The lacking hyperlink in Amazon’s ereader lineup

Effectively, it lastly occurred. After years of ready and requests, Amazon debuted the $280 Kindle Colorsoft, its first ereader with a shade show. The corporate’s ereaders have dominated this house because the unique Kindle got here out 17 years in the past, however on this case, it seems like Amazon is taking part in catch-up. Coloration E Ink shows aren’t novel: we’ve examined and reviewed plenty of shade ereaders and E Ink tablets from Kobo, Boox and reMarkable in recent times. However Amazon is basically making an attempt to drag an Apple with the Colorsoft: with claims that shade E Ink expertise simply wasn’t ok to place right into a Kindle till now, Amazon’s promising the Colorsoft will get this implementation proper thanks partly to the customized tweaks it made to the show. And, unsurprisingly, Amazon’s able to cost you a premium for it. So is all of it it’s cracked as much as be? As you may suspect, the reply isn’t so simple as sure or no.

Display expertise and comparisons

Let’s get the tech particulars squared away first. The Kindle Colorsoft’s seven-inch display screen relies on E Ink Kaleido 3 expertise, however a consultant from the Kindle crew defined to me that they developed a customized show stack for this system. Meaning they made fairly a couple of modifications to the tech to be able to obtain issues like higher-contrast pigments and improved speeds general. The Colorsoft’s customized oxide backplane makes use of 24 driving volts to maneuver pigments round extra rapidly and it helps these pigments seem with higher distinction. Nitride LEDs improve colours and brightness, and a customized coating in between the show’s layers helps focus mild by every pigment so there’s much less shade mixing. Among the identical tech helps make page-turns faster and supposedly reduces excessively noticeable display screen refreshing while you go from one shade web page to a different, or pinch-and-zoom on a picture.

That’s all to say that Amazon would love you to consider that this E Ink Kaleido 3 display screen will not be like the opposite women on this house, and whereas I don’t doubt the Kindle crew’s efforts, the variations will not be as dramatic because the story would counsel. Till Kobo updates the Sage with shade, the closest competitor to the $280 Kindle Colorsoft is the $220 Kobo Libra Color (in measurement, platform and general expertise), so I did a number of side-by-side comparisons of the 2.

The largest distinction I noticed was that the Kobo’s display screen skews hotter than the Kindle’s; I kicked the brightness as much as the utmost and turned all heat/pure mild settings right down to zero on each gadgets and the distinction was noticeable, no matter if the shows had been displaying shade photos, black-and-white textual content or a mixture of the 2. This is able to counsel that the Kindle will present extra correct colours extra typically since there’s much less of a heat lean to its show.

However on the flip facet, the Kindle display screen’s blue tint was simply as noticeable, significantly in low-light conditions (like a darkish workplace or a dimly lit lounge). At max brightness with heat right down to zero, the Kindle’s display screen was borderline uncomfortable to learn in these environments — however all it took was a slight adjustment to heat degree 4 (out of 24) to get it to match the Kobo’s show in heat nearly precisely (not less than to my eyes). That made it extra snug to stare at in darkish areas. I additionally in contrast the Colorsoft’s display screen to my private Kindle Paperwhite (earlier technology) and the blue skew was noticeable there too.

In the end, how a lot heat or cool mild you favor whereas studying is as much as private style. My preferences would lead me to regulate the heat on the Kindle to be a bit larger than zero, mimicking that of the Kobo. In an unscientific ballot of the Engadget employees, each in individual and with system images, everyone most popular the display screen on the Kobo. I believe the slight added heat in Kobo’s display screen makes colours seem a bit extra saturated and extra inviting general. It additionally will get near mimicking the look of precise bodily pages (as a lot as one in every of these gadgets might, not less than), and that’s the expertise I’m going for once I learn just about something. However I might perceive why some hardcore comedian followers would wish to begin off with probably the most color-accurate baseline as doable, after which alter from there to suit their preferences.

Along with adjusting the nice and cozy mild, the Kindle Colorsoft has vivid mode, which “enhances color in less saturated images.” For the sake of efficacy, most of my time was spent in customary mode when testing the Colorsoft. However in making an attempt out vivid mode, I observed that its enhanced saturation was most noticeable in warm-toned photos: reds appeared ever-so-slightly extra putting, whereas oranges and yellows had a extra bronze impact and the like. However I needed to flip vivid mode on and off a couple of occasions to clock the impact as a result of it’s fairly delicate.

