Product test
Pocketbook Verse Pro Color review: compact e-reader with physical buttons
by Michelle Brändle
I can’t put it down – the Kobo Clara Colour e-reader
2.7.2024
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
The Kobo Clara Colour is a classic, compact e-reader, just with a colour display. This freshens up the reading experience and allows for colourful markups in books.
A handy format, a colour display and long battery life. Exactly what I want from an e-reader. The Kobo Clara Colour delivers it all. The device also has special features for audio books and notes, albeit with limitations.
Display: E-Ink Kaleido for colourful markups
The colours aren’t really bright due to the technology, but it’s still a nice addition. Marking the e-books with different colours is particularly useful. This works well with the touch of a finger and the display reacts quickly enough to the gesture. I can display markups in an overview in the book.
The display also has built-in lighting, so I can enjoy my evening reading even without a bedside lamp. The blue light component adapts to the time of day and dips into a soft orange until the set bedtime. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s easy on my eyes.
If it’s still too bright for me, the Kobo Clara Colour also has a dark mode. However, this only works when reading an e-book. If I open the settings or the bookstore, for example, dark mode doesn’t work.
Hardware: durable lightweight
The almost A6-sized Kobo Clara Colour has plenty of space. The 16-gigabyte memory can store up to 12,000 e-books or 75 audiobooks. Not bad at all for a device that weighs just 174 grammes – and is lighter than my smartphone as a result.
The Kobo Clara Colour has a 1,500 mAh battery. Doesn’t sound like much compared to a smartphone with an average of three times the charge, but thanks to e-ink technology, I can still manage two to three weeks without charging the little Kobo. This applies if I read for about an hour a day and rarely use Bluetooth or WLAN.
I can also read carefree on the beach or in the bath: the Kobo Clara Colour is completely waterproof. According to IPX8 certification, the e-reader can withstand for one hour in up to two metres of fresh water.
Set-up and use: internet required initially
The first time I use the Kobo Clara Colour, I have to connect it to a Kobo account. This is done either via a QR code that I scan with my smartphone or directly via the device browser. The latter runs rather sluggishly, so I wouldn’t recommend this option. I can then buy and synchronise the books I want using my smartphone or browser.
However, I can only buy books through Rakuten’s Kobo store. Still, I can always drag other e-books and files onto the Kobo Clara Colour in the appropriate format. These include: EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR.
I particularly enjoy reading because of its handy size and light weight. I’m immersed in the story and barely notice that I’m holding a digital device in my hand. This is how it should be.
Further functions and accessories
If I just want to listen instead of reading, I can connect speakers or headphones via Bluetooth and select an audiobook from the Kobo store. There’s no jack socket for wired headphones, and the e-reader can’t play audiobooks from other providers.
A web browser is also available. However, it runs extremely slowly, I’d only use it to browse the internet when it’s really necessary.
Among other features, I find a notepad. This is kept minimalist and can only be operated with a finger. I can only scribble all over a page with one type of brush, then save this as an image. However, I don’t see it being used for anything more than a spontaneous shopping or to-do list. I can only roughly write and draw with my finger, and the features are severely limited. The Kobo Clara Colour doesn’t support pens.
In a nutshell
The colour display is a nice gimmick
The Kobo Clara Colour is an inexpensive, handy e-reader with a long battery life. The colour display isn’t really necessary, but it freshens up the overall picture and you can highlight important parts of your books in different colours. Its backlight is also useful for evening reading. It automatically adjusts the amount of blue light to the time of day.
An additional feature is the audiobook function, although this only works with Kobo audiobooks. But it’s still a nice change from reading. The internet, whether via web browser or as an e-book store, runs slowly on the e-reader. So when shopping for books, I recommend picking up a smartphone and downloading them from there. Despite its colour display, the Clara Colour isn’t suitable for comics – only mangas in black and white can be read on it.
Looking for a simple, affordable e-reader for light luggage without exclusively boring black and white? Then I can recommend the Kobo Clara Colour.
Pro
- handy and lightweight
- worth the price
- colour display for neat markups
Contra
- audiobooks only from Kobo
- browser somewhat slow
- not suitable for colourful comics
In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.
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