Kobo Libra Colour eReader, 7” Color E Ink, Waterproof, Black

This ebook is awesome. The best part is, using Calibre, you can easily upload old classics which cost nothing! The system is responsive, the backlight is great, including color adjustments. It's great for one-handed operation, especially with the physical buttons on the side. The color display is not as vibrant as I was led to believe, but I think this is the case with all color e-ink readers. My biggest gripe is the presentation of books. Unless I'm missing a setting somewhere, books are listed as images of their covers. With the small images, it can be hard to read titles from the cover thumbnails, and the Kobo does NOT list the plaintext title next to each book. I often have to click on a book to be able to read the title. This is a serious drawback but one Kobo could easily fix. This is particularly acute when using Project Gutenberg books, which use a generic cover with small title text. I often resort to finding books from the author lists. Otherwise, a fantastic device with great battery life.

I've had this in hand for about a week and I'm growing to love it more and more every day. First, I've owned four or five kindles over the last decade++ and while they're incredibly convenient and ubiquitous and have led the e-book charge, the operating system has always felt clunky to me… all of the features you need daily are generally three or four steps into settings. Combine that with awkwardly placed power buttons, no option for physical buttons other than the oasis which has been discontinued, the need to always have a cover with a handle in order to hold it while reading. Much more but other than the e-book idea and implementation, it's never felt natural to me. The Kobo Libra Colour, on the other hand, feels a joy to hold, it's very light, has a screen auto rotate option which, combined with the lip at the buttons, are a perfect place to put your thumb of either hand. Yes, it's a similar designed to the Oasis but the Oasis (which I own for five years until it crapped out on me after having babied it and then Amazon not supporting diagnosing/fixing) was a much heavier device and although it was formed and weighted on the side with the buttons, it always felt like holding a Lego block or something rigid and awkward in my hand. Plus it was just heavy. The Cobo Libra is kind of the same form as an Oasis but much more comfortable to hold because it's not only much, much lighter (ounces?) but also because of the slight upward lip at the buttons... your thumb on either hand just slips into that corner so easily and it's incredibly smoth to position and move from one hand to the other. I've always had cases for Kindles but after a week with the Libra, I can't convince myself to get anything other than a sleeve for it… it just feels that nice in your hand. Then there's also the color book covers and color highlights, both surprisingly pleasurable additions. But those are really bonuses, the gem is the operating system and interface which is without a doubt more focused on the READER… it does the little things well like the mentioned auto rotate view we've all grown accustomed to with cell phones. Then there are a ton of similar details in the interface... being able to increase or decrease the brightness of the screen by one simple slide touch in the upper left corner, no digging into settings. The home screen showing the most recent four books and % read, or on the same page an area where you can access all your books, another area showing just your unread books, another area showing a link to overdrive to borrow books from the library, another spot to press showing the holds you have at your library on overdrive… in other words an actual home screen giving you all your options in one view. Not trying to sell you anything, not trying to distract you by anything. Your stuff where you want it. Which is of course another fantastic feature, it lets you directly and easily rent books from your library… The focus is on getting you what you want to read and having you enjoy the experience… NOT up selling you more books. What a concept. Oh, and the power button is recessed and on the BACK of the device… So no turning it on and off accidentally when resting it somewhere. In other words, great functionality making for a pleasurable experience using it. Amazon seems to have lost that with the Kindle… like the device itself is secondary to them pushing more product. Anyway, I could go on but this is already too long. Buy it, you'll love it and just look online for ways to transfer your already purchased Kindle books over… Kobo doesn't make YOUR books proprietary, you buy them, you own and can read them anywhere in standard formats. Again, what a concept....

BEST PURCHASE IVE EVER MADE. It fits perfectly in my purse and doesnt hurt my eyes. The buttons are very convenient. I also like that it is easy to put any book on it, since I read a lot of self published EBooks like from Aiden E Messer. It is light enough to hold in one hand.

