The Kobo Clara Colour is a 6-inch color E-ink e-reader with OverDrive library support and open ePub format for $159 CAD — the best e-reader under $200.
11 mentions · 7 threadslast mention Apr 2026
Real comments from Reddit, linked to the original thread. Nothing paraphrased.
As someone that has really grown to love the little pops of color in the book covers and sleep screens, I'm sorry that didn't work out for you. Maybe future color devices will have a screen that doesn't cause this strain for you. But the advancements in those screens has been slow.
Yes, in a room with a lot off natural light. Indeed 0%. The greyness really is not a problem.
using the Kobo has been a breath of fresh air. I can just have series information *right there*? I can load my *entire library* in the span of a few minutes without needing to click anything? I can sort things into collections without tearing my hair out over the horrible e-ink interface?
The Color one looks even darker to my eye than it shows in this photo. It's just not enough contrast to be comfortably readable to me without the backlight cranked up to like 40%.
I was gifted the Clara Colour, loved it, but ended up getting the BW when it was on sale. Even though I hate black bezels and love color covers, the BW is my most used device.
Colour looks good. Screen door effect is not really visible in the photos; some like it as it makes the "paper" look textured and more like real paper. It's up to personal preference.
Something to note is that in certain black and white manga the Clara colour produces a rainbow effect which isn't present on the Clara BW. There is an option to mitigate it but it results in a slightly blurry image.
This is definitely a disadvantage of the Kaleido 3 tech. The extra layer of material for the color filter noticeably darkens the display, and if you mostly read indoors, it's often too dim to read without some extra lighting.
Adding some pictures here to show the difference between what I could get my hands on: Kindle Paperwhite (2022) (left), The Kobo Clara Colour (middle), and the actual book (right) all turned to the same page for baseline. Back lights are off. You can clearly see the difference when there are no back lights brightening the colour screen of the Kobo.
I ended up returning the colour. The BW is superior in practically every aspect, it also refreshes faster and you won't experience rainbowing on grey scale content due to the lack of a colour filter. Going with the BW is a safe bet. I figured if I want to read full colour comics I can just use my Samsung tablet or my phone.
having colour is effing great. It's not as "popping" as an LCD or OLED screen, obviously, but the muted, soft pastel colours go really well for a book
The Kobo Clara Colour is the best e-reader under $200 — color E-ink, library support, and open ePub format at $159. For heavy readers who want physical page buttons, step up to the Kobo Libra Colour at $60 more. For casual readers and library users, the Clara Colour is all you need.
