Kobo Clara BW eReader with Case Bundle (Clear Case, Case Bundle)

I purchased this as a present for my son who loves to read. He loves it and takes it everywhere even camping. I would recommend it.

Wish I would have purchased the larger screen, a replacement for an older kobo lite that seemed to have a larger screen

I have had no less than four Kindles that: "froze up" completely, or had the touch screen start "working" on its own, or stopped being able to sideload my books, or have a battery that only lasts an hour. So, I am swearing off Kindle's to see how long a KOBO lasts and how well it works. So far, so good. It is solidly built and comfortable to hold. The screen is crisp and clear, and I love the natural light. I like the side of the screen swipe for brightness, and for the most part the software is easy to find and to use. The battery charges quickly and lasts longer than the Kindle. I love not having the adverts and being able to read numerous formats. But, there are a few problems: 1) The thing is painfully slow, this is especially noticeable doing annotations, but also in changing fonts, margins and spacing; 2) I do a lot of annotations and the slowness and lack of response of the touch screen makes it difficult to get it right. I end up redoing it half the time, sometimes more than once; 3) Exporting the annotations they end up with all the code embedded, so, in able to really use them I have to go through a number of steps to delete the code; 4) the illustrations are embedded, but I can't enlarge them. This can be a game changer if one needs to read charts or see detail. Maybe there is a workaround, I don't know. My conclusion is that it would be about 5 stars if one is reading bestsellers and novels, but only 2 stars if one is doing research and needs annotations and illustrations. Average: 3 stars.

It works - sort of - sometimes. Try opening a book 'foo fast' after starting? Crash. Skip through the last few pages so it shows up as complete? Crash. These are if the system doesn't lock up, and you try everything but the Konami Code on the button to get it to reset. Sleep sometimes works (but still drains battery); if it powers off while in Sleep Mode, you'll lose your place in what you're reading.

I was given this as a gift. First the great. The size is wonderful and easy to hold while reading. The screen is easy on the eyes no matter the light level. At night I turn off lights as I invariably fall asleep while reading. I love the fact that it automatically sleeps and to wake it up just close and reopen the cover. However!!! To solve downloading problems I download using Libby on my phone and then sync with Kobo. Overdrive often does not have access to the book even though it is the same library so I am denied the wonderful reading experience that is Kobo. Kobo needs to update to Libby which I find vastly superior to Overdrive which is clunky. Sometimes it simply refuses to wake up and turning it on and off is way more difficult than it needs to be. It does not always reliably sync sometimes taking several tries. I have read on phone, tablets and amazons readers and this one is so much better and would leave all other riders in the dust if it fixed the on off button, made it sync more reliably and got rid of the limited Overdrive.

The battery last forever, it's portable and waterproof which is nice... the indented screen helps with glare and I can read it comfortably in direct sunlight... plus, kobo still allows for direct download from a computer via usbc cable. Moreover, I am sold on Kobo vs other ereaders because I can still own my books and not lose access to them if I stop paying a monthly subscription. I also really like the build in dictionary and variable font options vs direct competitors... I'm happy with the product and the price, and I'd buy it over the competitor brands at this point even if it were more expensive having freedom to download outside of the Kobo environment and to keep my books for being off grid is invaluable to me.