Kobo has plans to release three new e-readers sometime in the next few months. The company has released several FCC applications, often the last step before a commercial release in the United States. Not much about the new hardware is known, but an e-commerce website leaked some product details early. It looks like the Kobo is going to be releasing two colour e-readers: the Kobo Clara Color and the Kobo Libra Color.
This website is legitimate since they are an authorized Rakuten Kobo reseller and sells its entire product lineup at the same MSRP that other retailers charge. There are no pictures of the device yet or any hardware specs. They claim the products will be shipped out on March 14th, 2024. However, I looked at all of the other product listings for previous-generation Kobo e-readers, and they all have the same shipping date, so I think it might just be stock shipping information that all products have. If Kobo had plans to release a series of new e-readers, I would have heard about it weeks ago.
So are these new color Kobo products tablets with LCD screens or something else? I believe Kobo is going to be employing the latest generation E INK Kaleido 3 color e-paper. This technology has a proven track record of responsiveness and is able to display 300 PPI for black and white content and 150 PPI for color. There has been close to 40 e-readers on the global market that have been released with this color e-paper.
What I find interesting about these product listings is that close to few hundred people have already placed orders for the new hardware. They are selling the Libra Color for £194.15 and the Kobo Clara Color for £121.72. However, in the past few minutes since this post was made public, it doesn’t look like they are actively selling it anymore, since it says 0 are available.
I have contacted Kobo to see if these products are legit and will update the post if I hear back.
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.
