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

Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition: A unique and stunning experience.

• Diana Dirkby

Share episode

Send us a text

You can go ahead and follow my Amazon Affiliate links below to find the corresponding product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

1) Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition: https://amzn.to/4rZTaf9
2) Amazon's Kindle Color-Soft Signature Edition case: https://amzn.to/4s0F64Y
3) CoBak Case for 7" E-Readers: https://amzn.to/48DTGIa
4) Supershieldz (3 Pack) Anti-Glare (Matte) Screen Protector for Kindle Colorsoft: https://amzn.to/4oWzXIA
5) Amazon 9W Official OEM USB Charger and Power Adapter for Fire Tablets, Kindle eReaders, and Echo Dot: https://amzn.to/4qcayeW

6) Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition User Guide : Display, Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition User Guide : Display, Highlights and Notes, Troubleshooting, Accessibility and Battery Saving Tips for Beginners by Susan Powell:chttps://amzn.to/48Vv5x9https://amzn.to/48Vv5x9

#Kindle #KindleColorsoft #KindleColorsoftSignatureEdition #KindleScribe #KindleScribeColorsoft #Kindledevices #Kindleapp

Color that calms instead of shouts. That’s the promise of the Kindle ColorSoft Signature Edition, and we put it to the test with real books, real accessories, and a few real surprises—like which titles quietly refuse to download and how to fix it without leaving the Kindle ecosystem.

We start with the core of ColorSoft: a custom color e‑ink stack designed for soft, paper-like tones rather than neon saturation. After dialing in brightness, the display makes covers, comics, maps, and charts feel clearer while staying gentle on the eyes. I unpack where color adds value—highlights in multiple hues, cleaner visual structure in non‑fiction—and where a monochrome Kindle used to fall short. Then we get practical about the two models. The Signature Edition’s double storage, wireless charging, and auto-adjusting front light aren’t flashy features; they’re the quiet upgrades that make daily reading smoother, especially for large libraries and Audible downloads.

There’s also a frank look at compatibility. Some fixed-layout and enhanced editions won’t install on ColorSoft or Scribe, a quirk that catches many buyers off guard. I show the simple workaround: keep the Kindle app on a Fire tablet or your phone so those edge‑case titles still live in your library. From there we dive into the reading experience: organizing with collections, tweaking themes and fonts, typing notes from highlights, and flipping seamlessly between reading and listening with Bluetooth headphones. Accessories get their due—covers, screen protectors, and travel cases—so you can protect the display without dulling color or adding glare.

If you create with pen, I explain why Scribe still pairs beautifully with ColorSoft—one for handwriting and document review, the other for comfortable, color-rich reading. If you’re deciding whether to upgrade, you’ll get clear criteria to choose between the standard model and the Signature Edition, plus when a sale on non‑color Scribe might be the smarter buy. Enjoy a grounded tour of what color e‑ink does well, where it still has limits, and how to get the most from the Kindle ecosystem without overpaying. If this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—what would make color e‑ink a must‑have for you?

My published books

“The Overlife: A Tale Of Schizophrenia,” by Diana Dirkby (visit https://amzn.to/454WgW6.) #ad #commissionsearned The link is an Amazon Affiliate Link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)

“Three Kidnapped, Three Siblings, Th

SPEAKER_00:

