The missing link in Amazon’s ereader lineup

In the end, how a lot heat or cool mild you favor whereas studying is as much as private style. My preferences would lead me to regulate the heat on the Kindle to be a bit increased than zero, mimicking that of the Kobo. In an unscientific ballot of the Engadget workers, each in particular person and with machine pictures, all people most well-liked the display screen on the Kobo. I feel the slight added heat in Kobo’s display screen makes colours seem a bit extra saturated and extra inviting total. It additionally will get near mimicking the look of precise bodily pages (as a lot as one in all these gadgets may, a minimum of), and that’s the expertise I’m going for once I learn just about something. However I may perceive why some hardcore comedian followers would need to begin off with essentially the most color-accurate baseline as doable, after which modify from there to suit their preferences.

Along with adjusting the nice and cozy mild, the Kindle Colorsoft has vivid mode, which “enhances coloration in much less saturated photos.” For the sake of efficacy, most of my time was spent in commonplace mode when testing the Colorsoft. However in making an attempt out vivid mode, I observed that its enhanced saturation was most noticeable in warm-toned photos: reds appeared ever-so-slightly extra placing, whereas oranges and yellows had a extra bronze impact and the like. However I needed to flip vivid mode on and off a couple of occasions to clock the impact as a result of it’s fairly refined.

Then there’s the query of truly studying phrases on the Colorsoft. Even the Kindle group consultant I spoke with acknowledged that, because of the further bodily layer within the display screen that allows coloration, one may discover a bit much less sharpness and distinction in black-and-white textual content on the Colorsoft’s display screen. That’s not distinctive to this explicit Kindle — each coloration ereader can have this subject to some extent.

When evaluating the text-only expertise of the Kindle Colorsoft to that of the Kobo Libra Color, I discovered each to be fairly good and comparable to 1 one other. The place there’s a much bigger chance for discrepancies is in a comparability of the Colorsoft to, say, the brand new Kindle Paperwhite. I didn’t have the latter machine to check to, however I did have my private, previous-generation Paperwhite, and the distinction was ever so slight, with the usual Paperwhite having the (small) higher hand within the distinction and sharpness departments.

Studying expertise

The colour display screen is essentially the most consequential factor in regards to the Kindle Colorsoft, and chances are high when you’ve had a Kindle previously, the studying expertise on this new machine will really feel fairly acquainted. The Kindle UI hasn’t modified a lot, nonetheless dividing the principle display screen into House and Library choices. The previous is principally an area for Amazon to serve you personalised e book suggestions and promote new Kindle releases, whereas the latter exhibits your whole digital library together with books, paperwork, Audible audiobooks and library loans. The Library web page is placing in coloration and there’s something undeniably satisfying about seeing all your title covers in full-color glory.

Whereas studying a e book, you possibly can nonetheless customise and save totally different themes with fonts, font sizes and web page layouts that greatest fit your preferences. You continue to have the choice to shortly navigate inside a title by web page, location, chapter and even in style highlights. Web page turns are speedy and can seemingly be an enchancment for anybody coming from an older Kindle or different ereader.

Annotations and your personal highlights are collected in the identical place for simple reference, and with the latter, you possibly can filter by spotlight coloration as effectively. You could have 4 colours to select from on the Colorsoft — orange, yellow, blue and pink — so when you use the yellow highlighter to mark favourite quotes, you possibly can then filter by simply that coloration. Be aware that every one highlighting and note-taking should be achieved along with your fingers as a result of, not like the Kindle Scribe, the Colorsoft has no stylus assist.

The pinch-to-zoom characteristic on the Colorsoft is nice for many who learn quite a lot of graphic novels and comics. Amazon developed a customized algorithm to make this movement as easy as doable, and it’s a reasonably good expertise, albeit not a novel one. You may also pinch to zoom on the Kobo Libra Color, which largely helps get in nearer to comedian panels to learn small textual content or higher see minute particulars.

On each gadgets, there are full-screen refreshes while you pinch to zoom on coloration photos and the velocity of completion is roughly the identical. I additionally discovered picture high quality to be fairly related as effectively, and it’s value noting that artwork type can skew your impression of a picture’s high quality. A comic book that employs clear, distinct traces in comparison with one which’s extra grungy and watercolor-like will all the time come off extra crisp.

The Colorsoft, just like the common Kindle Paperwhite Signature Version, additionally has an auto-adjusting entrance mild that guarantees to light up the show good relying on when you’re studying outdoors on a sunny day, at nighttime cabin of an airplane or anyplace else. It’s a pleasant {hardware} perk to have and, with the characteristic turned on, removes a lot of guide fiddling that some may discover annoying to do after they take their Kindle into totally different environments.

The competitors

Whereas we already went by the display screen comparisons for the $280 Kindle Colorsoft and the $220 Kobo Libra Color, there are many different variations between the 2 that it’s best to think about when choosing your subsequent ereader. I’ve added a spec checklist beneath to interrupt down the fundamentals, and essentially the most consequential to me are the truth that the Kobo has page-turn buttons and stylus assist.

The previous is known as a matter of choice — you both love bodily buttons otherwise you discover no use for them — however the latter is pure added worth even when you do need to buy the $70 Kobo stylus individually. It basically lets you flip the Libra Color right into a makeshift Kobo Sage or Kindle Scribe, which may very well be helpful for anybody in academia (college students and educators alike) or anybody who simply loves the sensation of placing pen to “paper.” In the meantime, the Kindle has the higher hand in its wi-fi charging capabilities and its barely cleaner flush-front design.

