Kobo·e-reader
Kobo Clara Colour
Based on 37 credible posts from Hacker News & Bluesky. 4 filtered out as bot-like or off-topic.
Medium confidenceA solid sample; expect small shifts as more owners post. How we score
Scored September 27, 2026
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Owner reviews
Overall owner mood
Most owners are happy with it: 84% of 37 reviews are positive and 0% negative. Praise centers on display. The most common complaint is price & value (3 owners).
What owners like
Display praised by 4 owners
“The screen is nice but smaller than my Kindle Paperwhite It is fast waking from sleep and the UI is less annoying than my Kindle.”
What owners complain about
Price & value raised by 3 owners
“It's too expensive, a lot of them have a faint yellow band along the bottom, and the Kaleido 3 tech is lacking when it comes to contrast.”
What owners talk about
- Display4 praise · 0 complain
- Price & value1 praise · 3 complain
- Connectivity1 praise · 1 complain
Built from the reviews themselves — every quote links to the owner who wrote it.
Full text of every credible post we scored. Bot-like and off-topic comments are hidden.
[...] Got a Kobo Clara Colour about 2 years ago now and I couldn't highlight across pages until I bulk converted my library to KEPUBs. [...]
I got my first one ten years ago and never looked back! I have the Kobo Clara Colour at the moment, and still love it. [...]
I have a love affair with my Kobo Clara Colour. More than once I've thought it would be great if I could call and send sms with it. (Using a Bluetooth headset.)
[...] My wife and I read, and still read to them every night, and second, they both have Kobo Clara Colour e-readers. They love graphic novels and the colour screen keeps them engaged (we had black and white e-readers before and it just wasn't the same). [...]
I'm happy with my Kobo Clara Colour. As far as the specs go, both are 300 PPI when displaying black and white. I took a picture of my screen from as close as my phone would allow - the lens was basically touching the e-reader [1]. [...] I don't use the colour screen much, but seeing the book covers in colour is fun for me. [...]
I love KOReader! I use it on my Kobo Clara Colour with Calibre. Love Wikipedia lookup, customization options, and the fact that wifi is off by default.
[...] I switched from a Kindle to a Kobo Clara Colour recently and it's honestly one of the best tech choices I've ever made. Kobos are hackable by default, so you can literally plug them into Chrome and flash new software onto them via WebUSB (or just via the file system). [...] attempting this with even 10 books with my Kindle would routinely break down, books not appearing even after waiting hours for it to index, corrupt file systems, etc, the entire device is designed to push you towards Amazon store, including the scammy "pay £20 more to remove adverts" and them disguising the actual price as "reduced". [...]
I did it… I bought the kobo Clara Colour. Are there any tips or tricks that I need to know? booksky koboclara books ereader
I have the Kobo Clara Colour because it was the smallest one available and the difference between black and white and colour was only 20€ so I got the colour one. I was torn between Kobo and Kindle but I didn't really want to support Amazon so I got the Kobo and I'm happy with it.
In an attempt to diversify where I get my digital reading from, I got a Kobo Clara Colour for the holidays. [...]
I bought a Kobo Clara Colour, don't really care about the color tbh but it was the same price as the black and white version
Have indulged in a Kobo Clara colour as was on offer. [...] Still keeping my Kindle. [...]
i bought me a kobo!! specifically a kobo clara colour. these were cheaper than a monochrome Kindle Paperwhite, yet still has the warm/cold white front light and colour! [...]
It's a limited rollback, letting publishers decide if you can download the books you bought instead of locking them all down, but I'll take what I can get. I prefer reading my Kindle library on my Kobo Clara Colour. books
[...] It has an e-ink screen that makes reading pleasant. [...] I read so much more than I did before I bought one. The Kobo Clara Colour is nice too (a little more portable).
A couple people have asked - my e-reader is a Kobo Clara Colour! I ditched my Kindle earlier this year and have never looked back 🐈⬛
I got a Kobo earlier this year and it is really good. [...] I got the Kobo Clara Colour. [...]
I got one of the Kobo Clara Colour devices and love it. I've also moved pretty much my entire back list to Kobo...
I was happy to learn via YouTube how to go back to downloading my Kindle purchases to my PC so I could back them up, change the cover art at will, and transfer them over to my Kobo Clara Colour. books
Got my Kobo Clara Colour today. [...] Much slicker than my kindle, lovely screen, good range and plenty of 99p deals. [...]
