Amazon’s Kindle, long cherished for its simplicity, is getting a serious makeover with the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, the company’s first premium e-reader with a color display and stylus integration.

The Colorsoft headlines a new lineup that also includes a black-and-white Scribe with enhanced backlight and a light-free entry model. All three share an 11-inch display, up from 10.2 inches, and are thinner and lighter than their predecessors, at just 0.9 pounds and 5.4mm thick.

Amazon’s pitch is that the new Scribes feel as natural as paper while doubling as productivity tools. They’re now 40% faster for writing and page turns due to a rearchitected display stack that shrinks parallax to virtually nothing.

The Colorsoft offers not just reading, but sketching, note-taking and document editing with a stylus. Storage ranges from 16GB to 64GB, and battery life runs from two weeks (with writing) to up to 16 weeks (for light reading, depending on model).

The Colorsoft has integration with OneNote, OneDrive and Google Drive, allowing for importing of documents, marking them up and exporting annotated PDFs.

Amazon is also layering in AI. Users can now query Alexa+ speakers about their notes or books, with deeper integration planned. A dormant microphone hints at possible future voice features.

Amazon’s Panos Panay presenting a Kindle Scribe Colorsoft

Amazon is also introducing new AI reading features. ‘Story So Far’ provides a spoiler-free recap of your progress in a book, while ‘Ask this Book’ lets readers highlight passages and receive instant answers about plot or characters.

All Scribe devices come with a redesigned pen that attaches magnetically and never needs charging. Amazon is also launching a range of folio covers, including plant-based and premium leather options, plus an executive notebook-style folio.

Kindle sales, surprisingly, are booming.

After 17 years, the division is experiencing double-digit growth, largely driven by Gen Z and Millennial readers who share Kindle content on TikTok.

VP Kevin Keith says Kindle sales rose 15% year-over-year in 2025. The Colorsoft is designed to capture this momentum, driving upgrades and extending Kindle into a premium productivity device.