Hello, I hope you're all doing well. Uh I'm uh going to be talking about one of my uh Black Friday week uh purchases. Uh uh I decided um to buy to buy my my first Kindle Color Soft, and I went for the Kindle Color Soft Signature Edition, and I'll say what signature means in this context. So overall I'm very pleased to have it. I had always um used either uh black and white Kindle or uh uh Kindle Fire. So uh using the Kindle Fire is uh like using the Kindle app since uh you get to the Kindle store through the app uh when it's on the the Kindle Fire. So uh one disappointment uh you can't download virtually every Kindle book, either to the Kindle Cutter Soft Signature Edition, and the same problem is there for uh the Kindle Scripe, which we talked about uh at length. And it's a formatting problem. Uh some so some e-books have publisher-imposed limitations that make them incompatible with specific Kindle models. For example, fixed layout books, enhanced editions, or graphics-heavy titles like comics and manja that requires specific formatting. But of course, on your Kindle ColorSoft, there will be lots of comics that you can read. So this is obviously not all comics. So if you try to download such a book, which uh actually was the first thing I tried to do, there was a book I was interested in, and I tried to download it to um the uh ColorSoft. I got the message uh unavailable for download. This item is not compatible with this device. However, um there are millions of books that are compatible both with uh the ColorSoft and with the Scribe. So uh you're not missing out on every book by any means. And uh what you can do in that case is use the Kindle app because there are virtually no Kindle books that uh are not visible in the Kindle app. And it can be the Kindle app on your favorite device, or uh what I am doing in this case, uh, for example, to get this book I was interested in to download it. I uh am just using my uh Kindle Fire Max 11 because you access the Kindle store through the Kindle app. So if you can download using the Kindle app, you can download uh using the Kindle Fire. So that made me very uh pleased to have the Kindle Fire because I do want to stay within the Kindle ecosystem. So this is not a reason to reject the Kindle Color Soft since you can still download the vast majority of Kindle books and most documents from your Kindle library created by the Kindle Scribe, but of course that will exclude uh the handwritten notes on the scribe. The Amazon Kindle Color Soft, officially the Kindle Color Soft Signature Edition, is named for its custom color e-ink display technology, which Amazon branded as Colorsoft. The name emphasizes the soft, muted, paper-like colours it produces, vibrant enough to enhance book covers, comics, graphics, and highlights, but gentle and easy on the eyes, without the harsh glare or intense brightness of traditional backlit LCD screens. This contrasts with more saturated colours on tablets or phones, aligning with Kindle's focus on a comfort, comfortable distraction free reading experience. Amazon has not provided a more profound official etymology beyond uh describing it as delivering rich paper-like color that's vibrant yet easy on the eyes. Reviewers often note that it ain't fit because the colours appear subtly soft or pastel-like due to e-ink limitations, which is interesting.

SPEAKER_01:

So the device's name doesn't disappoint.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh and uh when I first got it out of the uh packaging, I was disappointed, and then of course I realized I haven't uh uh touched the brightness button, and uh voila, once I uh controlled the brightness of the screen, uh it was really very pretty and very beautiful. Now you can put it on auto-brightness, and that seems to be doing a very good job of uh keeping things pretty and readable. So once you've done that, the device's name doesn't disappoint. The Kindle Color Soft is ideal if you're looking for enhanced visuals in books that need them, all while staying true to the essence of Kindle's reliable, distraction-free reading experience. With options for vivid or standard color modes, it suits everything from richly illustrated graphic novels to simple text documents. So if you're ready to elevate your Kindle experience with color while keeping the perks of Kindle's long battery life and outdoor readability, this might be the upgrade you are looking for. Now, the paragraph that I have just read out is an extract from Susan Powell's book, Kindle Color Soft Signature Edition User Guide, which is currently on Kindle Unlimited. And I told you uh when I spoke to you about uh uh describe that when I get a new device, I play around with it, of course, by myself. But what I try to do before I uh do too much uh playing around is to read uh a decent book on how the device works. Now, uh Susan Powell's book is a little advanced, maybe, for a brand new user. So she talks about things like Centre Kindle, and you have to know what Center Kindle is, but you can look that up. And uh I found it very good. So uh that's the book I'm gonna recommend for uh a user guide on top of what uh Amazon provides. So it isn't just color added to a standard Kindle. Amazon developed a unique display stack including brighter LEDs, special coatings, and an enhanced oxide backplane on top of e-Ink's kaleidoscope 3 case to produce soft, natural-looking colours that are easy on the eye and mimic paper more closely without the harsh or overly vibrant tones of typical tablet screens like uh LCD and OLED. Reviews consistently describe the colours as soft, muted, or natural compared to competitors like Kobo, emphasizing reduced eye strain during long reading sessions, especially for book covers, comics, and graphics. Amazon's product descriptions reinforce this. The display delivers paper-like colour that's easy on the eyes and soft colours that are less harsh than traditional screens. The soft in the name signals these tweaks to make colour feel gentle and immersive, and they do, distinguishing it from brighter, more aggressive colour e-readers, while preserving the glare-free, high contrast reading experience Kindles are known for. The device doesn't disappoint. What are the main differences between the standard Kindle Color Soft and the Signature Edition? The Kindle Colosoft Signature Edition adds double the storage, 32 GB as opposed to 16, wireless charging, auto-adjusting front light, and a slightly different finish compared to the standard ColourSoft model. Both share the same color e-ink display technology and features like warm light adjustment. My recommendation is to buy the signature edition. I think these upgrades are really worth it. Now I'm gonna go away for a second because I forgot uh to actually introduce you to uh my ColorSoft. So here it is in its cover. So I got the uh official Amazon cut colour for the uh ColorSoft, and it's a nice cover because it's sturdy uh with the PU leather on one side, on this side, and it has a microfiber cover which puts the Kindle to sleep. So I know there's a lot of reflection off our window, but I have it, it's light, it's small, it's convenient, and in my case, I'm mainly going to be using it to read. Now it does have uh some annotation tools, um uh a little bit similar to the uh King Kindle Fire that we discussed already, and I'll talk about those as I show you. Um the photos that I have prepared.

