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Book readers are the cheapest they’ve been in months

Color isn’t essential in an e-reader, but let’s be honest, it’s a nice perk that can bring digital books, magazines, comics, cookbooks, and other publications to life. The catch is that color ebook readers tend to be substantially pricier, which makes today’s deals stand out.

By The Verge

• March 23, 2026 at 7:30 PM

Book readers are the cheapest they’ve been in months Photo: The Verge

The Kindle Colorsoft and Kobo Libra Colour are both great, but the right pick ultimately depends on where you buy your ebooks.

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Color isn’t essential in an e-reader, but let’s be honest, it’s a nice perk that can bring digital books, magazines, comics, cookbooks, and other publications to life.

The catch is that color ebook readers tend to be substantially pricier, which makes today’s deals stand out.

Right now, the Kindle Colorsoft (16GB) and Kobo Libra Colour are matching their lowest prices to date, with the Amazon e-reader going for $169.99 ($80 off) at Amazon and Best Buy , and the Libra Colour going for $199.99 ($30 off) via Rakuten’s online storefront .

At their core, both are excellent e-readers with 7-inch, 300ppi E Ink displays, which drop to 150ppi when viewing color.

The Colorsoft’s display is slightly more vibrant in most instances, but the difference isn’t dramatic.

Each also offers IPX8 water resistance, so you don’t need to worry about spills and can comfortably read in the bath or by the pool.

Which one makes more sense for you largely depends on where you buy your books, how much storage you need, and whether you like to take notes.

The Colorsoft is great if you’re heavily embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem, as buying and accessing Kindle books is intuitive and doesn’t require any sideloading.

As the more affordable option in Amazon’s lineup, the standard Colorsoft delivers a nearly identical reading experience to the Signature Edition , and it supports Amazon’s “Send to Alexa Plus” feature, which lets you send notes or documents to Amazon’s AI-powered assistant for summaries, to-do lists, reminders, and more.

The downside is that it lacks wireless charging and an auto-adjusting front light — which are standard on the step-up model — and comes with 16GB of storage instead of 32GB.

More in: Amazon’s Big Spring Sale 2026: all of the latest deals
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