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Either Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft isn’t selling well enough, or the competition is selling better, because the company appears to have quietly released a new, cheaper version starting late yesterday. It was all over my Amazon app when I opened it this afternoon, and it’s being promoted to the point where I can’t find the old model outside of bundles and direct links to it. The problem? It comes with a bunch of compromises, and is just $30 less.
It does, however, fill a hole in the Kindle lineup. Previously, the Kindle Colorsoft was only available as a “Signature Edition,” meaning it had bonuses like wireless charging, auto-brightness, and extra storage thrown in. This new model finally gives the Colorsoft a “standard” version, but is that tradeoff worth it?
As a plus, it doesn’t come with ads on the lock screen, something you have to pay for on other non Signature Edition Kindles. But for the low, low discount of $30, you’re also just getting the bare minimum. If you’re like me, you can probably live without wireless charging and auto-brightness, but the new Kindle Colorsoft also has half the storage, at 16GB instead of 32GB.
That’s a lot of space to give up for just a $30 savings. To be fair, you’ll be able to hold tens of thousands of text-based books with that, but throw in audiobooks or the comics that the Kindle Colorsoft practically seems made for, and you might start to brush up against those storage limits more.
With that in mind, I’d probably still go for the signature edition, especially since you can get competing budget color models like the Kobo Clara Colour, and even the more expensive Kobo Libra Colour, for cheaper than you can get this new, budget Colorsoft. You’ll lose out on an inch of screen size with the Clara, but the Libra actually improves on the Colorsoft in a few ways, like page turn buttons and stylus support. It’s also got 32GB of storage, like the Colorsoft Signature Edition.
What do you think so far?
In my testing, I will admit that Amazon’s approach to color e-ink tends to look more vibrant and have fewer artifacts than the competition, but it’s still a compromised experience compared to more traditional screens. If you’re already willing to make sacrifices, you might be the type of person who’s willing to lose a little fidelity for savings. If money is what matters to you, then even pared down, the new Colorsoft isn’t your best option, especially since it locks you into Amazon’s Kindle ecosystem—and its pricing.
If you are willing to pay a bit more and deal with the Kindle ecosystem, I still have plenty of positive things to say about the Colorsoft Signature Edition. It’s difficult to find right now, as Amazon seems to be leading searches for it to bundles with covers and wireless chargers thrown-in, rather than the device itself. But it’s still available at the direct link here. You can also add a bit more value to the new Kindle Colorsoft by buying the Kids version, which costs $20 more but throws in a year of Amazon Kids+, which normally costs $8 a month.