Catch Me Up on Kobos...Please?

[buffaloseven]

Hey everyone,

Lurking for a long time now, used to be more active years and years back. Reality is...I picked up an Aura H2O v2 years back when they came out and I've been...very happy with it.

Seeing that there's now a colour e-ink with the Clara and I'm intrigued to update. I do read comics and graphic novels on my Kobo so having colour as an option would be a huge boon. That said...I'm not sure if colour is a compelling enough reason to upgrade right now, especially when we're on one of the first revisions of the devices.

So I'm just curious...I've been pleasantly out of the loop for years now; if I were to upgrade to a new Clara or something like that, what sort of improvements would I notice from my Aura H2O v2? I did a bit of looking myself but couldn't really figure out an easy-to-digest understanding.

Thanks to anyone who can catch me up!

[DNSB]

Faster CPUs and more storage. USB-C connection which on my Libra Colour gives faster file transfers and charging.

My grandkids love the Libra Colour since their kiddie books are mostly in colour (the only issue is keeping the youngest from taste testing...). The colour version do have a darker screen so I keep the frontlight at a higher level which chews up more of the larger battery the Libra Colour has compared to the Libra 2. Neither the Libra Colour nor the Clara Colour are going to be replacements for a photo frame but my daughter loves them for reading comics and colour manga.

That said, most of my personal reading is done on my Sage since these old eyes need a larger font.

One disadvantage from my point of view is that all three of the new models have eMMC storage so you no longer have the ease of replacing a µSD card to expand the internal storage. On the bright side, iFixit carries spare parts so replacing parts is not the issue it was for earlier Kobo models.

[buffaloseven]

Do you know if the colour screens would be darker than the eInk on the Aura H2O? I remember it was better than the Glo, but I imagine that contrast has gotten even better since back then?

I'm curious if the colour screen might be darker than its contemporaries, if it might be similar or better than older readers.

Otherwise faster CPUs and USB-C does sound pretty nice. I'm enjoying consolidating down towards a single cable.

I saw some mixed opinions on the colour quality on the Clara. Overall good enough, though?

More storage would be nice too since some graphic novels chew up a lot of space.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

Do you know if the colour screens would be darker than the eInk on the Aura H2O? I remember it was better than the Glo, but I imagine that contrast has gotten even better since back then?

The eInk layer contrast is better since it is a Carta 1300 screen. The problem is the colour filter layer which soaks up quite a bit of light. Comparing a Clara BW to a Clara Colour, the colour screen looks much darker.

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

I'm curious if the colour screen might be darker than its contemporaries, if it might be similar or better than older readers.

Comparing a Libra Colour to a Mini, the Mini has a lighter background. OTOH, the Mini does not have a frontlight.

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

I saw some mixed opinions on the colour quality on the Clara. Overall good enough, though?

More storage would be nice too since some graphic novels chew up a lot of space.

I wouldn't try to view photos on the Kaleido3 screen but for kids books, comics and manga, the quality is good enough. I was happy with 12-bit (4096 colours) images on my old Amiga back in the dim distances of the past.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

Do you know if the colour screens would be darker than the eInk on the Aura H2O? I remember it was better than the Glo, but I imagine that contrast has gotten even better since back then?

I'm curious if the colour screen might be darker than its contemporaries, if it might be similar or better than older readers.

Otherwise faster CPUs and USB-C does sound pretty nice. I'm enjoying consolidating down towards a single cable.

I saw some mixed opinions on the colour quality on the Clara. Overall good enough, though?

More storage would be nice too since some graphic novels chew up a lot of space.

Compared to your Aura H2O, the screen of the Libra Colour is quite dark when reading black text. With normal light inside, you would need the light of the Libra Colour at about 20% to be as bright as the H2O with no light.