Last year Amazon released a whole new line of Kindles with a new basic Kindle, a new Paperwhite, a new Kindle Scribe and the first Kindle with a color E Ink screen, the Kindle Colorsoft.
That was the most action the Kindle brand has seen in many years, and it’ll probably be a long time before Amazon releases that many new Kindles at once again, but I think we could still get one or two new Kindles in 2025.
Amazon has already released one new Kindle in 2025, but it wasn’t really “new”. They released a 16GB version of the Kindle Colorsoft in July. It’s exactly the same as the original Colorsoft that came out in 2024, but without the Signature Edition upgrades, so it’s a bit cheaper. It’s also available as a kids bundle that includes a cover and an upgraded warranty.
Considering all the current Kindles were released less than a year ago, that doesn’t leave much room for anything new, but there are some things Amazon could do to capitalize on the growing color E Ink market.
Last year Amazon announced the new Kindles on October 16th, so if Amazon is going to release something new in 2025 there’s a good chance it will happen within the next month.
New Kindle with 6″ Color Screen
Based on a leaked prototype, Amazon is expected to release a 6″ Kindle with a color E Ink screen later this year.
Some people think the leak is a hoax, but the pictures look real to me (compare the picture above to the current basic Kindle; the design is very similar), and the details given make it seem even more plausible, and the fact the original post didn’t last one day before it got taken down lends credence to the leak.
It also makes sense for Amazon to release a new Kindle with a 6″ color screen. Kobo has been selling the Kobo Clara Colour for the past year and a half, and plenty of people seem to like it. It was popular enough for Kobo to release a new white version, so of course Amazon is going to want in on that action too.
It’ll be interesting to see how much Amazon decides to charge for a 6″ color Kindle. The Kobo Clara Colour sells for $159, and considering Amazon charges more for the Kindle Colorsoft than Kobo does for the Libra Colour, it’s safe to assume the 6″ color Kindle will be more expensive as well. My guess is it’ll cost $179.99.
Odds: 9/10 – Maybe I’m just a sucker, but I believe the leaked prototype was real, so I think there’s a 90% chance a 6″ color Kindle will get released later this year, but there’s always a possibility it could get delayed until 2026.
New Kindle Scribe Color
Amazon is rumored to be working a Kindle Scribe with a color E Ink screen, and most companies that sell eNotes offer color variants now so it makes sense for Amazon to release a color Scribe as well.
Update: Funny timing, not long after I posted this article Amazon sent out invitations to a hardware event on September 30th and the invitation has an image (posted above) with what looks like a color Kindle with a large screen, most likely a color Kindle Scribe.
So far Amazon has released two versions of the Kindle Scribe, but the changes were so minor with the second one it’s still considered a first gen model. If Amazon releases a color version it would make sense to include some hardware upgrades to make it a true generation upgrade. The current Kindle Scribe starts at $399 so I would expect a color version to cost $449 at the very least.
Odds: 9.9/10 – I initially had this at 5/10 until Amazon released the image above. I guess there’s still a slight chance it could be something else, or they could change the name of the color version to something new, but that picture pretty much seals it.
New Premium Kindle with Page Buttons?
This is more of a wish than a genuine belief, but it would be nice to see Amazon release a premium Kindle with page buttons again like the Kindle Oasis or Kindle Voyage. A lot of people miss having a premium Kindle in the lineup.
Odds: 1/10 – There’s always an outside chance Amazon could surprise us by releasing a new premium Kindle, but I just don’t think they care about that anymore. Amazon is a company that prefers to sell cheap products in high volume, and a premium Kindle just doesn’t fit that metric. They already have the Kindle Scribe, which could be considered premium with its aluminum frame, and I doubt they want to add a second low volume, high price model to the lineup. I think a Kindle Scribe Mini with an 8″ screen is the best we can hope for at this point.
I think a color Scribe, or a color Kindle with a big 9-10″ screen, would be ideal for reading graphic novels. On my Colorsoft, I have to use panel-by-panel view. The page is too small to read comfortably without it. Of course, I have poor eyesight and a strong prescription lens, so I might be in the minority. I downloaded my black-and-white graphic novels on my Scribe and they look amazing.
