Steve Job’s biography was the first book that truly sparked my love for reading. That led me to read books like The $100 Startup and Hooked, among many similar genres. However, space constraints led me to Blinkist, which was great for quick learning but lacked depth.

I then switched to Kindle Paperwhite, which I later gave to my brother due to the lack of time, and went back to Blinkist.

Recently, I acquired a Kobo Libra Colour locally in Singapore, hoping it’ll revive my reading habit. So, how’s Kobo Libra Colour?

A look at Kobo Libra Colour

The Kobo Libra Colour is Rakuten Kobo’s endeavour to overshadow the renowned Amazon Kindle, and it successfully does so with its eye-catching colour e-ink feature.

Although the colours aren’t as vivid and saturated as those on smartphones and tablets, they mimic the appearance of a physical book more closely, at least to me. Leaving it on standby where it displays cover of the book you are reading in colour stimulates an immediate desire to start reading, which effectively distinguishes Kobo from Kindle.

Books variety and options

Kobo offers a vast library of books for purchase, including sought-after titles unless they have specific licensing tie-up with other publishers. For example, a quick search for the book “Think Twice” by Harlan Coben, a New York Times Best Seller in June 2024, will yield results.

If you can’t find the titles you’re looking for, there are other options. You can search for them on Overdrive, also known as Libby by National Library Board (NLB) in Singapore. You can also upload ePub and PDF versions of books to your Dropbox or Google Drive. Yes, the Kobo Libra Colour lets you access your files from these cloud storage services. Not to mention, you can access your Pocket reads, and listen to audiobooks on the Kobo Libra Colour too.

Reading experience

So far, the reading experience on the Kobo Libra Colour has been thoroughly enjoyable. The two buttons on the side, which I wished my Kindle Paperwhite had, allow me to comfortably hold the e-reader and switch pages with ease.

Adjusting the text size is intuitive, similar to pinching the screen on a phone or tablet. However, it may take some patience to find the perfect font size.

The built-in dictionary is convenient for looking up unfamiliar words, which you can then add to a reference list for future use. The auto-rotate feature, though not frequently used, is a nice touch.

Writing Notes

Note-taking is a key selling point of the Kobo Libra, which is why the Kobo Stylus 2 (sold separately for S$99) exists.

You can jot down notes on the books you’re reading or use templates for meetings or sudden ideas. Using it in meetings is sure to draw attention, even from iPad users.

The writing experience is decent, not too dissimilar to writing on an iPad, unless your iPad has a Paper-like screen laminate for a better writing experience. Comparing the two, I prefer writing on a Kobo. It seems to have excellent palm rejection.

The Kobo Libra Colour can convert your handwriting to text with high accuracy, even if your handwriting isn’t particularly legible. If you need to rewrite, just flip the Stylus around and erase your scribbles like how you would with a pencil.

There are also gestures you can learn to enhance your writing experience so that you can be a Kobo note-taking pro.

Battery Life

I’ve had my Kobo Libra Colour for a few weeks and haven’t needed to charge it yet. The battery life dropped from 50% to 25%, but I’m confident it will last for another few weeks. On paper, Kobo says that it will last up to 2 months.

If you do need to charge it, the device typically takes around 3 to 4 hours to reach full charge, and yes, it uses USB-C.

Should You Get the Kobo Libra Colour?

I never expected to rekindle my love for reading, particularly on an e-reader. While physical books have their charm, the humidity in Singapore tends to attract silverfish and mold.

Given that I can potentially store up to 24,000 books on a single device that weighs just over 200 grams, it’s a great investment and one that’s worth my conversion from a purist to a pragmatist.

If you’re an avid reader who prefers e-readers over phones and tablets, I would recommend the Kobo Libra Colour over its non-colour counterparts due to its colour display and note-taking features. More options are always good. It comes in two colours – Black and White.

At S$329.90, it may be a bit pricey for some. Luckily, Kobo offers a more affordable alternative, the Kobo Clara Colour at S$229.90, which has similar features but lacks cloud storage connection and compatibility with the Kobo Stylus.

Where to buy Kobo Libra Colour

You can find both on Lazada and Shopee, where you’ll likely find cheaper options as well. I purchased mine through SourceIT Technology in locally, which saved me a lot of hassle. This is because my first Kobo Libra Colour had a screen defect, and if I had bought it directly from Kobo, I would have had to ship it back for a one-to-one exchange and cover the shipping costs.

Buying it locally allowed me to communicate and arrange a one-to-one exchange in a shorter timeframe.

Now, I think you might be concerned about this screen issue. Currently, I don’t see many people discussing it, other than a Taiwanese customer and myself when we chatted about it on Reddit.

So, these are potentially isolated cases. 😑