Fractured Ink: Writing In Life's Chaos (audio)

Two new Kindle Scribe Devices: To buy, or not to buy, that is the question.

• Diana Dirkby

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My Amazon affiliate links:
1) Amazon Kindle Scribe Colorsoft 32GB (newest model): https://amzn.to/3Yp4tzK
2) Amazon Kindle Scribe Colorsoft 64GB (newest model):
https://amzn.to/452HtKG
3) Amazon Kindle Scribe without Front Light 16GB (newest model): https://amzn.to/4oKuS60

#Kindle #KindleScribe #KindleScribeColorsoft #KindleScribeWithoutFrontLight #Amazon #KindleDevices 

New Kindles always spark temptation, but a smarter choice starts with how you actually read and write. We unpack the Kindle Scribe ColorSoft—its color e‑ink display, faster performance, pen latency, and cloud syncing—and weigh it against the upcoming non front light Scribe that trims cost and weight for a more paper‑pure experience in bright settings. Rather than hype, we focus on the tradeoffs that matter: when color improves comprehension, when front light is essential, and when a lighter device makes long note‑taking sessions easier on your hands.

We walk through real‑world use cases to cut through the noise. If you live in comics, textbooks with diagrams, or color‑coded notes, the ColorSoft’s palette and large canvas add practical value. If you mostly read prose and draft in well‑lit rooms, the non front light model’s better contrast, longer battery life, and lower price might be the better fit. We also explore timing: rumored 2026 software upgrades like dark mode and AI reading tools will reach recent Kindles via updates, so there’s a case for waiting if budget matters—or buying now if color helps you produce and learn today.

You’ll also hear candid comparisons to alternatives like smaller color e‑ink readers and the iPad mini with a stylus, plus a simple decision framework based on environments—bed reading and red‑eye flights versus daylight desks and classrooms. Our take: let your daily habits, not launch buzz, pick the winner. Enjoy a clear, level‑headed guide to choosing your next reading and writing companion and avoid buyer’s remorse.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share the show with a friend who’s Kindle‑curious, and leave a quick review telling us which model you’re leaning toward.

SPEAKER_00:

