The Kindle line in 2025 has become bloated to the point that even individual models have their own ecosystem to keep track of. Amazon’s newest Kindle on the market, the Colorsoft, has now branched off with two more models. This means you have three to pick from, but I imagine most would-be buyers will forego the Kids edition and focus on either the base model or the Signature edition.

The newer Colorsoft is $30 cheaper than its older counterpart, but that means it’s a stripped-down version of that one. No, the new Colorsoft isn’t a much worse product, but I have trouble seeing the value in it based on the changes. In the grand scheme of things, $30 isn’t a big difference, but I think the cutbacks are too great for it to justify existing. The main draw of the Colorsoft, as the name would suggest, is having color. Regular eBooks don’t typically have a ton of color in them, but comics do. Comics also have a heftier file size than traditional books, and that means storage is very important on a device like this. Unfortunately, the new Colorsoft is lacking in that regard.

Storage

16GB

Screen Size

7-inch glare-free color display

Connections

USB-C

Battery

Up to 8 weeks

Color

Black

The Colorsoft commits a big sin

This one is tough to deal with

Storage space is something you typically don’t have to worry about with an eReader as book sizes were never all that large. It would take me years to fill up a 16 GB internal storage with regular books, but the same can’t be said of comics. Since comics and manga are filled with images, they take up more space than a book simply filled with words. This makes the drop down from 32 GB to 16 GB of storage on the new Colorsoft a tough pill to swallow. Comics and manga take up significantly more space, and they are much easier to binge than regular books.

If you download several comic runs on your Kindle to go on vacation, it wouldn’t be shocking to see several gigabytes of storage being taken up. You have to be way more conscious of what you’re installing on your Kindle when you download comics, and that’s a huge reason why this lack of storage available is a big deal. If you’re fine with having to delete comics every so often, it’s not a big deal, but it can become an annoyance when you’re not used to doing that at all with your Kindle. Luckily, downloading doesn’t take a ton of time, so if you have to juggle what’s installed on your Kindle, it won’t be too much of a hassle.

To be fair, reading comics on a Kindle isn’t usually the first thing people run out to do. The smaller screen size makes it fine for manga, but I’m not a fan of comics on a 7-inch screen. Then again, I’m not sure what the point of picking up a Colorsoft even is if you’re not reading something packed with colors like a comic. In many of the promotional materials, Amazon shows off comics being displayed on the device, so while it might not be the main reason to pick one up, it’s definitely a big factor.

With many other devices, you can add storage through an SD card. It’s something I can do on my Android tablet, but I also have much more internal storage available from the get-go, so it hasn’t been something I needed to do. I also have the Marvel Unlimited and DC Universe apps, so there’s never any reason for me to download comics unless I’m going somewhere I won’t have an internet connection. Unfortunately, the Colorsoft offers no such functionality. This means you’re locked in with what you have, and for the cheaper Colorsoft, it’s just 16 GB of storage. Its big brother has 32 GB, so while it’s not a massive amount, it’s still double for not that much of a price difference.

There are other downsides to be aware of

More cutbacks were made by Amazon

The storage limitation is a big deal, and that’s a game-changer on its own, but it’s not the only thing you have to be aware of if you’re looking to cut costs. A lot of the features stay the same as the screen size, resolution, processor, and battery life are unchanged, but you lose a big quality-of-life feature.

One of the biggest losses for me is the lack of wireless charging. While I haven’t fully converted to a wireless life, I can’t deny that it’s very nice to have. I have too many cords as it is, and the fact that certain Paperwhite and Colorsoft models support wireless charging is nice. The cheaper Colorsoft forgoes the wireless charging functionality, so that’s something you need to be aware of before pulling the trigger.

Aside from that and the storage, the two devices are largely the same. However, that’s not a good thing. I’d much rather just spend the extra $30 and get something I don’t have to worry about running out of storage right away. Since I have no way to add in any more, I’d rather go with the larger storage right off the bat. Wireless charging isn’t a big deal, but again, it’s something I’d rather have than not have. The big thing here is that we’re talking about the difference of just $30. That’s not a whole lot, and considering your Kindle can last for years if you take proper care of it, it’s something I won’t even think about after a few months go by. If this was a $50 discount, or even higher, then it might be something I think about. As it stands right now, I don’t recommend this.

I’m not sure what Amazon is seeing from the inside, but I just don’t see why this model exists. The price difference is so small that I don’t see why you wouldn’t just spend the extra money and get the better model. The extra storage is certainly worth the price of admission, and the wireless charging is just a bonus on top of that. At the end of the day, the choice is yours to make, but I know what I’d do.