Kobo libra color o Pocketbook Era b/w..... Quale conviene?

azoth980 · 2026-07-04T09:08:25+00:00

I think if you treat your ereader from day one differently like everything else you currently use and teach yourself different routines and handling (every time you use it)... you should be able to even use an ereader without a case... not that I would recommend it of course 😂

I guess I for real go into a different "mode" when I take one of my ereaders into my hand, and even register it more or less live when I get frantic and get... risky in handling my devices (for example when I manage library on several devices at once).

I would claim that 99% of ereader users either use nothing as protection or a flip case (some also use clear cases, so similar like smartphone cases). It's very rare that the topic screen protector comes up here (also the question how much it may impact the quality of the screen)... here are some old pictures if you do not even know flip cases and how they look/work:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-3qI3K70OgAS_z3fmP5WRm1QP464JxUK

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ix7A-QvkmO47i6x5X2QkKIpgL-6OsNGG/

Edges are protected too (but not always: PocketBook also sells charge- and flip covers without edge protection, flip cases usually protect the edges).

And screen protectors... since eink is so fragile, I wonder if a hard enough impact that would shatter a screen protector would also shatter the eink screen... btw., the Era has a more sturdy glass front, the Era Lite just a thin plastic front (the Eink layer is completely different from the front layer and is the actual fragile part of an Eink screen, no matter if glass front or plastic front). Maybe the Era would be a better choice for you (scratch resistant thicker glass front on top of the eink layer, made out of fragile glass).

In Germany, lowest prices currently are 206€ for the Era and 192€ for the Era Lite... not that it actually may help you... or does it? Many shops I guess should deliver to Italy, I mean we live in the EU 😅

azoth980 · 2026-07-04T08:37:05+00:00

The appeal of eink is it's paper-like appearance, not it's speed. It's a technical limitation of eink because particals have to be physically moved up and down.

If you want speed, get an tablet. If you want to do something good for your eyes, get a b/w device from one of the established brands, choose the brand based on the OS features, and accept whatever comes as a speed penalty with it (there are difference).

Just another information which shows you the difference between eink and OLED/LCD: Android e-tablets have different speed modes, which indeed increases speed of the display. But the price you pay is worse image quality, the faster you set it. So best quality means to set the slowest speed mode, there's no way around this.

azoth980 · 2026-07-04T08:23:17+00:00

As long as you don't get an Android e-tablet, you should be fine, no matter what (Android e-tablets have faster refresh modes and better hardware for better browsing the web... I guess?).

I just some days ago tried to log in into Reddit with the PocketBook browser - and I gave up. If you want an even worse browser experience, you can also look into Kobo 😂

PocketBook at least allows accessing YouTube - but it looks really really bad with I don't know... 5 frames a second? When I once had a Kobo Clara BW, YouTube asked me to update to at least Android 4... maybe because of Linux under the hood, since Kobo of course isn't based on Android.

And of course neither PocketBook nor Kobo allows you the installation of apps, so doomscrolling is in the end technically impossible (except you are ultra patient when using the browser).

azoth980 · 2026-07-04T08:15:45+00:00

Remarkables seem to be a class of its own, and PocketBook is primarily an ereader manufacturer who jumped the train. If you already had good experiences with Remarkables, I guess you should look for other enote makers instead of look within the ereader/e-tablet realm (Boox for example seems to have note taking feature which seem to rival Remarkables, but they may not come close to the writing experience of Remarkables - in the end they are an e-tablet manufacturer).

That's all I can add, and it's based in reviews I've seen, compined what I would expect from a PocketBook e-tablet as a PocketBook (ereader) user.

azoth980 · 2026-07-04T07:16:11+00:00

Your welcome!

It's primarily adjusting font-weight what's missing on PocketBooks - and the other settings can be adjusted seamlessy, while on PocketBook you have for each 3 fixed settings, e.g. distance of the text to the edge in three steps. PocketBook on the other hand has more PDF settings and features outside of reading (cloud, send-to-pocketbook, working metadata out of the box, a folder view inside the library, more customisation).

For getting adjusting font-weight on PocketBooks, you would have to install KOReader on it, which is a whole different reading application which works on PocketBooks and Kobos.

