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Both Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft isn’t promoting nicely sufficient, or the competitors is promoting higher, as a result of the corporate seems to have quietly launched a new, cheaper model beginning late yesterday. It was throughout my Amazon app once I opened it this afternoon, and it’s being promoted to the purpose the place I can’t discover the previous mannequin exterior of bundles and direct hyperlinks to it. The issue? It comes with a bunch of compromises, and is simply $30 much less.
It does, nevertheless, fill a gap within the Kindle lineup. Beforehand, the Kindle Colorsoft was solely accessible as a “Signature Version,” that means it had bonuses like wi-fi charging, auto-brightness, and additional storage thrown in. This new mannequin lastly provides the Colorsoft a “commonplace” model, however is that tradeoff value it?
As a plus, it doesn’t include advertisements on the lock display, one thing it’s important to pay for on different non Signature Version Kindles. However for the low, low low cost of $30, you’re additionally simply getting the naked minimal. For those who’re like me, you may in all probability reside with out wi-fi charging and auto-brightness, however the brand new Kindle Colorsoft additionally has half the storage, at 16GB as a substitute of 32GB.
That’s plenty of area to surrender for only a $30 financial savings. To be truthful, you’ll have the ability to maintain tens of hundreds of text-based books with that, however throw in audiobooks or the comics that the Kindle Colorsoft virtually appears made for, and also you may begin to brush up towards these storage limits extra.
With that in thoughts, I’d in all probability nonetheless go for the signature version, particularly since you will get competing funds shade fashions just like the Kobo Clara Color, and even the costlier Kobo Libra Color, for cheaper than you will get this new, funds Colorsoft. You’ll lose out on an inch of display measurement with the Clara, however the Libra truly improves on the Colorsoft in a couple of methods, like web page flip buttons and stylus assist. It’s additionally bought 32GB of storage, just like the Colorsoft Signature Version.
What do you suppose thus far?
In my testing, I’ll admit that Amazon’s strategy to paint e-ink tends to look extra vibrant and have fewer artifacts than the competitors, but it surely’s nonetheless a compromised expertise in comparison with extra conventional screens. For those who’re already prepared to make sacrifices, you is likely to be the kind of one that’s prepared to lose slightly constancy for financial savings. If cash is what issues to you, then even pared down, the brand new Colorsoft isn’t your only option, particularly because it locks you into Amazon’s Kindle ecosystem—and its pricing.
If you’re prepared to pay a bit extra and take care of the Kindle ecosystem, I nonetheless have loads of constructive issues to say concerning the Colorsoft Signature Version. It’s troublesome to search out proper now, as Amazon appears to be main searches for it to bundles with covers and wi-fi chargers thrown-in, relatively than the system itself. However it’s nonetheless accessible on the direct hyperlink right here. You can even add a bit extra worth to the brand new Kindle Colorsoft by shopping for the Children model, which prices $20 extra however throws in a 12 months of Amazon Children+, which usually prices $8 a month.