SPEAKER_01:

Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Just getting things cleaned up. Okay, so this is what it looked like when um it arrived. Uh uh these devices now come in these uh recyclable, uh very attractive uh boxes. You just have to be careful not to throw out the instructions when you throw out the box. So this is what they say on the back of the box. Seven-inch glare-free colorsoft display, highlights in multiple colors, and those highlights enable you to make notes. Access to millions of titles in the Kindle store. So you're missing out on some titles, but certainly there are millions that you can enjoy on the Colorsoft. Uh but I would advise you to have uh the Kindle app downloaded on whatever device uh you want to use it on. And um if you have a Kindle Fire, then you're going to have access to virtually all of uh the Kindle books because uh the Kindle Fire uses the app. So it has a high contrast paper-like feel, auto-adjusting front light, and wireless charging. So some of the things in those lists uh are uh upgrades over the uh standard edition. And then there's this little quote inside mere colour, unspoiled by meaning and unallied with a definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways. Oscar Wilde. Now, uh I always, when I buy a device, uh buy a screen protector and uh travel case which is a little sturdier than the one that Amazon puts out. So I I I chose the Kobac uh case and I chose uh a screen uh a screen protector which uh uh advertised as being uh uh specifically suitable for uh the color soft. Now I was very nervous because I thought, you know, if I put the screen protector on, is it going to spoil uh the effect of the colors? And purists may uh say that's a reason not to use it, but I found actually that it it doesn't impede the uh experience at all. So uh I ended up putting it on. So when you take the lid off the device uh uh package, it says welcome to a new world of color. And you'll see what I mean when you when you unwrap it, it looks really dark. But that's just because that's the it's been in the dark, and uh and it's uh it's it doesn't mean that that's the dark that's the color or the brightness that you'll see once you use the device because you can you can control it. So inside the box there is the charging cable and there is um instructions, and uh this is the the Kindle color soft after I've put uh the screen on, okay, and after I brightened the screen a little bit, so it looks fine. Now uh the cover is microfiber. This is Kindle's cover, microfiber on one side and PU leather on the other, very strong. And when the Kindle is inside, uh that's what it looks like. So um uh, and you can see that there's already uh, if you look carefully, a little tiny scratch on the cover. Now I'd rather that little tiny scratch scratch be on the cover than it be on the uh the screen of my Kindle Color Soft, which is why I go for screen protectors. Now I didn't use a screen protector for uh the Kindle Scribe because uh it does uh impede the papery feel of uh the note-taking section. So I decided uh just to be very careful with the device and not I have a screen protector, but I haven't used it. So this is uh the Kobac. It's very similar to the Kindle um uh to the Amazon uh cover for the for the Kindle Color Soft, just a little bit more padding. So it's a little bit stronger, but the idea is very much the same. So that's Kobac one. Okay, so this was my uh first my my disappointment, really my my only disappointment, was I I really wanted to download this book, I'm not alone, and read it on the Colorsoft. And then when I tried to do that, it said uh you can't download this item uh to your uh Kindle Colorsoft, and then uh I tried to download it on my Kindle Scribe and it won't download there either. So I went to my Kindle Max uh my Kindle Fire Max 11, and it downloaded beautifully because it's downloading through the app. So uh that's why you really need to have the app uh handy if you're uh in the process of downloading a book that you really want to take with you. Okay, but uh this problem uh doesn't occur for the majority of uh Kindle books, for millions of them, but it does still occur for uh uh uh a sizable number. So as I say, you need the app. So this is what the uh opening screen is like, and it's very similar to um uh what we've seen before on other devices. So uh you have a home and you have a library, and uh the home has all sorts of shelves, okay? And um to choose between whether you're on the home screen or the library screen uh depends on which one is underlined, and you get the underlining by touching with your finger. Now, this is a good place for me to say the uh uh Kindle ColorSoft Signature Edition uh or standard edition too, do not come with an associated stylus, and so uh you have to do everything with your finger and the on-screen keyboard. However, I went ahead and uh have ordered a stylus which says it works well with the color soft, uh and I've yet to see uh how that will turn out. But if you but there's