York Times.
