Kobo may well have had the first colour eReader in Australia, but it won’t stay that way next year, as Amazon brings colour to Kindle, and a few other updates, too.
The idea of reading hasn’t really changed, but how you read and what you read on has, and it’s always growing. Whether you grab a physical book or something a little more tech savvy like an eReader or tablet, you’ll still be able to read as you normally would, but depending on the tech, you might have more features.
An eReader, for instance, grants a paper-like experience with in a thinner style with the ability to carry more books than just the one. It’s not a thoroughly new thing, so to speak, but the technology is improving, and Amazon is refreshing the range to end the year, complete with one model that’s set to refresh how you look at Kindles in 2025.
Pretty much every Kindle will see an update, from the entry level $199 Kindle to the $649 Scribe you can draw and write on, with changes across the board, some big and some small.
In the entry Kindle, Amazon’s least expensive current eReader is slightly faster at turning the page than the previous basic Kindle, and includes a slightly brighter front light, handy for reading in the dark. At $199, it comes with 16GB storage and is technically as bright as the Kindle Paperwhite, and that, too, is seeing a change.
Faster in this generation, Paperwhite starts from $299 and includes a slightly bigger screen, now at 7 inches up from the 6.8 inches on the 2021 Paperwhite edition. A good three months maximum of battery life is on offer here, as is a new layer to the screen which gives it more contrast.
Kindle Paperwhite comes with 16GB storage for books, but like the previous edition, there will also be a $329 “Signature Edition” with twice the storage (32GB), wireless charging, and an auto-adjusting front light, something the standard model misses out on. Both are waterproof, however, handy for reading by the pool or in the bath.
Amazon’s approach to jotting notes down with a Kindle is also getting an update, as it redesigns the Scribe.
The first Kindle Scribe saw a 10 inch screen matched with a pen to let you draw and write, as well as read books, making a Kindle plus a little more.
The 2025 Scribe will improve that approach, offering a redesign that makes it look more like a notepad, complete with a paper-like texture on the screen to change the way drawing and writing on the screen feels. Even the “Premium Pen” has been updated, with a soft-tipped rubber on one side to make it feel like you’re using a real pencil on the display.
One feature Amazon is adding feels like a direct response to reviews of the original, with “Active Canvas”, a system that allows you write your thoughts directly on pages of an eBook, something competitors from Kobo could do, just not the Kindle. There’s no word on whether Active Canvas will be rolled out to the older Kindle Scribe, but if it’s a software feature, it certainly should.
Priced at $649, the new Scribe looks set to be available just in time for the holidays, landing from $649.
That takes care of this year’s Kindles, but Australia will see at least one more in 2025: a colour Kindle.
Much like the Kobo colour models, Amazon is readying a colour e-ink display in the Kindle Colorsoft, a name that should have a “u” in Australia, but doesn’t.
Spelling isn’t what you should be focused on, though. Rather, there’s the colour screen, with high contrast for colour and monochrome, as well as waterproofing, up to eight weeks of battery life, and wireless charging.
How it will compare to the colour Kobo Libra remains to be seen, but Australians will see the Colorsoft next year, a little later than the American release date, which is slated for this year. Amazon hasn’t said why Australians are due for a wait, but the rest of the range should see release by the end of the year.
