TechTabletsKobo beats Kindle with its first colour ebook readersKobo’s new ebook readers deliver colour e-ink for a surprisingly low priceWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechTabletsKobo beats Kindle with its first colour ebook readersKobo’s new ebook readers deliver colour e-ink for a surprisingly low priceWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Kobo’s new ebook readers deliver colour e-ink for a surprisingly low price
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Kobo)
(Image credit: Kobo)
As much as we love ebook readers such asAmazon’sbest Kindlesand Kobo’s Clara, there’s one thing they don’t do: colour. And while colour e-ink has been around for some time, it hasn’t made it into mainstream ebook devices. Or at least, it hasn’t until now. The new Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara Colour, which are available for pre-order from today (10 April 2024), have colour e-ink displays.
The two models differ in three key ways. The Libra is a seven-inch model, has 32GB of storage and works with the Kobo Stylus 2 for annotating and jotting down notes, and the Clara is six inches, has 16GB, and doesn’t. But they both have what Kobo calls a Kaleido 3 touchscreen, and that’s the fun bit.
What’s so great about colour e-ink?
It’s more visually interesting, it can aid comprehension, and it’s really great for graphic novels. However, the tech for colour e-ink isn’t quite as affordable and advanced as its black and white equivalent, so when you go from grayscale to colour on your Kobo the resolution drops from print-like 300ppi to 150ppi. If that’s a drop too far there’s also a new grayscale Kobo Clara, the Kobo Clara BW.
Like their Kindle rivals, both devices have Bluetooth for headphone listening. They also work with the Overdrive app, which enables you to get ebooks from your local library – something Kindles don’t currently offer, and a key reason to consider a Kobo over its Amazon rivals.
According to Rakuten Kobo CEO Michael Tamblin, “For Kobo, colour is a way of deepening and enriching the reading experience, while keeping the daylight readability and battery longevity that E Ink screens deliver so well.”
The new Kobo e-readers will be shipping from 30 April 2024.
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