If new models do come out this year, I could only see myself buying one if it’s an upgraded color screen. I’m sure it would be a “minor” improvement as opposed to 300 PPI in color, but if it’s significant enough for me, I wouldn’t be opposed to a trade-in.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a Paperwhite with stylus support comes out at some point. Earlier this year, I had to replace my tablet. I noticed a trend in the reviews of tablets from all price ranges and productivity ranges: the desire for stylus support. I bought a tablet without stylus support. I personally don’t care either way, and the tablet suits my needs just fine, but the lack thereof was a prominent complaint in professional and customer reviews.
“(AMZN) is set to hold a hardware event in New York City on Sept. 30, the company said in a statement emailed to MT Newswires on Monday.”
Yeah, I saw that too and had to do some editing to the color Kindle Scribe section. I think that’s what it is in the picture, but I guess there’s an outside chance it could be something else.
If it’s the new kindle colour scribe then I’m definitely buying one, because reading graphic novels on the iPad makes my eyes water. I hope it will have a much larger storage capacity than only 64Gbs.
Here’s hoping.
I am sure a Scribe Color, or whatever they call it will be a fine unit whit a high quality screen. No way a quality issue like the Colorsoft’s will occur.
I give Amazon a 20 percent chance that they go big on an embargoed Gallery screen with vastly improved screen refresh. I know, Amazon rarely takes risks….
Just hoping for a similar Kobo update …they are past due.
If the screen refresh can be vastly improved, then why doesn’t reMarkable do it?
Sooner or later some company will. Amazon just has clout to get special deals that exclude other companies.
Kaleido has improved in stages…100 dpi in color to 150 dpi…Onyx improved ghost image reduction on Tab Ultra C.
Again, I just think there is a small chance. I doubt Gallery has peaked yet.
The “leaked” white model has the power button on the top of the device, which would be unusual for a modern Kindle.
It’s the closed system that is off putting for me. There are rumors about a Fire tablet with access to Android and if configured for reading might serve as a bridge.
The Kindle in photo was a rumor by someone who was just trying to get likes for that white Kindle. It was not a white Kindle.
The photos and story seemed legit to me and I’ve been following Kindles for 16 years and I’ve seen similar prototypes before. I guess we’ll find out in a couple weeks.
Not everything needs an upgrade especially if the value does not amount to much.
I have three Kindles. I still prefer the first one I got with the buttons and 3G and speech to text. I could also play music.
I valued the external light source.
Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken
If the new scribe is waterproof I will order one and check it out. Otherwise amazon has lost my ereader business without an oasis replacement.
I would love to see a kindle Scribe color. I love highlighting in color on my Kobo Libra Color. The Paperwhite I bought in July is just wonderful. I love the Amazon ecosystem, always have. I too was disappointed in no premium kindle with buttons. But I understand that will never happen again. Well, never say never, I guess.
I bought the last Kindle scribe and my friend gave me his Remarkable Pro Colour to play with at the same time.
– The Kindle is a far superior product to write on and use and is a better size
– The Remarkable screen feels a generation behind the Kindle Scribe
– I have ordered the new smaller Remarkable in the vain hope that the screen may be better than the current large one (it won’t)
– The Amazon ecosystem which surrounds the scribe is awful, I cannot edit note documents on an iPad or laptop and getting them out of the scribe means emailing myself a PDF link, Remarkable does that a lot better with iPad apps and a website to view them and edit them (albeit they do not support the Apple Pencil)
I think if Amazon release something better I will buy it on the 30th and return the small remarkable but we will see.
I’ve been waiting for a 6″ Kindle with at least a warm light option. Criminal that they don’t offer that, when the $25 leap to the 7″ Paperwhite does. I tried the Coloursoft and sent it back. Too much money for a non-Premium device. I instead stumbled on the Kobo 6″ Clara Colour and LOVE IT. Perfect size – and I have big hands – and it has WARM LIGHT, and was much cheaper than the Kindle Colour.
Having said that, I like the Amazon ecosystem and would buy a 6″ Kindle Color – but ONLY if it had WARM LIGHT option. I’m not into large Scribe tablets, color or not, so I would pass on that and stick with my Kobo Clara Color 6″.
Until Amazon releases a new version of Oasis I’m done with Kindles. I’ve moved all of my Amazon purchased books to my Kobo Libra 2. Same form factor and has buttons. I do miss the build quality of the Amazon Oasis though. I’d switch to a new version of Oasis in a heartbeat .