Updated October 17 with more details about the new range of Kindles.

Amazon just announced four new Kindles in an unprecedented shake-up among its ebook readers, and in the 24 hours that followed, new details have emerged. The updated range includes new versions of the entry-level model (in a punchy new colour), the fastest Kindle ever in the new Paperwhite, a stylishly redesigned Scribe and the very first Kindle with a color screen. Here you can read what, when and how much.

Since the unveiling, new details have come to light, including some tidbits about the design. For example, as Lance Ulanoff notes on Tech Radar, the power button on the new Colorsoft and Paperwhite remains on the bottom of the readers, making it easy to accidentally turn off the reader.

ForbesiPhone 17 Pro New design leak hints at a brighter futureBy means of David Phelan

At least Ulanoff discovered the reason for the posting. Ulanoff spoke with Kevin Keith, Amazon’s vice president of Kindle hardware, who told him that in redesigning the highly popular Paperwhite, “the thing you don’t want to mess with with a Paperwhite is how long it feels in your hand. reading sessions where you can read with one hand, and therefore when we increase the screen size we must always reduce the edges. And the button (the fact that the) button has to be close to the light guide is essentially what drives this.”

There are also questions about the speed of the Kindle Colorsoft, with people asking if the pages turn as quickly as on the new Paperwhite. I’m told it’s not that fast, not least because rendering color content takes time, but it’s very close.

And there’s a new way to turn pages on the Paperwhite. Hold down the screen and the pages will turn over and over again at high speed. I’m told this is almost like the way you might quickly flip through the pages of a real book to find your place.

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft

This is the first Kindle with a color screen. There are other ebook readers with color screens, but this is Amazon’s first attempt. It’s similar in size to the new Paperwhite, more of which below, but can display color images, ideal for graphic novels, cookbooks and travel guides.

Color ebook readers often look washed out and so pale that you can barely tell there’s any color at all, but here the colors have more impact, but not the saturated tones you’d see on an iPad, for example. Of course, the Kindle has always been easier on the eyes than a tablet. The subtle colors are attractive and give a striking look to text you have highlighted, for example.

The Colorsoft is by far the most striking of the new Kindles, adding the power of color with an authority and simplicity that other color ebook readers haven’t matched.

It’s available for pre-orders now and will ship on October 30, priced at $279.99, £269.99 in the UK

Amazon Kindle

The entry-level Kindle is now available with a new design that sees a cool-looking matcha colorway for the first time. There is still a black version for (what can we say?), the more color conservative one. It has a 6-inch display and, like all new models, a resolution of 300 pixels per inch. It is also brighter than before. The new colorway appears designed to appeal to Gen Z buyers, which Amazon says is a fast-growing group of buyers. $109.99, £94.99 in the UK

Amazon Kindle Writer

The largest Kindle with its 10.2-inch screen is designed as both a digital notebook and a reader. It has a stylish new look and a new Premium Pen stylus that feels and sounds like you’re writing on paper.

It introduces new features like Active Canvas that lets you just pick up the stylus and scribble on the page of a book. The printed text wraps around it. You can also write in the margins, as people still do in real books, and your notes can be saved there too. These new features will also come to the first generation Scribe via a software update. It will work with most books.

And for both the new and first-generation Scribe, generative AI features will allow users to do things like summarize their notebooks.

The new Kindle Scribe arrives on December 4, priced at $399.99, £379.99 in the UK

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

The Goldilocks Kindle, that’s what I call it because it offers the ideal balance between price and functionality, has been restyled into a thinner version with a slightly larger screen size: it is now 7 inches instead of 6.8 inches. But it’s still light and easy to hold in one hand for extended, immersive reading sessions. That inclusion in the text is made more seamless with the fastest page turns ever on a Kindle, 25% faster than the previous Paperwhite. If that sounds small, it’s not: as a reader you don’t want anything to come between you and the words.

Kindle Paperwhite has 16 GB of storage space and is available in black, jade and raspberry. It costs $159.99 (£159.99 in the UK) and is available now. A Signature Edition is also available for $189.99 (£189.99 in the UK) with extra storage and a metal finish with aluminum flecks adding shine, and is wirelessly rechargeable.

What about the Kindle Oasis?

I love the Oasis, the high-quality, metal-clad reader with page-turn buttons and excellent front lighting. Well, if you want one, don’t hesitate, because once current supplies run out, the Oasis will be history. It’s a remarkable ebook reader, but the truth is that many of its best features are matched or even beaten by the latest Paperwhite, which is more affordable, or the Kindle Colorsoft, which brings new vibrancy to the Kindle range.