📚 The Kobo Review

Picked up the Kobo, a Libra Colour. Also a Sleep Cover. I’m still missing the Stylus 2 (I’m getting that, I know already).

Since it’s been a few hours since I got it, I’m more than happy to share my thoughts. This is not one of those “after a year of use honest review”. Heck, it’s not even an “after a day crappy review”!

The Kobo is my second e-reader. I bought a Kindle Paperwhite a decade ago, and it’s still going strong. It has, however, been claimed by movieStar, and she has no intention of returning it. Hence the new one.

I started by looking at the Clara Colour, but the more affordable model would not support Google Drive (or Dropbox) as a way to upload books to the device. I’d have to plug the thing to a laptop, and transfer the books I already own, and others I acquire outside the official shop. Also, the Clara does not support the Stylus.

I figured I would be better off with the pricier model, and hope it lasts the same time as the Kindle.

After the unboxing procedure, I turned it on. Picked a language for the OS. Picked a Wi-Fi network. An update was downloaded, and installed. Quickly. Battery was charged to around 50%.

Time to get some books on the thing!

I had to log into my Kobo account first, and then I added the Google and Pocket ones.

The login procedure is really nice: instead of entering credentials with the slower keyboard, you can just open a URL on your mobile phone, where you’re probably already logged into those accounts. It’s just a matter of entering a code, and you’re done. Quick.

The books I bought a couple of days ago on the Kobo Store (or is it Shop?) showed up instantly.

The ones I had copied to Google Drive, in anticipation of the device, had to be moved to the folder Kobo creates when you authorize access to the account. I’d rather be able to pick a folder and just be done with it, but it’s not a problem either. I have hundreds of books already, and the Kobo handles them (and a few other formats) with ease.

Pocket, as expected, works. Saved articles are ready for me. Maybe this time I’ll actually manage to read what I save.

I’ve seen some people complain about the whiteness of the epaper, when compared to the black and white only readers.

I have no issue with it. Looks just fine to me. It’s as I remember the Kindle, from memory. Pretty happy with this one too. And the colour is a nice touch. Highlights look cool in multiple colors, and the subdued tones even work nicely with the kind of comics I’ll read (already loaded a couple too, and it’s good). Covers are mostly in color already, I had no idea. Again, don’t expect brilliant colours, this is not an iPad. Different technologies, different palettes. The buttons are a welcome improvement over the button-less readers, in my opinion. One can still swipe to change pages, of course, but somehow this feels better. Pages don’t flip as fast as on a phone/tablet, of course. But by now I’m already used to doing that on those devices, and expect the swipe to be immediate. The buttons, in a strange way, feel natural here. The OS is snappy-ish, but not up to smartphone levels. If you’ve have an ebook reader, you know what I mean: You act……………. and……. the device complies. It’s not instant.

The Libra Colour is a tad larger than the Clara (and the Paperwhite), and that is a welcome improvement. Mainly for comics.

One thing I found pretty cool is that I can pick Atkinson Hyperlegible as reading font. Love it.

The gadget is made out of recycled plastic, and build quality feels nice. Made by a Canadian company, subsidiary of a Japanese one. Meaning it’s not Amazon. That is also a good thing.

I already know that I’ll have to get the stylus because there’s no way to edit and create notebooks without it, and I really want to try that.

I’m happy with my purchase. I would get it again, no regrets. It’s been 12 hours already, I’m sure I love it!

Any questions? I have missed a lot, I’m sure.