Kobo Libra 2 vs Pocketbook Era (B/W)

[boricode]

I have been testing a kobo libra 2 and a Pocketbook Era extensively side by side for a few days now, and there are some things I noticed that are making my picking a favorite rather difficult.

Some differences:

The Kobo libra 2 is brighter by default than the Era. It takes a brightness of 2-5 to match a full 25 on the Era.

The contrast and overall screen looks much better on the kobo, which makes text slightly easier to read.

Koreader works flawlessly thanks to the installation scripts and sync between it and my portable clara bw is great.

The large thick bezel on the side where the buttons are is a bit distracting when reading. It feels bigger and less comfortable than the Era. It feels like wasted space and the reading experience is less immersive.

The pocketbook has the same screen size as the kobo, but it's utilized completely, which makes for a more reading experience and a smaller device. You get the benefits of a 6'8" screen but the portability of a 6".

The buttons are, to me, more comfortable on the Era, and the overall device feels ergonomically better, to me, than the kobo.

The PB Era is still available, whereas the libra 2 is discontinued (What will the future of BW ereaders be?)

The Kobo has an autosuspend mode, which makes its battery last longer than the Era. I haven't yet found a way to turn on autosuspend on the era.

The Era offers send-to-pocketbook and cloud storage, 2gb.

The screen on the Era seems a tad fuzzier, less sharp, more like paper, than the libra. The libra feels more like a screen with sharp text. This is likely a personal matter. To me, it is easier to read in bed without feeling asleep on the kobo than the era because it feels like a screen and kinda keeps me awake, whilst the era feels more like a book and I doze off a bit more easily.

The era offers text to speech with a human voice, with and without bluetooth. It has speakers, whereas the kobo doesn't.

The era supports more file extensions and is more open. It doesn't require an account to use the device and, if you didn't care for send-to-pocketbook or uploading books to the 2gb free cloud, you could use the device entirely off the radar.

The Pocketbook store sucks, but the idea is freedom. Buy your books anywhere and read them in your independent device.

Both offer onedrive, onleihe, etc.

The base UI offers more stuff on the kobo than the PB. PB doesn't track statistics of any kind, which can be convenient and cool, but would contradict the whole idea of an independent reader. These are easily tracked with koreader, however.

I still haven't made my decision as to which is my daily goto reader and which one I'll be giving up, but in the meantime I hope this comparison helps those of you who might be considering these devices.

If you have more specific questions, please let me know.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by boricode

The era supports more file extensions and is more open. It doesn't require an account to use the device and, if you didn't care for send-to-pocketbook or uploading books to the 2gb free cloud, you could use the device entirely off the radar.

You don't need an account to use Kobo devices, either. You just need to enable sideload mode. Connect over USB, navigate to Kobo eReader/.kobo/Kobo, open Kobo eReader.conf, add SideloadedMode=true under [ApplicationPreferences], safely eject, and reboot to bypass setup.

[Sirtel]

Thanks for the detailed comparison. I've been considering the Era, but the not-so-contrasty screen and the lack of any font weight adjusting system are dealbreakers for me. (No, I don't want to use KOReader).

[boricode]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

You don't need an account to use Kobo devices, either. You just need to enable sideload mode. Connect over USB, navigate to Kobo eReader/.kobo/Kobo, open Kobo eReader.conf, add SideloadedMode=true under [ApplicationPreferences], safely eject, and reboot to bypass setup.

Thanks for the tip!

[JSWolf]

Do not give up the Kobo Libra 2. As it stands, if you give it up and then change your mind, you won't be able to get another one other then used.

[boricode]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Do not give up the Kobo Libra 2. As it stands, if you give it up and then change your mind, you won't be able to get another one other then used.

That's it. I'm keeping it

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by boricode

That's it. I'm keeping it

Good idea. The Libra 2 was mistakenly discontinued before another suitable Reader could replace it. The Libra Colour is not a suitable replacement.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Thanks for the detailed comparison. I've been considering the Era, but the not-so-contrasty screen and the lack of any font weight adjusting system are dealbreakers for me. (No, I don't want to use KOReader).

I agree. I would love to try out a Pocketbook device, but their bad screens are keeping me from doing it. And the outdated hardware making all operations really slow.

But I would be installing Koreader on them