Amazon Launches First Kindle With Color Display [Updated]

Amazon today refreshed its popular Kindle e-reader lineup, introducing the first Kindle that has a color display. The $279.99 Kindle Colorsoft has a 7-inch high-contrast display that Amazon says offers "paper-like color."

kindle colorsoft
While Amazon has released tablets with traditional LCD displays that support color, the Colorsoft is E Ink like Amazon's other Kindle tablets, but with new technology that allows for color. Amazon is using LED pixels and a new oxide backplane for color without impacting resolution or increasing latency when turning pages.

There have been rumors that Apple has tested electronic paper display (EPD) technology for future devices, including color EPD, which is similar to what Amazon has just rolled out. Back in 2022, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple tested E-Ink's Electronic Paper Display for future foldable tablet applications, and he said that color EPD could perhaps become a mainstream solution for the cover screen of a foldable iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Color e-ink is still newer technology, but there are other products like the Remarkable Paper Pro that use it.

Amazon says that the Kindle Colorsoft is its brightest Kindle yet, and the display is able to adjust the front light for any lighting condition. It continues to have a 300 pixel-per-inch resolution for black and white, with a 150 pixel-per-inch resolution for color.

Amazon today also unveiled an updated $399.99 Kindle Scribe that supports note-taking with a white-bordered display and a screen that has a paper-like texture. It comes with a Premium Pen that feels like an actual pen, complete with a soft-tipped eraser for erasing. AI integration allows for summaries and bullet point lists of notes taken, and notes can be refined to have a more readable font.

Other new additions include the latest Kindle Paperwhite, which Amazon says is its fastest to date with 25 percent faster page turns, and a new matcha color for the entry-level Kindle. The Kindle Colorsoft will ship on October 30, while the Kindle Scribe will ship on December 4. Other Kindles are available now.

Update: This article was updated to provide exact pricing at Amazon's request. The prior version listed the Kindle Colorsoft's price as $280 instead of $279.99, and the Kindle Scribe's price as $400 instead of $399.99. Note that Amazon's listed pricing is before tax, so customers who live in areas where sales tax is collected will see total prices higher than $279.99 and $399.99. There may also be shipping fees for customers who do not have Amazon Prime.

Tag: Amazon

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Top Rated Comments

MrGimper Avatar
8 weeks ago

I feel this is so redundant for anyone who has an iPhone or iPad. You can just get the Kindle app on your iDevice and read that way.
Unless you're in bright sunlight.

Or don't want to kill your eyes in the dark.

Or want it to be waterproof.

For reading, a kindle is leagues ahead of any ipad.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
8 weeks ago

Kindle was first launched in 2007. First Kindle with colour display - 2024. That's 17 years.
Compare to Apple's iPod, launched in 2001. First iPod with colour display - 2004. 3 years.

Apple always innovates faster. Kindle should've had R&D on this years ago.
Apple doesn't make displays, and this is e-ink tech. Unsure the point of this comparison.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
8 weeks ago

Yes, I get the whole built for purpose screen.. great battery and minimal distractions, but the reality is that I'd rather just use my iPad Pro (11)
Meh, I've tried iPads over the years and keep going back to my e-ink kindle. It's my most-used and longest lived gadget, having used the same one since April 2014.

I'm curious about this new color model, but I don't really read anything with illustrations.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rulymammoth Avatar
8 weeks ago
This is cool, but the pixel density really takes a step back on the color version.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lcseds Avatar
8 weeks ago

Perhaps good to read supermarket or mass market fiction (which I don’t consume) but not big enough to consume many academic texts (which I do consume). I’d rather pay a bit more for an iPad. I guess I’m not the intended audience.
No need to insult different users. eInk is not for supermarket or mass market fiction. Jeez, the hubris. Oh wait, you're an academic.....sorry. But you are correct, use what you prefer, just not outside.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rychiar Avatar
8 weeks ago
God i hope this is sarcasm ?

Kindle was first launched in 2007. First Kindle with colour display - 2024. That's 17 years.
Compare to Apple's iPod, launched in 2001. First iPod with colour display - 2004. 3 years.

Apple always innovates faster. Kindle should've had R&D on this years ago.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)