Kobo Clara E-Reader

Kobo's Clara 2E has a 6-inch e-ink display with a warm backlight that shifts from white to amber depending on the time of day. Reading on it is close enough to paper that I forget I am looking at a screen. Lighter than most paperbacks at 170 grams, the device has a matte finish on the back that provides enough grip that it does not slide off my chest when I fall asleep reading in bed. Over Kindle, Kobo's advantage is native ePub support, so library books from Libby load directly without format conversion. Built-in Pocket integration lets me save long articles and read them on the e-ink screen instead of my phone. Typography controls are better than Kindle's, with 12 font options and fine-grained line spacing and margin adjustments that let me set up the page exactly how I want it. Less comprehensive than Amazon's store, the Kobo ecosystem still lets you load your own files freely without DRM restrictions. It Makes the device feel like something you own rather than a terminal for a single store. At $130 the Clara competes directly with the Kindle Paperwhite on comparable hardware specs, but open file format support is the reason I chose Kobo.