Amazon’s colour Kindle Scribe notetaker finally has an Australian launch date — and it’s months earlier than I expected

It was exactly a week ago, to the date, that I suggested you not wait for the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft if you’re in Australia as I didn’t think Amazon would release it before July. Well, I’m eating my words now as all three new 2025 Kindle Scribes that were first announced in October last year are now available for pre-order.

These are the 2025 Kindle Scribe without a frontlight for AU$699, the new Kindle Scribe with frontlight from AU$849 (32GB) and the highly anticipated Kindle Scribe Colorsoft with a starting price of AU$999 (32GB). All three will begin shipping from June 10.

NB: These will also ship to New Zealand staring June 10, with prices from about NZ$890, but will incur a shipping fee of NZ$11.60.

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That might explain why the 2024 Kindle Scribe dropped back to its lowest price, but I’d be real sad when Amazon finally discontinues it as I think it’s fabulous value given the prices of the newer models.

The 16GB Scribe without a light is a lot more expensive than the AU$649 RRP of the 16GB edition of the 2024 model which features a frontlight, but has dropped to an all-time low price of AU$449 for the 16GB model. I suppose the ongoing RAM crisis and inflation could explain the higher prices, but one thing’s for sure: Kindles are no longer the ‘good value’ ereaders and digital notebooks we’ve come to love.

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Worth the upgrade?

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the launch of the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft myself, but its starting price of AU$999 for 32GB of storage is making me baulk! The reMarkable Paper Pro has a starting price of AU$929 with the basic pen and 64GB of storage, plus it uses a display technology no other brand has adopted yet (it’s a custom version of E Ink’s Gallery 3 screen).

However, with 11 inches of screen real estate, as well as Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive support, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is arguably more versatile.

Then again, the Boox Note Air5 C costs AU$919 in Australia and its Android-based operating system makes this colour digital notebook far more versatile than either its Kindle or reMarkable counterparts. It is heavy, though.

So you can perhaps see my conundrum — I can (kinda, sorta) justify the Colorsoft’s price tag, but I’d be hard-pressed to recommend it at full price. But considering my colleague Lance has been using it since its launch and loving it to sketch on, I’d be sorely tempted to upgrade from my 2024 edition if it gets its first discount when Prime Day 2026 comes calling.

Then again, I find it hard to recommend a colour digital notebook at the best of times and would still say a monochrome version is far more economical for most users. After all, E Ink screen technology just isn’t there yet, and most of us read and write in grayscale and wouldn’t make the most of the colour display.

But the higher prices of the two new monochrome Kindle Scribes is definitely hard to justify, RAM crisis and inflation notwithstanding. Given Amazon has previously rolled out new features to the original 2022 Kindle Scribe after the launch of the 2024 model, I suggest grabbing the 2024 Kindle Scribe now while it’s discounted back to its lowest price — honestly, it’s worth it even without the new features, but Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive support would be very welcome indeed.