Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition 32GB (newest model) – With color display, auto-adjusting front light, wireless charging, and long battery life - Metallic Black + 3 months of Kindle Unlimited (with auto-renewal)

Let's get one thing out of the way from the beginning: if the question is "which Kindle should somebody get," the answer most of the time is probably the Kindle Paperwhite. If, however, your pre-existing Kindle is almost a decade old or you're somebody who loves the latest and greatest thing, the Kindle Colorsoft might be for you. If that's you, my experience is that you won't regret diving into a more colorful world. I've been using the Kindle Oasis since 2017. In that time, the gradual degradation of hardware becomes noticeable: the ghostly appearance of text from pages past, the leisurely page turn speed, slow navigation, etc. None of these personal details matter to you, the person reading this review, but I share them because it should help provide some context so you can take my comments about the Colorsoft with a grain of salt if you would like to do so. With that said, I am genuinely impressed with what I've experienced so far. The text is crisp, and page turns are lightning quick. The star of the show, of course, is the introduction of color. I was initially skeptical of how much the color would add to the Kindle experience, especially given the existence of smaller tablets with LCD screens. After about a week with the Colorsoft, I must say I am surprised by how impactful the inclusion of color has been. Seeing the color versions of the book covers in my library is delightful, though I'm not sure why it resonates so much with me. Of course, the colors will be more vivid on an iPad but that misses the point. I enjoy reading on Kindles because they strain my eyes so much less than tablets do. The colors on the Colorsoft may be more muted (though you may be able to goose them a bit if you fiddle in settings), but they still look good, and the trade-off is worth it if you're prioritizing your eyes or if you tend to do a lot of reading in bed. I've seen some comment in reviews that the page turn speed is a bit slower when you go from a color page to a color page, but it hasn't been terribly noticeable for me. If you've gotten this far, you might be wondering about the yellow discoloration that some have noticed at the bottom of the Colorsoft's screen. While I understand that many people had this issue with their devices, I haven't noticed it with mine. Maybe it would show up if I took a photograph of my screen, but if I can't detect the issue with my naked eye, I'm not going to worry about it. With that said, I completely understand if the discoloration would be a dealbreaker. At $279.99, the Colorsoft is priced as a premium device. A premium device should deliver premium performance. Thankfully, it appears Amazon has already taken steps to address this problem for those affected by the discoloration issue. In my experience, though, the screen has been excellent. To sum it all up: the Kindle Colorsoft is really enjoyable to use, and you might be surprised by how much color adds to the experience. However, the price point does make the Colorsoft a bit of a tough sell if you're using a more recent Kindle or don't have issues using a tablet for reading.

A perfect upgrade/2nd device to my 2018 (32gb) Kindle PW, especially considering it’s the 1st Gen of its kind. I was initially scared it’d feel a lot bigger than my current 6” reader (which I love size-wise because it fits in even the smallest of bags/pockets), but it honestly isn’t too noticeable & still light/easy to carry with me on-the-go. One of the first things I noticed was its speed & how much faster it was than my PW model. The 32gb of storage space was also something I didn’t want to compromise on because, imo, it’s such great value for the money and I really hate how they limit the other models to only 16gb (the Oasis and Scribe models just aren’t for me/too large & expensive). Regarding issues others have pointed out in reviews (and hence why I am updating my own review, after now having my CS for about a week)— I have yet to experience any *major* problems with the screen color or brightness/warmness (my device does have a very faint yellow tint at the bottom, but it’s barely noticeable so I really just…. don’t care lol, it doesn’t impact my reading at all). My favorite part is how you can switch the Color mode from “Standard” (for a more subtle, muted look) to “Vivid” (higher contrast than the latter setting, but still easy on the eyes & not too jarring). Lastly, I also love that Dark Mode + other misc things (like adding custom fonts) are still available. It IS worth noting that Dark Mode only works for [most] books & does NOT currently extend out to the Main Menu headers/Homepage— I say “most” because I have some downloaded files on my Kindles and, even though they’re the right file format (.epub), they don’t always allow for certain features to work for whatever reason. I genuinely didn’t realize that Dark Mode didn’t work across the board, so that was a little disappointing to discover later, but hopefully it’s something that can be fixed via software updates or in later Generations! For some added context: I have really bad eyes & need to wear glasses daily but, even so, I still do *not* view this as a dealbreaker on whether or not the CS device is worth it, because I still believe it is. Rather, I just use my PW at night & at home (so that I can utilize Dark Mode to the fullest), and keep/bring my CS now when I’m out or at work. Overall, my recommendation is just to do your own research on each model before buying! If some of the features (or lack thereof/limitations) are a dealbreaker for you, I’d consider holding off or buying a different model. However, if you’re just looking for a simple & new or supplemental e-reader that has plenty of space AND also just happens to be in color, I’d say this one fits the bill just fine!

