Libra Colour So far I love my Colour Kobo. What about you?

[Cootey]

I’ve had my Libra Colour (LC) for about five months now. I picked the pearlescent white model. Even though I have an iPhone 15 and an iPad—both of which have high resolution, full color displays—I love using my LC for reading novels, light novels, manga, art books, etc. In fact, I’ve just noticed recently that I’ve been reading manga on the LC far more than the iPad. That wasn’t a conscious decision.

The page turning buttons help. Sweeping with a finger is convenient, but it becomes repetitive when reading comics or books. I also don’t mind the screen’s resolution. I know there have been very technical and informative comments regarding the lower resolution of the LC, but I haven’t found it to be an impediment.

I do enjoy having a colorful homepage. I like seeing the book covers in color. I like seeing illustrations in color. Highlighting and note taking in color is quite enjoyable as well. If all of that’s just a novelty, then I don’t mind. It was priced affordably, and I needed a new ereader.

I have found that I use my LC far more than my previous ereader, the Clara HD. This increased usage has resulted in more frequent charging. It’s about once every two weeks, compared to the Clara HD or Elipsa. However, that’s nothing compared to my daily charging of my iPad and iPhone. I don’t consider it a detriment at all.

I’m curious what other people think about their Colour Kobo. Do you find the color screen an enhancement or just a marketing novelty?

[bluepeter]

I'm glad you like yours. I regretted buying my Clara Colour. It sounds as if we use our e-readers for different material, and that's significant. You like a lot of colour illustrations, whilst I read pretty much exclusively simple black text on a white background. The resolution issue means that when I want to read a book with illustrations (generally non-fiction), I buy it in print.

It's funny that you should raise this. It's only yesterday that someone raised the possibility of replacing her Kindle with a Libra Colour on a Facebook reading group to which I belong. This was my comment to her:

I had a Kobo Clara Colour, which has the same screen as the Libra Colour. IMO, it was a waste of money. The colours are very muted (unsaturated) and contrast is dreadful. I don't normally use the built in frontlight to read, but found that it was necessary all of the time just to get tolerable contrast reading simple black text - even in a well-lit room. The background for a page of text isn't the white that you'll be used to, but grey.

I sold mine on eBay after only a week or so, and took the financial hit. The Clara BW or 2E are, for my needs, much better e-readers.

My advice is simple: don't buy a colour e-reader yet. A *lot* of development is needed before they become worthwhile. (And the same applies to those from other manufacturers, e.g. Onyx Boox. They all use the same screens.)

It's well worth switching from Kindle to Kobo, simply for the vastly better user interface. (that was why I switched a few years ago.) But I'd recommend one of the monochrome models, not a colour one. Unfortunately, if you want a 7" screen, there isn't currently a monochrome Libra. The choices are (a) smaller screen; (b) larger screen, or (c) find a Libra 2/H2O on eBay or similar. (You might get lucky and find a refurbished Libra 2 or H2O somewhere.)

Whilst responses to the OP weren't unanimous, this seems to have been pretty much the majority view.

[JSWolf]

I would dislike a color Kobo. I like the Libra 2 screen. I like being able to keep the light off when there is enough other light. I like not having speckles. What I would like is a Libra BW with the new processor and battery and no color filter.

[foosion]

There are a lot of people who love their KLCs. See the https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo for example. Kobo, which has lots of info on sales, has made the business decision to sell a KLC and not a Libra BW. I'd imagine it's based on comparing their projection of BW sales to the cost of producing another model. They clearly think lots of people are happy with the colour model.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by foosion

There are a lot of people who love their KLCs. See the https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo for example. Kobo, which has lots of info on sales, has made the business decision to sell a KLC and not a Libra BW. I'd imagine it's based on comparing their projection of BW sales to the cost of producing another model. They clearly think lots of people are happy with the colour model.

I think it's a decision made by someone really stupid higher up.

The problem now is that when anyone asks what Reader to get and the Libra 2 would have been a good choice, I cannot any longer recommend Kobo.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by bluepeter

I'm glad you like yours. I regretted buying my Clara Colour. It sounds as if we use our e-readers for different material, and that's significant. You like a lot of colour illustrations, whilst I read pretty much exclusively simple black text on a white background.

Yes, same for me, and that's why a color ereader would be a waste of money for me too. I'm just not interested in comics, illustrations or book covers in color, and I don't highlight or take notes. YMMV, as always.

The lighting issue would perhaps not be all that serious for me, as I always read with the frontlight on anyway, even in a brightly lit room. But the fact remains that color eink just isn't as good for ordinary text yet as b/w eink. While this may not bother some people, it does bother others.

[bluepeter]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes, same for me, and that's why a color ereader would be a waste of money for me too. I'm just not interested in comics, illustrations or book covers in color

Oh, I'm interested in illustrations, including some comics/graphic novels. But the resolution and colour rendition of the colour e-readers aren't good enough for me. I also find the page size insufficient for graphic novels, which are generally printed at about A4 and (IMO) need to be seen at that size. Of course, larger colour e-readers exist. Even if I thought that the colour rendition and resolution were good enough, they're ridiculously expensive and unwieldy.

I still buy printed books for both graphic novels and most non-fiction.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Cootey

...

I’m curious what other people think about their Colour Kobo. ...

Well this thread went sideways quickly.

I would be interested to hear from actual owners.

[rashkae]

Since getting the KLC, i've had absolutely no desire to go back to the KL for reading novels. The resolution is absolutely non-issue. B&W on the Colour screen is every bit as sharp and clear as the Libra 2. Contrast is only an issue for people who don't like to use the device frontlight. Without Frontlight, the colour screen is really *really* bad compared to B&W models. With frontlight, contrast is only worse in very bright ambient light (reading outdoors, or studio lighting.)

The colour itself is more of a gimmick. Except for the covers or very occasional illustrations, it will have very little value to reading text. But its a gimmick that I like. I really love how the colours turned out. (Yes, muted compared to lcd/olec screesn, but very reminiscent of colour print on newsprint type paper.)

But, while I sometimes try reading a comic for a bit on the device, I find that still a sub par experience. The colours look great, but the screen is still too small, and pan and scan still too sow.. I would rather juts read my electronic comics on my pc.

[patrik]

Originally Posted by rashkae

The colour itself is more of a gimmick. Except for the covers or very occasional illustrations, it will have very little value to reading text.

Well.... for those of us reading lots of non-fiction being able to highlight in different colors can be very useful.

I'm pondering getting a color reader just for this reason.