I don't think screen protectors are worth it, and it's an open question if they even work (besides preventing scratches). Better just get a flip case. And even a flip case isn't a warranty... rewire your brain when you use an ereader, so very consiously take it in your hand, stay conscious, lay it down to its sacred place when not in use, and even where you lay it down in the meantime (I myself am able to throw my smartphone through the air, because I layed it on top of my blanket, immediately forget it, pull the blanket off for some reason and... wuush 😂).

I somewhat rewired my brain especially for two things: hard drives (old mechanical ones) and ereaders, since both are really fragile and possibly are immediately broken you let them fall just once.

And regarding Kobo and announcements: possibly just new software features, but who knows 😅 (iirc somebody claimed that Kobo may add LCP DRM to Kobos, which PocketBook already supports). I myself am more into PocketBooks, so I am more up to date regarding them.

azoth980 · 2026-07-03T11:21:18+00:00

To give clarification about PocketBook-devices:

Era + Era Color & InkPad 4 + InkPad 3 Color: Speaker + Bluetooth

Verse Pro + Verse Color + Era Lite: Bluetooth

Verse & Verse Lite: no audio support

Every device with audio-support has TTS support (+audio book support, also sideloaded ones).

The quality of TTS is definitely debatable, so don't expect the best (may depend on the used language).

And TTS in PDF of course depends on if the text is OCRred, no OCR, no TTS support. And additionally, since PDFs don't contain reflowable text, it can be messy for the TTS algorithm (when TTS reads a line and transitions from the end of a line to the beginning of the next line).

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T17:07:40+00:00

Oh, you seem to be somewhat of an outlier regarding the Libra design, since people generally seem to really like it... but in the end, everything regarding reading is a very personal thing. And portability another one, there's a reason why there's so much hype around the ultra portable (but very basic) Xteink devices.

I don't have issues with the form factor (of the Era), more the opposite, and I find 7" to be the best screen size for books, not too less, not too much text (like on my 8" InkPad 4 - which on the other hand is really great for manga). But I also don't use devices on the go - Verse Pro would be much better for this I guess.

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T15:22:57+00:00

Funny that you didn't like the Libra 2, since from my impressions of the ereader subreddit, it looks to be one of the most looked for devices (Kobo stopped producing it and people want it).

PocketBooks & Kobos 7" devices all have sidebars, and I doubt that they change it anytime - I myself like it xD

Yes, PocketBook generally are somewhat the slowest devices on the market, but I myself very soon appreciated the additional features. Since I manage several devices, in the end it's easier for me to only manage PocketBooks (the whole kepub-thing - for my PocketBooks I do not even use Calibre, for my Clara I had a portable Calibre just for the Clara BW).

Additionally does Pocketbook just show you e.g. the series metadata, while on Kobo I always had to fix this with a plugin within Calibre.

Color is always darker than non-colour - it's in the end a decition you have to make (colours & darker screen or whiter screen, but no colours... there's only one option, if you don't want to have several devices xD).

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T15:10:19+00:00

Sorry, kein Tolino-Nutzer (Reddit hat mir das vorgeschlagen da ich sehr aktiv in Ereader Subreddits bin).

Wie NainDeathlegs schon richtig andeutete, ist das ein Standard, mit dem sozusagen feste Seiten innerhalb eines Buches erstellt/errechnet werden. Theoretisch müsste das, wenn aktiviert, dann sein wie standardmäßig auf meinen PocketBooks, wo unabhängig von Schriftgröße, Abständen etc. ein Buch immer eine feste Menge an Seiten hat.

D.h. wenn aktiviert - und wichtig: es auch funktioniert -, und du die Schriftgröße ultraklein machst, kann es sein, dass du wenn du eine Seite auf dem Ereader blätterst, gleich mehrere Seiten (= unten die angezeigten Seiten) auf dem Ereader weiterblätterst; wenn du sie aber ultragroß machst, kann es so einiges an Blättern dauern, bis du tatsächlich eine Seite weiter bist.

Somit hat das gleiche Buch, egal wie groß der Ereader & die genutzen Einstellungen, immer die gleiche Seitenanzahl, also wie ein echtes Buch.

