Kobo Clara HD Review: An Affordable E-Book Reader

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It's hard to believe that it's been eight years sincesince Kobo released its first e-book, which was ambitious but somewhat impractical. What she really lacked was support for Wi-Fi or cellular communication and, if there was a need to download a book, the gadget needed to be connected to a laptop or computer. I'm on the test Kobo Clara HD.

Kobo Clara HD is a budget e-readerfor books to compete with Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite device. The novelty does not have features that you will find on expensive devices like the Kobo Aura One and Kindle Oasis, but with a price of $ 130 ($ 8,600) the gadget has everything you need to read.

Ergonomic design

Big screen

Performance

Convenience and management

Supported Formats

Battery autonomy

Are there alternatives?

Warranty and price

Should I buy?

Kobo Clara HD - ergonomic design

Budget Kobo Clara HD combines lightweight(166 g) and compact body with ergonomic design. The 6-inch E Ink display has a density of 300 pixels per inch (ppi). Thick frames around the screen look a bit outdated, although this solution is great for comfortable holding the device while reading.

At the bottom is a port for charging Micro-USB next to the power button. This cannot be considered a disadvantage, since even the most expensive e-books still use MicroUSB.

The back of the Clara HD is textured and lightlycurved, so that the gadget is ideally located in the hand. With a weight of 170 grams, it is one of the easiest e-books I have used, and the 6-inch form factor makes the device an ideal travel companion.

Kobo Clara HD is not a waterproof device. Although protection from water, I met only on some expensive e-books, so it is not surprising that there is no one here.

Big screen

On the E-Ink screen, the text is displayed very clearly, andswitching between pages happens almost instantly. Clara HD has an automatic brightness control, and there is a slider that allows you to manually adjust the brightness according to preferences. The screen is perfectly readable in the open air, even in direct sunlight. Using the settings you can set 1 of 11 different fonts with 40 size options, as well as adjust the sharpness.

Like other e-books from Kobo, Clara HDuses Comfort Light Pro technology. This is essentially a filter that automatically reduces the amount of blue light at night. The screen becomes more orange and the eyes almost never get tired of a long reading in the dark.

Performance

The internal components of Kobo Clara HD are nothingremarkable, although during the use of the gadget there are no problems. Inside, a 1 GHz processor is installed along with 512 MB of RAM. Books load quickly. Internal memory is 8 GB, which is twice as much as on Kindle Paperwhite or Kobo Aura. This volume allows you to store about 6000 books inside the device.

Convenience and management

If you have ever used beforeKobo e-reader, the software Clara HD will be familiar to you. When turned on, the device opens the main page, which displays the book you are currently reading, as well as a library of all your books.

There is an e-book store along with a list.recommendations for you. At the top is a drop-down menu button for quick access to device functions, as well as a battery indicator, search bar, a sync icon, and a brightness control indicator.

In addition to all the main features, KoboClara HD has Pocket integration, the management icon of which can be found at the bottom of the main screen. The activity mode allows you to track the reading time, the average number of minutes per session and the number of books read. This is a simple but convenient feature for people who save their time.

Clara HD has one major drawback -lack of overdrive integration. This feature, which was first introduced on the Kobo Aura One, allows you to quickly download books from the library directly to your device. Yes, books can be added manually, but this is a rather lengthy process that requires constant connection to a computer.

Supported Formats

In addition to the bookstore numberingmore than five million titles, Kobo Clara HD supports more than a dozen different formats, including EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT, HTML, RTF, etc. Buying e-books from the Kobo store is the easiest way to get the literature you are interested in, but then there are Problems with Russian-language literature.

In the store you also will not find newspapers ormagazines that were available here a few years ago. According to company representatives, this feature has been removed so that Kobo can concentrate fully on the core business, the e-books.

Battery autonomy

Claimed battery life Kobo Clara HDfew weeks. I used the reader for about a week, and the indicator still showed almost full battery charge. I can say with confidence that you will not have to worry about the constant charging of this device.

Are there alternatives?

Kobo Clara HD - one of the best budgete-books. Kindle Paperwhite is a similar device as a whole and even at a price if you prefer the library of e-books from Amazon. But if you're ready to spend a little more money, I recommend looking at Kobo Aura One or Amazon Kindle Oasis.

Kobo Clara HD cost and warranty

Clara HD from Kobo costs $ 130 ($ 8,600) and comes with a one-year warranty against manufacturer defects. If any problems arise, the device can be sent to Rakuten Kobo for repair or replacement.

Total

Kobo Clara HD has all the features you expect.from e-book reader entry level. The device is very light, has an impressive 6-inch HD-display, 8 GB of internal memory and automatic brightness control for night reading.

Should I buy?

Yes. If you're looking for a good entry level e-book, Clara HD is a great option.