Going from Kindle to Kobo: My Thoughts and how I settled on the Clara BW
I've had my one and only e-reader: the 4th generation Kindle since 2011. That's quite literally over a decade old- 13 years, to be exact.
It's been deemed old enough to justify an upgrade. Not that I had even been needing one, or considering getting a new one; rather, the Kindle had just started glitching on me and freezing this past September. After 13 years, I'd say it's an accomplishment that it took this long for the tech to finally start breaking down on me. Believe me when I say that this Kindle had not been babied by any means whatsoever.
Now, it's been exactly 30 days since I've gone from my Kindle 4th gen 2011 model (thanks Mom and Dad) to the new Kobo Clara BETWEEN. Read on to see what my thoughts are on this upgrade!
I don't think I can go back to the Kindle UX and world, and I truly do see what people are saying about Kobo just being overall better.
For starters, here are the specs between both as a comparison:
(Side note: the 4th gen Kindle is SO old that I had to dig around for a review of it, and found one on The Ebook Reader dot com)
As you can tell from the glaring number of red X circles, the basic Kindle 4th gen does not have as much much going for it compared to my new Kobo Clara BW. But that's okay! Here are some things I LIKED about the Kindle:
The e-ink screen
The physical page turning buttons on the side - I still love the page turners and how I just need to press down on the side. The buttons are very streamlined and a part of the side plastic framing.
The wallpapers when the device is turned off
The battery life (once upon a time, one charge could last me a good 4 months I stg)
The size of the screen (was not willing to go smaller, but was open to go bigger)
Straightforward system and user interface (turn on, find book, read.)
Being able to email epubs and PDFs to the Kindle directly via the Whispernet
Here are some things I DISLIKE about my Kindle today:
Its current extremely short battery life (I don't think a charge can last me two weeks now)
Being locked into the Kindle Amazon storefront and ecosystem - yes, I purchased each and every book on Amazon that I have on my Kindle...
Not being able to make Libby work on the Kindle (as a Canadian reader)
Lack of backlighting options
Anything to do with any sort of typing (I had to physically press the arrow buttons and wait until it landed on the right letter to press enter, then move on to the next letter, rinse repeat. Needless to say, it gets exhausting real quick trying to type out a short word, let alone a title of a book you're trying to find in your Kindle library storage.)
Lack of ad-free options with today's Kindle models (I got lucky with my Kindle 4th gen, where the home screen goes directly to my storage, listing all the books and collection folders I created. I hear this is no longer a thing, and the home page is the Amazon Kindle storefront. Ew.)
So, the Kobo Clara BW does a lot of what I liked about my Kindle - and more! It has quite a lot going for it: a long battery life, multiple backlighting options (reg vs warm lighting), bluetooth (if I wanted to do audiobooks, but I do that on my phone anyway so it's just a bonus for me). The Kobo Clara BW has crisp displays (I've read some manga and comics on it), and the zooming in and text font/size adjustments are super easy to navigate.
I know, I know. No physical page-turning buttons. I still lament the loss of my buttons. I know there are some Kobo models such as the Libra that have the buttons, but I strongly believe that the Kindle 4th gen buttons are superior. I liked that they were a part of the side, rather than a blocky-looking extension, like the buttons on the Libra are. The touch screen was a bit of an interesting thing to navigate in the beginning, but as we use touch-screen phones, it was very easy and quick to get used to it.
Why not the colour option?
Granted, the Kobo Clara colour as well as some other colour alternatives did come out. Why did I not choose the colour option? Yes, colour e-ink and e-readers are pretty to look at, but for someone who uses e-readers purely to read novels and text-heavy documents, it seemed unnecessary for my purposes. In store, I did a side-by-side comparison of the Clara Colour and BW and actually found the lighting to be drastically different at max brightness and warmth. Here's a picture I found online that gives you an idea of what I mean:
As you can see, the Clara BW version (right) has a crisper and whiter background, and the Clara Colour (left) looked a bit orange-red-toned overall.
ABOVE ALL: the Kobo ecosystem has been fantastic for me.
As someone who has been pitifully buying every single e-book on Amazon thus far or loading janky PDFs with too-small-text, the Kobo Clara BW is a breath of fresh air. It was very easy to connect my Libby account in the Settings. I now have an automatic delivery of all my ebook loans to my Kobo (!!!!) (A dream come true for Canadian e-readers!). I also have Calibre downloaded on my laptop and with it, can customize my Kobo to no end. You can see that I've gone ahead and gave my Kobo some wallpapers, which include my favourite The New Yorker covers. I'm happy with how much I can do with my Kobo. The Pocket app feature also came as a pleasant surprise! It's nice being able to read articles during work lunches and save any interesting articles on my computer, and those articles get automatically downloaded to my Kobo.
In true The Latte Chronicles fashion, if I were to give my Kobo Clara BW a rating:
★★★★★
If you're like me as a reader and your needs are similar to mine (and maybe your old Kindle is dying on you) I encourage you to make the jump to Kobo! I haven't regretted my Kobo Clara BW purchase at all. In fact, I've already finished 13 books since I booted up my Clara.
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HOT TAKE - the cast of Twilight (in their 20's) could be the cast for Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Just like Lowe, Robert Pattinson has the sharp jawline and cheekbones with a protective demeanour. Blonde Kristen Stewart definitely gives Misery vibes - awkward with a dark sense of humour mixed with honesty and openness.
★★★★
If you've never read fanfiction or dove into stories with werewolf lore like me, you end up being strangely confused but turned on at the same time... without spoiling it, let's just say, I didn't know werewolves did "that".
**Spoilers**
It's great book to read when you just finish an epic world building series and need a light read. But then there were elements in the book that made me question the formula of the book.
How is Lowe an architect but also computer illiterate?
The info dump at the VERY end of the book when her father reveals his master plan all at once - I don't want to be told the plot, I want to be shown the plot
Lowe cruelly lying about being Misery's mate was unnecessary
However, Misery has to be one of Ali Hazelwood's best FMC. She pushed for communication and unlike the FMCs in Love Hypothesis or Love on the Brain, I wasn't fighting for her to make smarter moves.
Disclaimer: this is an unsponsored review of an eARC provided by NetGalley.
Red string of fate. Reincarnation. Two souls deeply and passionately in love, yearning for each other throughout time and history.
I've always appreciated a story of reincarnation where a person retains their memories from their previous and past lives, and this is no exception.
Without spoiling the story, Our Infinite Fates follows the tale of star-crossed lovers Evelyn and Arden. As they are reborn and meet in new bodies, with different names, genders, and circumstances throughout history, readers are treated to not just one, but many love stories within a single book.
Although the plot becomes a bit predictable after the initial setup—due to the repetition of the same ultimate ending befalling our two lovers—I still love the idea of two souls being fated in every universe, every life, year after year, millennium after millennium. I particularly appreciated (potential spoiler alert!) that we see Evelyn and Arden in different loving relationships, each free from the limits of gender and sexual orientation. There is something incredibly romantic about knowing that some souls belong so wholly to each other that they find their way back no matter what.
However, I was a bit thrown off by the fantastical world-building. There were some holes that, for me personally, didn’t quite logically work or explain how certain events unfolded. Particularly toward the end of the book, the storytelling felt a bit rushed. Nonetheless, the build-up of tension and longing ultimately wins out for me.
Lovers of Ann Brashares’s My Name is Memory may find this a new favorite! This book was engaging that I started and finished it in one sitting.
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