Amazon unveils its first color-screen Kindle, priced at $279

On Wednesday, Amazon announced its first Kindle e-reader with a color display, the Kindle Colorsoft, priced at $279. This new model, designed to prevent washed-out or pixelated colors, offers “weeks of battery life” and is available for preorder, shipping on October 30.

Amazon also introduced a refreshed $399 Kindle Scribe featuring new note-taking tools, an updated $159 Kindle Paperwhite with a larger 7-inch display, and a 12th generation Kindle at $109, touted as the most compact e-reader yet. During a New York press event, Amazon’s devices chief, Panos Panay, called these updates the “largest single refresh” of the Kindle lineup.

The Kindle Scribe, which includes a pen for note-taking and to-do lists, now features Active Canvas, allowing users to write directly on e-book pages with text automatically adjusting around their notes. Another new AI feature summarizes notes into concise lists using Amazon’s Bedrock tool.

The Kindle Scribe is available for preorder now, shipping on December 4. The updated Kindle Paperwhite is faster and features a larger display, while the new 12th generation Kindle offers improved brightness. Both models are available starting Wednesday.