Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition review: Impressive but too expensive

The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is the biggest thing that has happened to Amazon’s e-reader range since its inception. It’s the first Kindle to come with a colour screen, a technology users have been wanting for years, and it’s a device that will have comic book and manga fans foaming at the mouth.

And while the colour E-ink technology at the heart of the Colorsoft isn’t a match for the saturated tones of the display on your smartphone or laptop – this is still E ink after all – it’s a big step forward and the display is a lot more impressive than I had been expecting.

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition review: What do you get for the money?

The catch is that this latest cutting-edge Kindle is very expensive at £270 and the colour screen is little more than a luxury. For most readers, seeing their book covers in colour is a nicety rather than a necessity – it certainly isn’t a requirement for reading ebooks.

However, assuming you DO want or “need” the colour screen on this latest Kindle, what are you getting for your extra outlay? Well, it isn’t much different to a standard Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which would set you back £190, or even the regular Paperwhite, which is cheaper still at £160.

The display is the same size at 7in across the diagonal and has the same 300ppi monochrome resolution, although colour content displays at half this. It’s topped with a flush-finish touch-sensitive matte glass surface that stretches across the full width of the device and it has a built-in front light with a light sensor to adapt to ambient conditions. There’s also a warm light mode to reduce blue light so it’s less likely to disrupt your sleep.

The chassis is nicely put together with rounded edges and corners. Finished in “metallic black” (although there’s not much metallic about it) it’s slim at 7.8mm and feels nicely made. The finish is a grippy soft-touch plastic with an inset Amazon “swoosh” and the case is waterproof to the IPX8 standard, meaning it’s been tested to withstand submersion in two metres of water for an hour.

Inside, there’s 32GB of storage to keep your books and comics offline, wireless charging support to the Qi standard and there’s a USB-C port along the bottom edge if you prefer to plug it in. All these features are the same as on the regular Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition.

The one key difference between the Colorsoft and the monochrome Signature Edition (that isn’t related to the display) is battery life. The Colorsoft is rated at eight weeks, while the regular Kindle is rated at 12 weeks according to Amazon – if you’re reading for half an hour a day with the front light set to 13 and wireless connectivity disabled. The Colorsoft takes around two and a half hours to charge from empty to full using a 9W wired charger (not included in the box).

Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition review: What does it do well?

It seems obvious to say, but the way the Colorsoft E-Ink Kaleido panel presents colours is, genuinely, the most impressive thing about it. I expected the colours to look wan and washed out – barely worthy of the name – but the images I’ve seen on this screen look pretty good.

No, you’re not getting smartphone-class imagery here, but the colour pages on the Colorsoft look uncannily like they do on a plain-paper printed comic and that’s just fine by me. Indeed, examine the image under a magnifying glass and it even looks like a screen-printed page with the way the microscopic RGB dots are arranged to fool the eye into thinking it’s seeing areas of solid colour. Perhaps this is due to Amazon’s new oxide backplane or its custom coatings but it is the best colour E-ink display I’ve seen yet.

And even though the pixel density is quite low at 150ppi, there’s very little evidence of pixelation or grain, certainly to the naked eye. Moreover, the transition between one colour to another is impressively subtle – that’s something that’s probably due to the panel’s ability to reproduce 4,096 colour shades.

It’s also a very responsive reader with page turns happening pretty much instantaneously, no matter whether you’re reading plain monochrome text or colour-laden comic book pages. Text looks as sharp and crisp as you’d expect it to on one of Amazon’s premium e-reader devices, too. If you prefer to read in tiny font sizes, this is the e-reader for you.

Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition review: What could it do better?

A quick comparison with a colleague’s Kobo Clara HD – a fairly elderly monochrome e-reader – reveals that the display does have its problems, though. With the backlight disabled, the background looks darker and greyer – the Kobo’s is whiter, warmer and more paper-like – and there’s also a faint diagonal patterning across the display, caused by the extra RGB colour filter layer. This adds a slight softening effect in the blank spaces surrounding text and images but it’s only properly visible if you look at the screen under a magnifying glass.

– The 2019 Kindle Oasis with its 300dpi monochrome display (left) is a lot cleaner than the Colorsoft’s 300dpi mono/150dpi colour screen (right)  

It could be cheaper, too. At £270, the Colorsoft is far more expensive than the smaller 6in Kobo Clara Colour, which uses the same colour E-ink Kaleido 3 tech and costs £140. It’s also more expensive than the 7in Kobo Libra Colour, which also comes with stylus support for a mere £200, and it’s twice the price of the regular Kindle Paperwhite (with ads).

Last, but by no means least, the Kindle Colorsoft lacks stylus support, a feature that’s becoming increasingly common on premium e-readers. And it doesn’t have physical page turn buttons, something we know Kindle fans love, and moan about when Amazon takes them away.

Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition review: Should you buy one?

So where does that leave us with the Kindle Colorsoft? Should you splash out, should you purchase one of the alternatives or should you stick with your trusty black and white device?

The Colorsoft is undoubtedly accomplished. The colour E-ink display works well and it’s a great performer. If you really must go with Amazon because you can’t let go of your Kindle collection – and you’re desperate for colour – then it’s a great choice. You won’t be disappointed with it, as long as you’re not expecting smartphone screen levels of colour saturation.

But is Amazon giving us enough for the money? I’d argue not. Especially not when the Paperwhite Signature Edition is £80 cheaper, the regular Paperwhite is £140 less, and you get your hands on a 7in  Kobo Libra Color with a stylus for £200.