Hello, I hope you are all well and excited about the new uh devices that Amazon is bringing out. And that's the discussion I'm going to have today. Now, I do not own these devices, so uh the audio for uh the this episode of my podcast will be uh the same as the visual, except that uh you won't see my face. And I will uh share a screen. Uh so if you're watching the video, you'll see it. And it's just a page from Amazon that shows not only one new Kindle device, but two. So I spoke to you uh very recently about uh the Kindle Scribe Color Soft that came out today, but there is another device uh called the Kindle Scribe Without Front Light, which is coming out soon. In fact, you can uh actually go in now and uh and order that. Let me double check that on um yes, yes, but it says coming soon. So uh so uh uh you won't get it straight away. It'll be early next year. Um so uh the issue arises for me, and so I I I thought, you know, I have an issue, and and maybe uh it's a good basis for uh discussion. Uh Kindle comes out with a lot of devices, and also they uh regularly update them. And the issue for me is should I rush out and buy uh one or both of these new uh Kindle Scribes, or should I just wait? Because I haven't had the uh original Kindle Scribe for uh all that long, and uh I haven't even opened yet the uh signatures cut us off, the little one, uh, that I got during the Black Friday week. So I found out I so you know I don't recommend devices unless I own them and use them, and I'm happy about them, uh, and if I'm unhappy, I say so. Uh or uh there are things that I don't really need, or I have something very similar to the product, and then uh I recommend it on trust because of the history of the company and uh uh who's producing it and what I've heard from other people and reviews and stuff like that. So uh I have neither the Kindle Scribe Color Soft, and I haven't ordered it yet, and I don't have the Kindle Scribe without Front Light, which is gonna follow it, and I haven't ordered that yet either, but they are both up uh so uh on on Amazon, and so I'm gonna go over to screen sharing, okay. And uh this is the coloursoft display. So uh they the and this is 64 gigabyte uh model, and it says this item will be released in January 2026. Uh if I go down to 32 gigabytes, it's free delivery. Oops, it's just changed what it said. Okay. So it's available now, okay. In either 32 gigabyte or 64 gigabyte, and that was what they advertised that it would come out on uh December 10. It's not cheap, as you can see, it's$679.99. And uh it's the latest thing, except they will have another up uh uh upgrade of the Kindle Scribe to the Kindle Scribe without front light, and now I've changed uh to that page, and uh that's coming soon, and they give the price$429.99.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So let me go back to where I was, okay. And stop okay, so I'm not sharing the screen anymore. So I tried as much as I could to do some research and uh answer my question about is it is it better just to wait? Okay, so uh and see uh how these devices fare uh once they're uh uh being sold, what the what people say when they talk about them and so on, and then maybe decide in about six months if it's really uh uh something that you need. So I I think the the answer, so let me say what the answer is: do you need it? Given uh what devices you have already, some of them may be quite new. Do you really need these two uh upgrades of uh the Kindle devices? Even if it's not a question of money, there's plenty of money, you can afford it. Is it really uh better just to wait? So let me talk a little bit about what these two devices are. So the Kindle Scribe Color Soft is Amazon's newest premium e-ink notebook device, announced in September 2025 and officially uh releasing today, this December 10, 2025. In the US, for so the price that they give information I have is$629 for the 32 gigabyte, and the 64 gigabyte on Amazon it costs a little more, is$679. So it's designed for reading, note-taking, and annotating, just like the Kindle Scribe, but with a large 11-inch color e-ink display, 300 ppi for grayscale, 150 ppi for color. It has a slimmer 4.5 millimeter body weighing 400 grams, a 40% faster MediaTech processor, low latency writing, less than uh 12 milliseconds, and new features like AI-powered note search, cloud integration that may be very important to some of you, uh, Google Drive and OneDrive, and 10 pen colors plus five highlighters. Battery life lasts weeks on a charge, and it doesn't, and it includes a redesigned uh premium pen. It's not waterproof, unlike some uh smaller Kindle. So if you're taking your Kindle colors off to the pool, you'll have to be very careful. This is significant, this is a significant upgrade over the 2024 black and white scribe 399. Now, as you know, I bought this uh scribe in uh 2025, so for me that is kind of a new device, and uh uh this is a significant upgrade, which is why there is a question: should I buy it now or should I wait? So it's adding color for better comic manga reading, color coded notes, and subtle shading effects. However, it's pricier than competitors. You might want to think about this. Like the Kobo Libra color,$229 smaller screen, or even an iPad mini with an Apple Pencil combo under$500. Well, I actually have uh I bought about six years ago uh a small iPad with a pen. So I actually do have that uh already, but it's get it's getting old. So there's a lot of talk about the 2026 upgrades, and people are always frightened. Well, if I buy it now in 2025, will my machine be eligible for the 2026 upgrades? Uh Amazon goes through a lot of trouble to make sure that uh the software upgrades uh apply both to an older, older Kindle Scribe and a newer one. But of course, the colour soft will have lots of uh uh features that the original Kindle Scribe can't uh uh be upgraded to. So uh what there what I'm talking about here is should you buy the, if you're going to buy the Kindle Scribe uh ColorSoft, should you buy it now in 2025 or should you wait to 2026? And there's really not that much reason to wait because you will get the software upgrades. However, what are these upgrades? So, based on rumors, uh software features confirmed for early 2026, the ColorSoft launches without full dark mode, system-wide page inversion for low-light reading, and two AI reading tools, story so far, spoiler-free plot summaries up to your current page, and ask this book, AI Answers About Characters, Themes, or Scenes from Highlighted Text. These will roll out via over-the-air updates in 2026 to all 11th and 12th generation Kindles, including the color slot. Okay. No extra cost, just a free update. Hardware variants and non-front. So this is the this is the second scribe that they're coming out with shortly after, as if you didn't have enough to choose from. That's a joke, by the way. I think it's great that they're uh that they're going ahead with uh with what they know how to do. I think it's fantastic. So hardware variants. A non-front lit scribe, black and white,$429, launches early 2026 in the US. And there will be more um colours available for you to have your Colorsoft uh, you know, uh it can the case the body of the of the colour soft, of course. New hardware models, no confirmed rumors uh of a full scribe colour soft successor in 2026. Amazon's Kindle cycle is two to three years per line. The scribe refreshed in 2024, then this 2025 version. Major releases aligned with fall holiday seasons. October 2024 for Paper White and ColorSoft. Uh that was back then as an example. Community speculation suggests no big hardware jumps until 2027, with 2026 focusing on software polish. Possible minor tweaks could include better color saturation or larger screens, but nothing leaked points to a revolutionary scribe colour soft too. So what are the what are the advantages of waiting? Uh waiting one to three months, uh months, sorry, or up to mid-2026 for international has some clear pros, especially if you are not in a rush. Well, this I can talk about myself a little bit. Uh I am not in a rush because uh the Kindle scribe that I have, the 2024-2025 version, I'm very happy with, and it's all I need for the type of novel I write. And I have just purchased uh the little color soft for uh e-reading, and I've yet to explore it. So I have a color soft and I have a Kindle Scribe, I just don't have a Kindle Scribe Color Soft. However, I'm writing fiction novels. If you are an author who works uh with comics uh or or drawings or photos, uh children's books, uh uh and you now have access to that world in color, I would say yes. If you can afford it, go out and buy the Kindle Scribe Color Soft, and you won't regret it. However, I'm not in that category. Uh everything in my book is in black and white, so uh the ordinary the the older Kindle scribe, um which is not so old, uh, is fine. Okay. So advantages of waiting. Let's talk about it a little bit. The features uh you get dark mode uh and I tools have sorry, I I got a little lost with with my notes. Um okay, so the features. So you you are gonna get uh you'll get the advantages of waiting.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

