Color E Ink has been around for several years now, but it’s just starting to gain more attention and popularity since Amazon and Kobo started selling ereaders with color E Ink screens last year.
Color E Ink is a divisive technology. Some people really like it, and others hate it. For those new to E Ink screens, I think it’s easier to overlook the drawbacks of color E Ink if you don’t have a regular black and white E Ink screen to compare it with, but it’s harder for people that are already used to the look of regular E Ink screens.
One thing that’s interesting about Amazon’s approach is they admit, in an indirect sort of way, that color E Ink offers an inferior reading experience when it comes to black and white text.
Most people probably skim right over it, but on the product pages for every color Kindle, including the page for the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, Amazon has a variation of the following statement in the FAQ section:
1. How is the reading experience different on Kindle Scribe Colorsoft than on Kindle Scribe?
The Colorsoft display is distinct from the Paperwhite display. The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is designed to provide a high-quality reading and writing experience in both color and black and white. You may notice that the texture or brightness of the display looks different than the Kindle Scribe display. That’s because of the color filter layer that creates the easy on the eyes color reading experience on Kindle Scribe Colorsoft. If you are looking for a slightly crisper black and white reading experience, you may want to check out Kindle Scribe.
Note that last sentence in particular. On the Kindle Colorsoft page the wording is slightly different, but Amazon is saying the same thing:
If you are looking for a slightly crisper black and white reading experience, you may want to check out Kindle Paperwhite, which has the fastest page turns and highest contrast ratio of any 2024 Kindle device.
That statement says it all.
Other companies that sell color ereaders and eNotes tend to avoid admitting that color screens have any kind of deficiencies compared to black and white screens. A lot of companies use terms like “soft” and “soothing” when describing color E Ink, and they dance around the topic a bit, but they don’t usually outright say other BW devices offer better contrast and a better black and white reading experience.
Amazon is known for using a lot of underhanded marketing tactics, so it is a little surprising to see them of all companies adding an obvious acknowledgement like that to the product pages of color Kindles. Maybe they’re hoping it’ll cut down on customer returns.
I agree with Amazon’s text as a whole. We can emphasise the final part (which you highlight) or the initial and central part. Emphasise the black and white text or emphasise the colour. The controversy you refer to stems from this different perspective. Some focus on black and white, while others focus on colour.
Personally, I have always believed that the only way to understand colour e-readers is precisely through the word “colour”. Monochrome e-readers may have fabulous contrast and unbeatable sharpness, but they have no colour. And those who buy a colour e-reader do so for the colour, something they will never get from a monochrome e-reader, no matter how excellent its screen may be. The main feature that defines a colour e-reader is not its lower contrast or sharpness, but its colour. And whenever we talk about a colour e-reader, we leave what constitutes its raison d’être in the background. A colour e-reader does not compete with the black and white text of a monochrome reader, but rather provides the colour that is missing.
I don’t think Amazon is thinking about returns. I remember a statement that caught my attention from a PocketBook representative in a German forum: the return rate for monochrome and colour e-readers is similar (in fact, PocketBook is the only brand that offers e-readers of both types in all sizes). From a “monochrome” mindset, it is inconceivable that colour e-readers will not end up being returned. Why would anyone keep an e-reader that is inferior in contrast and sharpness? The answer is obvious: for the colour. Until we understand this, our differences will be irreconcilable.