GoKawiilIf you primarily want a tablet device to markup, highlight, and annotate your e-books and documents, and perhaps sometimes scribble some notes of your own, Amazon’s new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft could be worth the hefty investment. For everyone else, it’s probably going to be hard to justify the cost of the 11-inch, $630+ e-ink tablet with a writeable color display.
However, if you were already leaning toward the 11-inch $549.99 Kindle Scribe — which also has a paper-like display but no color — you may as well throw in the extra cash at that point and get the Colorsoft version instead, which starts at $629.99.
At these price points, both the Scribe and Scribe Colorsoft are what we’d dub unnecessary luxuries for most, especially compared with the more affordable traditional Kindle ($110) or Kindle Paperwhite ($160).
Image Credits:Kindle
Announced in December, the Fig color version just began shipping on Jan. 28, 2026, and is available for $679.99 in 64GB.
Clearly, Amazon hopes to carve out a niche in the tablet market with these upgraded Kindle devices, which compete more with e-ink tablets like reMarkable rather than other Kindles. But high-end e-ink readers with pens aren’t going to deliver Amazon a large audience. Meanwhile, nearly everyone can potentially justify the cost of an iPad because of its numerous capabilities, including streaming video, drawing, writing, using productivity tools, and the thousands of supported native apps and games.
The Scribe Colorsoft, meanwhile, is designed to cater to a very specific type of e-book reader or worker. Students and researchers could be a good fit for this type of device, as well as anyone else who regularly needs to markup files or documents.
Someone particularly interested in making to-do lists or keeping a personal journal might also appreciate the device, but it would have to get daily use to justify this price.
Image Credits:Amazon
The device itself is easy enough to use, with a Home screen design similar to other Kindles, offering quick access to your notes and library, and even suggestions of books you can write in, like Sudoku or Crossword puzzle books, or drawing guides. Your Library titles and book recommendations pop in color, which makes it easier to find a book with a quick scan.
... continue reading