Best Kobo e-readers in 2024

E-readers are game-changers for bookworms. With an E Ink tablet, voracious readers get their hands on anticipated titles with less waiting time, explore new books and genres, and take many favorite texts on adventures — no back strain or pallet jack necessary.

Among the most familiar names in the e-reader game are, of course, Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. But Rakuten’s E Ink Kobo tablet line stands toe-to-toe with major models, whether you’re shopping for a premium, feature-filled Elipsa 2E or something light and affordable like the Nia.

Top Kobo for your reading needs

Whether you want to jot notes in a cookbook’s margins, enjoy some full-color comic books, or just relax and read the latest from your favorite author, Libra Colour is Kobo’s top, do-it-all device and the best pick. It covers all the groundwork specs we want to see in an e-reader, including a USB-C charger, wide bezel for easy holding, physical page-turning buttons, and 32GB of storage.

The Libra Colour is the smallest Kobo e-reader with stylus support. This means you can easily make notes and highlights in text without lugging a big 10-inch tablet. Our experience using the Libra Colour with a stylus was very positive; it’s not the perfect paper-replicating experience, but it’s still impressively fast and accurate.

The Libra Colour, Kobo’s first venture into color E ink, offers lovely hues outside the grayscale given its price point. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles — there’s no expandable storage and no onboard speakers — but that’s what makes the Libra Colour a perfect compromise between affordability and features.

Some e-readers are capable of much more than just displaying books. There’s an emerging class of E Ink tablets, like the Amazon Kindle Scribe, with expanded functionality to support productivity functions like handwritten notes. These are excellent tablets for college students, professionals who frequently jot down important points in meetings or annotation-loving readers.

The Elipsa 2E fits the bill in Kobo’s lineup. Its extra-large 10.3-inch screen offers plenty of space to comfortably write with the stylus, which is included with this model, unlike with the Kobo Sage. The note-taking system in the Elipsa 2E is highly refined, so it’s a fierce competitor to Amazon’s Scribe. With the 1404 x 1872 227ppi display, your handwriting will be as clear as basic pen and paper.

Users of the Elipsa 2E will also enjoy 32GB of onboard storage, plus a temperature-changing front light.

And it’s another one of Kobo’s more environmentally conscious products, made with mostly recycled plastic. But for some readers, the E Ink tablet’s size may be a setback. A 10.3-inch e-reader is too big to fall into the portable, reading-on-the-go category, and may get heavy or awkward to hold after long periods.

At first glance, the Kobo Sage is essentially a Libra 2, just an inch bigger. It features the same flip-floppable side bezel, with physical page-turning buttons. There are even some similar specs between the discontinued Libra and the Sage, which clocks in at $80 more than the former. The Sage doesn’t offer more storage than the Libra 2 or even the new Libra Colour, surprisingly, and it also doesn’t expand on audiobook consumption by adding a headphone jack or speaker. And only audiobooks purchased directly from Kobo are supported — no Audible, Libby, or other audiobook services. Strangely, the Sage utilizes a 1,200mAh battery, less powerful than the Libra 2’s.

After those points, what’s there to be excited about with the Kobo Sage? There’s more than what meets the eye with this e-reader; it offers Kobo stylus support, a huge perk for students or habitual book annotators. This tablet also uses improved, sturdier housing than its predecessors. The Carta E Ink display is even cleaner and more responsive than previous Kobo generations. This spec, coupled with the Sage’s beefier processor compared to other Kobos, should appeal to mixed-media consumers and readers who value superfast page turning on their E Ink devices. And lastly, the Sage’s boosted resolution (1400 x 1920 at 300ppi) makes for crisper, cleaner text and images for all media types.

For a no-nonsense e-reader that cuts the frills and gets the job done, consider the Kobo Clara 2E. This tablet is a 2022 improvement on the 2018 Kobo Clara HD, offering a fully waterproof shell and environmentally conscious recycled plastic exterior. A portion of that exterior is even made from plastic that would otherwise be polluting the ocean, per Kobo.

Besides the tablet’s green roots, there’s a lot more to like about the Kobo Clara HD. This e-reader’s 6-inch screen is compact enough to be portable, while still maintaining a navigable display for pictures and comics. Its 300ppi 1448 x 1072 E Ink display sits snugly in the current industry standard and, coupled with the device’s temperature and brightness adjustment modes, supports clear and crisp reading no matter the time of day.

The Clara 2E offers wireless headphone connection via Bluetooth, so you can listen to audiobooks purchased through the Kobo marketplace and its 16GB of internal storage holds thousands of titles. But there were a few caveats we ran into when taking the Clara 2E for a spin, like some ghosting at higher refresh rates and the lack of landscape mode, but it’s still an excellent tablet for the average reader, making minimal sacrifices for a lower price point.