You will get the dark mode and the AI tools story so far as this book built in with no update lag. Early adopters might face minor software bugs during rollout, which is a reason to wait to see how other people fare with this new device. Launch prices often drop 10 to 20% by Black Friday or Cyber Monday 2026.$500 or$550 is possible. Tradings could save you$5,200. You will have access to the cheaper non-lit scribe$429 also in early 2026, if you don't need front light. And maybe that's a better choice for you, and you'd like to wait so you have more information on both these new devices. You don't have to buy every device that Kindle comes out with, just the ones that you need, all that help you uh with whatever whatever your writing projects or reading projects are about. Refinements, potential fixes for launch issues. Now, the early Colosoft models, this is just the ordinary Colosoft, had yellow tinting in 2024, and Amazon paused shipping to revolt to resolve it. Reviews will highlight real-world battery writing feel. Overall value. If your current device works fine, save money and avoid FOMO, fear of missing out. Kindles hold value well for resale. Okay, so the potential drawbacks of waiting. Now, the main drawback uh that you still have notes here. This is why my head keeps going down. I'm I I'm reading from notes. Uh as I say, why wait if you're the kind of writer who would love to have a writer and reader who would love to have the Kindle Scribe working in colour? Then I suggest that you that you don't wait. And uh, if you already have the Kindle Scribe, you can uh give it to someone else in your household or uh um you know e even work on it occasionally for yourself. So uh it just depends how important uh the upgrades uh are to you. Okay, so potential drawback. These are software only and will come free to 2025 buyers anyway. Today's release might see introductory discounts or bundles, for example, with Kindle Unlimited. If you want color now, the core colour soft is identical, just delayed shipping for variants. The uh e-Inktech evolves slowly, so the 2026 hardware won't likely add foldables or high-res colour. So you you know you might be waiting for something that's so close to the 2025 you wish that you bought it straight away. You miss out on immediate use. And that to me is the strongest reason to buy it now. You miss out on immediate use for note-taking, reading, and opportunity cost if prices don't drop much. In short, yes, there's a modest advantage to waiting if budget is tight or you want the full feature set day one. The 2026 software upgrades are compelling for heavy readers. AI summaries save time on long series. And prices typically soften post-launch. However, if color note-taking or the large screen is a must-have now, buying today gets you the latest hardware without the meaningful sacrifices, the updates arrive, nevertheless. So if you're going to go to color, you can wait and see how uh this color soft uh evolves, what people say about it, how they find it. Uh and uh once you're convinced that yes, it's something that you want, you should just go and buy. Now, uh I only discovered this morning uh because uh there are some print replica books uh that I uh downloaded for my usual Kindle. And I found that they won't download to the Kindle Scribe. So I have written to someone with a lot more I've written to Amazon actually, and uh I I I know some people there to ask them uh Is this really true? And uh surely this is something the Kindle scribe wants to fix. So you never know. Okay, uh, if your needs are basic, no colour required, consider the standard 2025 scribe 499 with light instead. That's what I have. And it covers my needs for the moment. So, in short, yes, there's a modest advantage to waiting for that reason. Um so after giving the matter a lot of thought, and you know, you know, I am an Amazon associate, and I will include the affiliate link for uh the Kindle Scribe Color Soft and the Kindle Scribe without front light. As things I trust, because I trust Amazon and I have had a very good experience with my other Kindle devices, but uh I'm going to wait for both devices because I don't need them now, and uh I've already invested in three Kindle devices recently, and I don't regret that one bit because they're perfect for my needs. Okay. So let me talk a little bit about the Kindle scribe without front light, uh, which kind of to me uh just you know from a no-knowledge point of view, um I I don't see why that should be as exciting as the Color Soft, but for some people it is. The main advantage of the upcoming Kindle Scribe without front light, so that's going to be probably the beginning of 2026, but it's already up on Amazon. The expected price around 429,449 compared to the regular Kindle Scribe Color Soft with front light, which is about$200 more expensive, come down to these things. Uh so the front light, so I'm gonna say these things about the front light with the no front light one, no front light. It's cheaper, it's noticeably lighter and thinner, about 340 grams versus 400 grams. It has slightly better contrast than a wider background, no light guide layer that you can add a very faint gray tint or yellow banding, potentially for 20 to 40 percent longer for the battery life because there's no front light circuitry to power. Durability. One less component that can fail or get scratched, feels more paper-like to the purists. So, in other words, uh uh people will be will be attracted to this Kindle Scribe if they want more of a Kindle Scribe than the 2024, 2025. They'll want these features that are specifically on this new Kindle. Now, comparing with the uh Colorsoft, Kindle Scribe Color Soft. Now you're giving up going to buy the Colorsoft and the No Front Light. I don't think that's necessary. I think I think it's best to choose. Okay, it's more expensive, it's heavier, uh, and it can have minor tints possible on some units. It uh still has weeks uh for the battery remaining charged, but shorter than the uh no light version, and the front light layer adds a tiny bit of fragility. So who actually benefits from the no front light version? People who almost always read, write in well-lit environments. Home with lamps, office outdoors, during the day, bright cafe, etc. If you never read in bed or on planes at night, you don't need the light and you save a lot of money. Well, uh I do read on planes, so um note-taking enthusiasts who want the absolute lightest large screen device for carrying around all day. Students, lawyers, researchers, journalists. Dropping 50 to 60 grams and a few tenths of a millimeter makes a surprising difference when you're holding it for hours while writing. Well, uh, I'm not going to um, as I've told you, I'm already protecting my current Kindle scribe with uh a rather thick travel case. So that's not an advantage for me because uh I always put on a travel case if I'm moving around a lot.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So who uh uh so e-ink purists, this is the the people who who are gonna want this new uh no front light. E-ink purists who prefer the cleanest, most paper-like screen possible in daylight. Some users report the no-lit scribe looks a little crisper and more uniform than the lit versions. Budget conscious buyers who want the big 11-inch writing experience and active pen, but can't justify$630 plus. Um it's a cheaper device, and uh, but you're you're still completely within the um uh Amazon ecosystem. What you give up, no reading or writing in dim light or at night without an external clip on on light or book light. So if you still if if you're buying this no no front light one, no warm, cool light temperature adjustment, slightly fewer colour options at launch, black and white screen only, the no-lit model is not expected to get the colour panel. Bottom line, the no front light Kindle Scribe is the best value large screen writing reading tablet Amazon has ever offered if you don't need to use it in the dark. For daylight only uses it's lighter, cheaper, longer lasting, and arguably prettier on the eyes than the colour soft with light, and you will still get the same great pen experience, notebook features, and future software updates. If you often read in bed on red eye flights or in dimly lit rooms, just pay the premium for the front lit colour soft and don't look back. Or even the regular lit black and white scribe and don't look back. That's if you don't really uh want the color right now. So uh I will um post the uh affiliate links, my my affiliate links for uh the Kindle Scribe ColorSoft and uh the Kindle uh Scribe Without Front Light in the episode description since they're up now. Uh the affiliate links are up now on the Amazon site. And I'm going to share the screen again since I don't have them. So there you have uh so I always buy uh the maximum memory. Uh so there you have um your color soft, certainly looks very attractive. Um you can get it in 32 gigabytes, and it says it comes on Monday. Okay, it comes on Monday. If you're really excited, you haven't got long to wait. Now the Kindle Scribe without front light. Um it starts at 429.99. So you see that's only for 16 gigabytes. And uh that's coming soon. Okay, that's coming soon.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh but they have it up there.

