When Amazon launched the Kindle Colorsoft, I used to be actually stunned they priced it so excessive at $279. Kobo had simply launched the Kobo Libra Color a number of months earlier with the identical 7″ colour E Ink display screen, and Kobo priced it at an inexpensive $219.
Even Onyx’s Go Colour 7 is cheaper than the Kindle Colorsoft at $249, and it provides web page buttons, a microSD card slot, a rotation sensor, an exterior speaker and a mic, it has twice as a lot space for storing, and it runs Android so it’s much more succesful and versatile as an ereader.
Kindles have all the time been competitively priced. Usually Kindles are inexpensive than comparable merchandise from different corporations, particularly the ad-supported fashions. However that can not be mentioned in regards to the Kindle Colorsoft.
First, lets examine the Kindle Colorsoft to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Version. They’re precisely the identical aside from the screens. The SE Paperwhite sells for $199, so the Colorsoft is $80 dearer regardless of all the pieces being the identical aside from the display screen.
I’ve seen folks say on-line the value is justified as a result of colour E Ink screens price much more than black and white E Ink screens, and it’s a brand new premium function that warrants a better price ticket.
That may sound cheap at first, but it surely’s merely not true, and I can show it. Kobo sells the Kobo Clara BW and the Kobo Clara Color. Once more, each are primarily the identical gadget, aside from the screens, and there’s solely a $20 value distinction between them.
However the actual kicker is the truth that Kobo sells alternative elements for each fashions, and alternative screens are the very same value! It doesn’t matter if it’s a colour E Ink display screen or a black and white E Ink display screen. Each are $74.99. And the bigger 7″ colour display screen for the Libra Color is just $20 greater than the 6″ display screen for the Clara.
The one saving grace for the Kindle Colorsoft is the truth that Amazon continuously places Kindles on sale, and Amazon additionally accepts trade-ins to get an additional 20% off, even whereas Kindles are on sale so you possibly can stack each reductions.
However Amazon charging $80 extra only for colour E Ink is frankly ridiculous. Releasing a colour Kindle definitely prices extra from a developmental standpoint initially, particularly with having to optimize the software program for colour, however don’t let folks attempt to persuade you it prices $80 extra for colour E Ink than BW E Ink.