Kobo Clara HD Black

Twelve years ago, I started with a nook ereader. When that device failed fairly quickly, I moved onto a kindle tablet. I still own several in working condition, but I got mad one evening when I was unable to purchase a book from the kindle store because their system failed and I couldn't reach Amazon for any reasonable customer service. I did find out it was a system wide failure, but a company like that should be able to fix things quickly. They obviously couldn't. Anyways I got mad and started looking for an alternative ereader. I read review after review that night, I mean, I couldn't get the book I wanted, so I had to read something! I landed on the Kobo product group. I liked what I read. The Kobo Clara seemed to fit my needs very well. So I bought one. I am a ... MoreTwelve years ago, I started with a nook ereader. When that device failed fairly quickly, I moved onto a kindle tablet. I still own several in working condition, but I got mad one evening when I was unable to purchase a book from the kindle store because their system failed and I couldn't reach Amazon for any reasonable customer service. I did find out it was a system wide failure, but a company like that should be able to fix things quickly. They obviously couldn't. Anyways I got mad and started looking for an alternative ereader. I read review after review that night, I mean, I couldn't get the book I wanted, so I had to read something! I landed on the Kobo product group. I liked what I read. The Kobo Clara seemed to fit my needs very well. So I bought one. I am a voracious reader. I need my books. I need to read. Daily. This ereader is very nice. Small. Lightweight. Has all the features a reader needs with none of the damned bells and whistles and advertisements that seem embedded in other devices. Easy to purchase books from the website or the device directly. I like the ambient lighting aspect because I read at night when I can't sleep. I would recommend this to any reader out there who is looking for a device like this. That big company, A, has lost my business as far as books go. I'm not dealing with them anymore. I don't have to. Peace out people.

I absolutely love this e-reader. It is simple, yet very functional. The fact that I can easily add my own books from my personal library and add new fonts is a plus over a Kindle. Connecting with my local library was a breeze. Browsing, checking out or placing holds on books and returning them, without leaving the house, is absolutely wonderful. The Clara HD is extremely light and easy to hold. I can't say that about my iPad Air 3.If you're looking a hyper responsive interface, with all the fancy page turning animations, along with horrific eyestrain, stick with your iPad. If you love reading and would love an enjoyable e-reader experience, get the Clara HD. You will not be disappointed.

I loved the Clara HD itself. It's very lightweight, the lighting system is easy on the eyes, and the reading experience was great. Why only 3 stars? Maybe this was my fault, but I simply couldn't figure out how to easily download the library books I wanted. After trying everything I could think of for hours, a book would suddenly download. That happened twice, which is how I know it's a really lovely reader for reading. But I didn't want to spend an entire day trying to download for every book I wanted to read, so I regretfully returned the reader. Thanks to Kobo for quickly honoring their refund policy! I should add that if all you want to download is books from OverDrive from just one library, you'll likely have no problems. It's if you use more than one library, ... MoreI loved the Clara HD itself. It's very lightweight, the lighting system is easy on the eyes, and the reading experience was great. Why only 3 stars? Maybe this was my fault, but I simply couldn't figure out how to easily download the library books I wanted. After trying everything I could think of for hours, a book would suddenly download. That happened twice, which is how I know it's a really lovely reader for reading. But I didn't want to spend an entire day trying to download for every book I wanted to read, so I regretfully returned the reader. Thanks to Kobo for quickly honoring their refund policy! I should add that if all you want to download is books from OverDrive from just one library, you'll likely have no problems. It's if you use more than one library, and if your library tends to use Cloud or Hoopla or some other app for ebooks, that the problems may begin. Supposedly Adobe Digital Editions will work as an intermediary, but that is about the worst software ever invented, and if it helped me, it was by accident. I've replaced Clara with an 8" tablet, which has its own drawbacks, but at least I can get the books I want. If you think you're better at app navigation than I am (which is entirely possible!), go ahead and try Clara. If you can get it to work for you, you'll love it. If not, you can return it within 30 days.

