Looking for a Kindle alternative? Try the new Kobo

Even as the Amazon Kindle e-reader remains unavailable in the Indian market, a new e-reader from Kobo launches

- Tushar Kanwar

In the midst of our cluttered, borderline-ADD-inducing digital lifestyles, e-readers, old or new, Kindle or Kobo, feel like a breath of fresh air in their distraction-free approach to serving up your favourite reads. That they were the only devices that still used black and white screens further reinforced the appeal—turning your phone to grayscale mode is a known hack to curb phone addiction.

Ergo, when news of e-readers with colour e-ink displays first surfaced, I fretted about them going the way of the rest of the pack; devices that tried to reel you in with colours and apps and distractions galore. After testing the Kobo Libra Color (₹19,999), the first colour e-reader to launch in India, my fears have been suitably dispelled. Will the splash of colour be enough to take on the Kindle's monochromatic mastery? At this point, that question may be moot—the Amazon Kindle has been unavailable in the Indian market for months now. In fact, if you search for Kindle e-readers on Amazon.in, the top results are for Kobo devices.