Then there’s the query of really studying phrases on the Colorsoft. Even the Kindle crew consultant I spoke with acknowledged that, because of the further bodily layer within the display screen that permits shade, one may discover a bit much less sharpness and distinction in black-and-white textual content on the Colorsoft’s display screen. That’s not distinctive to this explicit Kindle — each shade ereader can have this situation to some extent.

When evaluating the text-only expertise of the Kindle Colorsoft to that of the Kobo Libra Color, I discovered each to be fairly good and comparable to at least one one other. The place there’s an even bigger chance for discrepancies is in a comparability of the Colorsoft to, say, the brand new Kindle Paperwhite. I didn’t have the latter system to match to, however I did have my private, previous-generation Paperwhite, and the distinction was ever so slight, with the usual Paperwhite having the (small) higher hand within the distinction and sharpness departments.

Studying expertise

The colour display screen is probably the most consequential factor concerning the Kindle Colorsoft, and chances are high in the event you’ve had a Kindle up to now, the studying expertise on this new system will really feel fairly acquainted. The Kindle UI hasn’t modified a lot, nonetheless dividing the primary display screen into Residence and Library choices. The previous is principally an area for Amazon to serve you customized e-book suggestions and promote new Kindle releases, whereas the latter reveals your whole digital library together with books, paperwork, Audible audiobooks and library loans. The Library web page is putting in shade and there’s something undeniably satisfying about seeing your whole title covers in full-color glory.

Whereas studying a e-book, you possibly can nonetheless customise and save completely different themes with fonts, font sizes and web page layouts that greatest fit your preferences. You continue to have the choice to rapidly navigate inside a title by web page, location, chapter and even widespread highlights. Web page turns are speedy and can seemingly be an enchancment for anybody coming from an older Kindle or different ereader.

Annotations and your personal highlights are collected in the identical place for straightforward reference, and with the latter, you possibly can filter by spotlight shade as effectively. You might have 4 colours to select from on the Colorsoft — orange, yellow, blue and pink — so in the event you use the yellow highlighter to mark favourite quotes, you possibly can then filter by simply that shade. Observe that each one highlighting and note-taking should be carried out along with your fingers as a result of, in contrast to the Kindle Scribe, the Colorsoft has no stylus assist.

The pinch-to-zoom function on the Colorsoft is nice for many who learn a number of graphic novels and comics. Amazon developed a customized algorithm to make this movement as clean as doable, and it’s a fairly good expertise, albeit not a singular one. You may as well pinch to zoom on the Kobo Libra Color, which principally helps get in nearer to comedian panels to learn small textual content or higher see minute particulars.

On each gadgets, there are full-screen refreshes while you pinch to zoom on shade photos and the velocity of completion is roughly the identical. I additionally discovered picture high quality to be fairly related as effectively, and it’s value noting that artwork type can skew your impression of a picture’s high quality. A comic book that employs clear, distinct traces in comparison with one which’s extra grungy and watercolor-like will at all times come off extra crisp.

The Colorsoft, just like the common Kindle Paperwhite Signature Version, additionally has an auto-adjusting entrance mild that guarantees to light up the show good relying on in the event you’re studying outdoors on a sunny day, at midnight cabin of an airplane or anyplace else. It’s a pleasant {hardware} perk to have and, with the function turned on, removes a lot of guide fiddling that some may discover annoying to do once they take their Kindle into completely different environments.

The competitors

Whereas we already went by the display screen comparisons for the $280 Kindle Colorsoft and the $220 Kobo Libra Color, there are many different variations between the 2 that it is best to think about when choosing your subsequent ereader. I’ve added a spec record beneath to interrupt down the fundamentals, and probably the most consequential to me are the truth that the Kobo has page-turn buttons and stylus assist.

The previous is known as a matter of desire — you both love bodily buttons otherwise you discover no use for them — however the latter is pure added worth even in the event you do should buy the $70 Kobo stylus individually. It primarily permits you to flip the Libra Color right into a makeshift Kobo Sage or Kindle Scribe, which may very well be helpful for anybody in academia (college students and educators alike) or anybody who simply loves the sensation of placing pen to “paper.” In the meantime, the Kindle has the higher hand in its wi-fi charging capabilities and its barely cleaner flush-front design.

In the case of precise content material obtainable on Kindle and Kobo gadgets, the libraries you should buy from on each are huge: each have ebooks and audiobooks obtainable, and each the Colorsoft and Libra Color assist Bluetooth, so you possibly can take heed to audiobooks straight from the system along with your wi-fi headphones. On the time of penning this evaluation, the entire high 5 New York Instances bestseller titles had been obtainable on each platforms on the identical costs, with the one discrepancies being one which was on sale as a Kindle e-book and one which was obtainable to learn without cost for Kindle Limitless and Kobo Plus subscribers. Each of these month-to-month subscriptions offer you limitless studying entry to hundreds of titles, however I might give the benefit to Amazon on this one since Kindle Limitless has been round for for much longer. Amazon additionally has Prime Studying and Children+ subscriptions that work with Kindle gadgets and supply much more content material to paying subscribers.

