Kobo Clara Colour Review: A Splash of Colour for Your Reading Life

As someone who’s been happily turning pages on a Kindle for years, I wasn’t sure if an old dog like me could learn new tech tricks – but the Ratuken Kobo Clara Colour proved me wrong.It’s one of the more affordable colour e-readers, packing a compact 6-inch, waterproof, and colour-capable screen into a neat little package. While it doesn’t have every gadget under the sun (no stylus support, at least for now), it delivers a strong set of features for anyone who loves to read, listen to audiobooks, borrow from the library, or even catch up on web articles through Instapaper. In short, it’s a clever little companion that makes adding a splash of colour to your reading life surprisingly easy. It has very quickly become my new favourite toy – it was such a pleasure to review,  you’ll be prying it from my cold, dead hands!

 

tl;dr

The Kobo Clara Colour is a compact and affordable e-reader that’s an excellent choice for anyone wanting to add colour to their digital reading. While a standard Kindle has a slightly sharper black-and-white display, the Clara Colour’s colour E Ink screen makes book covers, illustrations, and comics pop.

Key features include native OverDrive/Libby library borrowing, Bluetooth for audiobooks, and Instapaper integration to read web articles without distractions. The device is also lightweight, waterproof, and has a battery that lasts for weeks.

It’s an ideal choice for readers who want more versatility and a richer visual experience than a standard e-reader, especially if they borrow books from the library or enjoy illustrated content.

 

Key Specs

I’m not very technical, but here’s how I’d explain the Kobo Clara Colour in plain language.

This powerful little e-reader comes in classic black or eye-catching white, and has a USB C charging cable included. The screen is six inches across and uses a special type of e-ink that shows words very clearly in black and white and also lets you see colour covers and pictures (though the colour isn’t quite as sharp as it would be on a paper version). It has plenty of space inside – 16 gigabytes which is how tech people describe space! – more than enough to hold thousands of books and even some audiobooks.

It runs on a decent little processor that keeps things moving along smoothly, though I couldn’t tell you exactly what “dual-core” means other than it works fast enough for reading. The battery lasts for weeks on a single charge, and this newer white version of the device boasts a slightly bigger battery than the black one, so it should last even longer.

One thing I really like is that it’s waterproof, so if while reading it in the bath I accidentally drop it in the water (heaven forbid!) it will survive. This is reassuring if you’re like me and read everywhere. It’s also nice and light, just 174 grams, and small enough to hold easily in one hand without feeling bulky.

The techy stuff:

• Display: 6-inch E Ink Kaleido 3, touch screen. For black-and-white content it’s high resolution (~300 ppi), for colour content around 150 ppi.
• Storage: 16 GB. That’s enough for many thousands of e-books (text) and some audiobook files
• Processor: Dual-core ~2.0 GHz
• Battery: The original black version has ~1,500 mAh; a newer white version has been released with a larger battery (~1,900 mAh) in some regions.
• Waterproofing: Rating IPX8 (can survive immersion in up to ~2 metres for ~60 minutes) for water protection.
• Weight / Dimensions: ~174 g, ~112 × 160 × ~9.2 mm

 

How to Use / Basic Operation

Thankfully, using the Kobo Clara Colour is really straightforward, even if you’re not super confident with gadgets. You just tap the screen to turn the pages, the same way you’d tap on your phone, and all the menus are easy to move through with your finger. You can customise this functionality to suit your user preferences from the settings menu on the device.

If you’re reading at night or somewhere dim, you can change the brightness with a quick swipe up or down on the left side of the screen, so you don’t have to go hunting through settings. There’s also a clever feature called ‘Natural Light’, which basically means you can make the screen look warmer (more like candlelight) or cooler (daylight style), which is handy if you want to reduce the harsh blue light before bed.

And if you’re the type who likes to underline or scribble in your books (naughty naughty!) you can do that too. You can highlight passages in different colours and even add your own notes directly onto the page. It feels a lot like interacting with a real book, just without the paper and pens. *Disclaimer: I have never drawn in a book. It’s very wrong. Don’t do it.

Set up was fast. The Kobo Clara Colour comes already charged; so just wake it up, connect to wifi and off you go!

