Is Kobo's First Color E-Reader Worth Upgrading To? - Kobo Clara BW & Color Review -

[@16bitreview]

Just wanted to give to extra info. The price comparison between the BW and the Kindle was written for the Canadian Prices, which was $30 CAD, not the $10 USD. For $10 the BW is the better deal. As for Storage. Kobo says it has 16GB, but in truth it has 12.4GB/16GB out of the Box, with my PC only reporting 13.4GB available to use.

[@necrisro]

I find the color screen a bit dark and blurry in person, just for reading the classic BNW is the better choice. Also price-wise compared with Kindle is a bit unfair since Amazon heavily pushes their ads and ecosystem to make up for any potential profit loss on selling the device itself and honestly I want my ereader to be as corporation-distraction free as possible.

[@16bitreview]

The price comparison was to the Canadian Ad Free Kindle, which is $30 cheaper. Which is why I made that comparison. In the US, the BW is a better deal, but not by much. To my eyes I didn't see much of a difference between the two Clara's in person. It was only when I pointed my camera at them when a slight difference was visible.

[@JoaoAlmeida-xn3ko]

For reading books, the Clara BW is superior in terms of screen. I would only buy the color one if I read comics, and for that purpose I have an iPad. As my intention is to read books with an ebook, I bought BW.

[@16bitreview]

And good for you. Though while I do use my iPad to read web comics, I find a color e-reader to be kinder to my eyes for longer reading sessions.

[@dimbulb6443]

How is the readability indoors, without illumination? I keep reading the screens are much darker and need the lighting to be set to around 30%.

[@16bitreview]

As I said in the video, the screens are next to impossible to tell apart. It was only on camera when I could tell a minor difference. In my well lit home, I can read without the backlight on or off, but I did find myself leaving it on with at least 10-30% back light. But that’s also true with the BW. There are demo booths in book stores with the BW and Color, go take a look for yourself, if you’d like a third opinion.

[@ShimmeringVapidCoal]

Why don't e-readers like these have a micro SD slot to add more storage? That seems like it wouldn't be hard to do.

[@16bitreview]

It depends. From my understanding it's probably got to do with licensing, since it cost money to implement the standard. Another excuse... I mean reason is water proofness is harder with a port, especially since they are coating the insides with Plastic for their IPx8 water resistance. With that said, some models of Onyx Boox and Pocketbook have microsd cards. But it's hit or miss.

[@midosyt]

​@@16bitreviewanother reason is money they'd rather you upgrade or just get another

[@16bitreview]

What, they'd never do something like that and deliberately drag out storage upgrades over years to give their stagnant devices a reason to exist. /s (just in case you missed the sarcasm)

[@brownwallet942]

Lmao, what are you gonna do with extra storage? Did you know the Kobo Touch has a micro SD card slot? I put a 32GB SD card in it, but to this day, after more than 10 years, the 8GB internal storage is still enough to hold plenty of more books

[@brownwallet942]

​@@midosyt16GB of storage is worth 10,000 books at the very least. Some people haven't read 10 books in their lives. My 8GB Kobo Touch hasn't needed the extra storage after more than 10 years, and it's still running perfectly well, the borders still looking as white as the first time I bought it

[@wilsonism17]

Hey Boss. Planning on getting my very first e-reader and I'm kinda leaning with Clara BW. Is it worth it? And I don't have a PC so transferring some if my files is one of my future concern. 😅

[@16bitreview]

For the file transfers without a PC. You can Download Kobo books directly to the device, and if you run out of space it can be deleted and you won't lose page progress and highlights. Overdrive can also be done on device. As I have lots of non-kobo books, I need a PC to transfer them over. But this is true for all Kobos. As for is it worth it the end of the video summarizes everything. But TL:DW BW & Color are the same minus the color screen. For the extra $20 the Color screen is a nice have. However if you don't care the BW is just as good but not significantly better than Kobos of yesteryear. If you see a 2e or Nia for cheaper get them, if not get the BW.

[@wilsonism17]

@@16bitreview both are kinda expensive right now here in Philippines so I'll have to wait for the holidays I guess. By the way, can I do OTG tranfer on Kobo?

[@16bitreview]

From my testing with both Android 13 and iOS/iPad OS. Yes, you can connect a Kobo to a mobile device. But as their software is immature the only books you’ll be transferring are Adobe digital editions epub or drm free books like those found on Project Guitenberg. Let me put it to you this way. If you are planning on reading a lot of DRM free books, an older eReader is just as good as the modern ones. Not sure what the used market is like over there, but the Likebook, was once popular but with the loss of google play on older Android are cheap options nowadays. And older kobos like the Kobo Aura are cheap too. You’ll lose a bit on performance, but you will only see that during page turns.