Here’s what we think is the best e-reader deal available now: Kobo Clara Colour for $139.99 at Amazon (discount in cart, originally $159.99). That 13% discount equals the lowest price we’ve seen at the retailer, and makes it one of the most enticing color E Ink buys for readers who want more than monochrome.
Color e-readers are still a niche, costing more and getting discounted less than your average monochrome model. Discounted 6-inch color readers aren’t seen every day, so that’s why the Kobo Clara Colour sits at the heart of this week’s best deal chatter.
Why This Kobo Clara Colour Deal Is So Good Right Now
Rakuten Kobo’s color selection is relatively new, and there isn’t the same predictable cycle of Kindle sales. The Clara Colour uses E Ink’s new Kaleido 3 panel, which E Ink claims has up to 30% better color saturation than previous generations while still maintaining razor-sharp, crystal-clear 300 pixels per inch text (and, for color pictures at 6 inches, half that amount: 150 ppi). For under $140, you get a modern color E Ink model without having to accept the compromise of stepping up in size or price.
There is also a usage story supporting its worth. Most public libraries use the alternative Libby app, made by OverDrive, the company that handles the borrowing. But hundreds of millions of digital checkouts a year reinforce the extent to which readers lean on their e-readers even for borrowed books. Kobo readers have native OverDrive integration in certain supported areas, so you can check out on your reader with absolute ease and without these artifices.
What You Get with the 6-inch Kobo Clara Colour Reader
The Clara Colour hooks up a 6-inch Kaleido 3 screen with ComfortLight PRO, so you’re able to control not only brightness but warmth for those late-night sessions. Text is crisp for more comfortable long-form reading, and that color will bring book covers, children’s titles, comics, and annotations to life. It’s a small but significant shift if you’re accustomed to grayscale pages.
Storage is 16GB, which is more than enough for thousands of e-books or a fine library’s worth of graphic novels and heavier files. And thanks to E Ink’s power-sipping nature, battery life still extends into weeks per charge in regular use. You also get Kobo Audiobooks support, Bluetooth, and USB-C charging among the other basics.
The variety of formats supported is another practical win. Kobo reads EPUB and PDF files; it also supports comic book formats CBZ and CBR. You can link to Pocket so your saved web articles sync to the device and look great on E Ink. If your reading life exists beyond a single storefront, this open approach is a genuine plus.
How It Compares in the Current E-reader Market
Against perennial favorite, the Kindle Paperwhite, the Clara Colour’s headline feature is clear: color. Amazon’s offerings remain built around monochrome displays, which are ideal for novels but don’t render illustrations, textbooks, or magazines as impressively. If you care about exacting book covers, comics, or color-coded highlights, the Kobo is going to make a strong case — especially at this price.
Within Kobo’s own product range, the bigger Libra Colour adds page-turn buttons and optional stylus compatibility for handwritten notes but comes at a higher price. For most readers mindful of portability and budget, the Clara Colour is right in the sweet spot — small and light, now significantly less pricey.
Who Should Get the Kobo Clara Colour E-reader
If your reading life involves borrowing from the library, or if data collectors and totalitarian learning institutions knowing what you are reading is a concern, built-in OverDrive access will save you time with this e-reader. It’s also a wise choice for parents creating a children’s library, commuters who want something small that slides into a bag, and anyone who reads a mishmash of novels and graphic content in which color counts.
Readers who are leery of screen fatigue will be interested to know that it has an adjustable warm front light and offers a matte E Ink display, which reflects light like paper for less eye strain than a standard LCD during long reads. And if you’re looking to splurge less on streaming, an e-reader with library access is still one of the best cost-per-hour entertainment purchases available.
Bottom Line on the Kobo Clara Colour Record-Low Price
New to the United States at a price of $139.99, it’s a low-cost case study in modern color E Ink, slick library integrations, and broad format support.
If you’ve been looking for an excuse to splurge on an upgrade from a monochrome reader — or to dive into the Kobo ecosystem — this 13% off deal is that reason.
