Amazon Announces New Kindle Family, First Color Kindle

It’s finally happening: The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition is perhaps the most notable of the several new e-readers that Amazon announced this morning. I pre-ordered one immediately, and if it’s as good as it seems, we’ll be getting two more for the other Kindle fans in our family, my wife and daughter.

What took so long?

“There’s never been a better time to pick up a Kindle,” the Amazon announcement reads. “Amazon is introducing an entirely new lineup of Kindle devices, including the first-ever color Kindle, a reimagined Kindle Scribe, the fastest Kindle Paperwhite ever, and a new entry Kindle in a fun, new Matcha color.”

Here’s what’s new.

Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition. The long-awaited color Kindle, officially named Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, costs $279.99 and offers a 7-inch high-contrast and glare-free Colorsoft display with an auto-adjusting front light, up to 8 weeks of battery life, USB-C connectivity, wireless charging capabilities, and 32 GB of storage. You can preorder it now and it will arrive November 1.

Kindle Scribe. Amazon’s biggest e-reader has new white borders, a new glare-free 300 ppi 10.2-inch display, a new Premium Pen with a customizable shortcut button and soft-tip eraser, new AI Notebook tools, USB-C connectivity, and 16 to 64 GB of storage, and it’s available in two colors, Tungsten and Metallic Jade. It starts at $399.99, is available for preorder now, and will ship on December 11.

Kindle Paperwhite. The new Kindle Paperwhite is described as the fastest Kindle ever, with 25 percent faster page turns. It features a larger 7-inch Paperwhite display, an auto-adjusting front light (on the Signature Edition, and 16 or 32 GB of storage, USB-C connectivity, and it comes in three colors, Black, Jade, and Raspberry. Prices start at $159 for an Ad-Supported version or $179.99 without Lockscreen Ads. It’s available immediately. The Signature Edition starts at $199.99/$219.99 and includes 32 GB of storage. It is available for preorder and ships on October 21.

Kindle. The new entry-level Kindle features a 6-inch display with improved brightness, contrast ratio, and page turn speeds, 16 GB of storage, up to 6 weeks of battery, USB-C connectivity, and two color choices, Black and Matcha (green). It starts at just $109.99–or $129.99 without Lockscreen Ads–and is available immediately.

Kindle Paperwhite Kids. The new Kindle Paperwhite Kids e-reader is available with a bundled cover with three design choices–Cyber City, Starfish, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid–the same display and capabilities of the Kindle Paperwhite, USB-C connectivity, and 16 GB of storage, and starts at $159.99/$179.99. It’s available now.

Kindle Kids. The new entry-level Kindle Kids model is available with a bundled cover with three design choices–Space Whale, Ocean Explorer, and Unicorn Valley–a 6 month Kindle Kids+ subscription, an improved display with faster page turns, 16 GB of storage, and USB-C connectivity. It starts at $129.99/$149.99 and is available now.

Whew. It’s a big day for Kindle fans and a day I’ve been waiting for, for a decade of more.