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Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition 3

Credit: Amazon

A color e-reader makes a great Christmas gift for the bookworm in your life. Kindle has traditionally been the gold standard of e-readers, and many people will have been ready to pick up the first-ever color version, the Kindle Colorsoft, without giving it a second thought. The problem is that the Colorsoft launch has been a bit of a car crash, so we’ve come up with a selection of alternatives for your consideration.

We had high hopes for the Kindle Colorsoft ourselves, but they took a big hit as soon as the e-reader was announced. Our resident Kindle aficionado, Dhruv Bhutani, made his feelings very clear, finding the Colorsoft to be underwhelming and overpriced. He felt that its features lack innovation, especially compared to rivals like Kobo, which offer advanced tools like note-taking. The low 150ppi resolution diminishes the reading experience for Dhruv, with graininess and slow refresh rates further detracting from usability. The omission of physical page-turn buttons, a hallmark of the discontinued Kindle Oasis, also feels like a regression. Overall, it felt like a missed opportunity for him, especially at the $279 asking price.