Don’t expect iPad quality color, they’re very washed out.
I think a dedicated e-reader is a great choice (I only read books, not comics or other graphics heavy documents) but for that grayscale would be more than enough and color is an extra.
I would recommend you to go to a store and have a look live at a color eink screen to get a feel for what they offer.
First, eInk used to be glossy, and not backlit which sucked, since you needed a light source to illuminate it well enough, but not so much that it shone on the screen and caused weird reflections.
After they added backlight, it became much better, but I'm not sure how it's better than an LCD (I dont think it is).
The only thing that sucks both about the iPad and most ereaders is the lack of physical buttons to flip pages, which makes 1 handed operation clumsy at best.
I was just thinking about this yesterday; to have either a voice controlled flipper or an eye tracker where i lock and blink at the bottom right corner to flip or something like it; but couldn't figure out the battery drain that these systems will cause to have the models always on.
Wonder why they never innovated on the clearly limited smartphone touch controls.
The contrast is terrible compared to b/w eInk. The front light is necessary under anything but bright sunlight. But the front light washes out the colors, so much so that it’s a readability problem. So I only take it out of black and white mode when I’m using it outdoors.
It sounds like this new version of color eInk might be better. But I think it really would have to be an enormous difference for me to prefer it over B&W eInk.
I think Amazon does some special stuff with the backplane or something. Seems like it's not 100% marketing gimmicks if it actually looks better.
They're two different things for different uses, one blasts light and colour in your eyes, other has a paperly look.
Only you can answer that, “better” is a personal choice. A dedicated e-ink reader does less than an iPad (some see that as a bonus, others as a disadvantage). E-ink colours aren’t as vibrant and devices are slower, but the battery life, weight, cost, and reduced eye strain can more than make up for it.
If possible, I recommend grabbing one at a store nearby and playing with it a bit. You’ll soon understand if the weight, speed, and colours are enough for you.