Amazon finally launches the Kindle Colorsoft in Australia – I'm just not convinced it's worth its asking price

• Amazon has quietly listed the Kindle Colorsoft ereader on its Australian site
• It's now available to buy for AU$399
• It also ships to New Zealand for NZ$417, although it might incur shipping charges

Originally released in other major markets like the US and the UK in October 2024, it's taken Amazon quite a while to bring the Kindle Colorsoft Down Under. It has quietly been added to Amazon's AU site and is available to buy right away.

It made headlines overseas for being the only colour Kindle to be released and, in our Kindle Colorsoft review, our tester was quite taken by it. I can understand why, particularly if you're already a Kindle user and subscribed to services like Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited.

The 7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 display renders itself well to displaying book covers, manga and comics, according to our review, but I haven't had the chance to see it for myself yet – I can't wait to see how it stacks up against its competition from the likes of the Kobo Libra Colour, the Kobo Clara Colour and the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 (I'm currently testing the Gen II of the Boox as well).

On account of being the only colour Kindle, the Colorsoft is already one of the best Kindles to buy, now available from Amazon AU for AU$399. It will ship across the ditch to New Zealand as well – Amazon has confirmed a retail price of NZ$449 for the standard edition (there is a Signature Edition with 32GB storage and wireless charging for NZ$499).

That's not a bad price for a 7-inch colour Kindle, but I'm not quite convinced it represents good value, particularly in Australia.

Colour me sceptical

I've been waiting eagerly for the Kindle Colorsoft to launch in Australia, but now that I've seen its RRP, I'm not sure I'd buy it myself – here's why.

It's in direct competition with Kobo's two colour ereaders. In terms of design, the Kobo Clara Colour is the 6-inch alternative that offers pretty much the same feature set as the Colorsoft, but for AU$269.95. They both use the same screen – although the Kobo is smaller – and they're both waterproof with an IPX8 certification. They also share the same 16GB onboard storage specification.

In terms of size, though – and in terms of price – the Colorsoft is closer to the Kobo Libra Colour, which costs AU$379.95 in Australia. This 7-inch Kobo also uses the same display technology but comes with full writing capabilities. You will need to purchase the Kobo Stylus 2 separately, but that's still a feature the Colorsoft doesn't offer.

Moreover, if you usually find yourself holding your ereader in one hand, the design of the Libra Colour, with its physical page-turn buttons, will be more ergonomic than the plain tablet-like setup of the Kindle.

Then there's the difference in storage capacities: the Libra Colour comes with double the space at 32GB. If you do want the 32GB Colorsoft Signature Edition, it will set you back AU$449.

You also have Bluetooth support on the Kobos (all of them), which you will not get on any current Kindle in Australia, so you can't connect to your Audible account to listen to audiobooks.

Perhaps that's not a deal breaker for many readers, but you also can't borrow from a local library via a Kindle in Australia – you can using a Kobo ereader if your library also uses the OverDrive platform.

To be fair, though, now that the Colorsoft is available locally, it's highly likely we'll see bigger discounts than the measly AU$20 Kobo typically offers on its devices. So, my advice if you really want the Kindle Colorsoft: wait for a big sale like the next Prime Day in October or the Amazon Black Friday sale in November.

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