Amazon allegedly canceling Kindle Colorsoft shipments until after Thanksgiving

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This may be due to the "yellow" display issues

Kindle Colorsoft
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

In mid-October, Amazon introduced four new Kindles, including the company's first-ever e-reader with a color display on Colorsoft. As we go into November, devices are supposed to be getting into people's hands, but suddenly, they are encountering problems.

Earlier today, it was reported that new Colorsoft owners are reporting a strange yellow strip on the display. An Amazon spokesperson told The Verge that it was aware of the yellow issue and is looking into it.

Tom's Guide has contacted Amazon to confirm that shipments are being paused and to comment on the yellow stripe claims. We will update this story if Amazon responds. 

Otherwise, one annoyance is that the Kindle Colorsoft does not have Dark Mode, which Amazon acknowledges on the Colorsoft store page. "Dark Mode is currently not available on this device. Customers can enable a similar reading experience within millions of books using the Page Color feature, which, like Dark Mode, inverts the book page color to black and the book text color to white." 

It's not quite the same.

If your order has been canceled or pushed out to a future November date, please contact us and share your experience. 

Amazon responds

Amazon responded to Tom's Guide and acknowledged the yellow band issue. 

“A small number of customers have reported a yellow band along the bottom of the display," a spokesperson said. "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."

Amazon spokespeople did not confirm that shipping has been halted or that Kindle Colorsofts are just sitting around in warehouses. However, it was said that availability dates may shift as new and replacement devices are made available as the "adjustments" are made to remove the yellow band. What those adjustments are was not stated. 

It is unclear if this is a software or hardware issue, though since Amazon is offering replacements, we're inclined to think it's a hardware issue.

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Scott Younker
Scott Younker
West Coast Reporter

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.