Is color really worth $250? Reviewing the Kindle Colorsoft.

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The Kindle Colorsoft has had a weird rollout. The color e-reader debuted in October of 2024 but quickly paused shipping after customer reports of discoloration. Since then, the Colorsoft has quietly been on the market with two new iterations joining the lineup. Now the Colorsoft collection includes Kindle Colorsoft (16GB), Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (32GB), and Kindle Colorsoft Kids.

Amazon's Kindles admittedly joined the color e-reader party pretty late. Before the Colorsoft's launch, Kobo already had two color e-readers, the Clara Colour and Libra Colour, Boox had the Go Color 7, and the Remarkable Paper Pro tablet has a color display too (although the Remarkable is more of a paper tablet than an e-reader).

With the debut of the Colorsoft, Amazon also had a huge price problem, as the first device launched — the Colorsoft Signature Edition — cost $279.99. As of July 2025, Amazon released the more affordable Kindle Colorsoft, which we're here to review today.

At $249.99, it's still an investment of an e-reader — so is it worth it? Here are our thoughts on the Kindle Colorsoft.

Kindle Colorsoft price and specs

As mentioned above, the Kindle Colorsoft with 16 GB costs $249.99. To put that price into perspective, that's $90 more than the comparable Kindle Paperwhite but $30 cheaper than the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition.

Compared to other color e-readers, it still runs expensive. The Kobo Clara Colour costs the same as the Paperwhite at $159.99, while the Kobo Libra Colour costs $229.99. So, looking at price alone, it's one of the most expensive color e-readers.

Let's get into the specs of the Kindle Colorsoft:

• 7-inch display

• Up to 94 nits brightness with adjustable warmth

• 300 ppi resolution for black and white and 150 ppi for color

• USB-C charging port with up to 8 weeks of battery life

• 16GB of storage

• IPX8 waterproof rating can be fully submerged in water for up to one hour

• Comes in black, raspberry, and jade

The color doesn't disappoint

The big show-stopping quality of the Kindle Colorsoft is the color display, so that's the priority here. The color looks really nice on the Kindle Colorsoft.

I borrowed a copy of Heartstopper Volume 3 with Libby and sent it to the Kindle Colorsoft, but I wanted to see how it actually compared to the real thing. After grabbing a physical copy of the novel from the library, I set them side-by-side to see how the visuals compared.

The Kindle Colorsoft does a nice job of accurately color-matching the physical copy. However, the colors on the Colorsoft are muted compared to the book, even when you turn up the brightness. I wish the display were higher contrast to capture punchy, vibrant hues.

But I wanted to verify that its muted tone wasn't just how the e-books were illustrated, so I pulled out my iPad to view the e-book within the Libby app. On the iPad, the colors were more vibrant and accurate to the physical book than the Kindle Colorsoft. Plus, the iPad highlighted the Colorsoft's lower resolution.

You won't miss a ton of color while using the Kindle Colorsoft — just don't expect the same vibrancy you'd expect with a physical copy. If that's a priority for you in reading digitally, go for a tablet instead, as color e-ink displays still have a ways to go in terms of resolution and quality.

It runs just like a Kindle Paperwhite

With the addition of color to a Kindle, I was curious if it would affect the efficiency of its operating system. Luckily, it doesn't. The Colorsoft runs just like the Kindle Paperwhite, which is to say, quickly and efficiently. There's little to no lag time between pages, and it has a 300 ppi resolution when using black and white, adjustable warmth and brightness, and an IPX8 waterproof rating.

There is one small difference when operating the Colorsoft compared to the Paperwhite. When using the e-reader in color, the screen tends to flash between pages while loading. This is a common plight among color e-readers, and something you'll find true among Kobo's color e-readers, too.

Other than the obvious color aspect, the Colorsoft boasts one advantage over the standard Kindle Paperwhite: It is ad-free. This was a pleasant surprise to me, but one I'd expect for a device that costs $250.

I am disappointed that Colorsoft doesn't have auto-adjusting brightness. For that, you'll have to spend even more on the Colorsoft Signature Edition.

Is the Kindle Colorsoft worth it?

For the average reader, no, the Kindle Colorsoft is not worth it. Unless you're mostly reading graphic novels, you don't need color on an e-reader. When it comes to purchasing a Kindle, it's a better value to go for the Paperwhite or even the Signature Edition.

If you are really passionate about getting a color e-reader, I'd explore Kobo's offerings instead. The Clara Colour is our favorite e-reader at Mashable, and while it does have a slightly smaller screen, it possesses the same brightness and resolution as the Kindle Colorsoft — not to mention it's $90 cheaper. If you want the bigger screen, the Kobo Libra Colour is also great.

I might recommend this Kindle Colorsoft to parents buying for kids. This model is $20 cheaper than the Colorsoft Kids, and during setup, you can choose to set it up so it's kid-friendly. The color display is a huge boon for kids who want to experience their favorite books in color, plus it's a much better distraction-free reader than a tablet.