Looking for a Kindle alternative? Try the Kobo Libra Color

In the midst of our cluttered, borderline-ADD-inducing digital lifestyles, e-readers, old or new, Kindle or Kobo, feel like a breath of fresh air in their distraction-free approach to serving up your favorite reads. Pulling up my long-treasured PDF versions of Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes and Harari’s Sapiens: A Graphic History, both really came to life on the Libra Color’s display. That said, you’d best temper your expectations from the colour e-ink display, as colors don’t quite pop on-screen the way you’d be used to a traditional LCD screen on your smartphone or iPad, and the muted color experience is closer to a printed newspaper or a faded comic book from your childhood, than say the glossy weekend supplements or a coffee table book. For everyday e-books though, the Libra Color’s screen is easy to read, even in direct sunlight, and with the automatic front lighting changing from cool to warmer tones as the day progresses to reduce the amount of blue light closer to bedtime, it’s comfortable to read even as the sun sets. That’s not necessarily a bad decision, as the Libra 2 was among the most ergonomically designed e-readers around, with its slightly upward curved thicker bezel and physical page turn buttons allowing for extended single-handed use.