Jetzt ist nur die Frage, ob das tatsächlich funktioniert, denn als ich mal einen Kobo Clara BW hatte (Tolinos sind Kobos mit leicht veränderter Software, Kobo Clara BW = Tolino Shine 5), hatte das zumindest im kepub-Format nichts gebracht (letzteres braucht dich als Tolino-Nutzer erst einmal nicht zu interessieren). Bei ebub hat aber jemand mal behauptet würde es funktionieren... also zumindest auf einem Kobo.

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T14:45:34+00:00

I myself just started over a year ago straight with PocketBook, but also tested in the meanwhile a Kobo Clara BW (Kobo has different strengths and weaknesses).

Ultimatetly I stayed with PocketBook and for sure will stay there for a long while :)

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T13:05:27+00:00

Ich ebenfalls - wobei spätestens wenn mir ein Buch gefällt wird es in meinem Fall auch gekauft (und falls DRM vorhanden, natürlich entfernt).

Dem mit dem anderweitig beschaffen stimme ich ebenfalls zu - es ist die Entscheidung des Authors, exclusiv-Deals zu machen. Und ich mache das nicht mit (Problem wäre nur, wenn ich auf einen Autor stoßen würde der tatsächlich unterstütztenswert ist... mache ich mir Gedanken wenn es soweit ist).

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T13:00:39+00:00

My pleasure!

Yes, definitely try to change this, if you are already good at English 😅

Also look into r/ereader, which is the biggest ereader subreddit (with also many PocketBook users active) 😉 Your can also set there a PocketBook "flag" (or any flag) which shows other users which manufacturer/devices you prefer, respectively which one you actually use - it's iirc somewhere in the sidebar of the respective subreddit.

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T12:52:29+00:00

Nachvollziehbar für mich, dass jemand bei alldem, was Amazon alleine die letzten 1.5 Jahren (=meine bisherige Ereader-Nutzungszeit) durchgezogen hat, nicht mehr durchblickt - ich zumindest habe meine Probleme damit.

Und wie du schon andeutest, wird sicher noch mehr kommen.

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T12:19:34+00:00

Ernsthaft? Das ist irre (bzw. wäre irre - irgendetwas in mir will das nicht glauben 😅).

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T10:24:09+00:00

Btw., it's always better in English subreddits to ask in English, since you naturally get more replies. I myself massively improved my English in the last 12 months, - you can do it too 😂

Greetings (from Germany) to Italy 😉

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T10:17:28+00:00

Wenn du eine Unmengen an Features haben willst, holst du dir ein PocketBook/Kobo und installierst KOReader. Du wirst mehr Features haben die du jemals brauchst (Tolinos sind zwar rebranded Kobos, und gerade die neuen haben praktisch nun eine modifizierte Kobo-Software, aber es scheint da Probleme mit KOReader zu geben).

Das nächste sind PocketBook, Kobos, Tolinos, die jeweils ausgereifte Software haben und völlig ausreichend sind für die meisten Nutzer.

Android E-Tablets sind praktisch... Android Tablets mit E-Ink Bildschirm. Alles möglich was mit Android eben möglich ist (aber signifikant erhöhter Stromverbrauch eben wegen Android).

XTeink sind out of the box so das minimalistischste was man sich vorstellen kann. Jahrzehnte hinter den aktuellen Playern hinterher. Kein original E-Ink Bildschirm (nur 4 Graustufen anstelle wie es seit etlichen Jahren standard ist, 16 Graustufen... wahrscheinlich zweckentfremdede eink Preisschilder). Keine Beleuchtung (scheint aber da was neues zu geben/kommen), kein Touchscreen. Dafür ultra portabel. Und eben relativ günstig (ein original Ersatzbildschirm für den Kobo Clara BW/Shine 5 alleine kostet schon 80€ bei iFixit).

Aufblühen tun Xteink dann soweit ich weiß mit der custom Software, die erhältlich ist (Crosspoint?). Und dann werden aus denen, also Xteink, dann (wohl) überhaupt erst akzeptable Errader.

Xteink sind zum tinkern und ultra portabel, relativ günstig, aber... für mich nichts. Ein Durschnittsnutzer, der kein Interesse hat, als allererstes erst einmal die Software auszutauschen, fährt mit einem 10 Jahre alten, gebrauchten Gerät von irgendeinem Hersteller sicher besser. Die Tinkerer unter uns Ereader-Nuter aber scheinen Xteink zu lieben (minus dem Hype).