My rating is really more like 3 1/2 stars. It's relatively easy to read the books, but the sorting is wacky, and the Kobo app is completely useless.The app: I don't use the store or the library-borrowing option on the device; I get all my books off my computer, and the app can't handle that. It never showed me having anything at all in my library. I ended up deleting the app and using Calibre instead.The sorting: I can't for the life of me figure out how this thing sorts; it's inconsistent at best. It puts all my books my books under something different (some in Firstname, Lastname; some in Lastname, Firstname; some in just First or just Last, and a few by just the book's title. In one case, it put the book under a completely different, unrelated name), and this ... MoreMy rating is really more like 3 1/2 stars. It's relatively easy to read the books, but the sorting is wacky, and the Kobo app is completely useless.The app: I don't use the store or the library-borrowing option on the device; I get all my books off my computer, and the app can't handle that. It never showed me having anything at all in my library. I ended up deleting the app and using Calibre instead.The sorting: I can't for the life of me figure out how this thing sorts; it's inconsistent at best. It puts all my books my books under something different (some in Firstname, Lastname; some in Lastname, Firstname; some in just First or just Last, and a few by just the book's title. In one case, it put the book under a completely different, unrelated name), and this is after editing the metadata on every file to make them match, an extremely time-consuming activity. The sorting is useless enough that I have to find the books by Searching, rather than scrolling through each author individually; that's made rather difficult when the author's books are scattered over four or five different folders. It's annoying.All that said, I do actually use the thing. I bought it to read in bed at night, and I do. So that's a positive.

I purchased a Clara HD in 2021. It was great, I had no problems until 13 months later. It was fine one day, working perfectly. The next, it wouldn't power on. I tried a number of times to reset it but with no luck. I called support. After a lot of back and forth, they told me it was damaged. Just one month after the warranty ended, the only solution was to buy a new one. But as luck would have it, they were kind enough to offer me a discount! Does this sound like timed obsolescence to anyone else? A couple weeks later, I reluctantly bought a new one. I've had it for just about a month. It crashes all the time. Some days it wont power on, some days it wont power off. Some days it goes to sleep and wont wake up. When they tell me it's my fault again, I will not be ... MoreI purchased a Clara HD in 2021. It was great, I had no problems until 13 months later. It was fine one day, working perfectly. The next, it wouldn't power on. I tried a number of times to reset it but with no luck. I called support. After a lot of back and forth, they told me it was damaged. Just one month after the warranty ended, the only solution was to buy a new one. But as luck would have it, they were kind enough to offer me a discount! Does this sound like timed obsolescence to anyone else? A couple weeks later, I reluctantly bought a new one. I've had it for just about a month. It crashes all the time. Some days it wont power on, some days it wont power off. Some days it goes to sleep and wont wake up. When they tell me it's my fault again, I will not be buying another. I've tried to avoid Amazon, but what choice do I have if I want ebooks from a library and don't want to read on my phone or an ipad?

Great eReader.

The kobo klara eReader is perfect and very happy with it. Easy to register it.It stay charged a long time. The small size make it very convenient and it even fit in my small purse. Great for traveling. Easy to download book. Easy to navigate and read. I’m very happy with this eReader.I bought it to replace the kindle eReader that dishonest Amazon disconnected to force me to buy a new one. My cousin that is an avid reader recommended me this klara HD kobo and glad I got it. If you get it from Walmart you can take it back there if something wrong. It’s not the case with Amazon kindle where is no one to reach. I highly recommend this little EReader.

Love our kobo

I bought this for my 10 year old to encourage more reading. It's worked a treat. He loves the features that show him how much he's read and how much more until he's finished the book. He finds it incentivises him to finish or show off how much he's read each day. He loves browsing for and buying new book. I did set up the ability to borrow ebooks from the library but haven't found much range. The really disappointing aspect was the monthly kobo subscription on offer. We tried it and there's really nothing worth reading unless you like romance novels. I'm now sharing the kobo with my son as I've found I also enjoy reading on it as it's so easy to hold and I enjoy being able to highlight words, make notes and look up words.

