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The Kobo Clara Colour offers more freedom to access books and reading materials than its better-known competitor.

Tessa Flores is a Staff Writer for HuffPost covering a number of shopping topics and lifestyle trends.

I’m among the shoppers who recently studied the variety of e-reading devices on the market. (As a stalwart book purist, it finally took me until earlier this year to make the transition to one of these devices, and I regret not surrendering to the life-changing convenience sooner.) Though I ended up opting for the cellphone-sized Boox Palma Pro 2 — mainly because I wanted something compact enough to throw in my smallest handbag, plus I was drawn to its Android 15 operating system — the Kobo Clara Colour was a close second for its colorful display and app versatility.

Amazon launched its latest color e-reader to great fanfare last year, and the technology doesn’t come cheap, with the starting model clocking in at $250. This is not to say that Kindles are not excellent e-readers — they offer some of the fastest refresh times, crispest displays and the least amount of ghosting (a typical characteristic of devices that use e-ink). However, these readers do come with their limitations. Ads will appear when you lock the screen, which is an annoyance to some, and can only be disabled by paying a $20 fee. More importantly, when you use a Kindle, you’re limited to using Amazon’s proprietary app and can’t directly import content from third-party sources like Barnes & Noble or the library app Libby. (You can read book purchases from other platforms on your Kindle, but you’ll have to go through an extra step to add them to the device.)

Kobo’s Clara Colour e-reader, on the other hand, hosts a variety of apps that allow you to purchase or borrow digital books while offering snappy functionality and a similar color display that Kindle users pay a premium for. In addition to the apps mentioned above, you can also install books from Google Play and Kindle. So even if you already have tons of regular books and audiobooks saved in your Kindle library, you can still have full access to them on the Kobo. You can also read Substack, news or other saved internet articles by using easy-transfer tools such as Instapaper.

The glare-free and full-color Ink Kaledio display is matte to have a real paper feel and intuitively adjusts brightness levels so it can be easily seen in direct sunlight and transfers to warm light in the dark, so it’s easy and strain-free on the eyes. You can even personalize your specific reading settings like font size and line spacing so reading is as comfortable as possible.

With enough storage for up to 12,000 eBooks and a battery life that reviewers say “is fantastic, easily lasting for weeks of daily reading on a single charge,” the Kobo is waterproof up to 60 minutes in up to two meters of water, so read confidently in the bath, on the beach or poolside.

And if you’re someone like me, who loves to annotate their hard texts or is constantly defining and recording new words, shifting to an electronic e-reader like the Kobo Clara Colour makes that process even easier. With just one click on a word or segment of text, you can automatically define, highlight in your desired color, add notes, translate, save or look up any piece of copy, which can all be filed away for later reference.

″I am absolutely thrilled with this eReader. The color screen is a total game changer, making book covers and color illustrations look beautifully vibrant while still keeping that gentle, glare-free quality that is so easy on the eyes. It is incredibly lightweight and comfortable to hold for hours at a time, and the software feels fast and snappy when turning pages or browsing. The battery life is fantastic, easily lasting for weeks of daily reading on a single charge. It is a wonderful, highly portable device that makes it incredibly easy to take a whole library with you on the go.” —Yeira Estrada

“I was a Kindle girlie for the longest until I switched over to the Kobo. Its extremely responsive and I love how the colors look on this. I’ve been reading nonstop on my Kobo so I’ve been using and abusing it. But the battery life is pretty good.” —JD

“I spent a good amount of time deciding between a Kindle and a Kobo before making my purchase, and after using the Kobo Clara Colour, I’m confident I made the right choice for my needs.

One of the biggest factors for me was size. I do most of my reading at night in bed, often lying on my side and holding the device in one hand. Many e-readers feel too large or awkward in that position, but the size of the Kobo Clara Colour is just right. It’s comfortable to hold for long periods and easy to carry around during the day as well. Another major plus is how simple it is to load content. I read a lot of books, articles, and documents in EPUB format, and transferring those files to the Kobo is incredibly easy. Connecting it to my laptop and dragging files over is fast and hassle-free, especially compared to the more tedious process I’ve experienced with Kindle devices.

The built-in browser available through the beta features leaves a lot to be desired, but that hasn’t been an issue for me. This isn’t meant to replace a tablet, and it performs best when you treat it purely as an e-reader. Overall performance has been very solid. There’s occasionally a slight lag when turning pages, but it’s minimal and doesn’t affect the reading experience. Overall, I’ve been really happy with the Kobo Clara Colour and expect it to be my go-to e-reader for a long time.” —melinda b.

“Let mr start with saying that I have a kindle basic bought it last year and I love my kindle. I wanted to compare it to the kobo and I absolutely love my kobo! It’s faster and just overall more fun! I decided to put my kindle away and use my kobo so I can truly see which one I prefer more but if you are even thinking of getting this device ...BUY it you won’t be disappointed!” —Briana