Amazon launches color kindle with Stylus, $40 TV stick with 4K Video

Amazon.com Inc. is revamping its Kindle lineup with its first Scribe device with a color screen and is rolling out a slew of home security and TV devices as part of a renewed hardware push.

On Tuesday, the company unveiled three new versions of the Kindle Scribe, a reader that includes a stylus for drawing and note-taking. While the new devices share the same design, they differ in screen type: a new color model, a black-and-white version with a high-powered backlight and lower-end offering without lighting. Amazon launched its first color Kindle last year but that version is solely an e-reader.

The new color model, called the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, is the most expensive Kindle to date at $630. The mid-level Kindle Scribe with the backlight costs $500 - a $100 increase from the current model - while the lower-end variant, called the Kindle Scribe without Front Light, is priced at $430. Amazon previously only offered the backlit Scribe.

The color model and regular Scribe with backlight will debut in the US later this year, expanding to the UK and Germany in early 2026. The entry-level version will launch in those three regions early next year as well.

All three devices look more like tablets, featuring uniform borders around the larger 11-inch displays. (The previous Scribe was 10.2 inches). They’re also thinner and lighter than any previous Kindle, each coming in at 0.9 pounds and 5.4 millimeters thick. The prior Scribe was closer to a pound and 5.6 mm in thickness, the same as the recently released iPhone Air from Apple Inc.

“We’ve manufactured in our minds that we’re going to recreate a piece of paper and we’re going to make sure it always feels that way,” hardware and Alexa chief Panos Panay said in an interview. He called the new Kindles the “next level of how you would think about that product,” adding that the “fundamental details of every single part” of the device have changed.

All of the new models include a faster chip made by MediaTek. The base version has 16 gigabytes of storage, while the two upper tiers offer 32-gigabyte and 64-gigabyte options. The non-color variants come with white bezels and a graphite back, while the color version adds a red-like color option.

For reading an average of 30 minutes per day, the model with a backlight can run for 12 weeks on a single battery charge, while the light-free version can last 16 weeks and the color version eight weeks, according to the company. When used to write for 30 minutes a day, the color version can last two weeks, while the non-color versions can go for three weeks on one charge. All of the devices use USB-C power cords.

The Kindle is Amazon’s original hardware device, launched by Jeff Bezos in 2007 - the same year the original iPhone went on sale. But even with the proliferation of tablets and smartphones that can function as e-readers, the Kindle line is performing stronger than ever, according to Kevin Keith, an Amazon vice president who has been part of the unit since 2012.

“The last three years have been some of the best years for Kindle in a very long time,” he said, adding that “people are really telling us they want to have that distraction-free environment.” Keith said the Kindle unit has seen double-digit growth in 2023 and 2024 and that sales are already up 15% on a year-over-year basis in 2025. “Do you know how unusual it is after 17 years to be growing at this rate?”

He attributes the growth to Gen Z and Millennial users, who discuss the device and book recommendations on TikTok. “The business is growing like crazy and that gives us more opportunities to invest in the business,” he said, adding that Panay - who was initially surprised at the unit’s success - allocated more internal resources and employees to the group to accelerate Kindle development after joining Amazon in 2023.

Keith expects the new color model to drive upgrades, but said there are further opportunities to make Kindles thinner and lighter down the road. The company is exploring the idea of a foldable model, he said. “Once you get into foldables you’re at a much higher price point, so as foldables come down in price point that could be obviously something we’ll look at closely,” Keith said.

While Kindles started off as a way for users to download and read digital books, Amazon is now pushing its Scribe devices to become more of a productivity tool. It is rolling out an updated software interface that focuses more on note-taking and drawing with the included stylus, as well as placing a greater emphasis on functioning as a scratch pad. The updated software includes an elevated “recently added” section to make it easier to jump into active documents and notes.

A new feature will also let users import documents to the device. Currently, users have to transfer documents via cable, by sending files through the Send to Kindle feature on a PC or phone, or by email. Now, the gadget will work with Microsoft Corp.’s OneNote and OneDrive, in addition to Alphabet Inc.’s Google Drive, allowing users to log in to those services from the device itself and grab their files.

Increasingly, Amazon is adding new artificial intelligence features to the Kindle line - for example, making it easier for users to search documents and notes. Integration with the AI-enabled-Alexa+ service will let users ask voice-activated Amazon speakers and other gadgets about content on a Kindle. While the Kindle doesn’t currently run Alexa+ itself, Keith said the feature may arrive eventually. To that end, the new models include a microphone that is currently dormant.

New Home Security and TV Devices

The expanded home-security push includes appliances from its Ring and Blink brands, in addition to its first $40 4K Fire TV Stick and upgraded television sets. Months into the return of founder Jamie Siminoff as the unit’s head, Ring is rolling out its first 4K devices, stepping up competition with rivals like Eufy and others.

Ring is launching the new $200 Outdoor Cam Pro, $250 Spotlight Cam Pro, $280 Floodlight Cam Pro and $250 Wired Doorbell Pro, all with the higher-resolution video quality. There’s also a $280 Wired Doorbell Plus that uses 2K resolution and a new $60 Indoor Cam Plus.

The higher-resolution cameras are an important upgrade for home security setups. Blurry footage can make it harder to identify a trespasser or piece together what actually happened. And as TVs and related peripherals increasingly shift to 4K, it’s just as important for users to be able to capture media in that format. Siminoff said not all 4K video on cameras is alike and that Ring will be the “Ferrari” of tuning such footage.

Another priority for Ring this year is a feature called Search Party, which uses Ring cameras within a given area to help locate lost pets. The idea is that a person can submit a photo of their missing animal, and if a nearby Ring camera spots it, the camera owner will receive an alert and have the option to notify the owner of the lost pet.

Blink, another home security brand owned by Amazon, is launching the $90 Outdoor 2K+, as well as a $100 Arc bundle that combines two Mini 2K+ models with a mount for seeing two different angles at once. The cameras are all being released later this year.

Amazon’s $40 Fire TV Stick 4K marks the first time it has released a stick supporting the higher-resolution format at that price point. The current stick is priced at $50, though it’s frequently discounted by Amazon and third-party retailers.

In an interview, Aidan Marcuss, Amazon’s Fire TV chief, said getting the price down required using the in-house Vega operating system already used on Echos, which he said lets the device deliver necessary features on less powerful hardware.

TV sticks are typically purchased by users with televisions that lack Amazon or competing smart software, offering a way to add streaming features without replacing the set. While the share of smart TVs is growing - reducing the overall need for such devices - Marcuss said the market remains “stable” and that Amazon continues to have a road map for TV sticks.

Compared with the higher-end 4K Stick, the new $40 model lacks Dolby Atmos audio and Dolby Vision video playback, but it still includes a remote in the box.

Amazon is also introducing several new full-fledged television sets, including updated versions of its 2-Series, 4-Series and Omni QLED Series. The new models feature faster processors and enhanced support for the artificially intelligent Alexa+. In addition, all Fire TV devices are getting a redesigned user interface designed to reduce the need to jump between apps to find content.

“We’ve all become too accustomed to what smart TV means, and it’s not very smart,” Marcuss said. “We need to raise our bar and we’re doing that, whether that is making it more personalized and bringing an AI assistant to the table.” He added, “We can’t accept the hardware that we have and we’re going to push the envelope.”