[...] I bought books through Sony until they transferred our accounts to Kobo. I recently got a new Kobo e-reader and I have books on it that I bought through Sony. I don't need WiFi to read those books. [...] The Kobo Clara Colour is a wonderful e-reader.
[...] You can't borrow audio books using the Kobo but it's easy to use Libby on my phone. I have a Kobo Clara Colour.
I bought a pre owned Kobo Clara Colour, new battery, a bed stand and case and after $120 I now have a great setup and ready to read on an ereader rather than my heavy ass iPad Mini.
[...] I bought the 6” Kobo Clara Colour to see if I liked it. [...]
I got my first e-reader, the Kobo Clara Colour, last week. [...]
I got a Rakuten Kobo Clara Colour because it's supposed to be repairable, and I can disable the network connectivity for this reason. No ads either.
A few days spent reading on the Kobo Clara Colour, and I'm liking it a hell of a lot more this time. I bought a clear case for it and just need to decorate it with stickers. I think it'll be my daily carry and the Kindle can rest comfortably at home. [...]
My micro review of the Kobo Clara Colour: Nice form factor, power button is in the right place and the skin is grippy but not sticky. The screen is nice but smaller than my Kindle Paperwhite It is fast waking from sleep and the UI is less annoying than my Kindle.
the one I bought was the smaller, least expensive one - kobo clara colour. It’s very handy and it works just fine
Hey team, I’m selling my practically brand new (still have the boxes) Kobo Clara Colour ereader + sleep cover. [...] I just wanted an ereader with buttons so I got the Kobo Libra. [...]
Got myself a Kobo Clara Colour and can confirm it's good for comics. Caught up on lots of stuff because it's much more pleasant an experience than reading on my laptop.
I love my Kobo (clara colour) and really, if they just removed the Adobe reader, it'd be perfect. [...]
[...] I love my Kobo (clara colour) and really, if they just removed the Adobe reader, it'd be perfect. [...]
I bought a Kobo Clara colour and connected it to Calibre-Web running locally. Setting it up wasn’t entirely straightforward, and it’s not as polished as my outgoing Kindle. But no Amazon!
I'm currently on a Kobo Clara Colour and fairly happy with it overall. If you don't need colour, that's not worth splurging for. The biggest issue I've had is that it likes to tell me my side-loaded DRM-free books/papers can't be opened because of DRM and I need to reset it. [...]
For a while now I’ve been removing US companies who have bent the knee to the orange grifter from my life. I recently bought a Kobo Clara Colour to replace my Kindle but couldn’t get a case from the local store at the time. Ironically, it looks like my last purchase from Amazon will be a Kobo c
I've had the Kindle Colorsoft a little over a week. It's too expensive, a lot of them have a faint yellow band along the bottom, and the Kaleido 3 tech is lacking when it comes to contrast. I think I'll keep it, but I'm tempted to return it and re-order the Kobo Clara Colour for the smaller size.
The claims, and the evidence
What the brand claims
No published claims on file for this product yet.
What owners report
“[...] Got a Kobo Clara Colour about 2 years ago now and I couldn't highlight across pages until I bulk converted my library to KEPUBs. [...]”
after 2 yearsView on Hacker News“I got my first one ten years ago and never looked back! I have the Kobo Clara Colour at the moment, and still love it. [...]”
after 10 yearsView on Bluesky“I bought a Kobo Clara colour and connected it to Calibre-Web running locally. Setting it up wasn’t entirely straightforward, and it’s not as polished as my outgoing Kindle. But no Amazon!”
“I'm currently on a Kobo Clara Colour and fairly happy with it overall. If you don't need colour, that's not worth splurging for. The biggest issue I've had is that it likes to tell me my side-loaded DRM-free books/papers can't be opened because of DRM and I need to reset it. [...]”
Common Kobo Clara Colour problems
Issues at least two owners independently report.
- Price & value3 mentionsView on Bluesky
“I'm currently on a Kobo Clara Colour and fairly happy with it overall. If you don't need colour, that's not worth splurging for. The biggest issue I've had is that it likes to tell me my side-loaded DRM-free books/papers can't be opened because of DRM and I need to reset it. [...]”