So far as borrowing ebooks out of your native library goes, it is perhaps a draw. Kobo integrates elegantly with Overdrive, making it practically seamless to get borrowed books in your ereader. Merely join your Overdrive account and library card within the settings menu and you may then both browse your library’s choices straight on system, or use the Libby cell app to borrow titles and people will seem routinely in your Kobo. My solely gripe with this technique is that it really works greatest when you’ve got only one library card, since you possibly can solely join one by one. I’m a singular case the place I’ve not less than three library playing cards and I swap amongst them in Libby relying on which has the title I’m on the lookout for.

These like me may choose the “send to Kindle” possibility in Libby, which simply takes a pair extra clicks to get any e-book from any library community to your Kindle system. The largest draw back right here is that my Colorsoft evaluation unit didn’t present all of my library e-book covers in full-color glory on the lock display screen. After troubleshooting with a consultant from Amazon, it was decided to be a title-specific situation. Based on Amazon: “For library books, the lock screen is taken from the designated marketing cover for the book used by the library, which may not be the same as the actual book cover.” So simply know that in the event you get most of your studying materials out of your native library, there’s an opportunity a few of the covers could not show correctly on the Colorsoft.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the $250 Boox Go Coloration 7, which earned a spot in our greatest ereaders information after my colleague Amy Skorheim examined it. First, it’s crucial to know that Boox gadgets require a bit extra tech-savvy than a Kindle or a Kobo, in addition to a willingness to experiment. They’re full-blown Android tablets in spite of everything, and that is perhaps precisely what you’re on the lookout for in the event you get your studying materials from many alternative sources, because it presents entry to the Google Play Retailer and all of its apps. As for specs, the Go Coloration 7 has a seven-inch Kaleido 3 show with 300 ppi in black and white and 150 ppi in shade (much like the Colorsoft), together with a heat mild, page-turn buttons, a splash-resistant design and 64GB of storage (and a microSD card slot for extra space!). It’s much more much like the Kobo Libra Color in function set and worth, so it’s an alternative choice for anybody keen to suppose a bit outdoors the usual ereader field.

The choice between Kindle, Kobo and Boox is infinitely extra sophisticated than selecting between the Colorsoft or the usual Kindle Paperwhite — and that’s exactly due to the stark worth distinction. The Colorsoft is $120 greater than the common Kindle Paperwhite ($100 extra in the event you pay to take away the lock display screen adverts from the Paperwhite, and $80 greater than the Signature Version) and apart from the colour panel, it solely provides wi-fi charging, the auto-adjusting entrance mild sensor and doubles the storage. Take away shade from the equation, and arguably probably the most helpful of all of these is the additional storage however, make no mistake, 16GB of house on the Kindle Paperwhite is nothing to scoff at and can be simply effective for most individuals. Until you’re 100-percent sure that shade will make an enormous distinction in your day-to-day studying expertise, the usual Paperwhite is the higher worth.

Wrap-up

Whereas it’s very late to the colour E Ink celebration, the Kindle Colorsoft is a stable premium ereader that gives a wonderful expertise each in shade and black and white. I targeted quite a bit on comparisons on this evaluation as a result of most individuals is not going to have the chance to have the Colorsoft and any of its contemporaries facet by facet (except you’re my dad, who buys nearly each ereader and small pill beneath the solar). However to be clear, the Colorsoft is an efficient Kindle, and in some ways, Amazon did pull an Apple right here. When you’re already closely entrenched within the Kindle ecosystem and have been holding out for a shade ereader, that is the system to get — simply be ready to pay a premium for it.

Additionally, like Apple and its varied working methods, there’s one thing to be mentioned concerning the comfort and ubiquity of the Kindle ecosystem. The library is seemingly limitless (with reductions galore), supplemented by Prime Studying and Kindle Limitless, so it’s simple to get sucked in while you’re already buying on Amazon for family items and vacation presents. However on the subject of worth on your cash (and a pure spec breakdown), you may get extra from Kobo and Boox gadgets. Kindle isn’t the one title on the town anymore for ereaders, and it hasn’t been for a very long time, and that appears to be a extra pronounced truth now with the introduction of the Colorsoft. If nothing else, Amazon has lastly stuffed a obvious gap in its ereader lineup with this system.

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft vs. the competitors