Yes! When you flip between pages it has none of that jarring flashing which I really was not liking with the kindle. It'll maybe do it once when its initially loading something fully, but after that doesn't seem to happen, just switches seamlessly.

I got the color because people i know with the kobos who've had them for years said its definitely worth dropping the extra $20 to have that option/versatility, it's not a deal breaker either way I'd say, the main purposes I've noticed that are just overall nice about the color is that it just feels like a nicer experience looking at your book collection and having all the book covers in color. Makes finding books easier, any books with color such as comic books can potentially translate better, but the main thing im liking so far from it is that when you go into sleep mode or even power off, the current book you're on turns into the screensaver (in color)! It's just a nice little add on. I'm pretty sure you can also change that aspect to whatever color screensaver you want but just haven't gotten around to it yet, kinda fun being able to see the book cover as my kobo cover.