Last year after reviewing the first generation of E Ink’s new Kaleido color screens, I posted about how I didn’t expect Amazon to release a color Kindle anytime soon—at the time I just felt that E Ink’s color technology wasn’t quite good enough for the big stage.
Now after seeing E Ink’s new improved Kaleido Plus color screens that come on the Pocketbook InkPad Color and Onyx Nova3 Color, I still don’t think Amazon will release a color Kindle in the near future. Maybe things will change in a few years, but the odds of a color Kindle ever getting released is astronomically low, in my opinion.
The problem with color E Ink is the filter layer that adds color reduces overall contrast and makes the screen look darker and the white background look grayer, so Kaleido screens are never going to replace regular E Ink screens. The only way that’s ever going to happen is if they get the refresh rate low enough on ACeP screens, which have colored E Ink microcapsules instead of using a color filter layer over the top of a regular E Ink screen.
Don’t get my wrong, E Ink’s new Kaleido Plus screens actually look pretty good in terms of color, and the text is easily readable despite the lower contrast, but it’s just a matter of Kindles being devices primarily used for displaying text. You can’t downgrade the most important aspect of reading and expect people to be happy with the change.
Sure, having color images and color book covers is nice, but how often does that really matter when you are reading ebooks?
Does is make sense to come out with a specialty Kindle for reading color content? Amazon already sells these. They’re called Fire tablets, and they cost a fraction of the price of ereaders with color E Ink screens.
I could maybe see Amazon releasing a color Kids Kindle if the cost of color E Ink wasn’t so high, but there’s absolutely no way Amazon is going to release a Kids Kindle that costs over $300, especially when you can buy a Fire HD 10 for only $150. The current Kids Kindle only costs $109, and it’s the least popular Kindle model based on the number of overall reviews (it’s not even close).
Amazon is more into budget devices than expensive ones, and they can’t make a color Kindle the flagship device to replace the Kindle Oasis when the Oasis has a better screen for reading text. It just simply makes no sense. They can’t charge more for a device that offers a worse reading experience, so I just don’t see how a color Kindle would ever fit into Amazon’s lineup, not unless prices come down significantly.
I think the only way to get a color Kindle moving forward is to buy one of Onyx’s color devices, like the new Nova3 Color, and install the Kindle app. I just don’t see it happening any other way.
I would think that the cost of CPU power needs to come down as I would think people would want a fast response from the color display.
That doesn’t matter because color E Ink is just a regular black and white screen with a color filter applied over the top so performance isn’t any different than a regular E Ink screen. The cost of E Ink is what really needs to come down, but that’s not going to happen because E Ink has no competition.
Forget the Kindle with a colour screen I want a bigger screen size like the DX.
I don’t think Amazon will release a color Kindle. However I do think they’ll release a Kindle paperwhite with comfort light sometime around 2030. That’ll probably be the only upgrade they do to Kindle between now and then with the way things are going. I know I know, sad times to be a Kindle customer.
Me too! That should be a bigger priority than a color Kindle, but it looks like it’s never going to happen at this point. I guess we’re lucky to get the Oasis considering Amazon just wants to sell cheap products anymore.
IMO if you want bigger screen, then for now your only choice is something of the bigger Onyx readers (you can even install Android Kindle app there.
Hello, may be, if the nextpaper tablet become a reality, we can see a fire tablet RLCD
I hope not. At least not at the cost of a price hike and not with the current color e-Ink technology.
I have to agree with your assessment on all points. It makes no sense for Amazon to release a color Kindle. It doesn’t make sense for most brands TBH. I don’t think a color Nook or Kobo would make any more sense. I don’t see a use for the Pocketbook or Inkpad Color for instance.
Onyx has drawing apps and can load additional software people expect to be in color. They can also handle PDFS which often have color charts and graphs.
I suspect Boyue might release something color soon.
There is one consumer group that might embrace color E ink Kindles — comic book fans! (Or if you prefer, graphic novel enthusiasts.) Doubtful though that it’s a large enough market to tempt Amazon though.
No. Too expensive to make i am assuming
I agree that reading is the basic thing that Kindle offers, however it is an enriching experience to add the images in full color when enjoying a book. I would also like a bigger screen such as 10 or 12 inches diagonally measured. Technology will not stop and some of those now costly and complicated changes will come sooner than we think.
to expesive kindles are fine hey just need software updates and thats all oh and kindles web browser is handy im using it now
I really want to know If Amazon will release a Kindle device like a remarkable tablet. I never understand why we still dont have any kind of device like that on schools…
I agree that colour is not that important for the written word but one of my monthly pleasures is the National Geographic magazine and it has a lot of pictures and often graphs and charts and world maps with notations pointing out areas of interest usually delinated in color. Saying that, one cannot increase the picture size with NG downloads so the text is too difficult to read anyway.
I feel Sad about this. Only the other day I was thinking what it was that made me enjoy reading books more on the kindle fire rather than my Oasis. It’s an immersive experience you get with a clear colour photos in a book with the text. But that said my Oasis is lighter to hold and has a beautiful clear text screen and I prefer it for that. I just wish that you could be combined…
As a contrasting (sorry) opinion, I feel that colour is one of the most important aspects of reading. More than 90% (maybe as much as 99%) of my reading is non-fiction, which includes many diagrams and illustrations. For this reason, I use the Kindle app on an iPad, but I would love to have a dedicated colour screen reading device.
I’d love to see a colour Kindle with a larger screen for manga, but I mainly read normal novels so black & white is fine. Howes, the thing that makes many people not even buy a Kindle in the first place is the price of the books. They are usually the same price, or more expensive than the physical edition. So people buy the physical edition. If the clear price saving of not having to print a physical book was passed on to the customer then many more people would use a Kindle. Even if the books were just 25% cheaper people would adopt. But with a physical copy people can sell it on eBay, give it to people, give it to charity. Most would forgo these aftermarket perks if they got a better deal on the original purchase. I know I would. But if I get a physical edition for the same price, and I don’t want to keep it, I just gift it to charity, making money for a good cause and enabling someone who may not have the cash for the original purchase the chance to own second hand. Amazon tried to adopt the iTunes model, which frankly made the same mistake. Streaming has kind of solved that, but what about films. £25 for a 4K disc, or about the same for a digital copy (new releases). Old films are much more expensive when bought via iTunes or google etc. the dvd/blu ray is much cheaper, especially on the second hand market. I love digital media, but I need to weigh up these things when choosing my format. A £9.99 kindle book verses a real copy is a no-brainier to me. I’ll buy the physical. And that is why kindle isn’t doing as well as it should be. Significant short sightedness.