When Amazon first launched the Kindle Colorsoft in 2024, things did not go well initially, and it looked like it was going to be a flop. It had a frontlight issue that Amazon ended up admitting was a fault, and the reviews were scathing.
For a long time after that the Kindle Colorsoft had a low rating on Amazon. It was in the 2.6-star range for a while after it came out, and then a few months later the rating slowly started to improve and it got up to 3.1-stars.
Now, a year and a half later, the Kindle Colorsoft SE has a 4.2-star rating and the 16GB Kindle Colorsoft that came out last year with the frontlight issue fixed from the get-go has an impressive 4.6-star rating. At this time last year the SE was still in the 3.6-star range so the rating has gone up a lot since then.
I’m surprised the rating is that high given the drawbacks with color E Ink screens in general. The Kindle Paperwhite is rated just slightly higher at 4.7-stars, and the basic Kindle has a 4.6-star rating too.
Considering the base Colorsoft costs $90 more than the base Paperwhite, and the SE Colorsoft costs $80 more than the SE Paperwhite, you’d think that would have more of a negative impact on reviews, but apparently people don’t mind spending more for a color screen.
The Kindle Colorsoft currently sits at #4 on Amazon’s best sellers list for Kindles, just behind the Paperwhite SE. The kids bundle is at #8, and the SE Colorsoft is at #9. The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is doing pretty well too at #6, and it has a 4.3-star rating, despite costing a small fortune.
It turns out people like the Kindle Colorsoft after all. I just hope that Amazon doesn’t start phasing out their black and white Kindles now like Kobo has done. A lot of people still prefer the higher contrast of BW E Ink screens, myself included. It’s nice to have color as an option for those that want it, but color screens shouldn’t replace BW screens until they can match the quality of BW screens.
Amazon can afford to have both bw and color units. Kobo and other smaller brands I feel can only afford one and the hot thing is color.
I have the Colorsoft SE edition & I’ve liked it a whole lot more than I thought I would. I still have my regular Paperwhite & enjoy that too, although for the most part I just use the Colorsoft. Page buttons would be nice but we know that’ll never happen again.
I just received my ColorSoft 16 gig and can’t see any issues with the screen. I absolutely l9ve it. I also have the PaperWhite SE, and can definitely see the difference in the screens. I did give it a 5 star rating.
I have the original Colorsoft, and I’m wondering if it’s worth replacing it with the new model.
Is it *that* much better?
It is in my case. I got lucky with my launch Colorsoft, as it only had a very mild yellow discoloration at the bottom of the screen. It was minor enough that I might never have noticed it if not for all the people screaming about it! I ordered the new 16 GB version this past week to compare in person, and I was pretty surprised at how much better the newer units are. No discoloration at all, and the colors are richer across the board. It doesn’t get quite as bright as my launch day CS, but that’s not an issue since I’ve never set the light above 14. I’m very pleased with it, and will be passing my launch CS on to a friend. It’s definitely worth doing a comparison in person if you can!
I also have a launch Colorsoft SE and my unit had the same minimal yellow bar at the bottom. I only notice it when I turn on the warm light. I can put up with it but the promise of more vivid colors is very tempting.
“Kindle Colorsoft has Much Higher Rating Now Than After it Launched”
I do not think the rating could have gone much lower.
I bought one about five months ago. The text screen was slightly crooked and low. If you looked at the bottom, the Page number and percentage were partially below the bezel.
Also it had light leakage on the bottom left and the lower third of the screen was noticeably yellowish.
Maybe I got one of the earlier ones that were returned? Other than that it was a decent reader. Nice color.
So I sent it back and bought a Paperwhite SE.
E Ink’s quality control has always been a little suspect, and Kindles used to suffer from that the least, but with this last generation it seems like that has gone away entirely and it’s more of a crapshoot than ever. At least returning and exchanging Kindles is easy so you can try again if you get a bad one.
After a few days of reading on the ColorSoft I have to admit that I like the screen even better than my PaperWhite SE latest generation. I am still learning the few differences in settings and the options.