Amazon Rolls Out a Cornucopia of New Kindle E-Readers

The Kindle is almost 20 years old, so Amazon decided to prepare for the upcoming anniversary by refreshing not only its entry-level Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite, but the Kindle Colorsoft, too. The new 6-inch entry-level Kindle now has a flush-front display like the Paperwhite and Colorsoft, and is available today starting at $150. Meanwhile, the upgraded Paperwhite ($200) and Colorsoft ($290) e-readers are available for preorder but don’t ship until Oct. 28.

Technically, there are three new Kindles. However, all three come in step-up versions, and the more premium editions of the entry-level Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite have aluminum backs instead of plastic. They also all come in Kids versions that have kid-friendly artist-designed covers and 12 months of Amazon Kids Plus included. The array of choices was so dizzying that, at times, I wasn’t sure which exact model I was holding.

New colors make their debut

A couple of years ago, Amazon released the 6-inch Kindle in a new matcha color that turned into a big hit. Matcha doesn’t return, but ube (a light purple), alpine sky (light blue), seaglass green, graphite (it’s a little lighter than black) and fig (sort of a burgundy) make their debut this time around. Amazon says the physical color of each device now wraps seamlessly from front to back, and all the new Kindles do look a little sleeker than their predecessors, with slightly more refined designs (and in some cases a slimmer chassis).

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Entry-level Kindle doesn’t seem so entry-level anymore

When the previous version of the entry-level 6-inch Kindle was released in September 2024, its list price was $110. But with the component shortage, Amazon bumped its price up to $150 earlier this year — and that’s what the latest model starts at. Amazon refers to it as “the most pocket sized Kindle ever,” and it’s got the aforementioned flush-front display, which means the screen is completely level with the surrounding bezel, with no raised border. Performance-wise, Amazon says it’s zippier, at least when it comes to opening books, which it does 30% faster than the previous model.

The 6-inch Kindle is not waterproof like the step-up Kindle Paperwhite. Nor does it have the Paperwhite’s more advanced adjustable warm light that allows you to play around with the light’s color temperature. (It does have a front light, however, and it works just fine.) Battery life is rated for up to six weeks, which is the same as the previous 6-inch model.

The base 6-inch Kindle is available in ube and graphite with 16GB of storage for $150 (with ads). If you want the sleeker version with the aluminum back, you’ll have to pay $180. The step-up version has 32GB of storage and comes in alpine sky and seaglass green.

At a launch event for the new Kindles, Amazon gave attendees the choice of any of the four color options for the 6-inch Kindle. I took the alpine sky version, knowing it was one of the two models with an aluminum back (you can use it with a new slim magnetic case Amazon sells), but ube seemed to be the most popular color choice among attendees.

Kindle Paperwhite gets slimmer

According to Amazon, the new Kindle Paperwhite is 1mm slimmer and slightly lighter than it’s predecessor. As noted, it’s waterproof and has an adjustable warm light, with up to 12 weeks of battery life on a single charge (that’s the same battery life as its predecessor). The Paperwhite
display uses an oxide-thin film transistor backplane and has the highest contrast ratio of any of the Kindles.

The Signature Edition adds aluminum rear housing, 32GB of storage (instead of 16GB), an auto-adjusting front light (there’s a sensor on at the top of the device), dock charging via pogo pins and double tap to turn pages. The base model in graphite cost $200 while the Signature Edition costs $250.

The base Paperwhite doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade from its predecessor, but the aluminum housing of the Signature model does give it a fresh look and more premium vibe.

Kindle Colorsoft has new nitride LEDs

Amazon has made some modest improvements to the Kindle Colorsoft, with the display now including a light-guide with nitride LEDs to enhance color and increase brightness without washing out the details. Amazon says it uses an oxide backplane with custom waveforms for fast performance and a higher contrast on both color and black-and-white content. Black-and-white text renders at 300 pixels per inch, but color images, including book covers, still display at 150 ppi resolution. The colors do seem to pop a bit more.

“Our latest Kindle Colorsoft has a completely redesigned display, using the reverse printing technology we applied across the lineup for edge-to-edge color,” Amazon says. “The light guide contains micro-deflectors that minimize stray light and improve uniformity, and an ultra-thin optical coating in the display stack improves clarity.”

The base model of the Colorsoft with 16GB of RAM in graphite costs $290, while the Colorsoft Signature Edition ($320) adds the aluminum housing and bumps the RAM to 32GB of storage. It also has an auto-adjusting front light, double tap feature to turn pages and dock charging via pogo pins.

I have to wait until later this month to fully review the new Kindle Colorsoft, but I will say from my initial limited time playing around with it, I didn’t notice any of the faint yellow tinging near the bottom of the display that became an issue for the company with the first Kindle Colorsoft. (Amazon took it off the market for a few weeks while it worked to fix the problem, which some people argue was never completely mitigated.)

New accessories

Along with its usual assortment of Kindle Covers, Amazon is releasing a couple of non-protective cover accessories, including the new Kindle Click ($35), a Bluetooth remote for page turning. Compatible with any Kindle from 2024 or later, Amazon says it’s ideal for reading under the covers, on a treadmill or on a tray table during a flight.

There’s also a new charging dock ($60) that doubles as a stand that keeps the Paperwhite Signature Edition and Colorsoft Signature Edition upright and charged via their pogo pins.

And finally, for those who miss the physical page-turn buttons from earlier Kindles, you can pick up the pricey Page-Turn Cover ($80), a slim magnetic case with physical page-turn buttons built into it. It’s also only compatible with the pogo-pin equipped Paperwhite Signature Edition and Colorsoft Signature Edition.

My initial impressions

I’m still a little shocked that prices have risen so dramatically for the various Kindles. In 2020, the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 10th Generation (released in late 2018) cost $130 for the 8GB ad-supported model and $160 for the 32GB ad-supported model. The basic Kindle had a $90 list price.

With those new higher prices in mind, I do think that the improvements to the 6-inch Kindle and its lower price may make more people think twice about getting the Kindle Paperwhite, which has been our perennial CNET Editor’s Choice in the e-reader category. Yes, it’s got a smaller screen, but there’s a lot of appeal to having a compact, lightweight e-reader that does, in fact, fit in your pocket.

The new Kindle Colorsoft is pricey, but it’s not that much more than the Paperwhite, especially the Paperwhite Signature Edition, and it’s color display does set it apart. It also helps that Amazon seems to has ironed out the kinks with this second-gen model.

All that said, one thing is certain: There’ve never been more Kindle options to choose from, including three Kindle Scribe models beyond the new models discussed here. It’s really not so easy to pick which model to buy anymore.