Amazon admits light bleed on some new Kindles and offers exchanges

[Stu97]

Owners of the new base Kindle released this year are reporting light bleed, Android Authority says. The problem shows up as shadows or lines of light along the edges of the bezel. It is most visible in dark mode. This is a follow up to the Kindle launch we covered earlier, not the same story

Amazon told Good e-Reader that some batches are affected. The issue appears across all colours and both plastic and aluminium models. Amazon said the cause seems to be how the touchscreen and front light are layered. It advises buyers with severe light bleed to exchange their device

The higher end models appear to be fine. The Kindle Colorsoft and Kindle Paperwhite 2026 do not seem to be affected. In an update, an Amazon spokesperson said the glow is expected as a result of the colour bezel. They said it appears mainly in dark mode at high brightness, and suggested lowering brightness in dark mode to reduce it

Light bleed is a common issue with front lit e-readers, and most units have a little unevenness at the edges. The question is how severe it is. A faint glow in dark mode might be acceptable for most readers. A distracting band of light while reading at night is not

It is good that Amazon has acknowledged the issue and offers exchanges. Anyone with a new Kindle should check it in dark mode with the brightness up, while it is still in the return window. For most people reading in normal mode, it may never be noticeable. Kindles generally have a strong reputation for reliability, so hopefully this is a short lived production issue

Have you noticed light bleed on your Kindle? And do you read in dark mode on your e-reader?

Amazon Kindle 2026 Light Bleed 3721398www.androidauthority.com