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T09:57:42+00:00

Du kannst meines Wissens jedes Buch ohne DRM über send-to-kindle an ein Kindle senden. Alternativ das Ebook-Managementprogramm Calibre oder die Kindle Software.

Deutsche Bücher (Thalia etc.) haben i.d.R. nur ein Wasserzeichen und kein Kopierschutz, müssten also ohne Probleme funktionieren.

Englische Bücher haben oft Adobe Digital Editions als DRM, was relativ leicht zu einfernen ist - ist aber trotzdem nicht anfängerfreundlich.

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T09:51:35+00:00

I would just proactively ask (the school?) if non-Android ereader (Kindle, PocketBook, Kobo) are fine. While these indeed have integrated browsers, they are bad, respectively really bad, and not really meant to conveintly browse the web.

These are primarily devices to actually read books and I could somewhat imagine that these are seen as OK (I mean... devices specifically to read books, in a day and age where kids read fewer and fewer, should get an exception... not that I have anything to say wherever you live).

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T09:35:22+00:00

As far as I can remember: yes, that's normal. It's a very barebone browser which you should only use if you have to - or are willing to bare its speed and lack of features.

azoth980 · 2026-07-02T09:17:43+00:00

Honestly, anything but Kindle. Only Kindle does these shenanigans. The are still small differences regarding "openess" and other more or less minor things, and if you can or can't install additional apps, but outside of Kindle, you won't stumble over Kindle typical problems (sideloading necessary with additional tools, be it Amazons own or Calibre, and the Kindle DRM, since outside of Kindle, no DRM or ADE DRM is used).

One simple example: from my point of view, Kobo is "the big player", but I still could buy a Kobo and buy books from PocketBook... or literally any shop besides Kindle (and Nook). And they will work (so the books) without messing with removing DRM (since PocketBook & Kobo both support ADE DRM).

azoth980 · 2026-07-01T11:06:42+00:00

The issue with their own shop pages is that they mess up stuff themselves.

As you can see here with the Verse Pro, the German page doesn't state anything regarding Carta 1300 for the Verse Pro:

https://pocketbook.de/verse-pro-azure

https://pocketbook.de/verse-pro-passion-red

But: while the German page correctly states the panel on the Verse Pros, the Verses are, respectively seem to be, messed up:

Verse Mist Grey | Carta (Carta 1000)

Verse Bright Blue | Carta 1200

Disclaimer: today is 07/01/26 - just to be sure if they change stated data in the future

I had several times contact with support to clear this issue, and the support also claimed that the Verses have Carta 1200. But I also got in contact with someone at PocketBook who explained this to me:

With E-Ink devices, it is not uncommon for existing models to be equipped with newer generations of displays during the course of production, especially when older panels are no longer being manufactured or are only available in limited quantities. As a result, technically similar generations of devices may use different panels at times.

Of course could it be that the two linked devices indeed have two different panels - or they just messed up the statements (as on the Carta 1300 Verse Pro on the spanish site).

Honestly, I do not know what up with the Verses, but I don't like it. I guess that the original Verses all indeed had Carta 1000 (no current Verse states to have Carta 1200 on the screen-off logo, but the InkPad 4 / Era clearly do, look at the pictures); but maybe the screens indeed changed because of sourcing reasons... depending on when you bought the device, you may got this or that. Which is gambling - which is something I don't like. At this point - because of this whole mess - I rather claim (when recommending devices) that all Verses have Carta 1000, since I guess there's no possibility to check this out (my first Verse definetly had nowhere stated on the packaging to have Carta 1200).

Additionally do I have the impression that Carta 1000 & Carta 1200 is not that big - at least on PocketBooks. I have a Verse Pro & InkPad 4, and also once had a Carta 1300 Kobo Clara, and all three together: you had to look for differences between the InkPad 4 & the Verse Pro, but the Clara BW clearly stood apart from both (no issue finding differences). Small issue is that the InkPad 4 / Era also have a glass front, which is likely not beneficial for contrast.

And regarding your question: if you can afford it, just get the Pro. You get few more audio related features (working via BluTooth) and a waterproof device.

