Kobo Libra Colour: buttons, a pen, and enough color

Color e-paper is usually sold as a magazine. Libra Colour is sold as a reader that happens to have a filter. That is the correct hierarchy. Body text is a little grainier than Clara BW. Highlights are yellow. Book covers look like objects on a shelf. Children’s books stop looking like xeroxes.

The buttons are the feature that does not fit in a press release. One-handed, standing on a bus, a 7-inch slab with keys is a different machine from a tap-only Paperwhite. The stylus is a bonus for marginalia, not a reason to skip Supernote.

Kobo’s OverDrive integration remains the grown-up reason to leave Amazon. EPUB drops in. Pocket articles land. The store is fine. The waterproofing is real. If you can only own one color reader and you have a library card, this is it.