For some readers, it’s a priority that their E Ink tablet is as unobtrusive as possible — something that can easily be tossed into backpacks, slid into purses, and even stashed in coat pockets. For this user, the Kobo’s Nia is the ideal e-reader.

The Nia is super lightweight (made with a recycled plastic shell), so it’ll be a minimal burden for users on the go. Its slim, compact form factor stores easily and is manageable to hold for reading on long flights or commutes. With the device’s compact build, you’ll get a sharp and clear 6-inch 212ppi Carta E Ink display, but at a lower pixel density than other Kobo models. So, it’s not ideal for manga and comic readers.

This reader is at the lowest storage tier of all Kobo E Ink tablets, offering just 8GB, which is still enough storage for an expansive library. But at its value price point, there are a few setbacks, including no audiobook support and an outdated micro-USB charging port. There’s also no automatic brightness adjustment. But the processor is powerful enough for the most necessary, basic functions, the battery charges up quickly, and most importantly the Nia travels remarkably well, thanks to its compact form factor.

We like the Libra Colour for its 7-inch screen and stylus support. But many e-reader users prefer a smaller form factor that easily slips into purses and coat pockets. To get Kobo’s Kaleido 3 Color E ink display but in a more compact frame, there’s the Clara Colour.

A few notable differences make the Clara Colour a more affordable option over the Libra Colour. There’s a 6-inch screen instead of 7, plus a lower resolution, half the onboard storage, a smaller battery, and no wide bezel or physical page-turning buttons. You also save some money by not paying for stylus support; a pen may not be super productive on a 6-inch e-reader anyway.

Like the Libra Colour, the Clara Colour is part of Kobo’s first-ever color E ink release, so this e-reader’s color performance understandably has some limitations. However, it’s a simple yet versatile e-reader that still supports listening to audiobooks on wireless headphones or speakers, has a lightweight and portable profile, and offers weeks of battery life.

The Kobo Clara BW is one of Kobo’s newest entries; it appears to be the successor to the now-discontinued Clara HD as well as the still-available Clara 2E. It also almost surpasses the Kobo Nia for the rank of most affordable. This e-reader is very similar to the Clara 2E and is even made with recycled ocean-bound plastic like the Clara 2E and other Kobo “E” line members. While the Clara 2E and Clara BW are very similar, the BW packs a more powerful processor, upping the device’s response speed by about 25%.

The Clara BW offers a 300 PPI, 1448×1072 resolution screen, which will work perfectly for simple text-based reading. However, it’s not the ideal e-reader for picture-heavy media, with its smaller form factor and grayscale display.

Most of Kobo’s stylus-compatible e-readers require a second purchase to get the pen. That’s not the case when you purchase an Elipsa Pack. This $400 bundle (which is actually discounted by $50 right now) comes with everything that a student, entrepreneur, or busy professional needs to get started with annotation and note-taking. This set includes an Elipsa, a Kobo stylus, and a SleepCover.

The 10.3-inch Elipsa offers plenty of screen real estate for jotting down notes, marking up an e-textbook, or highlighting important passages. And an ambidextrous wide bezel helps you hold the tablet steady while writing. When you’re finished using the device, closing the included case automatically puts the Elipsa to sleep.

While this bundle is an excellent value, it’s worth noting that the Elipsa is not the most current generation of Kobo’s 10.3-inch e-reader model; that would be the Elipsa 2E, which we designate as the premium pick in Kobo’s roster. However, the 2E alone retails for the cost of this bundle, so the older Elipsa and its accessories included in this pack are still the better way for college students looking for an affordable kick-start to their productivity.

So which Kobo is the right Kobo?

The Kobo Libra Colour is hands-down the top choice for the average reader. The 7-inch screen is the perfect happy medium for those seeking compactness without sacrificing display real estate. Many of the Libra Colour’s specs are at the peak of current industry standards, like 300ppi and 32GB of internal storage, but the device remains incredibly affordable at less than $250 for a color E ink e-reader. The Libra Colour also offers physical page-turning buttons, a highly valued feature on E Ink devices.

To keep costs low with minimal sacrifice, consider the Clara 2E. The best value pick offers a smaller screen size, no physical page-turning buttons, and only half the built-in storage of other options, but this is still an excellent pick for money-conscious shoppers.

The Kobo Elipsa 2E, on the other hand, is the brand’s largest premium e-reader, offering a larger, crisper display, which is great for mixed media like comics and graphic novels. With added support for a Kobo stylus (purchased separately), the Elipsa 2E is also an excellent E ink notebook for bookworms that like to mark up their titles.