Kobo put out a handful of recent e-readers just a few weeks again: shade variations of the superb Libra 2 and Clara, in addition to an up to date monochrome model of the latter. However after testing all of them out, I can say that for many customers, there’s no cause to modify.
First, the colour editions. I’ve been ready on shade e-paper screens for what looks like half my life, they usually have but to attain the extent of vibrancy I’d need as a way to actually get pleasure from comics and web sites on them. That’s nonetheless the case with the Clara Color and Libra Color.
These gadgets use E Ink’s newest Kaleido 3 show, and positively issues have come a methods from what we have been seeing 10 years in the past. However the easy truth is the colour copy continues to be not nice. Higher than it ever was … however poor in contrast with virtually the rest.
It’s unclear to me why you’d need shade in any respect on a 6″ gadget concerning the measurement of a pulp paperback. I attempted to learn just a few comics however the textual content is just too small and zooming and panning too clumsy. And the colours, whereas current, are washed out in each shade. Maybe a kids’s e-book?
Now, I need to give credit score the place credit score is due: The display shows all kinds of colours — I studied one panel particularly that had a number of distinct however related shades of blue (not the one beneath), and I used to be capable of discern them on the reader virtually in addition to my regular LCD display. They’re definitely desaturated, however they’re there.
These criticisms are all equally true of the bigger Libra Color, the most recent within the line of asymmetrical 7″ gadgets with web page flip buttons. That additional inch makes for about as a lot additional readability as you’d anticipate — a bit — however the display itself isn’t any totally different.
It’s possible you’ll be pondering: Why not simply get the colour one so you could have the choice? You may nonetheless learn odd books, in spite of everything. Sure, however … sadly, the colour layer truly makes black and white content material worse.
I in contrast the Clara Color and BW aspect by aspect — and for that matter, the year-old Clara 2E I had sitting round. Whereas they’re all nominally the identical decision, the Color appears as if there’s a kind of gentle gauze over it, darkening all the show barely and consequently lowering the distinction.
This isn’t just a few minor factor that one solely notices with a microscope. It’s actually apparent. The colour screens are dimmer and tougher to learn. I attempted and did not seize it in images, however belief me, it’s unquestionably a step down.
As such, I merely can’t suggest the colour variations of those readers to anybody, until you could have a specific use case the place desaturated colours and a barely degraded studying expertise aren’t an enormous deal.
Now, as for the Clara BW, that is primarily the brand new default suggestion I’ll be giving — not as a result of it considerably outdoes my go-to reader, the Clara 2E, however as a result of it affords modest enhancements for $10 much less.
The brand new model of this very easy type issue features a evenly up to date display, the Carta 1300 collection, which boasts barely higher distinction and page-turning speeds. Examined in opposition to the 2E, I discovered it to be noticeably sooner when tapping shortly by means of pages, however not noticeable in odd use. And so far as the readability and distinction, they have been about equal to my eye, with a slight benefit going to the brand new gadget. My favourite function is that it doesn’t crash after I plug it into my laptop half the time, a Clara 2E behavior I’d given up on fixing.
So actually, you get what I believe is essentially the most sensible e-reader in the marketplace for most individuals, just for $130 slightly than $140. No advertisements, sideload your personal fonts and paperwork, built-in library app, loads of room to mess around and hack. Nonetheless, in the event you personal a Clara 2E, or perhaps a Clara HD, I don’t assume the improve is essentially price it. Kind high quality hasn’t improved that a lot in the previous couple of years.
As earlier than, I like to recommend getting their faux-leather “sleep cover,” which each protects your gadget from the same old scuffs and folds into a beautiful little stand. I like to recommend the Cayenne Crimson shade so that you by no means lose it. Imagine me, you’ll be glad you spent the $30.