Kindle Colorsoft VS Boox Go Color 7
Kindle has finally just released its first color e-reader, the Colorsoft.
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| Paper manga, Colorsoft, GoColor |
Their website is full of marketing language but kinda poor on real data. For example they don’t even say what e-ink tech is used, they simply talk about « Color Amazon display ». Well that doesn’t sounds good when a manufacturer is trying to actually hide some technical specs of their devices.
There is a reason for that. It’s that the tech used is not very good and is quite famous for its shortcomings. They pretend they tweaked the backplane and the light system to achieve better results. But it is still the same quite disappointing technology and generation than most other color devices …
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| Kindle Paperwhite, Colorsoft, Go Color 7 Paper manga, iPad |
JUST ANOTHER KALEIDO 3 E-READER
Despite Amazon’s efforts to make people believe they have their own superior tech, the Colorsoft is only based on a Kaleido 3 panel. They just tweaked a bit the backplane and the light system.
There are 2 different techs used in color readers :
- Gallery uses 3 color e-ink capsules and gives more saturated colors but blacks are awfull, made by a mix of colors and tend to be blueish and uneven. These displays are extremely slow to refresh too. And some colors are better than others.
- Kaleido, which is now at its third generation, is a different approach. It’s based on a regular black and white panel with a color grid above it. Blacks and speed can be as good as on regular e-ink readers. But nothing is perfect and this is still a compromise.
Kaleido 3 shortcomings :
- Whites are much darker as the color filter decrease light reflection.
- Contrast is not as good.
- There is a fine lines pattern on the whole panel which tend to make whites and light greys not as pure or clean as on black and white dislays.
- You will have to use the integrated light even under normal light during the day, reducing the battery life
- The constant use of light will tend to decrease the blacks quality which will be more or less washed out, depending on the integrated light system.
- Colors are extremely dull to the point there is no color fidelity at all.
- Color content lower definition is very visible especially on color text and fine details
THE COMPETITION
Brands like Boox and PocketBook does sell Kaleido 3 devices since years. Kobo has joined the party some monthes ago with the Clara Colour and the Libra Colour.
I reviewed some of these devices and it is clear that the Libra Colour is the worst of all with extremely dull colors and a very bad integrated light which washes out dark tones and blacks and make it look pinkish.
The PocketBook Inkpad 3 is a lot better but limited by a software which is not suitable for manga reading.
The Boox Tab Mini C is the best, still having muted colors, but a bit better managed and a very good software. But it’s very expensive at 450€.
I ultimately returned or sold these 3 devices but ordered both the Kindle Colorsoft and the Boox Go Color 7 which is the same display size.
So how do they compare ?
INTEGRATED LIGHT
Kindle Colorsoft has the best integrated light,
- more neutral, which can go from blueish to yellow amber
- much stronger to help compensate the darkest display of Kaleido 3
- doesn’t washes out dark tones too much
Boox Go Color 7 light is frankly disapointing, it is definitively not the same as the Tab Mini C. The Go warm LEDs give a quite cold greenish yellow tint instead of the nice amber I had on the Tab Mini C. Worse, as soon as you use this light, even at quite low level, it washes out dark tones in a quite noticeable way. It’s not as bad as on the Kobo Libra Colour however.
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| Colorsoft, Go Color 7 |
COLORS
Colors are more vivid on the Boox Go Color 7 but …
Even on vivid mode, colors are less vibrant on the Kindle than the Boox … especially if you don’t use much the integrated light or have a lot of ambiant light.
Overall colors are still extremely disapointing
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| Colorsoft, Go Color 7, iPad mini |
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| Paper manga, Colorsoft, Go Color 7 |
Just compare a color page and the real paper book. There is a reason why brands never show pictures comparing an actual book to the same book on their e-readers. It’s because colors and contrasts are so bad that nobody would buy these devices.
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| Paper manga, Colorsoft, Go Color 7, iPad mini |
MARKETING LANGUAGE AND BAD EXCUSES
Wisely Amazon named this device the Colorsoft. Because the colors are very soft. Very very soft indeed, to the point of being meaningless.
