I admit, I was pretty excited when the Kindle Colorsoft was announced. Because, like many others, I have been waiting for an e-reader with a color display from Amazon for a long time.
This is not because there are no other e-readers with color, but rather because I have bought many of my e-books via Amazon and have enjoyed reading on my Kindle for many years. So far I've only owned an "old" Kindle and a Paperwhite for a year.
That's why you can always see the difference between the Paperwhite (non-Signature Edition) and the Colorsoft (Signature Edition) in all of the following comparison images.. But if we look at the specs, the comparison fits quite well.
The Kindle Colorsoft in comparison to its predecessors - and our magazine
As you can see from the comparison graphic from Amazon, there are only two differences that immediately catch the eye: In contrast to the Paperwhite, the Colorsoft hasa shorter battery life(two instead of three months running time with half an hour of reading time per day), as well as a color display with 300 ppi in black and white and half, that is150 ppi in Farbe.
PPI stands for pixels per inch, i.e. an indication of how many pixels there are in one inch. The higher the density, the more detailed or - in the case of color - brighter the image.
Now you can probably conclude from the data that the Colorsoft's display cannot keep up with a printed GameStar magazine in terms of color intensity. We print at 254 dpi (dots per inch). The same applies to the comparison to conventional tablets. The iPad Pro has around 264 ppi.
Now let's make it very clear: That's not Colorsoft's claim at all. Because when I read on the e-reader, the main thing for me is to...relaxed reading experienceto have something where I'm not blinded by bright display colors and where I don't have to carry around heavy books or electronics.
Standard BrightThe best way to see the difference is to look at the blonde woman at the top right.
You can choose between two color styles on the e-reader:fewer and more saturated colors. Personally, I like the bright color style more - there has to be a little more color.
What is not listed in the table, but strikes me as positive: The Colorsoft is a bitfaster than my old Paperwhite. Be it when entering longer search terms or complex WiFi passwords or when scrolling through your own library. However, the two are equally fast when turning pages.
The Colorsoft lacks a dark mode and a sleep mode.
Who is the Colorsoft suitable for - and who is it not suitable for?
Now that we've looked at the direct differences, let's get to the real question:Is it worth switching to Colorsoft? Nope.The main question is how much you really use the color feature.
For example, if you only read classic books without a lot of colorful drawings, you will enjoy the (admittedly really pretty) color covers that shine at you in the library and on the lock screen, as well as the colored markings. But you have to decide for yourself whether that and the slightly faster reaction of your Colorsoft are enough to accept a shorter battery life.
But if you read a lot of comics or something like the funny paperbacks, the Colorsoft is a real improvement on the old Kindleand maybe also to the tablet. Although the colors on the e-reader are not brighter, I find reading on the e-reader much more relaxing than on my tablet.
But what I'm still missing here is to really enjoy the new features, is the possibility of reading webcomics such as the works of Webtoon on the Amazon device. As much as I like the closed Amazon ecosystem for its simplicity, it misses a really big opportunity to shine and assert itself against other competitors.
Alternatively, there are also smartphones that can become e-readers:
Let's talk about money for a moment
The Kindle Colorsoft may be the first color e-reader from Amazon, but not the first device of its kind on the market. And with onePrice of 290 eurosit's not exactly cheap.
Competing offers such as the Tolino vision color (200 euros) offer a lower price for a similar experience. And other providers such as Pocketbook or Kobo also have various colored e-readers in their portfolio for similar prices. What matters most here is where you have bought your e-books so far and which features are most important to you personally.
