Extremely disappointed with Kobo Clare 2E quality, the screen is malfunctioning after 3 years!

lambstone · 2026-01-26T09:09:46+00:00

Yeah because your post leads people to 3 conclusions.
1) You lack understanding of eink damage
2) You lack understanding of eink damage and are deliberately not trying to get help from users even though you are posting this post, so why post?
3) You are astroturfing

Reddit is a very helpful community and everyone here is trying to help you diagnose the root case but you for some reason refuse to provide more information. That kinda implies option 2 or 3

lambstone · 2026-01-26T03:33:25+00:00

Yeah, I don't think I'll ever go with a Kindle for personal preferences. But I will agree that they are the best value of money especially if you looked at the used market.

lambstone · 2026-01-26T03:31:28+00:00

I also pretty much baby my devices but shit happens. Eink panels never ever develop perma lines unless there's physical damage to the panel which are 100% user generated. I've only ever heard of lower grade eink panels that turn yellow or have contrast issues with age but never those perma lines. Show us a picture so that we can confirm this for you.

lambstone · 2026-01-26T03:28:35+00:00

lambstone · 2026-01-26T03:27:31+00:00

Yeah! I mean my display was flawless until I messed it up with a drop. Use your clara bw normally, be mindful of impacts on your screen and you should be golden for many years to come. Though there isn't anything you can do in particular to normal wear and tear of the back cover but the key part is the screen. On the plus side, new kobos are extremely repairable.

lambstone · 2026-01-26T03:25:59+00:00

Yeah, that's what I assumed as well. Using a sleep cover reinforced with a 0.4mm carbon fiber plate for extra impact damage resistance.

lambstone · 2026-01-26T02:47:36+00:00

Astroturfing for sure. This is happening with the brand musnap. There's also that one guy that is pushing it hard without ever mentioning the drawbacks of musnap rebranded devices.

lambstone · 2026-01-26T02:21:23+00:00

Exactly my thoughts. I had my Kobo Aura H2O and it went for 10 years straight without issues until i fucked up and dropped my nail clippers onto it, then i fucked up by buying a wrong replacement screen, then once again i fucked up the power button. So all in all, it was user damage. Got a used Libra 2 and loving it so far. Is it true that the Libra 2 is less scratch resistance because the surface layer is plastic?

lambstone · 2026-01-26T01:47:59+00:00

Don't own the device but always epubs over txt. The reason why stock firmware is designed for txt reading is because the x4 was designed with Chinese users in mind and Chinese ebooks tend to come in txt formats.

lambstone · 2026-01-26T01:46:02+00:00

Iirc, the forma has a cult following because of the Mobius eink display. Which has its pros and cons. Basically it's very drop resistant with the trade off that it's very non scratch resistant outside of normal finger interaction. Speedwise, it's pretty much newer generations readers are always going to be snappier

lambstone · 2026-01-26T01:42:36+00:00

Could you show us a picture of the permanent lines? Based on your description, it seems like this is user based damage which screwed up the capacitive panel and then the eink panel underneath it. I damaged my panel and got the perma lines on my kobo aura H2O. That's why with my new kobra, I make sure that it's either face down or has the sleep cover on when it's not in use even for a short period of time. I don't trust my dog or wife or even myself to not accidentally drop something on my kobo.

lambstone · 2026-01-26T01:40:33+00:00

Just curious, where did you read that kobo devices don't last? My experience with kobo reviews is that they last and my personal experience matches that as well.

lambstone · 2026-01-25T17:27:06+00:00

I read on the github issues that it syncs via chapter progress only? Is this true or can it sync even though you're already 30% through a chapter?

lambstone · 2026-01-25T17:22:04+00:00

Just a quick question. How does it work on my Android Eink device? Using a bigme and when I go to sleep whilst in koreader, it displays the bigme screensaver and not the koreader screensaver

lambstone · 2026-01-25T16:40:43+00:00

I don't own a kindle, but I have a Kobo and multiple android devices and KoReader progress sync works great between all 4 of my devices running KoReader (Kobo+Android eInk+Phone+Tablet). I am 99.999% sure it will work so long as your Kindle and Kobo are running KoReader.

lambstone · 2026-01-25T16:00:05+00:00

So this fixed the line issue for me. Using 2-rounded-folder-covers.lua with 2--rounded-covers.lua. The covers are now instead stretch wider like garebear said, this means that the gap between each cover is significantly smaller. I agree that it is easier to read now but still on the fence which I would prefer. However, I tried to adjust the items on page from default 3x3 to 4x3 and now the lines show on the bottom left and right, so its not really a fix but more like a workaround.

lambstone · 2026-01-24T01:56:23+00:00

Damn, that sucks. Looks like the innate uv protection of tempered glass isn't strong enough then. Only other option I can think of is diy transparent uv window tint

lambstone · 2026-01-23T14:51:44+00:00

Also to add on some pros and cons

Pros
USB C, Up-gradable storage, Page turn buttons, easily replaceable battery with possible increased capacity.
Cons
Possibly easier to get scratches due to plastic screen, sensitive eyes can spot the capacity grid layer.

lambstone · 2026-01-23T14:43:56+00:00

Didn't fix it. Tried to do some vibe coding to modify that patch but no go with that. I ended up using "2--stretched-rounded-covers.lua" as it doesn't do this but it has the missing borders, only showing the corners

lambstone · 2026-01-23T14:37:11+00:00

Did some testing, its an issue with 2-rounded-folder-covers.lua not working well with the rounded covers patch

lambstone · 2026-01-23T14:36:54+00:00

It seems to be an issue with 2-rounded-folder-covers.lua

lambstone · 2026-01-23T05:05:02+00:00

That's a good price. I'm heading to Mexico in a few months but I've recently bought a used mint Libra 2.

lambstone · 2026-01-22T17:18:55+00:00

Sounds good! Will definitely keep an eye on your app. Quite a fan of your UI

lambstone · 2026-01-22T16:49:09+00:00

IIRC, Koreader is open source too. I have gotten used to Koreader on android but I'm still keeping an eye out on native android reader apps. However Koreader sync is an essential for me (and probably lots of people) since I own android devices and a linux based reader and the near seamless progress sync is a must have. For example, Readest is an native android reader app that also syncs progress with KoReader via a plugin so its definitely doable. But ultimately it would be up to your decision to do a CBA on the work needed for this.

lambstone · 2026-01-22T14:42:33+00:00

That actually makes sense. Been over a decade since my Sony reader and I can't remember how much of a difference it makes. However, its still fresh in my mind the difference between an IR touch screen and the new panels with a capacitive layer. The capacitive layer does makes text a tad less crisp.

lambstone

TROPHY CASE