Kobo Libra Colour Black

The Kobo Libra Color is a compact e-reader on which I read, listen to and take notes in color. I didn't get the stylus, so I had to order it separately.

Quiet color screen I think the color screen makes this e-reader come more to life. I prefer reading books with pictures and comic books. In addition, the library and sleep mode also look a lot more lively with different colorful book covers. I also highlight texts in all kinds of colors. Thanks to ComfortLight PRO, I can adjust the brightness and warmth of the screen myself. I often read before I go to bed. I find a warm and darker screen easier on my eyes. When I don't feel like reading, I listen to audiobooks.

Nice size and nice buttons I can easily hold the Libra Color with one hand due to the weight and the handle. The screen rotates, so I hold it on all sides. This is useful for left and right-handed people. Thanks to the buttons, I can quickly turn the pages. I also navigate through the menu with the touchscreen. I also take this e-reader with me in my bag because of its size. This is how I read on the train on the way to work. You will not receive a cover with the e-reader. If you're like me and take it with you a lot, I recommend a cover for protection.

Stylus support The Kobo Libra Color supports the Kobo Stylus 2. Unfortunately, I did not receive this, so you have to order it yourself. I use the stylus to make color notes in the books. When I make a mistake, I erase it with the back of the stylus. I also add notepads myself where I make to-do lists, for example. I don't take notes without a stylus, but I do mark text in books with my finger.

Download books via Dropbox or Drive I don't need any cables to put my books on the e-reader. I buy books in the Kobo shop or download them from my Dropbox or Google Drive. I think the latter is a nice feature. I create my own Kobo folder in Dropbox or Drive and drag my books there. Then I download the books onto the e-reader. The e-reader also supports Pocket. When I see articles on my phone or laptop that I want to read, I save them to Pocket. Then I read them on the e-reader.

This seemed like the ideal Kobo for me. Larger than the Clara, with physical buttons and integration with Google Drive and Dropbox. Unfortunately, the reading experience (which is what it's all about) was less than stellar. I couldn't read the text clearly; the letters weren't sharp enough. It didn't matter whether I adjusted the text size or other settings. This was due to the color screen and the grayish cast that other users also report. I returned the product and replaced it with the Clara BW, which is a joy to read. It's a shame the Libra doesn't have a black-and-white model; I would definitely have chosen that one.

Very nice e-reader. Comic books on the go! But... there are a few catches.

The color filter makes the screen look very dark. Imagine a book printed on gray paper. Not unreadable, but still unpleasant. That means that you actually always use your backlight. With the backlight on it is fine to read, but then you miss out on that pleasant, natural reading of e-paper. Too bad. I always adjust the brightness and color before reading so that the light does not really stand out. That is a bit of fiddling.

I read comic books on it, among other things, and it is fantastic for that. Colors are easy to recognize. They are paler than the printed version, but if you do not put them next to each other, you quickly forget it. There are special developer options hidden in the settings that allow you to increase the saturation of the colors a bit (google it), but that is at the expense of the accuracy of the colors.

I get the feeling that I have to tinker with this a bit too much. It feels like a first generation model. Big steps forward (we have color!), but also a few steps back. If you don't need the color, I would really go for a black and white version. If you do use it, this is a cool model, but with a healthy dose of patience you might have a model in a few years that doesn't have so many "yes, but"s.