I received a notice from Amazon that my elderly Kindle Fire was no longer going to be supported. Naturally I was disappointed. I went ahead and bought a new Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition 32 Gb reader, which arrived just over a week ago. My disappointment went away very quickly. The first thing I noticed was that it is always on -- it has a sleep mode, with extremely tiny power consumption. There's no lengthy boot-up process (which was about 2 minutes with the old Kindle Fire). I made very extensive use of the reader over the past three days -- probably averaging 4 to 5 hours a day -- and that didn't include the hours spent downloading all of my Kindle books to the new reader; the battery charge is still at about 85% full. At this rate I won't need to plug it in for a recharge for another 2 weeks or so. The next nice feature is that it charges through a USB-C port, which means very fast charging. (It also can use a wireless charger, but I'll likely never get one of those.) Then there's the available cover, which cost me $31.99 and is worth every cent of that. Close the front of the cover and the reader goes to sleep. Open it and your last page read shows up immediately. The color quality isn't quite as good as that of the Kindle Fire, but it's still very good. That's part of the trade-off when you go from the Fire tablet (which needs recharging every 8 hours or so, which takes all night using its USB-A port) to the Colorsoft, which uses a lot less power and only needs charging twice (or maybe once) a month. The text quality and readability are excellent. It has an easily selected airplane mode, so you can have your whole library available on long airline trips (and its battery lasts easily long enough for that). Another advantage of the Colorsoft is that text highlighting can be done in a number of colors. That has some advantages when multiple persons are using it, i.e., the text can be color-coded by user. It could be very useful in an editorial process. I love it and recommend it.

Updated 12/7: Not only did Amazon refund my Colorsoft purchase price, but Amazon also credited my account with the value of my old Kindle trade-in AND the $30 gift card awarded with that original trade-in. Definitely unexpected customer service!! Will stay with Kindle brand and look forward to an improved Color Kindle in the future as I will buy it:) Updated 12/1: Amazon Customer Support called me today to ask about my recent Colorsoft purchase and review. I was pleasantly surprised! He told me that Amazon would replace my device when they are available, which would be great but I'd already decided to return it for a Signature Paperwhite 12th generation. The text clarity is much better on the Paperwhite, which is the biggest reason for my decision. I'll revisit a color kindle, though, in a few years once the bugs are worked out! Original review: I’m posting a review of my Kindle Colorsoft for a few reasons: sharing my love of the device, sharing my experience with Amazon’s customer support, knowing my options going forward, and frustration with Amazon for not addressing an issue and offering a solution for a well-known issue that many others are facing. First, the device is beautiful! Having the color makes the e-reading experience a step closer to the print experience. Just setting the color covers of the books makes me happy:) The page turning is faster, the highlighting options (which I use extensively) are useful, and the battery life is acceptable. I have not used the wireless charging yet, but it’s there if I decide to in the future. I strongly recommend this device BUT DO NOT ORDER UNTIL THE DEFECT HAS BEEN FIXED BY AMAZON! My problem summarized: I traded in an older Paperwhite, used that $86 credit toward the Colorsoft, realized the Colorsoft is defective, Amazon site will NOT let me replace the device only return the device, but if I return the device I lose that $86 credit as it’s nontransferrable (it’s just gone?), and if I return the device I’m without an e-reader. Customer Care is unaware of the Colorsoft conundrum and offers no equitable/fair solution. The problem: I traded in my 2021 Kindle Paperwhite while pre-ordering a Kindle Colorsoft. That trade-in resulted in a $30 Amazon gift card and 20% off ($56 off the Colorsoft pre-rder) any new Amazon device. My Colorsoft was delivered November 1 and I returned my Paperwhite the following week. Then I saw my Colorsoft has the dreaded yellow hue on the bottom of the screen display; it’s not obviously noticeable, but once it’s seen it cannot be unseen. Not wanting to have a defective device after spending hard earned money on it, I reached out to Amazon’s Customer Support for the first time on November 8. This contact was Amazon’s AI Chat, and its response to my request for a replacement was to keep my device and Amazon would send a replacement once a replacement was available. Once I received the new device, I would get an email with the return shipping information/label for the defective device. The Chat then told me it would send a confirmation email of our conversation. I took pictures of the chat conversation for my records. I did receive a confirmation email, but it only thanked me