 

Find and buy books

Finding and buying books on the Kobo Clara Colour is really simple, even if you’re not a tech person. The device connects straight to the Kobo Store, where you can browse through eBooks and audiobooks just like you would on an online shop. You’ll see covers, reviews, and even special deals that change daily, so it’s a bit like wandering through a virtual bookshop. Once you pick something and buy it (you do need a free Kobo account), it automatically shows up on your device and is ready to read. No fiddling around. If you’d rather borrow than buy, there’s a built-in option called OverDrive (sometimes called Libby), which lets you connect to many public libraries and check out books for free, just like you would with a real library card. You will need one – a library card that it is – otherwise you cannot borrow from the library.

If you’re a voracious reader, Kobo has a subscription called Kobo Plus, which is like an all-you-can-eat buffet of books and audiobooks. You can choose just reading, just listening, or both together, and in Australia the price is around $13.99 a month for one option, or $16.99 if you want both. They even offer a free trial so you can test it out first.

 

Listen to Audiobooks

Listening to audiobooks on the Kobo Clara Colour is just as easy as reading. Once you’ve bought or borrowed an audiobook, it shows up in your library alongside your eBooks. To listen, you’ll need a pair of Bluetooth headphones or a speaker – the Kobo doesn’t have a headphone jack, so wireless is the way to go.

After you’re connected, you can press play and the audiobook picks up right where you left off, just like a music player. The screen shows you how far you’ve got to go, and you can speed things up if the narrator talks a bit too slowly, or slow it down if you’d rather savour the story. It’s a really nice way to keep “reading” when your hands or eyes are busy. Perfect for cooking, commuting, or even folding laundry. It almost feels like having a personal storyteller in your pocket.

 

Syncing to Same Spot (Across Devices / Resume)

One of the handiest things about the Kobo Clara Colour is that it keeps your place for you, even if you switch devices. So if you’re reading on your Kobo at home, then later open the Kobo app on your phone while you’re out and about, it will pick up right where you left off – meaning no hunting for the right page or trying to remember your spot. The same goes for audiobooks; if you pause partway through a chapter, you can pick it up on another device without missing a beat. All you need is a Kobo account, and the syncing happens in the background whenever you’re connected to Wi-Fi.

 

OverDrive – Borrowing from Local Libraries

Borrowing library books on the Kobo Clara Colour is almost as satisfying as walking out of your local library with a stack under your arm, just a lot lighter. Thanks to a built-in feature called OverDrive (also known as the Libby app), you can sign in with your library card and borrow eBooks directly on the device.

Once you’ve checked a book out, it appears in your Kobo library alongside the ones you’ve bought, and you can read it straight away. When the loan period ends, the book simply disappears. It feels like magic, but really it’s just Kobo making it easy to mix your reading habits between buying and borrowing.

 

Instapaper – Reading Web Content

Reading articles from the web on the Kobo Clara Colour is a breeze with Instapaper. This was my first exposure to this application, and I found it super handy. You create a free Instapaper account and then save any articles you like while browsing on your phone, tablet, or computer. When you open your Kobo, those articles appear in a neat, book-like format that’s easy on the eyes and ready to read offline. You can highlight passages, add notes, or just quietly scroll through at your own pace. It’s perfect for turning long, distracting web pages into a calm, focused reading experience.

Things you need to know (from my research):

• Instapaper support is now (as of August 2025) officially available on all supported Kobo eReaders (including the Clara Colour) via a firmware update. It replaces the older Pocket integration (which has been shut down).
• To use it, you create a (free) Instapaper account, link it via the Kobo (e.g. More → My Articles or Articles), login or scan a QR code, etc. Then you can sync your web articles to the Kobo, read them offline, archive, like, or delete them.
• Limitations: Some features are not supported yet (folders/tags of Instapaper, some types of saved items such as videos/emails/embedded PDFs may not show properly).

 

Adjusting Screen Brightness and Font Size

Adjusting the screen on the Kobo Clara Colour is wonderfully simple, and honestly, a little lifesaver for people like us with “mature” eyes. You can swipe up or down on the left side of the screen to make the brightness higher or lower, perfect if you’re reading in a dim corner of the living room or in the middle of the glaring sunlight on the patio. There’s also a feature called Natural Light, which lets you make the screen warmer (like soft candlelight) or cooler (daylight style) so your eyes don’t feel like they’ve run a marathon after a few chapters. And the font size? You can make it so big it looks like the letters have pumped iron at the gym – all strong, bold, and impossible to miss. For those of us who squint and lean forward suspiciously, these little adjustments mean we can finally read without giving ourselves a headache, a stiff neck, or an impromptu game of “Where did the words go?”

