Kobo Clara 2E review: slow reader

I don’t know what to do during a thunderstorm. After all, I’m from Southern California, and I’m used to warm, sunny days, even in the winter.I was confused when the first raindrop fell on Kobo Clara 2E, where I was reading in the park. Of course I thought a bird peed on my review unit. Only when it really started to rain did I find myself in the middle of a storm outside. There was no jacket to protect me, no umbrella, no this her $129.99 e-reader. Needless to say, I ran in a panic.

But it didn’t need to. The Kobo Clara 2E turned out to handle the storm better than this California writer. Back indoors, drenched and exhausted, I clicked the power button, worried about breaking it. Despite literally spending about 20 minutes outdoors in a storm, the e-reader turned on and worked normally.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Boasting an IPX8 water resistance rating, Kobo’s $129.99 Clara 2E is the company’s first 6-inch waterproof e-reader, and it’s clearly working well. But this is just her one of many new features Kobo’s latest e-reader offers, further narrowing the chasm between Kobo and Amazon’s ubiquitous Kindle. With its high-res display, double the storage of her Kindle Paperwhite in the base, and Bluetooth support for listening to audiobooks, it’s a great alternative to Amazon e-readers. It’s also recommended if you’re hesitant to buy her Kindle, which is cheaper and has similar specs, because the ad-free $169.99 Kindle Paperwhite is too expensive, but it’s not waterproof.

How to rate and review products

Before registering that this is a waterproof e-reader, I was impressed with the Kobo Clara’s 2E screen.The main reason for you to buy an e-reader is read, you definitely need a display that can do that easily. Thankfully, the Kobo Clara 2E breaks the bar for this e-reader. It uses the same crisp 300 PPI display as Amazon’s latest Kindle, so text is crisp and clear, but with some additional customization features for a more comfortable and accessible reading experience. I’m here. Kobo, for example, offers more flexibility with sliders that you can use to adjust font weight, margins, and line spacing exactly to your liking. This is helpful for those of us who wear glasses.The Kindle Paperwhite also lets you adjust these, but you have to choose from a collection of preset options. Additionally, Kobo has a few extra options for fonts for people with dyslexia and his style of fonts.

Like the Kindle Paperwhite, the display also automatically adjusts brightness and color tones depending on the time of day. Combining technology that reduces blue light exposure with a dark mode option, reading at night or in low light conditions didn’t cause headaches or eye strain. You should be able to read without problems as the display will reduce glare significantly.

However, screens have two weaknesses. First, the Kindle Paperwhite comes with a flash screen and no gap between the display and the sides of the e-reader. Unfortunately, the Clara 2E’s sunken display means there are gaps where dust and dirt can collect. The second drawback is a matter of personal taste. For a standard 6-inch display, it’s smaller than the Kindle Paperwhite’s 6.8-inch. This can make it a little harder to read for some, but it also means it’s a bit more pocketable and can be held in one hand.

Speaking of how to hold the Clara 2E, the unique wavy pattern on the back of the device aids in grip and makes it easier to carry. Be careful not to accidentally press the power button on the back. Other than that, the e-reader can be used like any other plastic e-reader. However, there is one big difference. According to Kobo, the “environmentally friendly” Clara 2E stands out because it is made of 85% recycled plastic, with marine-derived plastic making up his 10%. This is probably why the workshop has a wave pattern, navy blue on the back, and black on the front. This is a slightly more recycled material than the one used in Amazon’s e-readers. The Kindle is made with 30-75% recycled plastic, and the Kindle Paperwhite is made with 60% recycled plastic.

Kobo says battery life should last a few weeks, but that depends on the brightness of your display. After that, I had to charge it again, but most of the time I read for an hour or two at night. You can read comfortably at 30% brightness. The battery can last up to 4 weeks, especially if you read mostly during the day and occasionally turn off Wi-Fi. However, this is not the Kindle Paperwhite’s “months” battery life, nor his six-week battery life that the standard Kindle offers. Thankfully, the Kobo Clara 2E charges pretty quickly thanks to its USB-C support. Even with a slow 5-watt USB power adapter, I was able to charge the e-reader from 50% to 100% in about two hours. This is the Kindle equivalent.

Reading on an e-reader is generally a pleasant experience, except for one major drawback that I’ll discuss shortly. From the outset, I appreciated the lack of intrusive ads on the lock screen that I had to pay extra to remove on my Amazon e-reader. I also liked that the main home screen was less cluttered with recommendations and other books than Amazon. Plus, there are some new experimental features to play with, such as a sketchpad that lets you take notes and draw using your finger or a stylus (sold separately), and a large print mode that expands text across your Kobo.

But once I actually started navigating the menus, my excitement about these things began to wear off quickly.The Kobo Clara 2E is noticeably slower than both the Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite. As a result, I sometimes had to wait a second or two before tapping the touchscreen to navigate or page. This was nerve-wracking at times, especially when entering Wi-Fi credentials. While not a complete deal breaker given the other great features this e-reader boasts, it was definitely a disappointment.

Performance issues aside, we were happy with the breadth of content we had access to, especially outside of the Kobo ecosystem.Thanks to OverDrive support, we can easily access eBooks from our public library of choice. The home screen also has tabs for quick access. Plus, you can quickly sideload ebooks, comic books, and other types of documents in 15 file formats using your cable and computer. Plus, thanks to our unique Pocket integration, you can save articles you find online to your app’s account and read them on your e-reader. However, AZW files are not supported, so you cannot read Kindle books on e-readers. This can be a drawback if you’re already part of Amazon’s ecosystem.

if you conduct When you want to buy from Kobo, its online store features millions of books, making it easy to shop the latest bestsellers right from your home screen. I also like that, like Amazon, Kobo also sells ebooks at discounted prices and offers a new cost-effective ebook subscription service, Kobo Plus, similar to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. rice field. After the first month is free, you have to pay $9.99/month to access over 1 million eBooks. And get over 100,000 audiobooks for $12.99/month. The library is admittedly quite limited compared to the Kindle’s. However, you can download an unlimited number of ebooks at once, which is not allowed with Kindle Unlimited.

Speaking of audiobooks, unlike its predecessor the Clara HD, the Clara 2E now also supports Bluetooth. As a result, you can listen to dozens of audiobooks stored on the Kindle Paperwhite’s 16 GB of storage, which is double hers. Unfortunately, you can only listen to audiobooks purchased from Kobo as they cannot be sideloaded.

The Kobo Clara 2E is a great e-reader, but would you recommend it over other e-readers like Amazon’s? At $129.99, the Kobo Clara 2E is $40 cheaper than the Kindle Paperwhite with the same specs, has no ads, and comes with 16 GB of storage. Still, if you’re just looking for a cheaper alternative, I wouldn’t choose the Clara 2E over the Kindle. After all, $119.99 gets you the base Kindle ad-free, and it shares many of the things I love about his Kobo Clara 2E, like the high-res display, but it’s much faster. You have to get used to the fact that it’s an Amazon e-reader that isn’t waterproof.

But if you’re primarily looking for a waterproof e-reader that’s cheaper than the Kindle Paperwhite, or an Amazon alternative, the Clara 2E is a solid choice. It does a good job of nailing the basics, but it’s also more pocketable, customizable, and doesn’t lock you into Amazon’s ecosystem.