If you’ve been considering upgrading your e-reader, the Kindle lineup is hard to beat. Known for its massive library of books and true reading experience, it’s a device that I’ve seen even the most hard-core “traditional book lovers” fall in love with and the one gadget apart from my phone that I rarely leave home without. Now, Amazon is updating the family of devices with the introduction of the Kindle Colorsoft.
But first, let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, even in Australia, the new device is called the “Colorsoft”. Not “Coloursoft”. Believe me, as much as it pains me, that’s the official name, so we’ll just have to live with it for the rest of this review.
The Kindle Colorsoft marks a major evolution in the brand with the addition of a colour e-Ink screen, designed with fans of comics and graphic novels in mind. As a lifelong comic collector, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally upgrade my Kindle Paperwhite 7th gen. But the bigger question is: does Colorsoft live up to the hype, and is reading your favourite graphic novels really worth it on this device?
The colour e-Ink display delivers what is a “muted-colour” as opposed to vibrant LED display. At first I felt slightly underwhelmed but as I read more books I found the colour to be more of a charm than a hindrance. Afterall, what Kindle products do better than any other is replicate the feeling you get from picking up a good book and in the Kindle Colorsoft, with this muted colour, the panels resemble the comics I grew up with giving them character and depth that was a nice surprise.
If you are a comic fan, the Kindle Colorsoft offers a feature called “Panel View” that lets you read comics panel by panel. This is activated by the publisher and some Manga style reads didn’t include it as an option. But inspired by the latest Superman movie I chose to go back and read the fantastic “All-Star Superman” which was one of the books that inspired James Gunn’s vision of the film and it was a great way to experience it again.
To activate the panel view you double tap on a panel of the graphic novel, then simply right tap the screen like any kindle book to go through the story. This feature, to be fair, is pretty standard on most comic readers. But without it on the Kindle Colorsoft’s 7-inch screen it would be a frustrating experience. You’d constantly be zooming in with pinches and a Kindle screen refresh in that action can be jarring. I’ve read a few comics on an iPad screen and while I found that to be a good experience, I’ll have to admit this e-reader was better for longer, in that I could read comics for hours without the screen fatigue you get from a bright tablet display. I found it overall to be a much truer reflection of my favourite pastime in digital form.
The colour can be adjusted in a couple of ways to enhance it. First screen brightness can help make it pop a little more and secondly in settings there is an option for vivid or standard. The vivid pushes the colour a bit more, but I found standard to be enough. For best settings I set the brightness to full, the warmth to basically off so it was much cooler in tone and then lastly the page to black rather than white to let the image pop.
The other benefit of the screen is that it’s a glare-free display, making it ideal for outdoor reading, even in bright sunlight. Whether you’re lounging by the beach or enjoying your backyard, the screen remains clear and easy on the eyes. Paired with the auto-adjusting front light, the Colorsoft ensures a comfortable reading experience in any lighting condition, from dimly lit rooms to bright daylight. This is where I find it better than a traditional book, not only is it lightweight, but I can read in bed without the need of a nightlight that keeps my wife awake. I’m more of a night owl than her and enjoy a few chapters of the latest Jack Reacher novel to get me ready for sleep time.
The device I used for my review is a 16gb storage model while there is 32GB of storage in the signature edition, ample space to house a library of books, comics, and even audiobooks, catering to all kinds of readers. For audiobook fans, the built-in Bluetooth 5.1 ensures seamless connectivity to wireless headphones or speakers, making it easier than ever to enjoy stories on the go.
Kindle battery life is something that really blows my mind. While most products I review talk about how many “hours of battery” the Kindle Colorsoft delivers up to eight weeks on a single charge. This makes the device a superior travel companion. The signature edition includes wireless charging but both devices use a USB-C port for faster recharges when needed.
The device is built to handle accidental water exposure under specific conditions. It’s waterproof with an IPX8 rating, meaning it can survive up to 2 meters of fresh water for 60 minutes or 0.25 meters of seawater for 3 minutes (in lab tests). But keep in mind, your Kindle isn’t designed specifically for underwater use and might temporarily be affected if it gets wet. So while it says waterproof, it’s more of a case of yes you can read it in the bath, but don’t read it under the bathwater.
The new features come at a cost though, in Australia we pay $399 for the 16gb model, or $449 for the signature model with wireless charging and auto brightness sensor. Next to the Kindle at only $199 or the Kindle Paperwhite from $299 that could be seen as quite a jump, but for me the extra features and ability to read the style of books that I like is worth it.
The Amazon Kindle Colorsoft surprised with the introduction of some exciting upgrades beyond just colour visuals. The battery life is amazing, the storage acceptable and the fact that you can splash water on it and not feel guilty is a game changer for me coming from a 7th gen model that I was afraid to read a drama on in case my tears broke the device. I can see the Kindle Colorsoft becoming the standard in the series as much like when colour TV was introduced we just couldn’t go back to black and white.
