The Kindle Colorsoft just isn’t nice for studying

Amazon not often undercuts its personal merchandise, however when the corporate quietly slipped a caveat into the FAQ for its new Colorsoft Kindle, it made one factor abundantly clear: when you care about crisp, black-and-white studying, purchase one thing else. As somebody who nonetheless acts like they’ll earn a pizza social gathering in the event that they learn sufficient books, I spend plenty of time with my Kindle. Amazon’s sincere take doesn’t shock me (and gained’t shock anybody who’s learn on each sorts of e-reader), however it’s a uncommon day I discover myself agreeing with the corporate about something.

Amazon’s disclaimer candidly admits that the Colorsoft’s show sacrifices sharpness and distinction in comparison with the model’s conventional e-readers. It truly suggests readers who need “a barely crisper black-and-white expertise” stick with the common Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Scribe. That’s corporate-speak for issues could look fuzzy on the product you’re at present buying, however maintain buying from our lineup. Kudos to the PR staff for drafting that one up.

The reality is, coloration E-Ink has at all times been a compromise. The E-Ink Kaleido 3 show brings versatility to pictures and content material, however tops out at 150 ppi, or half the decision of Amazon’s greatest monochrome panels. Add a coloration filter layer to a wonderfully legible monochrome panel and also you’ll get softer textual content, muddier blacks, and the nagging sense that your guide’s been printed on damp paper. It merely dilutes what makes E-Ink nice within the first place: excessive distinction, low eye pressure, and paper-like readability. It even slows web page turns by roughly a 3rd in comparison with the Paperwhite, one thing I discover instantly when flipping or annotating.

Briefly, coloration e-readers are a downgrade if all you wish to do is devour your summer season studying checklist. I’ve learn on all the things from Kaleido 3 to Carta 1300 panels, and the sample by no means adjustments: when you add coloration, you lose distinction. In the meantime, my commonplace grayscale Kindle delivers all the enjoyment of an old-school guide with out the paper cuts. For pure, uninhibited studying, conventional black-and-white e-readers are crisp, environment friendly, and satisfyingly acquainted. Till coloration E-Ink can match the legibility and velocity of grayscale panels, it belongs as a distinct segment function, not as buyers’ go-to flagship possibility.

In fact, some content material genuinely shines on a coloration e-reader in a method that falls flat in black-and-white. That’s why the tech was invented. Comics, textbooks, kids’s books, and magazines all profit from character that grayscale can’t seize, and for these, the decision trade-off might be value it. If a tool has stylus assist, I’ll at all times swoon for the colour mannequin. Who doesn’t love organizing their margin notes by hue? My handwriting will nonetheless be illegible, however at the very least it’ll be color-coded chaos.

So no, color-justifying use instances aren’t area of interest. For each Kindle consumer parked underneath a seaside umbrella with a novel, tons of customers load up their units with graphic books, data-heavy PDFs, cookbooks, or quilting patterns. There are numerous methods coloration earns its maintain, and loads of readers who merely desire a break from their glowing OLED tablets. Whether or not a Colorsoft Kindle, Kobo Libra Color, or some other hued e-reader matches your way of life relies upon completely on what you learn.

I simply don’t eat sufficient visually attention-grabbing content material to justify sacrificing readability. I’m not resistant to the draw; I really like seeing coloration on my homescreen and guide covers, however I really like my conventional expertise much more. If, like me, you’re largely getting misplaced in Stephen King, Rebecca Yarros, or the newest New York Occasions best-selling memoir, follow a black-and-white mannequin. You’ll be able to at all times Google the quilt artwork in your 5 seconds of appreciation.

In a market hooked on function bloat, Amazon’s transparency issues. As an alternative of pretending that coloration E-Ink has lastly arrived, the corporate acknowledges that rainbow studying continues to be experimental. That admission preserves the Kindle’s core identification. Consumers who want it could possibly discover coloration, and for everybody else, the Paperwhite and Oasis traces stay sacred for readers chasing the purest, distraction-free expertise.

So sure, Amazon simply admitted its Colorsoft Kindle isn’t nice for studying. Honesty could not assist it promote extra coloured Kindles, however I’ll fortunately maintain staying up too late on my black-and-white mannequin, even when I’m now not incomes prizes from the general public library.