So far every image I've seen of this thing is too professional to trust. It looks like they solved the kaleido contrast problem, but none of the reviewers are actually saying that in the text. I'd really like an amateur side by side against something with a carta 1300 so I can judge the b/w contrast properly.

( if you are not familiar, here is a sample. The device on the left has a color screen. The extra layer causes the background to be darker: https://i.imgur.com/4W7YZu3.png )

I have both a Kindle Colorsoft (1st gen) and whatever the latest gen Paperwhite is and there's a noticeable contrast difference, but not nearly as bad as shown in that image. I find lack of sharpness to be more of a problem for very small fonts than the contrast.

I actively use both. I toyed with getting a Scribe because I read a lot of full size PDFs which aren't a great experience with such low refresh rates and small screens, but opted for an iPad instead. I owned a ReMarkable 2 a few years ago and don't really have anything good to say about it.

Amazon has a generous return policy. You could always order one to test it then return it if it's not good enough.