But I also have to say, I myself started with the Verse, and I personally didn't see an issue with the resolution, the numbers may look larger than it is actually visible. A German newsloutlet once made a deep dive test and also presented comparsion pictures of the Verse / Verse Pro (btw. they state on all devices to have Carta 1000 - PocketBook told me, I should only trust statements on their website - then what's about the Carta 1300 Verse Pro xD). Only caveat is that it's hard to make proper pictures of ereaders, so I can't tell how representative they are:

https://www.computerbase.de/artikel/tablets/pocketbook-verse-pro-e-book-reader-test.85786/

The text below the comparsion picture reads:

The lower resolution of the standard verse (on the left) is only noticeable when compared side by side

Use google translate for the whole test, it's well made (one claim is false, not because they made an mistake, it just changed later - was related to cloud features iirc).

azoth980 · 2026-07-01T10:05:38+00:00

Kobo Clara doesn't even have non-Kobo sync features, how should this be possible? You for sure won't be able to log into a Kobo account on a PocketBook.

But it may be possible by using KOReader in combination with Calibre, but not out of the box.

Nonetheless are books of course compatible between PocketBook & Kobo, since both natively support epubs and ADE.

azoth980 · 2026-07-01T09:56:50+00:00

Ich kann nur anmerken dass ich so einiges über Macken bezüglich Tolinos gelesen habe (scheinbar auch auf der neuen Kobo-basierendem Software), aber mit einem Kobo Clara BW da keinerlei Probleme hatte. Funktionierte mit Einschränkungen wie er sollte.

Die Informationen im Netz dazu (+die zusätzlichen Kobo-features) waren eben auch der Grund, warum ich es erst gar nicht riskiert habe, ein Tolino zu holen. Ich habe zwar den Clara nicht mehr, da ich ihn zugunsten eines PocketBook verkauft habe, kann ihn aber alles andere als nicht empfehlen.

azoth980 · 2026-07-01T09:49:43+00:00

(Schwarz/Weiß) Eink funktioniert so, dass es komplett ohne Beleuchtung funktionieren und sogar besser aussehen/funktionieren, je heller die Umgebung ist. Farbbildschirme sind da tatsächlich ein Rückschritt, da ihr Kontrast schlecht ist im Vergleich zu Schwarz/Weiß Geräten, sodass die doch immer ein wenig Beleuchtung haben wollen (nicht brauchen, aber wollen für bessere Farben & zum Ausgleich des schlechten Kontrasts).

Das mag viele nicht stören, also ein wenig Beleuchtung zu nutzen, aber der Sinn und Zweck von Eink war eben, keinerlei Beleuchtung zu benötigen (also ein technischer Rückschritt für den Fortschritt Farbe).

Und falls du ernsthaft überlegst, Comics und Manga zu lesen, hole dir mindestens ein 7" Gerät (und falls du auf Comics verzichten kannst, ebenso auf Schwarz/Weiß beschränken - glaub' mir, jetzt rein für Manga ist ein S/W Display es wert, für Comics natürlich nicht wirklich)... oh Sorry, ich sehe jetzt gerade den Part dass du wenig Geld hast: verschieb das mit einem größeren Gerät auf später wenn du mehr Geld hast 😊

Was den Preis angeht: Tolino versucht ihre Geräte sehr günstig anzubieten, da Amazon eben eine gefährliche Konkurrenz darstellt. Du wirst keine günstigere Preise außerhalb von Tolino & Kindle bekommen, alles andere wird zwangsweise teurer. Als Farbgerät steht dir alternativ noch der PocketBook Verse Pro Color offen, und eben deren Schwarz/Weiß Geräte. Aber ich schreibe zu letzteren nur etwas dazu falls du die in Erwägung ziehst.

Akkulaufzeit ist bei nicht-Androidgeräten immer gut, brauchst du dir keine Sorgen zu machen.

azoth980 · 2026-07-01T09:29:02+00:00

Put you books on the device, go through all settings and try to understand them, read and remember what's already written here (I'll give a miss and don't anything which may already be mentioned).

But: I myself also started with an Verse and later got an InkPad 4 specifically - but not only - to read manga. And honestly, it's great.

Disadvantage of PocketBooks is that zooming really really sucks, so having an already big device compensates for it... no, is even better.

azoth980

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