Amazon is apparently betting on color displays for its e-readers with it now launching two new Kindle Colorsoft models. The best part? Both of the new models are cheaper than the original one from last year.
It’s only been nine months since Amazon introduced its first Colorsoft e-reader, so the announcement that we’re already getting new iterations came as a surprise… until I realized it’s not an upgrade. In fact, the trade-offs may not be worth the $30 price drop.
The newest ad-free 16GB Kindle Colorsoft costs $249.99 while the first-ever 16GB Kindle Colorsoft Kids goes for $269.99. The latter comes with two beautiful cover options (Fantasy River and Starlight Reading), 12 months of Amazon Kids+, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee so if your kid breaks it, Amazon will replace it at no cost to you.
The original Colorsoft is still available for purchase, but it’s been renamed to the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition and costs $279.99.
The good and the bad
The new Kindle Colosoft and Colorsoft Kids devices have the same 7-inch glare-free displays we saw with the original, with 300 PPI black-and-white resolution and 150 PPI color resolution.
For $30 less, however, you get half the storage space you did with the original Colorsoft (which has 32GB), and the new devices also lack the automatically adjustable front light and wireless charging. The former may not be a huge deal given the small size of ebooks, but the latter might be a significant change that gives you pause.
With these new Colorsoft models, Amazon is targetting avid comic book, manga, and graphic novel readers who were unwilling to pay as much for an e-reader. The new Kindle Colorsoft Kids will also make reading more attractive for young readers who are more likely to get sucked into a colorful children’s book.
Whether or not the price difference will be enough to get people to buy remains to be seen, especially considering the trade-offs.