 

Charging Time and Battery Life

Charging the Kobo Clara Colour is simple and doesn’t take forever. From nearly empty to full, it usually takes a couple of hours with the USB‑C cable. Once it’s charged, the battery can last for weeks, depending on how much you read or listen to audiobooks. In other words, you can go through a whole stack of books without constantly hunting for an outlet making it perfect for long reading marathons or lazy weekends.

More techy stuff:

• Life: Kobo claims up to 42 days of battery life for typical usage (~30 minutes/day, front light ~30%, WiFi/Bluetooth off) for the black version.
• With heavier usage (colour content, audio, WiFi/Bluetooth on, higher brightness) life will be less. In reviewer tests, people got ~34 days on ~1 hour/day usage with medium brightness etc.
• Charging: It uses USB-C. The time to full charge is not extremely fast; trickle charging kicks in toward the top. Some reviews mention up to around 2 hours (or somewhat less) from low to full under typical charging conditions.

 

Help Function / Support

The Kobo Clara Colour’s help and support function is like having a friendly librarian in your pocket ready to answer questions without ever judging you for asking the same thing three times. Whether you forget how to highlight a passage or can’t remember which way to swipe for brightness, it’s there to gently guide you, so you can spend less time panicking and more time reading

Kobo includes help sections in the menus; the user manual and online help are quite good.

• Firmware updates bring new features (like Instapaper) and fixes.
• iFixit parts/repair guides are available in many regions – that’s a plus if something breaks.

 

Sketch Pad Functionality

The Kobo Clara Colour even has a sketch pad – yes, really! It’s one of those unexpected little features, like finding a chocolate bar in the in your handbag when you thought you’d eaten them all. After reading something profound, shocking, or just mind-bending, you can scribble, doodle, or vent your thoughts directly on the screen. It’s not a full-on art studio, but sometimes a few wobbly lines are all you need to process the story. And honestly, who hasn’t needed to draw a tiny dramatic stick figure to deal with plot twists? Because there’s no stylus support, the sketch pad is more casual i.e use your finger! You can make notes, doodles, mark up PDFs if you feel inclined, but there is less precision than if you used a stylus.

 

Activity Section/Stats … for Data Lovers

The Kobo Clara Colour even keeps track of your reading habits in its Activity section – because apparently, even our e-readers want to know how hard we’re working! It shows things like how many pages per minute you read, what percentage of each book you’ve finished, and the total hours you’ve spent lost in stories. It’s perfect for anyone who secretly wants to brag about their reading “stats,” or for those of us who like seeing proof that we really did spend the afternoon curled up with a good book instead of doom scrolling TikTok.

 

Highlighting & Annotations

Highlighting and adding notes on the Kobo Clara Colour is simple, and it makes reading feel interactive without needing a pen or sticky notes. You can highlight passages in different colours and jot down your thoughts or reminders directly on the page, be it a striking quote, a juicy plot twist, or a bit of trivia you want to remember. Simply select the passage you want to work with, dragging your finger from the beginning to the end of the passage, then a drop down list will appear – choose your highlight colour and add annotations. Voila!  It’s like having a highlighter, notebook, and bookmark all rolled into one. It’s a perfect functionality for people who love to keep their reading organised, or just enjoy the little satisfaction of digitally marking a page without any messy ink or torn corners.

Colour Screen Feature

The standout feature of the Kobo Clara Colour is, of course, its colour screen, and it really does make reading more vibrant. Book covers, illustrations, comics, and magazine pages pop in full colour, bringing your stories to life in a way a standard black-and-white e-reader just can’t. It’s perfect for anyone who likes a little extra pizzazz while reading. Finally, your eyes get a bit of a party along with your imagination, and you can enjoy your books in more than just fifty shades of grey.

Note: It does not colour-ise black-and-white content. If the content is originally B&W, it stays B&W.

