The iRiver Cover Story (not the HD model, I have no idea about it), stupidly had a cutout in the alloy chassis for the lithium cell. Thus that was between rear cover and the eink substrate. The screens on those crack at rear when the battery is older as LiPoly cells swell.
All the current Kobos, and some older ones, seem to have a ribbed alloy chassis that covers the entire back of the screen, with simply ribs missing at battery location. So a swelling battery cell will at worst push the plastic back. Also adds protection from flexing.
I know someone that has twice broken a mobile phone screen by walking into a pavement bollard.
The Kobos won't withstand being stood on screen up, or something large dropping on screen, or sat on etc.
I'm not sure how long term durable / stable the plastic substrate is/was compared to glass (e.g. Forma vs Sage).
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