Kindle Scribe Colorsoft: Amazon added color and finally got this e-reader right
I love Kindles. Among e-readers, Kindles are still the best option for most readers. (I do love Kobos, though, don't get me wrong.) But within the Kindle line-up, there's been one dud: the Kindle Scribe. I've tested two previous generations of the Scribe, and it's been a decent enough e-reader, as well as the only Kindle with writing abilities. However, it's always been a little lackluster; it's too big, too slow, and too expensive — until now.
Announced in Sept. 2025, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft didn't actually hit the market until Dec. 2025. Now that I've had the chance to try the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, I'm pleasantly surprised, and I can confidently say that this is the first Kindle Scribe worth buying. It's faster, brighter, and a lot of fun for writing, reading, and doodling.
There's just one problem: It's still way too expensive.
Kindle Scribe Colorsoft price and specs
The 2025 Kindle Scribe received a significant redesign from the previous two generations of Scribes. They got rid of the extraneous sidebar for a more narrow, streamlined look.
These are the full specs for the 2025 Kindle Scribe Colorsoft:
11-inch glare-free display, up to 100 nits brightness, 300 ppi black and white, and 150 ppi color resolution
USB-C charging port with up to eight weeks of reading battery life and two weeks of writing battery life.
32GB or 64GB storage options available
Premium pen included
Includes Google Drive and Microsoft One integrations
Comes in fig (purple) or graphite (dark gray)
Not waterproof
Classic Kindle speed and a redesigned home screen
Historically, I've found that the Scribe runs slower than other Kindles, but with this latest iteration, it's caught up. The Scribe Colorsoft is a quick-moving e-reader with writing capabilities. It moves swiftly between pages and doesn't lag when switching between books. It does tend to slow down when writing and using the notebooks; however, it is much faster than previous models, and I barely noticed the difference.
Kindles are generally already user-friendly devices; however, Amazon made some significant interface improvements on the new Scribe. The Scribe Colorsoft has a redesigned home screen that puts notebooks front and center. This makes it super convenient to switch between notebooks when you need to hop between a journal and a planner.
Plus, I love that you can add documents or books to your notebook section. For students, this makes swapping between your readings and notebooks truly convenient, so you don't have to move between your library and notebook sections.
It also just looks better. The device now has a front light, giving it a much lighter, brighter display. This means the screen has an actual white background rather than a muted gray that previous generations had.
It conveniently collects notes
Another way the Scribe is nailing the user interface is how it collects notes. Testing the Kindle Scribe came at a convenient time as I was taking a class and needing to do some required reading. Using the Scribe, I annotated, wrote notes on the page, and made comments in the margins.
The Kindle collects all of these notes in one place, allowing you to see your comments and the section annotated. From there, you can tap to go back to the page where your notes are, which is extremely helpful when I was in a class discussion and wanted to go back to read a quote or remind myself of a thought I had about it.
Did Kindle solve ghosting?
The Scribe has had one major performance issue across all generations thus far: ghosting. This is the phenomenon in which traces of previous screens linger, creating shadows of images. Ghosting is a common issue that any e-reader is susceptible to, but especially those with writing capabilities.
Ghosting on Kindle Scribes has been quite egregious in our previous reviews, so we didn't expect this Kindle to have nearly no ghosting. When using the device as an e-reader, there's no trace of ghosting.
When writing, though, some minor ghosting does appear. This typically happens after erasing on the Scribe. Some writing or drawing appears even after it's erased. Even this ghosting is mild, though, as I found that as soon as I refreshed the page, those marks disappeared.
Feeling like Lady Whistledown when I write
Whenever I need to write digitally, trying to craft a signature with a finger on the screen, it looks... terrible. Luckily, with the Kindle, my handwriting truly looks better than ever. To write, there's an included stylus, Amazon's premium pen that automatically connects to the device.
When writing with the premium pen, you have so many writing styles available, including pen, fountain pen, marker, pencil, and, for illustrators or highlighters, a shader. Each pen style has adjustable width and color, too, making it something you could even illustrate with.
I'm not an artist, so I can only judge it by its writing, and on that front, it makes my handwriting look neater and more beautiful. I'm particularly fond of the fountain pen, which has me feeling like Lady Whistledown writing with her quill.
Where does it stand to improve? The color resolution
While color e-readers are rising in popularity, some features are still slow to improve. The standard color resolution across most color e-readers, including the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, maxes out at 150 ppi, half the usual black and white resolution. The result is muted colors and some pixelation.
To its credit, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft works well within the constraints of its low resolution. It uses colors that skew in the pastel range, which look better than other shades. This is best showcased in the lock-screen ads, which I thought were delightful and gorgeous, surprising since I've never been impressed by Amazon's lock-screen images before.
It's still too expensive
Usually, I find Kindles to be well-priced e-readers, but the Scribe and Colorsoft e-readers are far too expensive. Unfortunately, this is the case for the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, which starts at $629.99. This puts it on par with the Remarkable Paper Pro's price tag, although the Remarkable e-ink tablet has better color resolution and worse black-and-white resolution at 229 ppi for both.
It's certainly an investment, and if you're just using it as an e-reader, it's way overpriced. However, if you're looking for an e-reader that's also a great e-ink tablet, it is on par with the market price, even if we still think that the market price is too high.
Should you buy the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft?
If you can stomach the price, I think the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is the first Scribe worth purchasing. Its redesigned build has crafted a smaller tablet with a wider screen that's more comfortable to hold. The added front light is visually stunning and truer white background. Amazon has sped up the Kindle Scribe's processing, resulting in a faster e-reader with very little ghosting.
For those turned off by the price, I say hold out. It hasn't gone on sale yet, but if it does during the next Prime Day, it'll be a far better value than it is now.