It's a good day to be a Kindle fan. Amazon announced the arrival of a new generation of devices earlier this month, and the new Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Colorsoft are available today. A question now presents itself: Should you upgrade?

The most intriguing reason to upgrade isn't the devices themselves—the Paperwhite and Colorsoft both have base plastic versions with 16 GB of storage and aluminum-backed Signature Editions with 32 GB of storage and extra features—but the little extras could go a long way for certain readers. Namely, the ability to add page-turn buttons with the new Kindle Page Turn Cover ($80)—which is compatible only with the new Signature Editions of the Paperwhite and Colorsoft.

Color also plays a big role in the Signature Editions compared to the new base models. Not a color screen, to be clear—that's still Colorsoft only—but the color of the device itself, which Amazon has said was a huge driver for Kindle users to upgrade to a new model after the brand released colors like Matcha and Raspberry in 2024. The 2026 line has one color for each of these 7-inch e-readers that's only available with the Signature Editions.

It's worth noting that while the price of these new models is the same as the 2024 editions, it's because Kindle raised the prices of its 2024 versions back in August. At first, it seemed like this was intended to make Amazon sales look better than they actually were heading into Prime Day and Black Friday, but now it's clear it was probably a way to make these new models feel worth buying, since you won't find a cheaper model as easily.

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