no stylus uh that Amazon is putting out for you to use with your colour soft. It's your finger and um the on-screen keyboard. Now, of course, in the library, you you have just the uh books that you own. You don't have um all these massive number of books uh on the home home screen. You have a reduced massive number of books in my case, uh, but I own all those. So this is a feature I'll mention again. So uh I downloaded the common reader by Virginia Wolf, and you'll see the Audible thing on the bottom. So you can download the Kindle book and the audio book from Audible and have them both on the Kindle Color Soft Signature Edition, and you can read or you can listen uh just by choosing uh you can choose to read or you can choose to listen, and you you have control over that. And so if uh if you're really enjoying being in a corner of a room and and you're reading it, but then sudden suddenly something interrupts and you have to go somewhere else, you might want to put in your um uh uh your your headphones and And uh listen to it for a little while. Now you need uh Bluetooth uh headphones that will pair with the device, and I have ordered some new ones because I wasn't so happy with the performance of the one I tried to pair with it. So we'll see how that goes. Now at the top, uh you have the three dots, and of course, you have the card, the because you in case you buy a Kindle book. Okay, and the three dots, uh, if you touch them, it gives you this list, including settings. Now you have this nice thing, which is you can create a collection, so you can uh organize uh your library uh uh books into uh uh into collections of as many books as you like, and uh kind of organize your reading. So it's a nice feature. So this is a book um that you download in the dead of night, and it's it's a book that uh I also want to read very much. Now, when you open the book or any book, you have this top menu. Menu is a you touch near the top, and you'll get this menu. And again, the uh three dots uh will give you these things, okay. And uh the A big A little A gives you all sorts of options too. Okay, you can control how the book looks, and a lot more uh a lot more besides. So you can uh so the first three things, the themes, the font, and the layout is kind of just like the appearance of the book, but there's all sorts of other choices you can make, and they are under Moore, but I'm not going to uh touch on those in this episode. Now, when you highlight, you get a choice, and the choice that I want to concentrate on is note, because it's the most interesting and the most useful because uh you may still want to make some kind of notes as you read, and uh, you know, this is not uh a Kindle scribe, so you want to know that you have the ability to uh to make notes on this device, and if you press on note, a little note square pops up, just as it did on the Kindle Fire, and uh downstairs you have your on-screen uh keyboard. So you can use the on-screen keyboard to type in your note and save it, and that will be then uh so if we go back to the top menu, um the annotations are collected in that thing that looks like uh a book. So there again is the a book I very much want to read, and it's also uh an audio book. So um that's kind of uh just to say that you have uh you have a wonderful device here that can do all sorts of things, and it's aesthetically beautiful. So I do recommend it. Now, this is the book, uh, so I'll put the affiliate link to this book uh in the episode description, just as I will put the affiliate link to um the Kindle Color Sloth signature edition, together with its accessories and so on. And of course, as an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. So you may um you may be saying, uh, well, you know, maybe you regret at this stage having bought uh the ordinary Kindle that's not not the color one, which is out now, and uh then buying this as well. Well, this is actually not true, but it that may be true for some people, but it's not true for me uh in particular, because uh I'm going to be using the Kindle scribe virtually only for my own novel writing and collaborating back and forth and so on. And I'm a fiction book writer and I don't use illustrations, so um, but uh I'm still very, very happy to have that Kindle Scribe, and I know I'm missing out on the Colorsoft version until I buy it, but I do have this other device where I can enjoy just reading in the Colorsoft world, and uh I'm very, very happy to have it. And I think the original Kindle Scribe together with this uh is a good pair. So you don't always have to buy the most expensive thing. Oh, by the way, I saw that the Kindle Scribe, the the non-color one, is on a good sale right now. So uh if you think that's enough for you, then uh uh don't miss the sale. Uh well, uh that's all I have to say today. New device, new world, uh, and very happy about it. So uh please uh don't forget to subscribe uh to my playlist and channel, uh like my videos and uh provide comments if uh if you have them. Okay, bye bye for now.