Amazon Quietly Deleted Its Warning About Color E-Ink

The Kindle Colorsoft is Amazon’s most expensive e-reader (technically, the Kindle Scribe is more of an e-reader), but that doesn’t automatically make it the best Kindle. In fact, if you primarily use your Kindle for black-and-white novels or even manga rather than color comics or picture books, Colorsoft will actively make that content worse. Although I’ve been talking about color e-readers for a while, you don’t have to take my word for it: Amazon also used to warn buyers about it, but has since removed that warning.

As early as February, according to a page on file with The Internet Archive, Amazon’s FAQ for the Colorsoft Kindle included the following frank commentary on the device’s flaws:

“The Colorsoft screen is distinct from the Paperwhite screen. The Kindle Colorsoft is designed to provide a high-quality reading experience in both color and black and white. You may notice that the texture or brightness of the screen is different than the Kindle Paperwhite screen. This is due to the color filter layer which creates an eye-friendly color reading experience on Kindle Colorsoft. If you If you’re looking for a slightly sharper black and white reading experience, you can check out Kindle Paperwhite, which offers the fastest pages and highest contrast ratio of any 2024 Kindle device.”

While not entirely disparaging of the company’s color products, the explanation is noteworthy in that it admits that the Kindle Paperwhite, while cheaper, offers a sharper black-and-white experience. (Why? Because Colorsoft’s color filter, which is present whether actively displayed or not, reduces contrast and can add unwanted texture and shine to text even when reading black and white content.)

Apparently, someone within the Amazon company thought it was time for a change, to the detriment of potential buyers. Over the weekend, the company changed the Colorsoft FAQ yet again, and it now reads:

The Colorsoft display is distinct from the Paperwhite display and features a fully optimized display stack to deliver high-quality color playback. The black and white resolution (300ppi) is the same on all devices.

It’s much less clear. Not outright lying, the new disclaimer skirts around the device’s flaws, simply acknowledging that the Colorsoft offers a “high quality” color experience while making an unrelated note about black and white resolution. This is a mistake: the Colorsoft’s contrast and artifact issues persist, despite matching the Paperwhite in black and white resolution, as shown in the image below.

“Dune” on the Kindle Colorsoft (left) versus the Kindle Paperwhite (right)
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

It’s an understandable move from a marketing perspective, but also a disappointing suppression of a rare moment of honesty from a major brand, while also highlighting the larger anxiety behind e-Ink color. (I’ve reached out to Amazon for comment and will update this story if I hear back.)

Color e-ink is not really ready for the market

Frankly, I don’t think most adults need color e-ink. Unless you’re an avid comic book reader, chances are what you’re reading on your Kindle is in black and white. And if that’s the case, you’ll get a better experience by paying less for a device without a color filter. I understand why Amazon would be cautious about this.

Credit: Amazon

But with charts and prices like the ones above, it’s not strictly intuitive, and that’s why I so appreciated the clarification provided on the old FAQ page, not least because it was willing to steer users looking for a specific experience toward a better product for them, even at the expense of profit for Amazon.

The new description seems rather tailor-made to make it seem like Paperwhite and Colorsoft are roughly tied for black and white content, but that Colorsoft also has color, which simply isn’t true. This is actually the misconception I always correct first when writing about this product category, and I’m disappointed to see Amazon change their message to spread this. Although color e-ink has niche appeal, deception and obfuscation is not the way to sell it.