Amazon is preparing to host a rare hardware event on September 30, and industry watchers believe the spotlight will fall on a long-anticipated product, the Kindle Scribe Color. For more than a decade, Kindle has defined how millions of people read books, yet it has stubbornly clung to black-and-white screens. Now, it looks like Amazon is finally ready to make the leap into color, and the timing could not be more telling.
Why Now? The Competitive Push
For years, Amazon’s strategy with Kindle has been deliberate, even cautious. While smaller rivals such as Onyx Boox, reMarkable, and Kobo have experimented with color E Ink displays, Amazon has stuck to its grayscale formula. The reason was simple: e-readers have always been optimized for books, where crisp black-and-white text mattered more than vibrant visuals.
But the landscape has shifted. Devices like the reMarkable Paper Pro Move and Boox’s color tablets are proving that readers and note-takers increasingly want more than monochrome. Whether it’s highlighting textbooks, sketching diagrams, or enjoying comics, users now expect versatility. Amazon’s decision to accelerate the Kindle Scribe Color appears to be a direct response to this pressure, a recognition that the Kindle ecosystem can no longer afford to lag behind.
What We Know About the Kindle Scribe Color
Leaked details, courtesy of Good e-Reader, suggest that the new Kindle Scribe Color will feature a 10.2-inch display with a dual-resolution approach: crisp black-and-white text at 1860 × 2480 and 300 PPI, alongside color rendering at 150 PPI. The screen is expected to be flush with the bezel, protected by glass, and illuminated by 35 adjustable white and amber LEDs for day-to-night reading.
Under the hood, the device may inherit much of the Kindle Scribe 2’s architecture. That includes a MediaTek MT8113 processor, 1 GB RAM, and storage options ranging from 16 GB to 64 GB. Connectivity will likely include Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 for audiobooks, and USB-C charging. While not groundbreaking, these specs could see incremental improvements given the falling costs of newer components.
Design tweaks are also possible, with reports hinting at a new black bezel and back plating. But make no mistake: the real headline here is not the casing, but the arrival of color itself.
The Missing Piece
Amazon’s Kindle lineup has always evolved in deliberate steps. First came the original 2007 Kindle with its pioneering E Ink screen. Later, the Paperwhite brought built-in lighting, the Oasis added warmth and premium design, and the Scribe introduced pen input for note-taking. Each iteration solved a specific problem, making the Kindle more relevant to new types of readers.
The Kindle Scribe Color is the last missing piece of this puzzle. It transforms the Scribe from a primarily text-first device into something broader — a true platform for studying, annotating, and even casual creativity. From students highlighting PDFs to professionals editing presentations, and from comic lovers to magazine readers, the applications multiply once color is in play.
Global Appeal and Pricing
Industry insiders expect Amazon to launch the Kindle Scribe Color with strong international availability, following the playbook of the Scribe 2. Pricing will likely be a touch higher than the monochrome version, but not prohibitively so. In any case, Amazon is always known to make its hardware available at competitive prices. That apart, the retailer also offers discounts on all its Kindle devices almost all the year round, sometimes within months of launch.
If that happens, the Kindle Scribe Color could quickly become the most accessible large-screen color e-reader on the market, putting pressure on rivals that still rely on niche distribution channels.
A Defining Moment for Kindle
Amazon’s rumored announcement is more than just another Kindle refresh. It signals the company’s recognition that reading, note-taking, and content consumption have outgrown grayscale. By embracing color, Kindle is not just catching up with competitors, it is setting the stage for the next era of digital reading.
If September 30 does indeed mark the debut of the Kindle Scribe Color, it won’t just be a product launch. It will be the moment Kindle fills in the final blank space on its canvas.
