Amazon has just announced four new Kindles in an unprecedented shake-up of its ebook reader range. It includes new versions of the entry-level model (in a punchy new color), the fastest Kindle ever in the new Paperwhite, a stylishly redesigned Scribe and the first-ever Kindle with a color screen. Here’s what, when and how much.
The new Kindle range.
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft
This is the first colour-screen Kindle. There are other ebook readers with color screens, but this is Amazon’s first attempt. It is similar in size to the new Paperwhite, of which more below, but can display color images, ideal for graphic novels, cookery books and travel guides.
Ebook readers with color often look washed-out and so pale you can barely see there’s any color at all, but here the colors are more impactful, though not the saturated hues you’d see on an iPad, for instance. The Kindle has always been easier on the eye than a tablet, of course. The subtle colors are attractive and add an eye-catching feel to text you’ve highlighted, for instance.
Kindle Colorsoft
The Colorsoft is easily the most striking of the new Kindles, adding the power of color with an authority and simplicity that other color ebook readers haven’t matched.
It is available for pre-orders now and will ship on Oct. 30, priced $279.99, £269.99 in the U.K.
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle.
The entry-level Kindle is available now with a redesign that sees a matcha colorway for the first time that looks cool. There’s still a black version for, (what shall we say?), the more color-conservative. It has a 6-inch display and, like all the new models, 300 pixels per inch resolution. It’s also brighter than before. The new colorway seems designed to appeal to Gen Z buyers, which Amazon says is a fast-growing group of buyers. $109.99, £94.99 in the U.K.
Amazon Kindle Scribe
Amazon Kindle Scribe.
The biggest Kindle with its 10.2-inch display is designed as much as a digital notebook as a reader. It has a classy new look and a new Premium Pen stylus that feels and sounds like you’re writing on paper.
It introduces new features such as Active Canvas which lets you just pick up the stylus and scribble on the page of a book. The printed text reflows around it. You can also write in the margins, you know, like people still do in real books, and your notes can be stored there, too. These new features will come to the first-generation Scribe through a software update, too. It will work with most books.
And for both the new and first-gen Scribe, generative AI features will allow users to summarize their notebooks, for instance.
The new Kindle Scribe arrives on Dec.4 and will cost $399.99, £379.99 in the U.K.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
Kindle Paperwhite raspberry and jade finishes
The Goldilocks Kindle, I call it, because it’s the ideal balance of price and features, has been restyled in a thinner version with a slightly increased display size—it’s now 7 inches instead of 6.8 inches. But it’s still light and easy to hold in one hand for extended immersive reading sessions. That absorption in the text is made more seamless by the fastest-ever page turns on a Kindle, 25% faster than the last Paperwhite. If that sounds minor, it’s not: as a reader you don’t want anything to come between you and the words.
Kindle Paperwhite has 16GB storage and comes in black, jade and raspberry colors. It costs $159.99 (£159.99 in the U.K.) and is available now. A Signature Edition is also available for $189.99 (£189.99 in the U.K.) with extra storage and a metallic finish with flecks of aluminum giving the luster and it is wireless-chargeable.
What About The Kindle Oasis?
I love the Oasis, the premium, metal-clad reader with page-turn buttons and outstanding frontlights. Well, if you want one, don’t dawdle because once the current stocks are gone, the Oasis will be history. It is a remarkable ebook reader, but the truth is that many of the best features have been matched or even beaten by the latest Paperwhite, which is more affordable, or the Kindle Colorsoft which brings new vibrancy to the Kindle range.