I’m never going back to black-and-white e-readers after using a color e-ink tablet

There’s still a contingent of people out there who refuse to watch any movie that’s in black-and-white. Being a film geek, it drives me up the wall, maybe irrationally so. The assumption with this group is that monochrome equals old, and that anything old is going to be irrelevant, slow, and too straight-laced. That might be true of some films, but you’ll find that others are immortal if you’re willing to watch them with an open mind. You should probably question your tastes if you find something like Dr. Strangelove or 12 Angry Men a little dull.

There’s quite a difference between the content and the technology, though. It would be ridiculous to insist on buying a black-and-white TV in 2025, even if all of your favorite movies were released before 1950. Likewise, I think we’ve hit the point where it just doesn’t make sense to buy a black-and-white e-reader anymore, no matter if you’re trying to save some cash. I’ll explain that a bit better in case you’re still on the fence about the best option for reading e-books.

The case for color

Stating more than just the obvious

Naturally, if the only kind of reading you care about is pure text, you’ll be just fine with a black-and-white e-reader. It’s not like there are colored chapters in Beloved or Slaughterhouse Five that add extra significance to the plot. If you’ve got an original Kindle, and it’s still working for you, by all means keep it — we could do with one less piece of e-waste sitting in landfill, and a little more resistance to the concept of never-ending upgrade cycles.

Even traditional books can benefit from color, though. When you’re sorting through a digital library, color makes it easier to locate your next read. That isn’t a big deal when you own a dozen books — but it’s suddenly a lot more crucial when you own 50, 100, or 200 titles. And of course, many titles have fantastic covers and illustrations that lose their impact on a monochrome display. You can read The Wind in the Willows without its color drawings, but you’re losing some of the charm.

That leads to the crux of my argument, which is that with color e-readers becoming increasingly common, there’s no sense cutting yourself off from whole genres that depend heavily on color. You can, of course, read a comic series like Batman or a graphic novel like V for Vendetta in black-and-white and still get the gist, especially since a lot of the artwork is already pretty subdued. But the color is there for a reason, and many other comics feel like pale shadows of themselves without it. Imagine reading about Superman without ever seeing his iconic blue-and-red uniform. That splash is even more vital to photo and artwork collections, as well as books for young kids. Just try and persuade a four-year-old to enjoy Goodnight Moon when every page is a flat gray.

Others and I were willing to put up with black-and-white for many years, simply because any e-ink reader tends to be cheaper, lighter, and longer-lasting than an iPad, and it’s not like you can’t buy the physical copy of a graphic novel if you’ve got the money and shelf space for it. As I mentioned, though, color e-readers are finally becoming widespread, and on top of that, they’re already coming down in price. You can get a Kobo Clara Color for $140. If you insist on being in the Amazon ecosystem, the Kindle Colorsoft is currently $250, but likely to see discounts by the time the next Prime Day rolls around. My current e-reader of choice is the Boox Note Air4C. At $500, it’s overkill for most people, but it can also take handwritten notes, and access every bookstore except Apple Books.

It probably won’t be long before $100 color e-ink readers become common. Regardless, if you want to maximize value, you’ve got an alternative in the form of refurbished iPads and Android tablets. You do sacrifice the weight and battery advantages of an e-ink device — yet it might be worth it for a multi-purpose product with the best color possible. Even a cheap LCD screen is going to make images “pop” in a way that e-ink can’t. And that weight problem is slowly vanishing, considering that the base iPad is about a pound now. You can’t hold it one-handed for long, or stuff it in a shoulder bag, but for some people, that’s a small trade-off for a bright, colorful, and comparatively massive 11-inch display.

The future of e-readers

A few final thoughts

How long will it take for color e-ink readers to become the norm? It’s tough to say. Although Amazon joining the fray is significant, the Colorsoft is its only option at the moment, and it’s more than twice as expensive as the base Kindle. If Amazon is having trouble keeping prices down, it will be just as tough for anyone else, if not more so. Parts costs are going to have to drop substantially, which could well take a couple of years or longer unless C-suites suddenly deem it a priority. I wouldn’t count on that in an age when AI is treated as the be-all and end-all of technology.

There’s also the chance that e-ink readers in general will fall out of popularity. The market is projected to continue growing at the moment, but that could all turn south in an instant if iPads and Android devices ever surpass dedicated e-readers at their own game. I guarantee you that if Apple ever ships a $300 iPad with a week-long battery, brands like Kobo and Boox will be left scrambling to remain relevant, much in the same way that RIM could never convince shoppers that the BlackBerry’s keyboard was worth it after the iPhone was released.

One way or another, color is the future. Black-and-white e-readers are quickly starting to feel antiquated to me, even if I’d defend old books and movies to the death.