This week started with reports from owners of the new Kindle Colorsoft e-reader claiming that a distracting yellow band appeared at the bottom of the screen. Amazon acknowledged that they were aware of the issue.
Tom's Guide contacted Amazon to confirm if shipments were canceled and to get more information about the display issue.
An Amazon spokesperson responded today, saying, "A small number of customers have reported a yellow band along the bottom of the display."
"We take the quality of our products seriously — customers who notice this can reach out to our customer service team for a replacement or refund, and we’re making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that new devices will not experience this issue moving forward," the spokesperson went on.
Amazon did not confirm if shipments have been paused, though. It was said that availability dates may shift as new and replacement devices are made available. Nor did they provide information on what "adjustments" are being made to remove the yellow band.
We are not certain if the band is a software or hardware issue, though since Amazon is offering replacements, we are inclined to believe the issue is hardware-related.
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If it is a hardware problem, we will see shipping delays as Amazon works to fix already produced Colorsoft devices or manufacture new ones with the fix in place.
An Amazon spokesperson said that Colorsoft should still be usable despite the yellow screen. We have been told that turning off the e-reader and leaving it off for a few minutes should resolve the issue, though we do not know if the issue will return after doing so.
In our Kindle Colorsoft review, we did not experience the reported yellow bar. We even gave the device a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising the vibrant color display. Despite the high marks, we did ding the e-reader because it was priced nearly double the Paperwhite and Paperwhite Signature Edition.
Since the issue started, we have been checking the device but have been unable to recreate the problem.
Enough people are experiencing the problem, and it wouldn't surprise us if Amazon issued a recall to take the issue's core.
Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him. He also handles all the Connections coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game since it released.
