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E-readers and e-ink · Kobo

Kobo Clara HD

12owners with an opinion
67%of verdicts positive
2/3positive/negative since 2024
10 yrslongest happy owner
2happy after 3+ years

Praised for display and reliability; criticized for ease of use and software.

What owners wrote

Likes itOwned 10 yearsStill going
Likewise. I'd had a Kobo Glo HD for more than 10 years and it was still going strong. I looked at the new color screens and they didn't look as clear to me, though it was a subtle difference. Only got the Clara BW because I wanted to use the BT remote.
Neutral
Yeah, my old kobo clara hd fits in my pocket, but it's not perfect, feels like it would get damaged. I had been looking at the clara bw when I thought my hd was broken but managed to repair it. Do you have the X4 or X3? I imagine with the small size it's barely a few sentences per page? Feels like it would be difficult to read comfortably. Maybe it's like reading one of those tiny bibles.
Doesn’t like it
Yep. I bought one of these intentionally for that reason. The USB port on my Kobo Clara HD stopped working one day after I hadn't used it in a wile. Couldn't connect to it via my PC or my laptop. I did a bit of research and realized the Kobo I had won't work on a USB 3.0 connection, and that I had upgraded my PC and my laptop (all equipped with fancy smanchy USB 3.0 port) since I'd last used the Kobo.
Doesn’t like it
What software do you use on the device itself? I recently got a Kobo Clara HD, but software support seems to be a big issue. On one hand, there's folks using the vendor's OS, which looks like an abandoned custom-made Linux distro, where compiling anything is a nightmare. It's not really made to be hackable, but just to read books purchased via their partners. OTOH, there's a near-mainline kernel, which works nicely, and hacking on the device becomes much nicer, but e-reader-oriented software seems to commonly rely on kernel APIs only present in the vendor's abandoned fork, and won't work on a more mainline Linux. But this is a great target for actually developing stuff. I'm tempted to write my own minimal e-reader-focused DE, but honestly, I don't want another project on my hands and would like to use something that's already there.
Neutral
It's such a great piece of software IMHO. Calibre web support, opds catalogue, wallabag, ssh. And it supports so many file formats. I'd imagine the built in reader has improved a lot over the years, but at the time reading technical pdfs on it was not feasible. KOReader allowed me to rotate to landscape and reflow the pdf text. I almost got the Clara BW for Christmas, I thought my Clara HD was dead, wasn't sure if it was the battery or screen but it was failing to properly clear and update the screen. Someone actually bought the BW for me but I ended up returning it after I managed to recover the Clara HD. I was kind of looking forward to the waterproofing, but seems my old one is not yet ready to give up.
Doesn’t like it
That sounds neat! I have an old kobo clara HD. I run koreader through nickelmenu, and I have to let it load its native software before selecting and switching into koreader. I'm also under the impression that if I connect it to the internet I'm at risk of losing my setup via wireless update. I think I had to delete a config file by mounting the device to linux to be able to even use it without a walmart / ratuken / whatever idp account in the first place. Everyone here is lauding kobo for being so 'open' and 'hackable', but when I set mine up in 2022 it kind of just felt like they just weren't as good at fucking me over and subverting my intentions as Amazon. Kind of like being an intruder in your own home. Have things changed? Should I update my setup?
Likes it
I use a Kobo Clara HD. I think Claras are the second cheapest ones. No colour. I find the contrast about as good as a cheap paperback book. Not as good as good quality printing on acid-free paper, but that's OK. I actually prefer lower contrast, it gives me less eye fatigue and I've specifically chosen low-contrast themes on my computer for as long as I can remember. I think there is a way to not create the account if you really don't want to. I put KOReader on mine straight away and never use the built-in software. That also incidentally has an option to adjust the contrast.
Neutral
Yeah, they're the same reasons for me, but I'd like to say that depending on your use case, some stock firmwares are ok. Recently, my father bought the same eink device I have (Kobo Clara HD), and I promptly installed KOReader only to realize that the stock Kobo firmware (which, btw, you can and should update even if you use KOReader) is perfectly fine for him, and in fact better for his experience than the enormous amount of options and menus that KOReader offers. For me it's KOReader all the way, as I love the freedom, the fine-grained configuration possibilities, the connectivity. It's great that it exists.
Likes it
There's really not a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone. The options you listed seem to be larger devices with pen support, so is that what you're in the market for? I ask because the best pure ebook reader device is not necessarily the best device for PDF reading/annotation. Bigger screens are better for those--you really need at least a 10-inch screen if you want to comfortably read or edit PDFs. As close to a standard 8.5x11" piece of paper as you can get, ideally, because the majority of PDFs that you would be annotating will likely be physical paper scans. But if all you're reading are ebooks in formats that support text reflow (EPUB,MOBI,etc.), you can get away with the normal 6" readers, with the advantage that they're smaller and more portable, and cause less fatigue to hold in your hands for extended periods. Of the smaller e-readers, I personally favor the Kobo. The Clara HD had slightly better specs than the equivalent Kindle Paperwhite when it came out, in addition to better supporting the things I care about (like STANDARD ebook formats, Pocket integration, and Overdrive integration). So that was the right decision for me. But for my family, I've just recommended they get the Kindle Paperwhite, because most of them don't care about trying to pull their books out of the Amazon ecosystem.
Recommends it
Post author here. I'd still recommend going over to the MobilRead forums; and picking up an older Kobo device (like the Aura HD ^_^). They don't even need any user registration ( https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223155 ). There are full firmware dumps, and its super easy to modify. There are even some examples of running full blown Linux on them ( https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220350 ). Plus you can bypass Nickel and stick to something really nice like Koreader for reading; or Plato or CoolReader.