Perfect!

I upgraded to this reader from a very old Sony PRS reader. I wanted something that was more or less functionally the same, just with some more modern features. This was it, perfectly.It has the same size screen although the device itself is smaller, sleeker and lighter. The e-Ink screen is of great quality, exactly what I hoped - and I'm even impressed with the lighting. I didn't initially want a screen that lit up, the point of this device for me is to take some time away from looking at bright screens on other gadgets (and the lighting of course drains battery - the point of an e-reader is the exceptionally long battery life.) So I found that if you barely turn the light on (say 15%) it adds just a little something that makes the text on page appear very crisp ... MoreI upgraded to this reader from a very old Sony PRS reader. I wanted something that was more or less functionally the same, just with some more modern features. This was it, perfectly.It has the same size screen although the device itself is smaller, sleeker and lighter. The e-Ink screen is of great quality, exactly what I hoped - and I'm even impressed with the lighting. I didn't initially want a screen that lit up, the point of this device for me is to take some time away from looking at bright screens on other gadgets (and the lighting of course drains battery - the point of an e-reader is the exceptionally long battery life.) So I found that if you barely turn the light on (say 15%) it adds just a little something that makes the text on page appear very crisp and legible under normal ambient lighting, but it's not glowing or bright - and barely impacts your battery usage. I even appreciate how it can change the color temperature of the light at night, a feature I use on my other devices. The screen is also importantly very matte and not at all reflective - so you don't pick up any glare on the screen when you are using other lighting.I was also really impressed that it can connect to the local public library right over WiFi so I can borrow all the books I want at no cost. I knew that was possible, but surprised by how easy it was to navigate and borrow books all on the device itself.Recommend 100% for anyone that wants a fairly basic

Save yourself the headache and Don't purchase

This product is very glitchy and aggravating. I keep running into an issue where my wifi is disconnecting, and when I enter the password (which I am positive is the correct password) it will not allow me to reconnect. I called the company for help and they were pretty useless, telling me, "Yeeeeaaaahhh this has been a common problem we are trying to fix, we'll report it." But could do nothing to actually help me or fix anything. I mean, I paid over $100 for this product, I expect it to work. I actually purchased a second one, thinking maybe that would solve the problem, no such luck. I have also lived at two different addresses in two different towns so it has nothing to do with my location. The wifi issue has been the most aggravating but this thing also freezes on ... MoreThis product is very glitchy and aggravating. I keep running into an issue where my wifi is disconnecting, and when I enter the password (which I am positive is the correct password) it will not allow me to reconnect. I called the company for help and they were pretty useless, telling me, "Yeeeeaaaahhh this has been a common problem we are trying to fix, we'll report it." But could do nothing to actually help me or fix anything. I mean, I paid over $100 for this product, I expect it to work. I actually purchased a second one, thinking maybe that would solve the problem, no such luck. I have also lived at two different addresses in two different towns so it has nothing to do with my location. The wifi issue has been the most aggravating but this thing also freezes on a pretty regular basis and just generally has a mind of it's own. Hiliting random passages and clipping random pages, when I unclip them they just clip themselves back. Like, no. I was skeptical of purchasing an ereader and this thing proved me right. Do yourself a favor and do NOT purchase this product. I'm sure there are alternatives out there that actually work when you expect them to and aren't just an enormous pain.

Wonderful device with one drawback

The Kobo Clara is lightweight but feels a little fragile. The e-ink screen is glare free and great. Even though mobi format is included, Amazon accounts are not. The lack of Bluetooth is a desirable feature for me, not a bug, since my boss's relatives have hacked all of my devices via Bluetooth.Biggest drawback: inability to transfer my Gutenberg books to the device via USB port. An upgrade to allow my stored books and PDFs would be an improvement.7/10 because it really is a great little device for arthritic hands and older eyes. Minus three for the lack of USB transfer.