Amazon’s latest e-reader, the Coloursoft, brings a splash of colour to the world of e-reading, offering improved contrast and speed over its rivals. With its vibrant display and utilitarian design, this device is poised to revolutionize the way we read.
Amazon’s first Kindle with a colour screen had been a long time coming, and its launch was plagued by yellowing screen issues and shipping delays. But with those problems fixed, does a splash of colour make the revolution the Kindle needs?
Amazon's Kindle is a series of e-readers designed to allow users to read digital versions of books.
The first Kindle was released in 2007 and revolutionized the way people consume books.
With its high-resolution display, long battery life, and wireless connectivity, Kindle quickly gained popularity.
Since then, Amazon has released several updated models, including the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis.
These devices offer improved features such as built-in lights, waterproofing, and higher storage capacity.
A New Era in E-Reading
Amazon isn’t the first to use a colour e-ink screen in an e-reader, but it thinks its upgrades meaningfully improve on the tech used by others like Boox and Kobo. The Coloursoft offers greater contrast and speed, making it a significant improvement over other colour e-ink rivals.
Design and Build
The Kindle Colorsoft towers above the £125 black and white Paperwhite, and is more expensive than top colour e-ink rivals. Despite its premium price tag, the device feels utilitarian, like a Paperwhite. The smooth plastic back is nice in the hand, but isn’t any different to much cheaper Kindles.
Performance
The Coloursoft’s 7in screen is perfect for browsing your library or the Kindle store, with book covers and in-book diagrams appearing in colour. In-book highlighting is also available in various colours, making it easier to mark important passages. The touchscreen is fast and smooth, but pinch-to-zoom can be a bit clumsy.
Battery Life
The Coloursoft’s battery life is variable due to the colour screen, but it lasted longer than Amazon’s estimates in testing. Standby battery life was also very good, with less than 1% loss per day enabled.
Sustainability
The device contains 28% recycled materials, including cobalt, magnesium, and plastic. The Coloursoft will receive software and security updates for at least four years after it is last available new from Amazon.
Verdict
Despite its troubled start, the Coloursoft proves that colour e-ink can be great. It feels like it will eventually be the norm for e-readers, replacing black and white for books, not just comics and graphic novels. While the 7in screen may not be big enough for graphic novels, the device is perfect for regular textbooks.
Textbooks have a long history dating back to ancient civilizations.
The first known textbooks were written on papyrus in ancient Egypt around 1500 BCE.
These early texts focused on mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.
In the Middle Ages, handwritten manuscripts became the primary source of educational materials.
With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, mass production of textbooks began, making education more accessible to the masses.
Today, digital textbooks are becoming increasingly popular, offering interactive features and flexibility for students.
Colour e-ink displays use microcapsules filled with positively charged white particles and negatively charged coloured particles to create images.
The particles are moved by an electric charge, creating the illusion of text or graphics.
Colour e-ink technology is commonly used in e-readers, such as Amazon's 'Kindle' , for its low power consumption and high contrast ratio.
It offers a paper-like reading experience with vibrant colours and crisp text.
Pros and Cons
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Colour and black and white in-book images and covers look great
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Much better for comics
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Speedy pinch-and-zoom
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Water resistant
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Light
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Good battery life
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Auto front light
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USB-C
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Screen flashes on page turns for colour far more than black and white
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No page-turn buttons
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Expensive
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7in screen too small for comics
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Colours not as vibrant as a tablet
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Locked to Amazon’s ecosystem