for contacting Amazon’s Customer Support. There were no attachments of the replacement promised nor did my Amazon account have any record of a replacement being initiated. After a few weeks and still no update on my Amazon account and with my December 1 return deadline approaching, I reached out again to Amazon’s Customer Support on November 22 and initiated a phone conversation with a representative. This individual was trying to be helpful by initiating a return for my Colorsoft. However, the return email he sent had a return deadline of December 2 (only one day more than the original trade-in deadline), so I tried to explain to him how that would not fit the release date of the new Colorsoft devices without the defect. My complaint with this process was that even if I returned the Colorsoft I have, I would lose the $56 trade-in credit AND the $30 gift card. It would be as if I gave Amazon my older device; I’ve read on Amazon’s site that such credits/gift cards are non-transferable to another device. So, I told him I was not returning my Colorsoft because I didn’t want to give away those credits AND give Amazon a device to refurbish and resell for profit at my own expense/loss. The customer care representative wanted to “make me happy” so he offered a partial refund of $23.74, which was credited to my original form of payment (credit card). By accepting this partial refund, though, my Colorsoft is not eligible for a future return or replacement. So, with the deadline for trade-in looming, I accepted that offer. (Now, though, I’m thinking I should not have.) His final suggestion was to use the device’s Limited One-Year Warranty to pursue getting my Colorsoft fixed or replaced once the new Colorsofts are available for shipping. Why is Amazon not dealing with this problem? Why am I having to reach out to Customer Support and neither the AI or the person knows of the problem with the Colorsoft? Why is the 20% and $30 credit not transferable given that Amazon is at fault for the defect in my device? ~Avid Reader

UPDATE 2: Of course, the day after my last update I got the white screen out of nowhere again. I fixed it for now, but it's annoying to have to deal with this in a new device. UPDATE: [Pictured is my Paperwhite 10th Generation and the Colorsoft for comparison.] I have had the Colorsoft for 3 weeks now, and I like it. I added a star because of that and because I haven't had anymore issues with glitches, and enjoy using it. We are still making sure to completely shut off the screen to save battery, this might be remedied by getting a case (right now it lives in a pouch). I still wish there was a system dark mode, I do miss it when reading at night. Any yellowing on the screen doesn't seem to be an issue. I tested the screen on several light settings and it looks fine to me. I'm hoping the downloading issues in my original review can be remedied with a software update. My kid likes to read ebooks before bed, and I like the option for her to use this device rather than a tablet. Previously she didn't like using an ereader because the books weren't in color. Being able to share this device with my kid is great, but it is a pain in the rear to designate books to share. And there should be a store access setting for the kids to download Prime and Kindle Unlimited books without giving them permission to make purchases. ORIGINAL REVIEW: For the retail price this is listed at I honestly expected better quality. I understand that the colors are not going to look like they do on a tablet, and that the technology might not be to the point where there's no screen door effect. But I have had multiple glitches since receiving my Colorsoft only a couple of days ago. First day, I got a plain white screen randomly. I had to hold the button down and restart it to see anything at all. Then when I tried to get into a child profile it was stuck on the "loading account details" page. Again I held down the button to restart. The battery doesn't seem to last that long unless you completely shut off the screen. Something else I noticed was that there is no system dark mode. My 10th gen Paperwhite has that why didn't this brand new one have it? (I know you can have it dark while you're reading a book, but then when you go back to your library or home page, it's light mode again. That sucks when you're reading at night). Use audible books? They took for-e-ver to sync and download. I thought at first they weren't compatible, that's how long it took to show a new purchase and how long I saw an older purchase waiting in the queue. Also, Amazon needs to put an option to select all books/etc to download. I shouldn't have to scroll and click each one. I tried to do it through the website but it didn't work either. I'm going to continue using it for now, I really want to like it but I'm undecided if I'm going to keep it. Edit: I may have some of the yellowing people are talking about at the bottom of my screen. It doesn't seem to be as bad as some of the photos I've seen, on mine it looks more like the screen is a bit dingy at the bottom. AND I just found out that if you pre-ordered you only get a month to return, but everyone who orders now gets until the end of January! Not fair!

