Kobo Libra Colour
The Kobo Libra Colour is a game changer. The Libra Colour allows users to scribble down their every thought as they read, write in a separate notebook, and access their own Google Drive.
Amazon Kindle Scribe
The Kindle Scribe has a big display allowing space for notetaking or annotation, while still offering all the Kindle reading functions.
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As back-to-school season approaches, most students are deciding whether to take notes for the new year on a traditional notebook orswitch to an iPad. Throughout high school and college, and now for graduate school, I always opted for taking notes in a regular notebook. Tablets like iPads have been too distracting for me, preventing me from actually paying attention in class.
However, as I began to need even more books for school, I started searching for a way to compact my books and notebooks without buying an iPad. That’s when I found out that e-readers now allow readers to annotate, write in notebooks, and even offer limited internet access.
This Kobo color e-reader is perfect for back to school
The Kobo Libra Colour is the perfect option for those looking for a middle ground between an iPad and an e-reader.
As a former physical book loyalist, I missed so many perks of a physical book that e-readers just don’t have. The main perk being the ability to annotate. Tons of thoughts race through my mind as I read, especially when reading a book related to work or school, so I love having the option to write in the margins. But these new e-readers combine the perks of physical books and e-books.
Amazon’sKindle Scribehas been the most significant player in the stylus-compatible e-reader industry, but this spring, Rakuten announced its Kobo Libra Colour, an e-reader that allows users to scribble all over the pages. I’ve used Kindle and Kobo e-readers in the past and have been a fan of both devices, which made me torn between which to buy. Naturally, I needed to get both. If you’ve been deciding between the Kindle Scribe and Kobo Libra Colour, I’ve used both for the past few weeks.
Price, Availability, and Specs
Both devices are available on Amazon, with Kobo being slightly more accessible to buy at Walmart and directly through Rakuten. The Kindle Scribe, which includes the basic pen, costs $340. Rakuten’s Kobo Libra Colour only costs about $220 but doesn’t include the essential stylus needed to write on the device. The stylus will cost an extra $70, and a sleeping cover costs $40, bringing the total to $330.
Design and Display
One of the most significant differentiating factors between the Kobo and Kindle is the design and display. The Kindle Scribe reminds me more of a standard tablet, whereas the Kobo Libra Colour still has an e-book feel to it.
The Kindle Scribe is significantly bigger than the Kobo Libra Colour. The Scribe has a 10.2-inch e-ink display, whereas the Kobo features a 7-inch display. If you’re familiar with either the home screens on the Kindle or Kobo, they remain the same, except now both devices offer a separate section for notebooks.
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Both devices have a paperlike screen texture, but the Kindle Scribe definitely feels more like a tablet screen than the Kobo Libra Colour. Another bonus about the Kobo Libra Colour’s design is the addition of buttons on the side of the tablet. The buttons make it so much easier to turn a page forward or backward, giving it a significant advantage over the Scribe.
Of course, the final and most obvious difference between the two is that the Kindle Scribe has no color. I didn’t realize the difference the color makes until using the Kobo Libra Colour. Kobo’s e-reader offers several highlighting color options, which helps distinguish notes on the page. Plus, the book covers all in color adds some character to the device.
Performance
As far as performance goes, the Kindle Scribe wins slightly in this area. The pages turn faster, there’s hardly any lag when highlighting or adding notes, and the e-reader charges faster than the Kobo Libra Colour. That’s not to say that the Libra Colour doesn’t perform well. In fact, there’s a noticeable improvement between the Kobo Libra Colour and the olderKobo Clara that I also recently tested.
Where the Libra Colour wins over the Scribe is in its ability to annotate. Using the Kobo Stylus, users can scribble all over the pages of their books, a luxury you don’t have with the basic pen for the Kindle Scribe. The Scribe allows users to add notes, handwritten or typed, to a page, but you can’t freely write wherever you want.
Extra features
The added features each e-reader includes is another big turning point. Both e-readers offer a wide array of features, and it depends on what you’re looking for to determine which is best for you. The Kindle Scribe offers easy web browsing, links to Goodreads, is compatible with Libby, allows users to send PDFs and e-docs to the e-reader, and has a notebook feature.
Rakuten’s Kobo Libra Colour offers similar features to the Scribe, such as the notebook feature and the ability to edit PDFs and e-docs, but also changes it up. On the Kobo Libra Colour, the web browsing aspect is still in beta (Kobo’s web browser has been in beta for years), so it’s nowhere near as advanced as the Kindle Scribe’s web browsing.
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However, one of my favorite added features on the Libra Colour is the device’s ability to link to Google Drive and adding articles saved throughPocket. By linking to a Google Drive, you’re able to easily upload and edit articles on both your Kobo Libra Colour and your laptop. The Pocket feature, which isn’t new to Kobo devices, allows you to save articles you found online and download them to read for later.
Which is better for back to school?
At the end of the day, it depends on the experience you want to have. After using the devices for a couple of weeks, I’m leaning towards the Kobo Libra Colour due to its compact size and ability to link to Google Drive.
However, the Kindle Scribe is perfect for those who want a more iPad like e-reader, but that want to avoid the expensive price tag of Apple’s tablet.
