Kobo Libra 2

This gives me assurance that when my libra 2 eventually fails that I’ll be able to repair it instead of buying a new one. I love my ereader and have no need to replace it. I just loaded koreader onto it for the first time after 2-3 years of use stock. Feels like a new device! But stock was totally fine too. I just wanted OPDS and kosync.

> Did anyone compare these two side by side in real life for simple text? Yes, I have - I have a Kobo Libra 2 (BW), Boox Go 7 II (Color - same screen as color Kobos) and Boox Note Air 3 (Color). The issue isn't crispness really - when rendering B&W content the crispness is about the same. However, there's a massive issue with contrast - the Color screen background is very dark and they're basically unusable (for me) without driving them constantly at 80-100% backlight (even during the day). Even at 100% backlight, the page background is darker than the BW reader at like 30% backlight. This makes the reader eat more battery while being less pleasant for text reading. Moreover, in dark mode (light text on black background) the color screens all show severe ghosting artifacts which don't appear as much on BW screens. Having said that - reading comics and color books (e.g. programming books) looks great on the color screens. There's just something about that slightly less vibrant "papery" look that's very attractive.

A Kobo ereader is as open as I need it with koreader installed. The Kobo Libra 2 black and white is the best ereader I have ever had. (not the color version,,unfortunately a step back in reading quality for normal reading)

I'm with you on every bit. I love my Kobo Libra 2 and it lives on my nightstand table. It's an excellent reader. The X4 with CrossPoint is an alright reader, but I've been chewing through books on my morning commute because it fits in my jacket pocket and I can have it out on the train without bumping into other people. It's not the best reader I own, but it's the best reader I have on me at any given moment when I'm not laying in bed.

I gave up, bought a kobo libra2 that never saw an internet connection (you can find updated firmware online to download) and now just borrow epubs in the soulseek library.

A Kobo would be a great choice. I use a Kobo Libra 2 and love it a lot more than my old Kindle Paperwhite that got stolen: https://gl.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-libra-2 The Kobo Sage is also good because it has an 8" screen. Standard eBooks offers kepub format for Kobo devices and files, they use their advanced Webkit-based renderer: https://standardebooks.org/help/how-to-use-our-ebooks#kobo-f...

On my Kobo Libra 2 I never noticed a difference.

With my Kobo Libra 2, if I set justification to "off", it follows the justification that's in the ebook -- which usually tend to do exactly what you're asking, e.g., justify body text while leaving headers alone. When I switched over to Kobo a few years ago, it seemed much easier to manage custom fonts, too, although I think Kindle has improved in that regard. I don't think there's a tremendous amount of difference between the two in practice anymore, though. (In terms of text handling, that is.)

My Kobo Clara 2 shows up as a USB mass storage device, and I can just drag and drop pretty much any kind of document. There's also a sqlite database in there that contains, I think, all of the device's settings and other data, including some crypto stuff for the DRM books that I bought in Kobo's store. It did insist on an account when I first used it, though. This can be worked around by fiddling with the sqlite database, but I just signed up instead.

I also have a Kobo Libra 2 and sing it’s praises. I upgraded from an Oasis 2 and couldn’t be happier. When it comes to upgrade again, Amazon DRM readers will not even be looked at.

I have the Kobo libra 2. I love the thing, especially the Pocket integration.

That's why I love my Kobo Libra 2. Physical buttons, sweet spot for size, easy to sideload or I can buy on Kobo on device/mobile/desktop or sync pocket or get library books from overdrive/Libby.

I have a Kobo Libre 2 which I use purely offline. To transfer files, I drag and drop via a USB cable. It's a comfortable size, has good typeface options, and has two physical buttons for turning the pages. It's a pretty simple setup that I would recommend.

The Oasis is a great device with one fatal flaw: battery life. For some reason they nerfed the battery relative to the paperwhite so it lasts about a week instead of about a month. Probably won't bother a lot of people but it really bothered me. I read a lot and hate having to think about recharging. I ended up with the Kobo Libra 2, which has all the same features as the Oasis but also has a month-long battery. I love it overall, great little device. Includes some quality of life features beyond the Oasis, including auto color tone shifting of the front-light in the evening (cool to warm), being able to adjust the light by swiping up the left side of the screen, and more options for progress indicators / headers and footers than the kindle has. Kobo changes their lineup constantly, which means the Libra 2 has been replaced with a more expensive color version I haven't tried. Color on an e-ink screen is not an interesting feature to me, esp. not when it makes the device more expensive.

