Jason Snell

I finally posted my review of the Kobo Libra Colour. It might be my favorite e-reader being sold at the moment--but it's a rough time for e-readers. It's $40 more expensive than the Libra 2, the screen's dimmer and offers less contrast, and the color adds very little to the experience. šŸ™ƒ

https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/05/kobo-libra-colour-review-color-but-at-what-cost/

Kobo Libra Colour Review: Color, but at what cost?

All my computing devices, save one, have color displays. The last time I regularly used a computer without a color display was probably in the mid-1990s. The only exception is my e-reader, which&#8ā€¦

Six Colors
May 24, 2024 at 9:59pmWeb
Show threadMark MetzgerMay 24, 2024
@jsnell I think I enjoy reading about you trying these things almost as much as you enjoy trying them out.
Show threadKevin Patrick Doyle šŸ…šŸ„«May 24, 2024
@jsnell that I canā€™t replace my 6 year old Oasis with something better seems less than ideal
Show threadJason SnellMay 24, 2024
@Kevin Honestly the nicest e-reader I have now might be the Oasis. The Libra 2 is cheaper, but not as nice. And Kindle software has closed the gap in the interim.
Show threadKevin Patrick Doyle šŸ…šŸ„«May 24, 2024
@jsnell Yeah I think you are probably right. The wife has a Libra 2 to my Oasis and while both are nice to hold devices, her Libra has more quirks (two different library system support is quite bad) and random battery drains than I would like
Show threadChris HamiltonMay 24, 2024
@jsnell kind of feels like color E Ink needs another couple generations of improvements before it is ā€œgoodā€
Show threadBruceMay 24, 2024
@jsnell That's a shame. The initial announcements said that the color screens were lower DPI but I was hoping the B&W screens would be identical to previous models.
Show threadKenMay 24, 2024

@jsnell Have you seen this Daylight Computer thing? Seems like an interesting contender as an e-reader ā€” and maybe your iPad writing use case, too?

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/23/24163225/daylight-dc1-tablet-livepaper

Daylight DC1: a new tablet with a better screen and no blue backlight

Daylight Computer is claiming to have invented a new kind of display, which it calls LivePaper, and has built a new tablet that it says will help reset our relationship with tech.

The Verge
Show threadJason SnellMay 24, 2024
@knwlkr it's a computer, not an e-reader. Not really interested, especially at that price.
Show threadDJDarrenMay 24, 2024

@jsnell Re: sideloading.

I have a Clara HD (which I adore). If I need to send something over without access to Calibre, I use https://send.djazz.se/

It has an option built in to convert epubs to kepub, so you get the nicer formatting and font choices. Works a treat every time. Though obviously you canā€™t change artwork or anything like that.

Send to Kobo/Kindle

Show threadJason SnellMay 24, 2024
@DJDarren fun! thanks. it never really comes up these days. More that Iā€™m baffled that the Kobo doesn't fix the epubs up itself.
Show threadStetsonMay 24, 2024
@jsnell šŸ™ƒ
Show threadAlex CashMay 24, 2024
@jsnell I keep holding out hope for the gallery 3 based readers that show up at every trade show for years, but starting to think itā€™s a mirage.
Show threadNic GoodmanMay 25, 2024

@jsnell Iā€™m very late to the e-reader game and am just in love with my Kindle Paperwhite Signature but Iā€™ve been super curious about color e-ink screens so thank you for this!

Very curious to see your take on this crazy thing: https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/23/24163225/daylight-dc1-tablet-livepaper

Daylight DC1: a new tablet with a better screen and no blue backlight

Daylight Computer is claiming to have invented a new kind of display, which it calls LivePaper, and has built a new tablet that it says will help reset our relationship with tech.

The Verge
Show threadJason SnellMay 25, 2024
@monkeyclaw it's not an e-reader, really, it's an e-ink-like tablet? Iā€™m not interested in it.
Show threadNic GoodmanMay 25, 2024
@jsnell yea I mean Iā€™m really just interested in the display tech, is it as good as traditional e-ink, better because of the higher frame rate or worse because of other tradeoffs? The rest of the whole sell is meh, whatever itā€™s an android tablet but the display fascinates me.
Show threadJason SnellMay 25, 2024
@monkeyclaw I think it's literally just a coating and a weird backlight.
Show threadNic GoodmanMay 25, 2024
@jsnell well thatā€™s sad haha
Show threadJason SnellMay 25, 2024
@monkeyclaw feels like it's probably a lot like the TCL NXTPAPER, it's a "fake" e-ink display that's really just an Android tablet. more about why I don't want to go down that path: https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/01/two-e-readers-that-made-me-reconsider-why-i-use-e-readers/
Two e-readers that made me reconsider why I use e-readers

Left to right: Boox Page, TCL NXTPAPER 11, Kobo Libra 2. Iā€™ve been writing about e-readersā€“Kindles, Kobos, and the likeā€“since the first month of this siteā€™s existence. I wriā€¦

Six Colors
Show threadNic GoodmanMay 25, 2024
@jsnell hah I just remembered that post and youā€™re probably right. Still interesting if itā€™s not that but more likely than not itā€™s not some huge advancement in the field.
Show threadJuho MƤntysaloMay 25, 2024

@jsnell

Thank you for writing this. Not just for the colour screen (after which I regularly pine after), but also for talking of Kobo's sideloading, which I've never before seen mentioned.

Perhaps in a few years, when my current reader starts to expire, the colour tech is mature.

Show threadChad MarriottiMay 25, 2024
@jsnell hoping you get a chance to review this when it comes out. Very interested in that screen. https://daylightcomputer.com/product
Daylight | The Fast 60fps E-paper and Blue-Light Free Tablet

The Daylight Computer is a calm tablet, with a high refesh-rate 60hz e-paper display ā€” that's also blue-light free, and eye-strain free.

Show threadJason SnellMay 25, 2024
@Cmarriotti not interested really. It's a backlit display android tablet like the one I reviewed recently.
Show threadJared ByrdMay 25, 2024
@Cmarriotti @jsnell this device looks so interesting in some ways, but I canā€™t get over how much the bezels remind me of the older iPad design. But it has me curious.
Show threadMarc Robinson May 25, 2024
@jaredbyrd @Cmarriotti @jsnell It looks better than the reMarkable tablet, but def in the same class.
Show threadWill GoringMay 25, 2024

@jsnell Iā€™ve been looking forward to this review, in the hope that youā€™d disagree with me and explain why this thing isnā€™t a straight downgrade on the Libra 2. Thanks for writing it, even if I didnā€™t get my wish. šŸ˜…

I can deal with one slightly bum product, itā€™s fine. But and this is kinda meta and Iā€™m probably overthinking it, but it sort of feels like Kobo donā€™t ā€œgetā€ e-readers like they used to. And they were kind-of the last company that did (and actually cares about such a niche market).