SPEAKER_00:

And uh and it has an affiliate link, but uh what you're gonna need to do is to ask for an email when it's ready. It's not ready yet. It hasn't been released in the sense that the uh Kindle Scribe Color Soft has been released, and you can buy it and get it within a few days. It's just up there for you to look at, and you can ask for an email when it's ready to be shipped, and uh it has an affiliate link, so you can use my affiliate link. So uh uh as an Amazon associate, uh I earn from uh Holly Fine purchases uh and I'm trying to get out of uh screen share. Oh, here we are. Sorry about that, I couldn't get myself out of screen share. Uh so uh, but I won't be doing anything about what these devices are actually like. I trust them to be wonderful devices. And uh I hope you'll give serious thought to buying them if you don't have anything equivalent. And if you're really, really excited about it and you think, yes, I can use this today, just go out and buy them and won't worry too much about the money. You know, it's a few hundred dollars difference. That means a lot to some people, but to some people not so much. So it's a very, very personal decision. But I myself uh will be waiting at least into uh probably several months into uh 2026. However, I can bring news about the devices and how they're faring uh to some of my podcasts and uh give you more food for thought. Okay, so uh I'll as I say the affiliate links will be in the episode description. And as an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I hope that you will subscribe uh to this playlist. Uh actually subscribe to my channel and um like my videos and comment. Okay, bye bye.