So far 2025 has been pretty disappointing when it comes to new dedicated reading devices getting released. Most companies are just re-releasing existing models with minor changes, like a new bezel color.
Last year was a good year for new ereaders with Amazon coming out with a new line of Kindles, including the first color Kindle. Kobo also released 3 new models last year, including their first color models.
This year has been a different story. Amazon released a 16GB version of the Kindle Colorsoft in July, but it’s exactly the same as the original that was released last year except with less features.
Kobo just announced the release of a white Kobo Clara Colour. It’s also the same as the one released last year, but it has a white bezel and a larger battery. For some reason Kobo didn’t release a white version of the Clara BW model; it’s not looking good for the future of black and white Kobo ereaders.
Pocketbook has been suspiciously quiet lately. They’ve released a bunch of new models over the past few years, but they haven’t done much of anything in 2025. They did release a new 6″ Verse Lite, but it’s basically just a stripped-down version of the regular PocketBook Verse that only costs $14 more.
Onyx is a company that’s notorious for releasing a slew of new devices each year, but things haven’t been quite as busy in 2025. They did release a new Boox Go 7 BW and 2nd gen Go Color 7 that are pretty nice. They also released a couple of new 13.3″ eNotes with the Boox Tab X C and Note Max, but at $819 and $649 respectively they are very niche products.
Onyx teased a new Boox Palma Color with wireless connectivity at IFA 2025, but we don’t know if it’s getting released this year or next year. Onyx also recently released a white version of the Boox Go 6, but otherwise it appears to be exactly the same as the black version that came out last year.
Barnes and Noble isn’t expected to release any new Nook ereaders until 2026. That’s pretty disappointing considering their current 6″ Nook was released in 2021. It’s been over two years since B&N last released a new E Ink Nook.
This year things haven’t been as eventful as last year, but Amazon might still release a new 6″ color Kindle before the end of the year, based on a leaked prototype. And Onyx still has time to release something new for fall. It’s unlikely Kobo will release anything else in 2025 since they just announced the white Clara Colour, but maybe some other company will surprise us with something new.
Hmm… Perhaps if more focus was directed to software improvements they could find ways to complement with new hardware improvements.
When I purchased my first Kindle in 2011 (K3G Keyboard and yes, it still works) it was the software that impressed me first and then how it was delivered in the small compact device.
Kindle is in a closed system which permits no user customizations. The most common complaint I hear from other Kindle users is how they cannot organize their library in a way that works for them. The software and hardware are also comparatively slow by today’s standards.
It feels odd that features offered by library ebook apps offer features not available on Kindle (physical or app). For example, the library app Libby can display under Details a list of books in the series in sequence order of the books available. By reviewing the Timeline one can view the list of books downloaded (for Kindle a list of books read option would be preferred) and can be easily scroll through by month and year.
Some of this is software but may require hardware changes too.
It’s time to get creative.