This is my first time testing out a Kobo ebook reader. I already have some expectations as I personally had used an Amazon Kindle before, so it’s going to be interesting to know what Kobo has to offer, as Kobo is one of the prominent competitors.
We got the Kobo Clara Colour with us, have I have been using it to read some books over the past month or so – and I have to say, it’s a great little ebook reader.
The box is simple as it shows some details and when we get it opened, we have only the Kobo Clara Colour and also a USB-C cable alongside some documentation.
The Kobo Clara Colour is pretty simple in terms of its design, but thoughtful at the same time. It’s made out of recycled and ocean-bound plastic. The power button is at the back biased to a side, which I prefer since I am a left-handed person and I can press it using my index finger.
As for the display, it is using a 6-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 display with FastGLR and dark mode, has a very high resolution of 1488×1072 pixels which results in a 300ppi of black and white content and 150ppi of colour content.
It does have a huge bezel around all sides, especially the bottom. I appreciate this design as there is a place for us to grab and hold the Clara Colour instead of constantly accidentally touching the screen. It also feels weightless in my hands as it only weighs 174 grams – yet also rated for IPX8. We don’t have to worry about it getting accidental splashes.
It can go quite bright yet comfortable at the same time, so reading books in complete darkness is still fine. I read the entirety of Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing on the Kobo Clara Colour and I loved it.
We can adjust the font, the size, the alignment, and also the spacing – which is typical of what other ebook readers can do, but the Clara Colour’s display made it super comfortable to read. I like to read with a dim bedside lamp illuminating my surrounding before I sleep, and I just find it to be super comfortable. It also has the Natural Light feature that will automatically turn the display more yellow as it gets closer to the bedtime we set on the Clara Colour.
There’s also the dark mode option – which I personally turned it off since it makes certain elements in the book pop out for no reason. I also find that using it with dark mode turned off is looks more like a page in a book – but that’s my personal preference.
It also has a built-in dictionary which we can just tap and hold a word to invoke, then highlight the word with different colors or add a note. Pretty handy features to have as it also syncs to your Kobo account.
Plus, Kobo also partnered with Instapaper. We can save articles on Instapaper and read it on the Kobo Clara Colour if we so choose.
Now, since this is the Clara Colour, it does have color output. It’s actually quite astonishing that E Ink displays have color now. The color saturation isn’t going to be as strong as our phones, but it looks like how newspaper comics used to be. I’m also impressed that it can still show colors when the backlight is off.
Now, reading comic books on the Clara Colour is not something that I personally will do, as the lack of color saturation makes everything look dull. But, turning the comic book pages is actually without a hitch. The performance is super smooth.
Speaking of the Kobo account, we have access to a vast library of books within Kobo’s library, and we can instantly buy books from the reader too.
If you already have your own library of books and you wish to read on the Clara Colour, you can just connect it to a PC or your phone and copy the files over. The Clara Colour supports a plethora of formats, including these:
- EPUB
- EPUB3
- FlePub
- MOBI
- HTML
- CBZ
- CBR
Plus, Kobo launched the Kobo Plus subscription service to let us read as many books and listen to as many audiobooks (Bluetooth audio device needed) as we want within a month for just RM27. If you’re an avid reader or listener, then this is actually a great way to spend your time instead of doomscrolling on social media and engaging with ragebait.
Should you buy the Kobo Clara Colour?
Now, should you buy this ebook reader? I personally would say yes. I always read on my phone and while the software features are on-par if not better on a smartphone, it’s the comfort that counts. I constantly get distracted on my phone as I use my phone to do work too. On the Kobo Clara Colour though, I can focus on just reading and the screen won’t hurt my eyes either.
Yet, the Clara Colour is priced RM799. It’s a bit high in my opinion, but you can never put a price on eye comfort. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Kobo Clara Colour.
There is another version called the Kobo Clara BW – which stands for black and white only, and that is priced at RM699. Honestly, I think the BW version would serve my usage better as I don’t read anything that requires color. Either way, this ebook reader definitely showed me why reading on a smartphone is not as good.
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[…] Nasi Lemak Tech (NLT) reviews the Kobo Clara Colour eBook reader. […]