I have a Libra 2 for personal reading and an Elipsa 2E for journals. A couple of minor nits like you mentioned aside, I love them. They can read almost any format I throw at them, I can fetch books directly from my library, and if I add an article to Pocket on my laptop then it shows up on my Kobo next time I pick it up. I also read way more now that I've gotten the Libra, largely because it's so light and ergonomic for laying in bed at night and flipping pages. I added a popsocket to the back for easier 1-hand holding. The Elipsa is better for reading large content like Communications of the ACM or similar, where the Libra was simply too small to be readable. I hardly use the pen for either highlighting or notes, but it's there if I want it. If/when either of those die, I'll look at the color versions as potential replacements. It highly depends on how much of an effect the lower resolution has on readability. If it's less pleasant to read at night, or if PDF journal articles are a little fuzzier, I'd rather stick with B/W. If the only downside is that the screen is a bit darker so I have to turn the backlight up, then only get 2 weeks between charging instead of 4, I might consider it.

Disclaimer: Not a Kobo employee; don't have deep knowledge of their product line; just own and happily use a couple. The Elipsa 2E is very nice for large format reading and note taking. I bought it recently and compared it to other options from Boox and reMarkable. I ended up with it because I already had and enjoyed my Libra 2, and "like the Libra 2 but bigger and with a stylus" was appealing. That said, if I wanted something for your use case, I'd probably start with the Sage. The short version is it's a Libra 2 with a stylus, and that seems like it'd be a good combo. Somewhat related, I tried some non-electronic options for such things before, like a Rocketbook. Clever idea but I didn't like the implementation at all. Its OCR couldn't deal with my handwriting at all. I now have 2 distinctly separate note taking systems: - My Elipsa 2E for writing down meeting notes (while avoiding the distractions of an iPad or laptop, which is important for me personally but other people might not care about at all). - A paper journal (Traveler's Notebook) I take everywhere and use for my personal thoughts. - I lied. Number 3: "hey Siri, remind me ..." for capturing ideas while I'm out and about, and then I follow up with them when I get home. That works so well with AirPods, too. If I have an idea while I'm out jogging, I can ask Siri to remind me about it without breaking stride. First time I did that it felt like Star Trek.

I purchased a Kobo Libra 2 and it is indeed fantastic. Battery life is incredible, and syncing with the Libby app for books from my library is fantastic. I do wish it could integrate with Raindrop as opposed to Pocket, but the Pocket works okay enough. Can transfer .pdf or .epub from Linux/Mac/Windows easy, and it looks great on the device.

Kobo is really nice (I have a Libra 2 and have used a Sage) for reading ebooks and PDFs (and is decent for BW paginated manga), but the web browser sucks and there's no good RSS reader (koreader has one, but it's not very good). If you're not interested in online content, I'd totally recommend it. The build quality is miles ahead of others, and the screens don't have flat bezels so they don't get damaged easily. If you like browsing the web on your ereader, definitely try one from Onyx Boox - it's locked-down android and designed to break quickly, doesn't have many-day battery life but lasts long enough. My Poke 5 was inseparable for the ~9 months it lasted before dying after being dropped one too many times.

I have just bought the Kobo Libra 2 and I am very impressed, I have been using a Gen2 Kindle forever but finally decided I needed one with a backlight. Libra 2 is waterproof and seeing as I frequently read in the pool on holiday or in the hot tub etc this was a great feature for me. For your specific use case I would look at something like the ReMarkable or Supernote as they are almost A4 sized readers and would allow you to annotate the papers etc

Kobo Libra 2 is a great e-reader. Works well one-handed (screen rotates for left/right hands), has buttons for page turns. Integrates with Overdrive (what Libby uses). Drawbacks are Kobo's bookstore is weaker than Amazon/Apple. Screen is also not flush which means some dust can collect in the recess.