Kobo put out a handful of recent e-readers just a few weeks again: shade variations of the wonderful 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 purpose to change.
First, the colour editions. I’ve been ready on shade e-paper screens for what looks as if half my life, they usually have but to realize 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 definitely issues have come a methods from what we had been seeing 10 years in the past. However the easy truth is the colour replica remains to be not nice. Higher than it ever was … however poor in contrast with nearly the rest.
It’s unclear to me why you’d need shade in any respect on a 6″ system 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 youngsters’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 comparable shades of blue (not the one beneath), and I used to be capable of discern them on the reader nearly 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 newest within the line of asymmetrical 7″ gadgets with web page flip buttons. That further inch makes for about as a lot further readability as you’d anticipate — a bit — however the display itself is not any completely different.
You might be pondering: Why not simply get the colour one so you’ve got the choice? You’ll be able to nonetheless learn abnormal 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 facet by facet — and for that matter, the year-old Clara 2E I had sitting round. Whereas they’re all nominally the identical decision, the Color appears to be like as if there’s a form of gentle gauze over it, darkening your entire 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 more durable to learn. I attempted and didn’t seize it in photographs, 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’ve got a selected 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 advice 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 gives modest enhancements for $10 much less.
The brand new model of this very easy kind issue features a flippantly up to date display, the Carta 1300 sequence, which boasts barely higher distinction and page-turning speeds. Examined in opposition to the 2E, I discovered it to be noticeably sooner when tapping rapidly via pages, however not noticeable in abnormal use. And so far as the readability and distinction, they had been about equal to my eye, with a slight benefit going to the brand new system. My favourite function is that it doesn’t crash after I plug it into my pc half the time, a Clara 2E behavior I’d given up on fixing.
So actually, you get what I feel is essentially the most sensible e-reader available on the market for most individuals, just for $130 quite than $140. No advertisements, sideload your personal fonts and paperwork, built-in library app, loads of room to mess around and hack. Nevertheless, should you personal a Clara 2E, or perhaps a Clara HD, I don’t suppose the improve is essentially price it. Sort 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 cowl,” which each protects your system from the same old scuffs and folds into a beautiful little stand. I like to recommend the Cayenne Pink shade so that you by no means lose it. Consider me, you’ll be glad you spent the $30.