Kobo is the first of the three major e-book companies (including Rakuten Kobo, Amazon and Barnes & Noble) to try offering color displays on some of its e-readers. The company recently announced the new Kobo Clara Color and Kobo Libra Color, which are now available for pre-order and will be available on April 30.
The new devices are based on how Kobo's past black-and-white e-readers, Clara and Libra, work. These e-readers offer a solid alternative to Amazon's Kindle e-readers while still providing access to an extensive library of books, including a reading subscription similar to Kindle Unlimited.
While color e-readers are nothing new—we've seen some solid-color displays from the likes of the PocketBook and Onyx Boox, both of which have solid reputations and come highly recommended by users—none of these options include what Kobo has to offer. Have a huge ecosystem. Thanks to its parent company Rakuten.
The new Clara Color has a 6-inch display, while the Libra has a slightly larger 7-inch color display. Both use E Ink's Kaleido 3 screen technology, and the Libra Color and Clara Color have resolutions up to 300 PPI. E Ink also promises support for 4,096 colors, and those colors will be more saturated than previous generation Kaleido Plus display technology.
In addition to being the first of the three major e-readers to feature color displays, the new Kobo Libra Color and Kobo Clara Color are also very affordable compared to some other color e-readers. The Kobo Clara Color retails for just $149.99, while the slightly larger Libra Color starts at $219.99. The extra cost of the Libra will get you built-in page-turn buttons, as well as support for Kobo Stylus, so you can take notes directly on the Libra Color.
These prices make this news really exciting, as most color e-readers tend to cost close to $300. The Clara Color will offer an updated display that supports color at the same price as Amazon's black-and-white Kindle Paperwhite, making it a really solid choice for those who want to read color comics and other material on a Kindle-sized e-reader . reader.
Both devices still feature the same color-temperature-adjustable frontlight as previous Kobo e-readers, so you won't miss a thing, either. I've been using the Kobo Libra 2 to take a Kindle break over the past few months, and I can honestly say that adding a color display to two of Kobo's best e-readers only makes them even better Kindle alternatives. , a color display is not currently available on any model.
