Last week the Kobo Libra H2O was on sale for $149, and now that that sale has ended, Kobo’s smaller and more portable ebook reader is being discounted.
The Kobo Clara HD is marked down to $94.99 on Kobo’s US website; it’s also available for the same price from Amazon.
I can’t help but notice the list price at Amazon is $149 to make it look like the discount is greater than it really is, but the Clara HD has never sold for that much. The original list price was $129 in the US, then they dropped it to $119 a couple years back.
A sale price of $94.99 is a bit lower than the usual sale price of $99, but it’s not quite as low as the $89 sale they did last year.
Amazon is going to have the Kindle Paperwhite on sale for $79 starting Monday for Prime Day, but Amazon is using clever marketing tactics so it’s not a fair comparison. That’s the subsidized price; the ad-free version will cost $20 more, so the equivalent Kindle Paperwhite will actually be $5 more expensive than the Kobo Clara HD on sale.
Some people complain about Kobo’s sale prices not being as good as Amazon’s, but it’s really just a matter of how you look at it, and Kobo’s sales don’t require a paid membership to get the discount.
Either way, the Clara HD is a good Kindle alternative, and unlike the Paperwhite it has a frontlight with temperature control for night reading. It supports ePub, PDF, CBR, CBZ, and other formats, including Adobe DRM, and you can download public library ebooks through OverDrive without having to use a separate device. See my Kobo Clara HD review for more details about it.
The only thing with the Clara HD is it just turned 3 years old earlier this month. E Ink ereaders evolve so slowly that it’s not like it’s outdated or anything, but surely a replacement is in the works at this point.
I have had every Kobo that has come out (I love new gadgets). I forced myself to choose and have kept my Clara, Nia and Libra. I find myself reading more on the Clara (in night mode) and Nia and Libra (in normal mode). Where I thought I would like the larger screen I did not like the Forma. The Clara is a really nice size and the Nia (to me) is very nice also. Kobo does a very good job with their devices. I am tempted to buy the Clara just to have since it is on sale (and my favorite of the three) but like you mentioned it is already three years old. An updated Clara would be nice. Though I really keep hoping they will update the Mini and bring it back. Anyone on the fence between Kindle and Kobo can not go wrong picking Kobo. All of Kobo’s devices are good and so much better – in my opinion – than Kindles.