hey I'm at the Kindle launch event here in New York City, where Amazon has announced four new Kindles. Let's dive right in and find out what they're all about. Okay, to be clear, these aren't full reviews of the new Kindles, but I did get a chance to play around with all of them at a launch event in New York City, so we'll call this a hands-on first take. Let's start with the least expensive model first, that's the entry-level Kindle, which Amazon simply calls the Kindle. Weighing only 158g and equipped with a 300 PPI 6-in display, it's the smallest and lightest Kindle in the line. The specs are very similar to the previous model, but you now get slightly faster page turns, a higher contrast ratio, and a front light that's 25% brighter at the max setting. Also, this model now comes in a new matcha color that's quite nice. Some people prefer e-readers with bigger screens, but I actually like the smaller size of the

entry-level Kindle, and ever since Amazon improved the sharpness of the screen with the 300 PPI display and added a built-in light, it's sort of become a paperwhite mini that costs significantly less than the paperwhite. That said, at $110, this new model, which comes with 16 GB of storage, costs $10 more than the previous-gen Kindle, so the price is creeping up a bit. Next up is the new Kindle Paperwhite, starting at $160 with 16 GB of storage. It, too, costs $10 more than the previous base model, but the changes with the Paperwhite seem more substantial. Amazon has reduced the size of the bezel, so instead of a 6.8 in diagonal screen in a similar size chassis, you get a 7 in screen. The device itself is also slightly thinner and has 25% faster page turns. Amazon is touting it as the fastest Kindle yet, and the page turns and refresh rates do seem noticeably quicker. Amazon says the display uses a new oxide thin film.

transistor, which gives it the highest contrast ratio of any Kindle, which makes text slightly easier to read, even with its slightly thinner size. Battery life is rated up to 3 months of battery life. Aside from the larger screen and more advanced lighting scheme, the paperwhite is fully waterproof, while the entry-level Kindle isn't. The paperwhite also comes in a signature edition, which includes 30 GB of storage, wireless charging, and an auto-adjusting front light for $200. Both the standard paperwhite and signature edition come in metallic raspberry, metallic jade, and metallic black colors. On to the Kindle ColorSoft, which is the first-ever color Kindle. A lot of people have been waiting for Amazon to add color, particularly after Kobo did it with its Kobo Clara Color and Kobo Libra Color e-readers. I'm not quite sure why Amazon went with a ColorSoft name, maybe because the color does appear a little soft and muted. It does bring book covers, graphic novels, and comic books more to life than a monochrome screen, but a tablet with an

LCD or AMOLED screen offers much richer color, while these e-ink displays are inherently more sluggish than LCD technology. You can pinch and zoom to get a closer look at images and text. It's also nice that you can highlight text in various color options rather than just gray. At first glance, I do think Amazon's color e-reader offers a little more vibrant color than Kobo's e-readers and better overall performance. The ColorSoft uses the same oxide backplane with custom waveforms as the new Paperwhite, and Amazon says the custom display includes a new light guide with nitride LEDs that, when combined with custom algorithms, enhances color and increases brightness. In all other respects, the Kindle ColorSoft is very similar to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. The ColorSoft does have slightly worse battery life at 8 weeks of battery life compared to the 3 months of battery life of the Paperwhite. In fact, the ColorSoft only comes in a Signature Edition priced at a hefty $280. It too is

fully waterproof and has wireless charging. Finally, there's a new second-gen Kindle Scribe. It costs $400 or $20 more than the original. It really has three main upgrades. First, the 10.2 in 300 PPI display has new white borders along with a new coating that gives it more of a paper-like texture. Second, the included stylus, Amazon's new premium pen, is an upgrade over the original premium pen. The combination of the new texture on the screen and the new tip on the pen, and better weighting of the pen, makes it feel more like you're writing on actual paper. Also, the new soft tip eraser gives you the sensation that you're using an actual pencil eraser, and yes, using the pen and eraser does feel more analog. Amazon is also touting a few new AI-enhanced features for the new Scribe. While you still can't write on and mark up a Kindle ebook you purchase like you can with a PDF file, Amazon has improved the way you annotate a book and even save comments in the margin. Additionally,

A new summarized feature quickly condenses several pages of notes you've saved in a digital notebook into a concise bulleted script. And last but not least, there's a new feature that cleans up your handwriting and converts it into legible, easy-to-read script. In some of the demos of the new scribe features, not everything was quite working perfectly, but the new scribe software is still in beta, as the device doesn't ship till December. Both the new Kindle and new Paperwhite are shipping now, while the Kindle ColorSoft ships on October 30th. I should also add that I asked Amazon whether those new Kindle scribe AI features will be available for the original scribe. The answer is yes, so that's good news for any of you who bought the original scribe. Those are the new Kindles in a nutshell. While some of the changes aren't major, it's good to see the whole line turnover. And while the prices are fairly high for some of the models, as most of you already know, they do go on sale at various points.

During the year, including during the holiday buying season, as always, let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. What's your favorite Kindle, and what do you think about Amazon finally adding a color Kindle? I'm David Conor for cnet.com. Thanks for watching.

Amazon Drops 4 New Kindles, Including Color Model

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