The annoying part is that these brands try to make you think that softer colors are better for your eyes, more comfortable. Which is not true. They say that it’s better than reading on a tablet. But you can perfectly ajust a GOOD tablet light to a comfortable level and warmth and match the aspect of a real paper book. Which is simply not possible with a color e-reader.
By chance they don’t dare (yet) to tell you that it’s better than paper. And they don’t pretend paper is bad for your eyes.
RAINBOW EFFECT
All Kaleido 3 devices show rainbow colors on some mangas grey zones. It’s caused by a moiré effect, interferences between the color filter matrix and the image grey pattern. I must say that I noticed clearly less of these artifacts on the Colorsoft.
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| Rainbow effect is visible on the face at the center of the page on the Go Color |
TEXT IN COMICS AND MANGA
Curiously there is a difference in the way both these readers handle small details in pictures and this does change a lot text readability in mangas. Text and fine lines often look too soft on the Colorsoft, too thin and lack blackness. In some cases, text can be quite difficult to read, which is not an issue on the Boox Go Color 7.
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| Text is too light on the Colorsoft (right) |
SOFTWARE
Kindle software is usually simple and reliable. It’s a closed ecosystem where you can still sideload books with the help of a PC app named Calibre. Boox software based on Android is more complex but you have a lot more options to get a custom experience, more settings for colors, for image and font rendering … and you can install Android apps including reading apps from Kindle and Kobo. Their reader app is usually very good.
Alas, on the Go Color 7, Boox decided to remove the possibility to display double pages. Yes, you can’t have double pages side by side in landscape orientation… Double pages are very common in mangas. Bummer. And this is a red flag because clearly it makes the Boox Go Color 7 not suitable for manga reading.
You could partially solve this by using a third party app like Moon reader … but you will loose the reader integration in the overall system as well as the rich setting options Boox native reader app does offer.
DESIGN AND BUILT QUALITY
Both devices does have an excellent build quality, however the Go color 7 is better.
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| Colorsoft, Go Color 7 |
Fortunately, Amazon ditched the awfull soft touch paint for the back and used a simple black plastic. Design wise the Colorsoft is quite bland and uninteresting, looking like an old tablet.
Boox Go Color 7 has a more interesting design, page turning buttons and feels a bit more premium. It’s thinner and the textured back is pleasant to the finger.
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| Go Color 7, Colorsoft |
KINDLE COLORSOFT ISSUES
There are 2 more issues with the Colorsoft at its launch :
- Many units exhibits a yellowich tint on the bottop of the display. Amazon is investigating this and says it’s a software issue which will be solved with an update.
- Download and transfer via USB is not available anymore with the new line of Kindle device, making it more difficult to backup you books on your computer. You still can install the Kindle PC app to download your books and retrieve the files for backup, but it’s a step towards an even more closed ecosystem.
AMAZON PEOPLE DID WORK TO IMPROVE THE KALEIDO TECH
It’s a bit sad to consider the Kindle Colorsoft isn’t the color e-reader people are waiting for. Because Amazon’s people probably invested quite a lot of efforts to get the best out of the Kaleido 3 tech. They designed a very good integrated light, incredibly better than the abysmal Kobo Libra Colour light. Blacks are less washed out indeed. But Kaleido 3 is still a compromise tech and it’s far from good enough for manga and comics, whatever subtle change one can bring to the light and the display layers.
THERE IS NO POINT IN DEBATING WHICH IS THE WORST OF 2 UNSATISFYING DEVICES
- Boox Go Color 7 has slightly better colors, a better design but a too greenish light system which washes out dark tones too much. And no double page.
- Kindle Colorsoft has a much better light and better dark tones but colors are too dull.
The Onyx Boox Tab Mini C is a bit better, but just a bit, and very expensive.
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| Colorsoft, iPad mini, Go Color 7 |
If you buy a color e-reader it’s because you want color. Not this kind of washed out greys with a hint of color.
- You want red which are actually red, not browns.
- You want yellows which are yellow, not beige.
- You want blues and greens which are not just different greys.
There is a lot of arguing on social networks about which e-reader has the best colors, which is more accurate … this is misleading. No Kaleido 3 device has good enough colors to respect even remotely the artist work. And no one is accurate enough to make sense.