In terms of precise content material obtainable on Kindle and Kobo gadgets, the libraries you should purchase from on each are huge: each have ebooks and audiobooks obtainable, and each the Colorsoft and Libra Color assist Bluetooth, so you possibly can take heed to audiobooks immediately from the machine along with your wi-fi headphones. On the time of penning this overview, the entire high 5 New York Instances bestseller titles had been obtainable on each platforms on the similar costs, with the one discrepancies being one which was on sale as a Kindle e-book and one which was obtainable to learn totally free for Kindle Limitless and Kobo Plus subscribers. Each of these month-to-month subscriptions offer you limitless studying entry to hundreds of titles, however I’d give the benefit to Amazon on this one since Kindle Limitless has been round for for much longer. Amazon additionally has Prime Studying and Youngsters+ subscriptions that work with Kindle gadgets and supply much more content material to paying subscribers.

So far as borrowing ebooks out of your native library goes, it is perhaps a draw. Kobo integrates elegantly with Overdrive, making it almost seamless to get borrowed books in your ereader. Merely join your Overdrive account and library card within the settings menu and you may then both browse your library’s choices immediately on machine, or use the Libby cellular app to borrow titles and people will seem robotically in your Kobo. My solely gripe with this technique is that it really works greatest you probably have only one library card, since you possibly can solely join one by one. I’m a novel case the place I’ve a minimum of three library playing cards and I change amongst them in Libby relying on which has the title I’m in search of.

These like me may choose the “ship to Kindle” choice in Libby, which simply takes a pair extra clicks to get any e book from any library community to your Kindle machine. The most important draw back right here is that my Colorsoft overview unit didn’t present all of my library e book covers in full-color glory on the lock display screen. After troubleshooting with a consultant from Amazon, it was decided to be a title-specific subject. Based on Amazon: “For library books, the lock display screen is taken from the designated advertising and marketing cowl for the e book utilized by the library, which will not be the identical because the precise e book cowl.” So simply know that when you get most of your studying materials out of your native library, there’s an opportunity a few of the covers could not show correctly on the Colorsoft.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the $250 Boox Go Colour 7, which earned a spot in our greatest ereaders information after my colleague Amy Skorheim examined it. First, it’s crucial to know that Boox gadgets require a bit extra tech-savvy than a Kindle or a Kobo, in addition to a willingness to experiment. They’re full-blown Android tablets in any case, and that is perhaps precisely what you’re in search of when you get your studying materials from many alternative sources, because it provides entry to the Google Play Retailer and all of its apps. As for specs, the Go Colour 7 has a seven-inch Kaleido 3 show with 300 ppi in black and white and 150 ppi in coloration (much like the Colorsoft), together with a heat mild, page-turn buttons, a splash-resistant design and 64GB of storage (and a microSD card slot for more room!). It’s much more much like the Kobo Libra Color in characteristic set and worth, so it’s another choice for anybody prepared to suppose a bit outdoors the usual ereader field.

The choice between Kindle, Kobo and Boox is infinitely extra difficult than selecting between the Colorsoft or the usual Kindle Paperwhite — and that’s exactly due to the stark worth distinction. The Colorsoft is $120 greater than the common Kindle Paperwhite ($100 extra when you pay to take away the lock display screen advertisements from the Paperwhite, and $80 greater than the Signature Version) and other than the colour panel, it solely provides wi-fi charging, the auto-adjusting entrance mild sensor and doubles the storage. Take away coloration from the equation, and arguably essentially the most helpful of all of these is the additional storage however, make no mistake, 16GB of house on the Kindle Paperwhite is nothing to scoff at and can be simply fantastic for most individuals. Until you’re 100-percent sure that coloration will make an enormous distinction in your day-to-day studying expertise, the usual Paperwhite is the higher worth.

Wrap-up

Whereas it’s very late to the colour E Ink get together, the Kindle Colorsoft is a stable premium ereader that gives a superb expertise each in coloration and black and white. I targeted loads on comparisons on this overview as a result of most individuals is not going to have the chance to have the Colorsoft and any of its contemporaries facet by facet (until you’re my dad, who buys nearly each ereader and small pill beneath the solar). However to be clear, the Colorsoft is an efficient Kindle, and in some ways, Amazon did pull an Apple right here. When you’re already closely entrenched within the Kindle ecosystem and have been holding out for a coloration ereader, that is the machine to get — simply be ready to pay a premium for it.

Additionally, like Apple and its varied working techniques, there’s one thing to be stated in regards to the comfort and ubiquity of the Kindle ecosystem. The library is seemingly countless (with reductions galore), supplemented by Prime Studying and Kindle Limitless, so it’s straightforward to get sucked in while you’re already procuring on Amazon for family items and vacation presents. However with regards to worth in your cash (and a pure spec breakdown), you may get extra from Kobo and Boox gadgets. Kindle isn’t the one title on the town anymore for ereaders, and it hasn’t been for a very long time, and that appears to be a extra pronounced truth now with the introduction of the Colorsoft. If nothing else, Amazon has lastly crammed a obtrusive gap in its ereader lineup with this machine.

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft vs. the competitors