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Kobo Clara BW Review
Diminutive alternative to the Kindle
My love of e-ink devices is well documented on Medium. While they aren’t for everyone, they’re easy on the eye and offer remarkable battery life. As far as e-readers go, I’ve only used Amazon Kindles, but I’m eager to move away from Amazon’s stranglehold on ebooks. Enter Kobo. With all eyes on Kobo’s recent release of colour devices, there is little in the way of content relating to the Clara BW. I thought I’d share some thoughts as a fairly heavy reader and as someone who has come from the Amazon Kindle ecosystem.
The Clara is made of hard recycled plastic. The plastic on the front of the device in particular is textured making it relatively nice to hold. There’s something about the large ‘chin’ at the bottom of the device that makes the whole thing look a little dated. I was struck by it immediately, but have grown accustomed to it’s early 2000s e-reader aesthetic. It is quite a chunky little device, which I think comes from the fact that the battery is actually replaceable (one hopes this feature may extend the life of your product)! Nevertheless, the Clara BW is easily pocketable and weighs very little. Weight is distributed evenly so it’s easy to hold with one hand or to prop up on the arm of a chair. I’m not sure if I’d want to put a case on the device as it might add a good deal of unnecessary weight (plus, Kobo’s…