For reference, I have the Kindle Colorsoft, 11th generation Paperwhite, and a competitor color e-reader. I have seen so many negative reviews for this new Kindle and I completely disagree. 1) People have issues with a “yellow band” at the bottom of the screen. To be fair, I use the warm settings so it might go unnoticed. But I don’t see this band. 2) Complaints on grainy text. It’s not as crisp as my 11th gen Paperwhite, but it’s still very very good. I have read for hours with no eye strain. The quality in my opinion is better than the competitor color e-reader. The other company’s color e-reader I couldn’t read more than maybe two hours because my eyes hurt. It didn’t matter how I adjusted the brightness, warmth, font, or font size. Again, the Colorsoft I have read for hours and hours. 3) Battery life: I agree, the battery life is not as good as the Paperwhite. HOWEVER, it is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the Kindle Oasis. A family member has the Oasis and the battery is the biggest con of that device. Battery would last a couple days or barely a full day depending on how long a reading session is. Absolutely terrible. The Kindle Colorsoft battery again is very very good in comparison. 4) I have seen people complain about the ColorSoft not having dark mode. There is an option in the settings for dark mode. I have used it. It’s there. I DID notice that it’s in the book as you’re reading, but it doesn’t appear dark on the main menu. But there’s dark mode when you are in a book. The competitor ereader I have does the same exact thing and I haven’t seen any complaints on this. 5) There are complaints that the color is not vivid enough. There is a setting on the device that’s “standard” and “vivid”. The Kindle ColorSoft is the name. It’s colorSOFT. I think the color is phenomenal for e-ink technology. To me it is more book-like, natural, and easy on the eyes than the competitor. It is e-ink. Not LED. If you want heavy saturation of colors then maybe an iPad or Kindle Fire is the better choice for you. But LED tablets come with more eye strain, glare, and bad battery life. The Kindle ColorSoft has screen savers that are so cute, it’s fun seeing my covers in color when my Kindle is sleeping or on the main menu browsing. The highlighter color options are so vibrant. Overall this Kindle is wonderful. It is essentially the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition but in color. I read comfortably for hours. The only request I have for a future color device is pen compatibility and page turn buttons. If they revamp and relaunch the Oasis in color I know people will jump on that opportunity, myself included. But for someone that has the Paperwhite and then got the ColorSoft, this is a seamless and happy experience.

Alright grab a cup of coffee or a cocktail and settle back as I spin my yarn. So, I'm a big fan of kindles. Since 2010 when we had this technology explosion, smartphones and tablets came on the scene and e-paper became an alternative to reading on LCD and OLED, I have been a "Kindle Aficionado.". I have gotten many, many kindles and sometimes paid more for them than I would have preferred, like 350-400 bucks. I usually can recoup about 100 bucks of that by selling them on later after I'm done as I take care of my devices. I got the first generation Paperwhite with the ever-so-slight visible backlight "issue" that people overeacted to. I remember when that got improved and the processor speed went up making it more usable. I remember when we got warm mode for the first time. I remember the first kindle with Auto Brightness. I remember "whispersync" when we could actually download things off wifi for free via 3G networks. I remember Kindle Voyage's glass screen and coffin-shaped back. I remember the original Oasis with the detachable and expensive "leatherette" cover. I remember the waterproof second generation Oasis. All of them were wonderful and all had pretty much steady improvements. All still usable, Still have a Voyage to this day because of it's glass screen quality, despite it not having enough space. Unlike phones, kindle devices last a long time, well past their internal technology sell by date. The kindle I replaced was relatively new for Kindles, but ancient in tech terms (2019, 6 years ago. Technology uses dog years so about 50 years old, lol). Still works flawlessly. Couple issues, one is no color and the other is no USB C (or wireless charging). So it's time, I traded one of my 2nd gen Oases in for this device and Although it's not a premium build as Kindles go, it's a color paperwhite - And probably the first of many color e-ink displays - it's features were an ABSOLUTE MUST for me. Color, wireless charging and USB C so I can start getting rid of all micro USB keyed cables in my house. These are all big deals. I skipped the scribe, it's cool but I'll wait for the eventual color version, color is that big of a deal. Now you're probably reading some of the pearl clutching reviews people have posted complaining about those things like yellow bottom border, lower resolution and less white "paper" - it's now more of a greyish color and it's a slight step back I will admit. But the fact I can see all my books in color - pretty decent color mind you - that alone is worth the cost of admission. I read comics and "graphic novels". and I'm reading the X-men series from the 80s on up atm and am loving it. Been doing it on an ipad pro, brand new and extremely expensive and fragile device also not worth what is charged for it (1100 bucks). I basically use it to browse the web occasionally and read comics. Now I can read them on my kindle colorsoft signature edition along with my books instead of not being able to. Also, books with 2 color printing like the Illustrated Silmarillion now have their colored titles show up which is