Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Clara 2E, Kobo Nia ebook readers - Meet the Amazon Kindle alternatives

When one talks about an ebook reader, the first option that comes to mind is a Kindle. For a vast majority, that’s the only option that comes to mind. Amazon’s ebook readers have been incredibly popular and they do a great job indeed, but there’s a catch. The Kindle limits you to only the Amazon ecosystem of ebooks. Limit may not be the most accurate expression given the magnitude of that store, but you sure cannot access any other ebook library or collection.

That is where ebook readers from other brands like Kobo come in. Kobo, now owned by the Japanese giant Rakuten, has been in this segment for over a dozen years. On a personal note, the first ebook reader I ever owned was a Kobo Glo. I had purchased it almost a decade ago in a Croma clearance sale, and have fond memories of the product that let me access my non-Amazon ebook collection.

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The clearance sale sort of explains why we didn’t see much of the brand in India after that till recently. Late last year, Kobo re-entered India with not one but three ebook readers to cater to different budgets and take on each major variant of the Kindle available here. We got a chance to experience all three, and here’s our brief take on each of them and how they compare with their corresponding Amazon rival.

Kobo Libra 2
Price: Rs 19,999

Libra 2 is the company’s flagship ebook reader here and takes on the Kindle Oasis. The similarity in their designs is not lost on us. At a quick glance they actually look identical with the extended grip and the two physical buttons to turn the pages. I was a little sceptical about the design initially but it just grew on me given how comfortable it feels in hand despite its 215 grams weight. I didn’t make much use of the buttons as I ended up tapping on the screen out of habit to change the page. What I also liked is the way the orientation changes if you choose to hold the reader in your other hand or even use it in landscape mode.

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Being a flagship product, the Kobo Libra 2 boasts of the largest screen, maximum storage and also a 1 GHz processor to keep things smooth. You get a 7-inch HD E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen with a resolution of 1680 x 1264 pixels and 300 PPI pixel density for excellent readability. The brightness is adjustable and so is the colour temperature, or you can simply set them to auto mode to adjust according to the ambient light. Auto mode generally works well, but I had to occasionally use a manual override to suit my eyes.

You get ample 32 GB storage here to store thousands or ebooks or hundreds of audiobooks. That’s correct, the Kobo Libra 2 is compliant with audiobooks too, but it doesn’t have a built-in speaker, and you need to pair it with a wireless speaker or earphones over Bluetooth to listen to them. This is a feature that’s still missing on the Kindles. If you like reading at the poolside, you can take the Libra 2 along as it is IPx8-rated water resistant and can survive a lot more than the odd splash.

Just like Amazon, Kobo too has its own ebook and audiobook store for you to buy and download content over WiFi. In addition to that, if you have a collection of ebooks from other sources, you can transfer it to Libra 2 and start reading. It supports 15 file formats (EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR) spanning text, images and even HTML. This paragraph is applicable to all three Kobo products in this article.

The Kobo Libra 2 is priced at Rs 19,999 in India with a one year warranty. That makes it a good Rs 5,000 more affordable than the Kindle Oasis with similar storage. It doesn’t miss out on any of its key features either, except access to the Kindle store obviously. In addition, you also get support for audiobooks here that makes the Libra 2 a great flagship ebook reader.

Kobo Clara 2E
Price: Rs 14,999

The Clara 2E takes on the current generation Kindle Paperwhite that many regard as the most well-rounded ebook reader around. Again, both look quite similar with a more classical design, sans the physical buttons on the Libra 2 or the Oasis. It has a smaller 6-inch HD E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen (Kindle Paperwhite’s screen measures 6.8-inch) with a resolution of 1448 x 1072 that again translates into a pixel density of 300 PPI. ComfortLight PRO feature is available here too for adjusting the screen brightness and colour temperature.

The readability is equally good here and the smaller screen doesn’t hamper the experience. In fact, it makes the product easier to carry around and store. The Kobo Clara 2E offers 16 GB of storage and borrows the 1 GHz processor, IPx8 water resistance and capability to read audiobooks over Bluetooth from its flagship sibling. It is priced at Rs 14,999 with a one-year warranty; that may be a thousand more than the Kindle Paperwhite, but has twice the storage as compared to the Amazon reader. And did I mention, 85 per cent of its body is made up of recycled plastic, including ocean-bound plastic, as per the company?

Kobo Nia
Price: Rs 10,999

Nia is the entry-level ebook reader from the company and goes head on against the basic Kindle, which has seen quite a revamp in its latest iteration over a year ago. To make it more affordable, Kobo has cut quite a few corners as compared to the above two, starting with its display. Though it has a 6-inch screen too, it has a lower resolution of 1024 x 758 pixels and a lower 212 PPI pixel density. Unlike previous generation base variants, the new Kindle upped its PPI from 167 to 300 making its display far more sharper in comparison.

While the Kobo Nia lets you adjust the brightness, it doesn’t have any colour temperature adjustment like the Libra 2 or Clara 2E. Even the competing Kindle doesn’t have that feature, which makes these a little less comfortable on the eyes when reading in the dark. There is no audiobook support either or any ingress protection. What put me off most was the use of a Micro USB port instead of the now standard Type-C that’s present on the other two Kobo readers and also the Kindle.

Last but not the least, the pricing. The Kobo Nia with 8 GB storage is priced at Rs 10,999 with a one year warranty. That makes it 1000 Rupees more expensive than the Kindle which offers twice the storage, a far better display and a USB-C charging port. Considering these facts, Kobo needs to strongly rethink the pricing of the Nia in India. At its current price, there is no reason to recommend it over the 11th generation Kindle which is a superior product and more affordable too.

In summation
Comparing the experience of using the Kobo readers and the Kindles, I can say that the user interface and page transitions feel a lot smoother on a Kindle, but support for audiobooks is a big plus for the Kobo Libra 2 and Clara 2E in addition to accessing various content libraries. It is hard to provide an exact battery backup figure for either as it varies for different use cases. The company simply says ‘weeks of battery life’, and that will hold true if you use them for an hour or two daily.

All said and done, the overall experience with the Kobo ebook readers was quite positive, especially the Libra 2 and the Clara 2E. These are excellent alternatives to the Kindle Oasis and Paperwhite respectively, if you wish to go away from the Amazon ebooks ecosystem. Kobo needs to price the Nia a lot more aggressively though, not just to compete well against the new Kindle but also to provide a more friendly entry point for those looking to test the waters or jump ship.