A pint‑size colour option: Kobo’s little color e‑reader just got a fresh coat and the Kobo Clara Colour is now available in a nice clean white to boot.
For anyone looking for a little e‑reader to handle novels, comics, and magazines without ads or ecosystem lock‑in, this is the tiny e‑reader to beat—and the white colorway is the most requested appearance yet.
Why the white Clara Colour is different
The white chassis is not simply a style tweak. It visually recedes around the page (enhancing color illustrations and book covers), and is easier to pick out of a crowded tote. Minimalism is the name of the game here, to a certain extent, at least: rounded edges for one‑hand comfort, grippy texture, and a pocketable footprint that disappears in the pocket of a jacket or handbag.
Kobo executives have said the white was the No. 1 request from early Clara Colour purchasers. It’s a petty but telling sign: this is a device made for readers who care how their library looks and feels, not just what it costs.
Color e‑ink, tuned for real reading
The Clara Colour features E Ink’s Kaleido 3 panel, which is capable of rendering sharp monochrome text at high resolution and then slapping a color layer on for book covers, kids’ titles, cookbooks, and comics. The battery‑sipping convenience of e‑ink comes with enough color to make illustrations and charts relevant. It’s not tablet‑bright saturation — and that’s the point. The page is glare‑free in bright sunlight or under bedside reading lights.
ComfortLight PRO, Kobo’s very own adjustable front-light, makes it even more comfortable to read at night. You can pick from a range of settings to set the perfect light for your screen, reducing any blue-light exposure. Also there’s a legitimate dark mode. The page flips speed along for a 6‑inch reader, while the screen’s matte finish makes for easy reading during train rides or flights, and at poolside.
An ad-free world––and no one’s worried about formats
Unlike most mainstream e‑readers, the Clara Colour is ad‑free by default. There are no lock‑screen promos or home‑screen banners shouldering you toward a store. That’s important, if you want your device to feel like a bookshelf, not a billboard.
Format support is a little superpower in the background here. Kobo’s device has no such problem, as it reads EPUB natively — still, by far, the most common e‑book format worldwide — on top of Kobo’s own KEPUB, PDFs, and CBR/CBZ comics files. Which means fewer conversions and more reading. Pocket integration makes it easy to send web articles to the device with a click to read as a long-form, distraction‑free experience at a later time.
Library borrowing is excellent, too. With built-in OverDrive support (available in select markets), you can search your public library’s catalog and borrow books from your library directly from your eReader. OverDrive alone reports hundreds of millions of digital checkouts annually, and with Kobo’s one‑tap flow, it’s no wonder that heavy library users are drawn to it.
Specs that serve the book, not the spec sheet
The Clara Colour maintains the essentials: a 6‑inch screen for ultimate portability, USB‑C charging, Bluetooth for audiobook listening with wireless headphones, and the capacity for an entire library.
Battery life is counted in weeks, not hours, since e‑ink sips power only when the pages change. When you’re reading 30–40 minutes a day, you’re probably not going to top off nearly as frequently as you would a tablet.
The company’s TypeGenius typography suite is still one of the best. And you can adjust weight, sharpness, margins and line spacing with a fine-grained control that’s up there with dedicated reading apps. That might sound like no big deal until you think about how a slight difference in font weight can affect readability on a small screen.
Price, availability and who should buy it
The white Kobo Clara Colour is listed at $159.99 in the U.S., which puts it below a number of ad‑free competitors, and far beneath premium large‑screen models. Amazon still doesn’t make a color e‑ink Kindle; for those of us who’d like our children’s books, travel guides, and graphic novels to appear in their full hues, without killing a battery, Kobo has the edge.
Opt for the Clara Colour in white if you’re after an ad‑free compact ereader with true color for your covers, light illustrations and sound library support, as well as the freedom to do whatever you want with EPUBs. If you read mostly text, and you long for waterproofing or page‑turn buttons, look at Kobo’s larger Libra range. If color is not a priority, Kobo’s black-and-white models remain great and are a little bit cheaper.
Bottom line
The Clara Colour was already the most balanced 6‑inch color e‑ink device for everyday reading. The new white design is more compact, offering the largest display, readable with no glare, even in bright sunlight. For many people seeking the top small e‑book reader today, this is the one to buy—particularly in white.
