Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition might be heavily discounted for Black Friday, but we’d argue that the Kobo Libra Colour is actually the better option for those not already embedded in the Amazon ecosystem. It offers more features for slightly less — and right now, the color e-reader has returned to its all-time low of $199.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Target, and Kobo’s online storefront.
If I didn’t own so many Kindle books, the Libra Colour would be my go-to e-reader. In fact, of all the dozens I’ve tested, it’s my favorite. Like the Colorsoft, it features a 7-inch, 300ppi e-ink display that drops to 150ppi when viewing color. The colors aren’t quite as vivid as they are on Amazon’s e-reader, but the graphics still look warm and bright, and the adjustable natural light slider helps. It’s also waterproof — so you don’t have to worry if it starts raining or you’re reading in the bath — and you get 32GB of storage, which is plenty for books and audiobooks.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Kobo Libra Color offers some genuinely helpful features you won’t find on the Colorsoft. The color ebook reader features intuitive, physical page-turn buttons and compatibility with the Kobo Stylus 2, so you can jot down notes while reading. It also includes built-in notebook templates for journaling and can even convert handwriting to typed text (or solve math equations), meaning you can use it as both an e-reader and a small notebook.
The e-reader also supports a much wider range of file formats than the Colorsoft, including EPUB files, and you can save articles offline with Instapaper. The only real downside is that it doesn’t natively support Kindle books. If you’re willing to put in a little extra time, though, it is possible to convert your Kindle library.