refreshing and something I love about the print editions. These also have their color illustrations in color instead of a greyscale mess where before you'd try to work out what it was. It's a game changer. SImply put. For those who read books with "plates" (as long as the kindle edition supports it I assume) you now get them in color. Comics are almost like reading old yellowed comic books. It has a charm that makes it worthwhile. Now, is it as vibrant as an Ipad, no, it's not and there might be some use cases for still using your ipad first for art heavy books, but being able to see them in color with only an e-ink device is still huge, as before you wouldn't even be able to appreciate or make sense of them. You'd never open them, it was print only and no color in the print ever breaking up the monotony. The fact this is a thing of the past now ? That's fantastic and worth the tradeoffs. The trade offs - let's talk about them. They're only issues if you had bad expectations, wanted a tablet, or are OCD. That's my feelilng anyway. You get a greyer, "dirtier" background and a lower resolution of 150 DPI when images are on the screen. Sure, this is kind of noticable but not deal breakers by any means unless you're "pixel peeping" and letting your OCD get the best of you. If you are using warm mode the bottom of the screen can geta bit yellowish (I mean it's warm mode, the whole screen is getting more yellow) but it can be slightly un-uniform and I guess this freaks some folks out that want something perfect. I'm not one of them, but that's probably the reason for the returns and 3 stars I guess. It is what it is... those people will miss out on color e-ink. Also I'm sure they'll improve these very minor limitations over time. Similar thing happened with the OG paperwhite and itnever stopped me reading on it, I eventually replaced it and got a better display and more speed. Let's face it. Your average kindle you could expect to keep for 2 or 3 years until a new model comes out and then sell it for a few bob on ebay, provided you didn't lose it or damage it in that time. Or you could keep it for 10 years until it was totally obsolete and nobody wanted it and have to toss it as it fails as all electronics do these days as nobody repairs em anymore. I know what I've been doing with mine, flipping them back and getting the latest and greatest. Technology will always improve and I look forward to future kindles with improvements, but know this much... I'm not going back to black and white only. Even if it's a little cleaner and whiter. Also I have some older kindles still so If I want that experience I can have it. Some people may not be able to make this trade off and that's fine - you can keep to your paperwhite. The speed of this device is also quite good, yes it has to do page refresh more often on color but old kindles had that issue too and had worse "dirt" that accumulated, I think people today are a bit spoiled. One area I would like to see is 64 GB, with color file sizes are more, and 32 GB is not a lot. 64 GB and 128 GB ought to be the norm, come on, it's 2025, and NAND flash is cheaper than ever and getting cheaper constantly. I remember when kindles had 2 GB on them. 2 GB ! lol. All in all, I'm all in. And i'm excited where the future of color e-ink is going.

First my Paperwhite history. I had a Paperwhite that I first registered in 2017. Then in Oct. '23 I bought the 11th generation Paperwhite because I decided it had enough upgrades to be worth it. Very pleased with it! Then this comes along and I see Color! I missed seeing covers in color! So I traded in my 2017 Paperwhite and preordered. Just received it a couple of hours ago. Unlike some reviewers who evidently are more tech savvy than me, I fully expected the covers to be bright and vibrant like what I see when I buy from the website. They are not. They are muted - even with the vibrant setting. The yellow band - well once I read the reviews, I looked and checked brightness and warmth settings - and yes if I squint it is there. And I did notice that the screen seemed to be darker than my other Paperwhite so I had to turn the brightness up. Don't forget that as usual Amazon makes sure that the size is just a hair off from previous devices so your old Paperwhite cover will not fit correctly. I could get the colorsoft in it but the cover would not lie flat. This has more storage than my old Paperwhite. However I haven't even used half the storage space on my old. I have about 50/60 books downloaded at one time and I remove one once I read it. I do think that when I downloaded a book, it was faster - why that would be I don't know. Faster processor? Larger storage space? Also - thought. You can highlight in different colors. But then why can't I choose a color for my collection folder? They are now a Carolina blue. Pretty but I would love to change the folder colors to reflect different collections. Maybe that is something they will add later. So was this a good purchase? I would say if you are thinking about getting a Kindle/Paperwhite for the first time, then no. The color option at this time is not worth it unless you read lots of magna/comics. If you want to replace an old one, also probably no. Not enough difference to reflect the increased price. Does that mean I am going to return it? I think not. I do like the muted colors compared to no color. I admit that only having had it a few hours, I do not know if the decreased sharpness that everyone says is there will affect my enjoyment of reading. I don't notice the "yellow band" enough to care. And I could use two readers - one to have at work, in my purse available always and the other at home. I will have to buy another cover though. It is not probably not a "good" purchase and perhaps I am not getting "my money's worth" but I am going to indulge myself anyway.