 

What It Doesn’t Do / Weaknesses

The Kobo Clara Colour is fantastic in many ways, but it does have a few limitations to keep in mind. There’s no stylus, so sketching and precise note-taking can feel a bit wobbly, and the screen is on the smaller side, which means large-format comics or PDFs might require extra zooming or more frequent page turns. Colour content, especially big full-colour PDFs, can sometimes feel slower to load or a little less crisp than you might hope. And depending on where you live (I’m looking at you my rural and remote country friends), some features like audiobooks or library borrowing may not be fully available, so it’s worth checking before you get too excited.

 

Case & Stand Design – its called a SleepCover

The case for the Kobo Clara Colour is truly a must-have accessory. It comes in 6 colour ways – misty green, dusk blue, butter yellow, candy pink, cayenne red, and black. It is a clever foldable design that lets the e-reader stand on a flat surface, which is perfect for reading hands-free making it ideal for those moments when you want to nibble chocolate or sip wine without juggling your device.

The case is sturdy and well-made, adding extra grip to a device that can feel a bit slippery on its own, and reliably supporting the stand function. The back of the Kobo itself has a textured surface for some grip, but most people still prefer a case to avoid accidental drops. As a bonus, the case includes an auto sleep/wake function – a spellbound start if you will – making it even more convenient for quick reading sessions. Just open the case and the screen comes to life!

 

 

You’ve been waiting for this bit: How the Kobo Clara Colour and the Kindle compare

As a long-term Kindle user, switching to the Kobo Clara Colour has been an interesting experience. My Kindle has always impressed me with its sharp, high-contrast monochrome screen. The black text really pops and is easy on the eyes in all lighting. The Clara Colour, by contrast, adds a colour layer, which slightly softens the text contrast, so the black letters don’t look quite as “inky” as on my Kindle, especially in bright daylight. But the trade-off is worth it for the colour display. Suddenly book covers, graphics, comics, and richly illustrated non-fiction come to life in a way my non-colour Kindle simply can’t manage.

The Clara Colour is also lighter and a bit smaller than my Kindle, which makes long reading sessions feel much less tiring. I’ve noticed that I can hold it more comfortably and read more because it’s physically easier to manage – the built in stand functionality of the case helps too.

On top of that, the Kobo has features my Kindle doesn’t, like library borrowing through OverDrive/Libby, Instapaper integration for web articles, colour highlighting and annotations, and even reading activity stats. My Kindle ecosystem is still excellent for buying books, syncing devices, and using Amazon’s store, but it can’t show colour or handle these extra options.

Battery-wise, my Kindle’s monochrome screen has always lasted seemingly forever, especially when just reading text. The Clara Colour’s colour layer and occasional Bluetooth use for audiobooks mean I do need to charge a little more often, and sometimes I have to bump up the brightness or font weight to get clarity similar to what I’m used to. Content-wise, the Kindle’s Amazon store is seamless and convenient, but the Clara Colour opens up a lot more flexibility with formats like EPUB, better library borrowing, and reading web articles through Instapaper – particularly handy if you borrow from libraries or buy books outside the Amazon ecosystem.

Overall, while I’ll always love my Kindle for pure black-and-white reading, the Clara Colour offers a fresh, more colourful way to enjoy certain types of content. I have a feeling the Kobo is going to become my go-to reading companion.

 

Verdict

The Kobo Clara Colour is especially good for certain types of readers. It’s perfect for someone who mostly reads novels or light non-fiction, enjoys seeing book covers in colour, and maybe likes the occasional comic or illustrated book. You get a bit of colour without needing the full visuals of a tablet. It’s also ideal for library borrowers who want OverDrive built in, so there’s no fussing with side-loading books. If you enjoy collecting articles from the web and reading them distraction-free through Instapaper, this device handles that beautifully. And because it’s lightweight and waterproof, it’s great for reading almost anywhere – bathroom, poolside, or while traveling.

There are a few things to check before committing, though, depending on your reading habits. If you do a lot of drawing, detailed note-taking, or precision highlighting, a stylus-enabled device with a larger screen might suit you better. If you’re hoping for really crisp colour photos, graphics-intensive PDFs, or full-colour art books, the Kobo Clara Colour is serviceable but won’t give you the premium image quality of a tablet. And if you mostly read in very bright lighting, it’s worth testing how the colour screen’s contrast feels for you, since the colour layer can sometimes soften black text slightly.

With thanks to Rakuten Kobo you can grab one here  for A$269.95. If you want to protect your new acquisition, grab the SleepCover here for A$44.95