Its also waterproof and portable, allows you to listen to audiobooks, and offers decent battery life too.
With no other functionality on board, its distraction-free reading at its best and in color too.
Even the download status bar is that color.
The navy blue rear panel of the Kobo Clara BW (left) and the black of the Kobo Clara Colour (right)
Page turns are fast, the on-screen keyboard is responsive and the battery life is good too.
Its waterproof, lightweight and portable as well.
All other color ereaders worth their salt are more expensive.
When it comes to repairability, kits and guides are available in select marketsvia iFixit.
Screen assembly for the Clara Colour is also available.
Less glare also means you wont be spotting smudged fingerprints as much either.
Thats not to say the screen is reflective far from it.
That said, the built-in frontlight on the display can help reduce those bright spots.
Its a simple design that reflects the devices single-minded purpose of digital reading.
The navy blue rear panel of the Kobo Clara BW (left) and the black of the Kobo Clara Colour (right)
Its also possibly one of the most repairable ereaders on the market, along with its 2024 siblings.
Kobo has partnered with iFixit to provide spare parts and instructions on how to perform some repairs.
Unlike the more expensive Kobo ereaders, theres noGoogleDrive or Dropbox support on the Clara Colour.
File support is good, although not as extensive as what youll get on an Onyx ereader.
Two comic files are also supported, plus 4 image formats.
So you may need to keep an eye on the storage if you’re more into audiobooks than ebooks.
The More pane on the Kobo Clara Colour (right) misses out on the Google Drive and Dropbox support seen on the Kobo Libra Colour (left)
A new addition to the Clara Colours options is the option to reduce rainbow effect when viewing in color.
I suppose, if color content starts to look a little strange, selecting this setting might help.
Dark Mode is available here and that only inverts text color while youre reading an ebook.
The Kobo Libra Colour (left) and the Clara Colour (right) have dark mode, with color content displayed as is. Only text is inverted.
Kindle allows for it, so I think its time Kobo adopted a similar option.
Its faster in that respect and, just like its bigger sibling, has a peppy screen performance.
As with other ereaders, the Clara Colour will give you weeks of reading pleasure on a single charge.
So you’re free to definitely get more.
Should I buy the Kobo Clara Colour?
And to be able to see content in color is an added bonus.
It does enhance the reading experience.
You want more screen real estate
I cant be alone in finding a 6-inch screen too small.
If you need more features, particularly note taking, youll need to look elsewhere.
Marginally bigger and heavier than the Amazon Kindle (2022), the Kobo Clara Colour is still light and portable.
Its a great little ereader if you want a small display and easy access to Amazons reading ecosystem.
I used it alongside the Kobo Libra Colour as well as the rather different-lookingOnyx Boox Palma.
I also had the brief pleasure of comparing it to the Kobo Clara BW as well.
It also gave me access to myKobo Plussubscription, which is where I found some audiobooks to listen to.
Read we test.
[First reviewed April 2024]
