I had a couple of Canon P&S, they made very nice looking pictures, the color to my eyes seemed very natural, but both died from the same mechanical issue. The zoom lens wouldn't come off the body.
Were I to give a P&S these days to a rookie photographer, I think my choice would be a Sony RX100V. The V has a wider aperture than the VII, so better low light performance. It has an EVF and a flash, and can be found new for less around 800€, so in the US probably below $800.