I bought the Kobo Libra Colour to replace my well-loved (and worn out) black and white Kobo Libra H2O. They are just about the same size and -- for my purposes -- function the same way. I didn't buy the Libra Colour for its color display -- as pleasant as it is -- or for any of the additional features not found on the H2O. To be honest, if Kobo still had a black and white e-reader in this size without the bells and whistles, I would have bought that and saved some money, but somethings like the color highlighting and note taking capacities are neat and would have been useful at an earlier point in my life. I did a side-by-side comparison of the same book page on the Libra Colour and the H2O. They looked pretty much the same to me, so I don't think adding color has diminished the reading experience. I do like the fact that the Libra Color weighs a bit less and is thinner. It also is a little more responsive than the H2O -- for example, pages turn faster. I was pleased with the quality of my H2O and expect to be equally pleased with the quality of the Libra Colour. Also, Kobo has now made their readers repairable, which is a big plus for me. Because I only use my e-reader to borrow books from my public library, I especially appreciate the fact that Kobo products have built-in OverDrive (Libby) integration, which means I can connect to my public library directly to browse, borrow and return books on the e-reader. Can't do this with a Kindle.

First off, I have the Kobo Clara Clour and absolutely love it. I think it's literally "the perfect eReader". Or close to it. Highly portable - fits in my pants pockets - all of them - and every jacket pocket. The Kobo user interface is the best out there, I think, and I really like the warm light, as it's not too yellow and orange like a lot of them out there. My only issue is it could be just a tiny bit brighter - like the Libra Colour. Having said that, it's really NOT an issue, just a tiny thing that might be nice, sometimes. But my vision sucks. The color on both the Clara and the Libra are identical. But, it's nice to have the slightly bigger book covers of the Libra, and the few extra lines of text on a page, at the same font size as the Clara. But... not a big deal for the Clara at all. In most regards, the Libra is just a bigger version of the Clara, with one big exception: The buttons. Having come from years reading on a Kindle Oasis - unarguably the best eReader ever made - I thought I would love the buttons on the Libra. Instead, I hate them. LOL. Well... kind of. Reason being, I don't really mind using my thumb to turn pages, these days, and, more importantly, I just got the Kobo Remote, which is AWESOME. Though expensive at $70. So, my current reading style is before bed, and in bed, and I pop the Libra Colour onto a magsafe little metal quad-pod stand, using the metal ring that comes with the stand and a clear PVC back-only case for the Libra. I set it up on my chest, laying there, and it's perfect. I can just use the remote and don't have to jostle around holding the kindle by the finger grip I usually attach to the back, via said magsafe ring. So... the buttons aren't needed, and just add weight and width to the device. A real bummer. It barely fits in my jacket pocket, and doesn't really fit in most pants pockets. It's saving grace is that I like the slightly bigger size for reading at night, and the slightly larger color book covers, so I'll keep it. I'm also keeping the Claras Colour, for sure, as it's just my favorite eReader ever, and truly hoping they come out with improvements to the COLOR along the way. It's good now, but it would be nice to have it clearer and brighter. If the Kindle Colorsoft had the Kobo user interface, I would be all over it. But Kobo's is just so much better. Especially for the Beta fFeatures where you can make everything bigger - text and user interface (Library and Settings pages). This is a REAL bummer not having those on the Kindle, as I slightly prefer the Kindle book offerings.

So far I'm in love with this e-reader! It's easy to read easy to load and it fits in any bag I have. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for an e-reader particularly if you want to stay away from Kindle.

So much better than a Kindle, I can put whatever I want on to it and it's great. I love having the physical buttons I can press so I don't have to move my hand to flip pages

i have been researching e-readers extensively before i bought my first one. i ended up with this bc of how easy i can upload books on to it or borrow them from libby. even after you’re done with the book it stays in your little library to show you what you’ve read previously. love the size. i can throw it in any purse (with a case on of course) and take it with me wherever. the screen is also great. love that i can adjust the brightness by swiping up and down on the left side of the screen. i also love to accessorize so i was able to get a kobo skin to cover it and make it more personalized. love it!