Hands-on Review: Kobo Libra Colour

We're often told not to judge a book by its cover, but it's hard not to with Kobo's latest premium eReader – the Libra Colour. In fact, Rakuten Kobo adopted a playful twist on the well-known idiom for the launch of its two new colour devices: "Judge your books by their colours".

While a colour screen is an upgrade that many users might deem gimmicky or unnecessary, it's one that really helps bring children's books, magazines and graphic novels alike to life. It also makes highlighting and annotating books much more functional.

At a cost of $399 NZD, the Libra Colour is a bit on the expensive side, but for the price, you get a high-quality, durable, eco-conscious eReader that's full of features. 

First impressions and setup

Straight out of the box, the Libra Colour is intuitive and simple to use, even more so if you've used other Kobo eReaders. Everything feels familiar except somewhat modernised with the flashes of colour. 

The eReader itself isn't overly fancy, but it feels like it's been designed to be as functional as possible. Available in either black or white, the exterior of the Libra Colour, like all of Kobo's products now, is made from more than 85 per cent recycled plastic, 10 per cent of which was bound for the ocean. There is also a nice textured finish on the back for extra grip should you choose to buy the device without a case. 

The 7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 display is surrounded by slim bezels, with an overall device size of 144.6mm x 161mm x 8.3mm. Weighing in just shy of 200g, there are just three buttons on the whole of the device – two on the slightly larger right side to skip through pages and a power button on the rear. 

Upon startup, you're required to connect to a Wi-Fi network, download any updates for the device and then log in to your Kobo account. Once done, you can go ahead and start downloading your books. 

Performance
eBooks and audiobooks can be bought either through the 'Discover' tab at the bottom of the device, or you can subscribe to Kobo Plus, which allows you to read as many eligible books as you like from $14.99 NZD per month. Kobo's library isn't quite as good as that found on an Amazon Kindle, but it's improving all the time.

Alternatively, you can link the device to your Dropbox or Google Drive account and download content that way. The Libra Colour is also compatible with Pocket, so you can read news articles.

For much of my reading, I opted to use the Libra Colour's OverDrive compatibility to link the device to my library card. 

Storage-wise, the Libra Colour boasts a 32GB hard drive – enough space for a mammoth 24,000 books. One minor issue, which I can only imagine would worsen the less storage there is remaining, is the speed in which a book can take to load – it often takes more than a few seconds to get going. If you choose to use the device to download and listen to audiobooks via the Bluetooth connection, that will quickly eat into the storage space.

The entire reading experience feels effortless, and the screen remains gentle on the eye, even after hours of reading your next page-turner. The colour of the screen looks great when it's in use and doesn't look anywhere near as washed out as it can on other models. The colours are vibrant for an eReader, and it really makes a difference with certain reading materials. There is a 'Dark Mode', to make the screen look even softer, and ComfortLight PRO which reduces the amount of blue light for bedtime. 

Reading can be done either in landscape or portrait mode, and you can turn pages either with a swipe of the screen or a press of a button. 

The Libra Colour feels sturdy and durable, is easy to use and requires low maintenance. It comes with IPX8 waterproofing, meaning it can last up to 60 mins in two metres of water. It's also got fantastic battery life - based on 30 minutes of daily reading, with the brightness at 30 per cent and wireless connections turned off, a single charge can last up to 40 days.
One of the standout features of the Libra Colour is the ability to annotate your books, although to do so you need to purchase a stylus. The Kobo Stylus 2 ($139 NZD) is designed to fit neatly between the eReader and a Kobo-branded sleep case and is the perfect accessory to help you make notes and highlight sections of your book for future reference. 

The stylus can also be used to make notes in the My Notebooks section of the device, where there's also the capability to doodle, make notes and convert your handwriting into text. 

Verdict
The Kobo Libra Colour is targeted at book lovers and is a match made in heaven for those who like to keep a journal or make lots of notes. The addition of the colour screen won't be a necessity for most users, but it does add some sparkle to your reading time.

It's certainly one of the best eReaders on the market right now, but it's also a considerable investment. To get the most out of the Kobo Libra Colour, the stylus is required, and I'd also recommend a case, given the price of the device. All in, this equates to around $580 NZD.

Although eReaders perhaps aren't for everyone (I know several people who much prefer a traditional book and like to exchange titles with friends once done), the whole concept is sustainable. Kobo is now going above and beyond with its largely recycled manufacturing process, paired with a company philosophy aimed to largely reduce its carbon footprint.
Besides the cost, the Kobo Libra Colour is a pleasure to use - it not only encourages you to judge your books by their colours, it makes them a joy to read too.