Looking for a Kindle alternative? Try the Kobo Libra Color

However, will the splash of colour enough to take on the Kindle’s monochromatic mastery?

At this point, that question may be moot—as we reported last week, the Amazon Kindle has been unavailable in the Indian market for months now. In fact, if you search for Kindle e-readers on Amazon.in, the top results are for Kobo devices. 

Now let's find out what the Kobo Libra Color actually looks and feels like.

Display

What’s the big deal about a colour e-ink display? Aside from the fact that these displays—the E Ink Kaleido 3 display in this case—have finally become affordable enough to pack into a consumer-grade device, they do promise to add a new dimension to your e-reading experience, at least in theory. A colour screen lets you not only see the covers of your ebooks the way the publisher intended, but you can finally enjoy graphic novels and illustrated children’s books in a way you simply couldn’t earlier in grayscale.

Pulling up my long-treasured PDF versions of Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes and Harari’s Sapiens: A Graphic History, both really came to life on the Libra Color’s display. You can pick up books from the Kobo store, although the India curation and pricing leaves a lot to be desired.

Saving the day is Dropbox and Google Drive support for bringing in your collection of EPUB, PDFs and several other file formats, plus there’s integration with the Pocket read-it-later app for articles you may have previously saved. There’s audiobook support as well, purchased directly from the Kobo store and streamed directly over Bluetooth wireless headphones, though with the prohibitive pricing of the audiobooks, one sees few takers.

That said, you’d best temper your expectations from the colour e-ink display, as colors don’t quite pop on-screen the way you’d be used to a traditional LCD screen on your smartphone or iPad, and the muted color experience is closer to a printed newspaper or a faded comic book from your childhood, than say the glossy weekend supplements or a coffee table book.

Between that and the smaller 7-inch screen which does get cramped for some graphic novels, your mileage may vary, although I will add that the bright brightness setting will go a long way in making the color display shine. For everyday e-books though, the Libra Color’s screen is easy to read, even in direct sunlight, and with the automatic front lighting changing from cool to warmer tones as the day progresses to reduce the amount of blue light closer to bedtime, it’s comfortable to read even as the sun sets.

Having used Kindle Paperwhites for years, one did note that the Kindle’s lighting is more uniform, but it’s only noticeable if you have both on hand to compare. Screen resolution is 1,680 by 1,264 pixels, which translates to a fairly standard pixel density of 300 pixels per inch (ppi) for black-and-white text and 150ppi for color.

And, while the colour display alone is a worthy upgrade, Kobo has appeased serial note-takers and highlighters alike with the e-reader’s ability to highlight and write in color, if you’re willing to drop an additional Rs. 6,899 on the Kobo Stylus 2. The stylus magnetically attaches itself to the Kobo, so it’s worth considering if you like to scribble in the margins a lot.

Design

Having used the previous Libra e-reader, there isn’t much change, design- wise, from the second gen product we reviewed last year. That’s not necessarily a bad decision, as the Libra 2 was among the most ergonomically designed e-readers around, with its slightly upward curved thicker bezel and physical page turn buttons allowing for extended single-handed use.

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The use of plastics for the chassis may make it feel a tad less premium, but it helps keep the weight down to under 200g despite a larger capacity battery— the Libra 2 was 215g—while utilizing 80% recycled materials including plastics that would otherwise have made their way into the ocean and other water bodies. Speaking of, the device has an IPX8 rating, meaning it’s waterproof for up to 60 minutes in up to 2 meters of water, so bathtub or swimming pool reads are actively encouraged!

Tech Specs

Switching to a colour display which supports writing does draw additional power, so there’s an upgraded 2GHz processor and a larger 2050mAh battery, alongside the 32GB of non-expandable support. While Kobo’s user interface is streamlined and easy to navigate, there is the slightest amount of lag when opening ebooks or returning to the home screen, but everything else, from page turns to using the on-screen keyboard, is snappy. Unlike your other gadgets, battery life is not something you need to worry about on a daily or even a weekly basis, and the Libra Color lasted me well into the third week with about an hour of reading daily. Topping up via the USB-C port is quick, with 90% levels within an hour and another hour to full top it off.

Verdict

Unlike the current crop of e-readers, the Kobo Libra Color arrives with a one-two punch of a color display and writing capabilities, at the same launch price as the monochromatic Libra 2 that came before it. As with Kobo e-readers that came before it, I’d recommend this to folks who have a large offline library of their own to bring on board, rather than folks who have most of their digital bookshelves with Amazon. The Libra Color’s pricing, while competitive to the dwindling supplies of Kindle Oasis, really only targets the most committed of e-book readers.