Kobo has two new six-inch e-readers in their 2024 product lineup, the Kobo Clara BW and Kobo Clara Colour. The first model is a pure black and white e-reader using E INK Carta 1300, the latest e-paper. It has a great response time, and page-turn speed is faster. At the same time, the Kobo Clara Colour uses E INK Kaleido 3 colour e-paper. What are the main differences? The Kobo Clara Colour can read manga, newspapers, magazines and PDF files. When browsing the Kobo bookstore, ebook cover art stands out, similar to when you shop at a physical bookstore. A lot of time and effort goes into designing cover art, and colour displays make them stand out. The cons with colour screens are fundamental to the way Kaleido 3 works, it mixes colours to create a grey background, colour displays are always darker than a pure black and white e-reader, where the background is always a light grey, so there is good contrast between the black font and grey screen.
The Rakuten Kobo Clara BW features a 6-inch E INK Carta 1300 e-paper panel 25% more responsive than the previous generation Kobo Clara 2e. The resolution is 1448 x 1072, and the system is in comprehensive Dark Mode and 300 PPI. The screen is recessed and does not have glass. Text will pop due to the exposed e-paper screen being closer to your eyes. The e-reader only comes in one colour: black. The ComfortLight PRO, adjustable brightness system, will give you both white and amber LED lights to read during the night. I have often found that the white lights at 35% and amber at 7% tend to make the screen very white, similar to the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite.
Underneath the hood is a MediaTek processor MT8113L – ARM A53 @1GHz, 512MB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. In the past, Kobo relied on storage on SD cards; this e-reader uses EEMC storage soldered onto the circuit board. You can buy audiobooks and ebooks from Kobo. Listen to them via Bluetooth 5.0 and pair earbuds, headphones or an external speaker. You can also use the internet browser to visit websites. Pocket integration can save articles to your Kobo, and it is also compatible with thousands of libraries to browse, borrow, and read via Overdrive. Connect all these services WiFi 802.11 ac/b/g/n (i.e. dual-band, 2.4 and 5 GHz).
USB-C will allow you to transfer content to your e-reader and charge it. Kobo Clara BW has complete waterproof protection with IPX8. That means it’s always ready for unexpected spills, splashes by the sea, or a relaxing soak in the tub. If it gets wet with salt water, run it under a fresh tap for a few minutes as the salt corrodes. It is powered by a low-end 1,500 mAh battery, which would be good for a couple of weeks of reading books. However, using the lights, long reading sessions or listening to audiobooks will drain the battery quicker, so your mileage may vary. The dimensions are 112 x 160 x 9.2 mm and weighs 174 g
The Rakuten Kobo Clara Colour features a six-inch Kaleido 3 colour e-paper screen with FastGLR and Dark Mode. The black and white resolution is 1448×1072 with 300 PPI, and the colour resolution is 150. The e-reader only comes in one colour: black. The screen is recessed and does not have a layer of glass. This will ensure the colour e-paper panel is closer to the top of the stack, providing better colour and font clarity. It has a ComfortLight PRO adjustable brightness and colour temperature for blue light reduction. Typically, Kaleido 3 screens have a darker grey background; Kobo told me they recommend trying the front-lite at around 10% to 20% to mitigate this.
Underneath the hood is a MediaTek processor MT8113T – dual-core ARM A53 @ 2.0 GHz, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. For the past dozen years, Kobo has always used SD cards for internal storage, but for the Clara Colour, they decided to use eMMC storage, soldered onto the circuit board. They said this type of storage is much quicker, so clicking on a book to read, page-turn speed or pulling up an audiobook will be much faster.
It has WiFi 802.11 ac/b/g/n (i.e. dual-band, 2.4 and 5 GHz) to connect to the Kobo bookstore and Bluetooth 5.0 to use wireless headphones or earbuds to buy and listen to Kobo audiobooks. This e-reader should be immune to coffee or tea spills, thanks to the IPX8 rating – for up to 60 minutes in 2 meters of water. It has USB-C to transfer data and charge it. It is powered by a 1500 mAh battery, has 112 x 160 x 9.2 mm dimensions, and weighs 174g.
Both of these e-readers are made with recycled and ocean-bound plastics. This diverts CDs and DVDs from landfills and plastic bottles from the planet’s oceans. The retail packaging is also made with 100% FSC-certified recycled paper and is printed with soy ink. It is also designed to be repairable; you can open it up with a screwdriver now, and Kobo agreed with iFixit to replace the screen, circuit board and battery. This should increase the lifespan. iFixit will have a dedicated landing page where you can buy the replacements and adhesives you need.
Pure black-and-white e-readers will always provide a better reading experience. They have had these types of screens for over 15 years. So, you can push the envelope of how good a resolution can be and how the front light and colour temperature can be mixed to be easy on the eyes. Modern Kaleido colour technology has had minor incremental updates over the past six years, and I don’t think it’s ready for prime time yet. Kobo did everything possible to provide a good experience, so the company has done a better job than the competition, such as Onyx, Bigme or Pocketbook. What e-reader should you buy? I would go with the BW if you had to decide between the Clara Colour or Clara BW.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.