The Clara series has been in a pretty good place. It’s small, easy on the wallet, and a step up from the Nia. Other models, like the Sage are made for serious digital readers with features like a super-sized 8-inch screen and physical buttons. The Clara, on the other hand, is made for people who just want a good eReader experience. It even has high-end features from Kobo eReaders that cost more, like the company’s excellent ComfortLight PRO. The new Kobo Clara 2E is the most recent version of the Clara, and it has a lot of improvements over the Clara HD. But it wasn’t necessary.
It turned out that the Kobo Clara 2E can handle rainstorms better than this, well, Californian writer. Now that I was back inside, I was wet and upset, so I clicked the power button nervously and hoped I wouldn’t break it. Even though it had been outside in a storm for about twenty minutes, the e-reader turned on and worked as usual.
The Clara 2E doesn’t look much different from the model it replaces in terms of its shape. It is made of hard black plastic and has a 6-inch screen. There are a few small changes, like a different texture on its back and a tiny bit more size. It still has advanced Kobo features like the excellent ComfortLight Pro (with adjustable colour temperature), TypeGenius, and built-in OverDrive support (for borrowing eBooks from libraries). It’s made to be a simple eReader with a few high-end features to make the user’s experience better.
Kobo Clara 2E review: Design
The Kobo Clara 2E comes in a small box with a USB-A to USB-C cable and a quick-start guide. When you open the box, you’ll see that the front of the e-reader looks almost exactly like the Clara HD. It’s all black, with a big chin that says “Kobo” on it.
When you turn it over, you’ll see a wavy pattern in a beautiful deep ocean blue colour on the back cover. This is a nice change from the Clara HD, which had a black cover and dots on the back. The new Kobo e-reader is all about being green and uses recycled plastic that would have ended up in the ocean. This makes the blue, wave-like back cover make even more sense. The device is also easier to hold because of the texture of the waves, and because it is small, you can hold it in one hand like a smartphone. Its small size also makes it easy to store in a pocket in a backpack, suitcase, or purse.
Like the Clara HD, the 6-inch screen isn’t flat; it’s recessed, which means that dust and dirt may gather in the corners over time. It’s important to remember that the Clara 2E and the Clara HD have slightly different overall sizes.
The older device is 110 x 159.6 x 8.35 mm, while the newer one is 112.05 x 159.02 x 8.66 mm. This is most clear when you try to put a Clara HD cover on this e-reader. It will take some extra work to get it on, but it will fit very snugly. If you look at the device’s edges, you’ll see that it only has one port: a USB-C port for charging on the bottom. The power button has been moved from the bottom of the e-reader to the back, which makes it easier to use and look better. There are no built-in speakers, so if you want to listen to audiobooks, you’ll need to connect a Bluetooth headset or speaker.
Kobo Clara 2E review: Display
The Kobo Clara 2E’s size is one of our favourite things about it. It’s small enough to fit in a pocket. The device is 6.26 inches tall, 4.41 inches wide, and 0.34 inches thick. It weighs 6.03 ounces and isn’t too heavy, so holding it won’t tyre your hands and arms during long reading sessions. Even though big-screen ebook readers have their place, the Clara 2E has a lot going for it because it is small and easy to carry around.
The display is a 6-inch, 1,448-by-1,072-pixel, 300ppi E Ink Carta 1200 touch screen. That’s a step up from the Kobo Nia, which costs $109.99 and has a 6-inch screen with 212ppi. On the black-and-white screen, both text and pictures look bright and clear.
The Clara 2E can be changed in many ways. It has 13 fonts and more than 50 font styles. With the ComfortLight Pro tool, you can also change the brightness and colour temperature to get the right amount and warmth of light for your eyes. As with many modern devices, there is a “dark mode” that flips the text and background, which makes it easier for some people to read. We like the light mode better because it looks more like traditional book pages, but it’s nice to have the choice.
Kobo Clara 2E review: Features
The Kobo Clara 2E is more powerful than the Clara HD because it has a 1GHz dual processor, 16GB of built-in storage, and 512MB of RAM. This eReader is now completely waterproof, which is a huge improvement over the last one. This is great news for people who like to read on the beach, by the pool, or even in the tub. It has an IPX8 rating, which means it can stay dry for up to an hour in up to two metres of water. But keep in mind that you won’t be able to use the touchscreen while underwater. So if you want to stop and read while scuba diving, you’ll have to think again.
The ComfortLight Pro from Kobo is one of my favourite things about this eReader. ComfortLight Pro makes it easy to change the brightness by hand, and the colour changes automatically throughout the day. It depends on the time of day, not the lighting, but it’s a great way to cut down on blue-light exposure, and it makes a huge difference when reading before bed.
Audiobooks can now be played on the Kobo Clara 2E, which is another important new feature. There are no speakers built in, so you have to use Bluetooth to connect to your wireless headphones or smart speakers. I was able to connect it quickly, and the sound was good even when I turned up the volume.
Kobo Clara 2E review: Battery life
During our testing, the Kobo Clara 2E’s battery life was a bit unpredictable. Right out of the box, the brand-new device had 74% battery life, and it took us two weeks of reading one to two hours a day to get it down to 1%. This is with the screen brightness set to 25%, the page refreshes set to every chapter, and a mix of reading and listening.
When plugged into a computer for the first time, it took 3.5 hours to get to 100%. After that, though, the same settings and the same amount of time spent with the device caused the battery to die in five days. In a strange turn of events, when I plugged it in to charge it, I saw that there was still 35% left. We don’t really know what happened, but we didn’t have this problem again (thankfully).
The battery problems seemed to get better over the next few weeks. We listened to and read on it for a little more than an hour every work day, and after about two weeks, the battery was down to 48%. This suggests that the battery may be settling down after some early hiccups.
We need a little more time with the ereader to fully evaluate its battery life, and we’ll update this review as needed. For now, we think you could get up to four weeks of use if you used it for about an hour every day with the default settings (screen brightness at 25%, page refresh rate set to each chapter, and both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on).
Kobo Clara 2E review: Price and availability
The Kobo Clara 2E can be bought on both the Kobo website and on Amazon for $140. It will cost you an extra $30 if you also want a SleepCover. The case is also good for the environment because it is made of 97% recycled plastic, of which 10% is plastic that was going to end up in the ocean, and its microfiber lining is made of 40% recycled plastic bottle fibre.
The Clara 2E only comes in one style, but the SleepCover comes in black, coral reef orange, and sea glass green. It has a built-in stand that lets you read without using your hands. It can also wake up and put your device to sleep on its own.
Final Words
The Kobo Clara 2E is a good ebook reader that can compete with Amazon’s Kindle series, as long as you don’t have a lot of money invested in Amazon’s ecosystem. That’s a big catch, but there are some good things about it, like the fact that it supports a huge number of file formats and lets you download interesting articles right from Pocket.
But the Kobo Clara 2E has some flaws. Its menus are slow, which makes it hard to get around and control how audiobooks play. Also, when we looked, the store was missing some important audiobooks. It’s also a little annoying that you can’t sideload your own when it’s free in other formats.
But if you only want it for books, the Kobo Clara 2E is hard to find fault with. The interface is easy to use, it’s easy to customise, and it’s easy on the eyes to read on. Since that’s about 90% of what makes a good ebook reader, it’s hard to be too upset about its few flaws.
