It’s also a shame that Kobo hasnt improved the battery life or increased the storage from 16GB.
It also still uses a 1GHz processor.
Thats good value for money where performance is concerned.
(Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)
According to Kobo, the Clara BW comes in just one colorway black.
Strangely, though, my test unit had black bezels on the front but a navy-blue rear panel.
The display here, though, is the headline.
The Carta 1300 makes the screen more responsive and adds more contrast.
Brightness, too, is adjustable.
The fact that its got an IPX8 waterproof rating helps with giving you some peace of mind.
Kobos UX is user-friendly and easy to navigate around.
PDF and TXT files are also natively supported, plus two comic formats help display manga well.
Disconnect, allow the ereader to finish a sync and youre ready to get reading.
One interesting feature on all Kobo ereaders is the Activity option in the controls pane.
Importantly, Kobo rewards you for reading more, awarding you badges as you hit specific targets and milestones.
This goes a long way in developing reading into a habit.
As with all Kobo ereaders, OverDrive and Pocket support are baked in.
Kobo also allows you to lock the gadget by applying a four-digit PIN.
With the Clara BW, that performance has gone up a notch because of the Carta 1300 screen.
Despite still using a 1GHz processor, its faster than the previous Clara models or the Kindle.
Even when it comes to displaying text, theres none better.
Even at full brightness, the Clara BW screen was the clear winner when comes to readability.
(Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)
Even inputs via the on-screen keyboard didnt have any lag during my testing period.
Reading for approximately 2 hours each day at these configs gave me 35 days of use five weeks.
Performance score: 5 / 5
Should I buy the Kobo Clara BW?
(Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)
And there are step-by-step instructions to help you make those repairs too.
I prefer a 7- or 8-inch display for reading on.
For the latter, I paired a set ofBose QuietComfort Ultra Earbudsto listen.
(Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)
Through this testing period, I spent approximately three hours listening to audiobooks.
This also gave me an idea of how easy it is to add new fonts to the rig.
Read we test
[First reviewed May 2024]
(Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)
The Amazon Kindle (left) doesn’t have as much contrast as the Kobo Clara BW (right)
