As expected, Kobo has started accepting pre-orders today for their new Kobo Libra H2O. It’s expected to get released on September 17th.
The Kobo Libra is available for $169.99 USD with free shipping from the Kobo website.
It’s also available to order from Chapters.Indigo in Canada where it sells for $199 CAD. If ordering in the US, the price works out about the same after conversion and shipping.
I’ve ordered several different Kobo models from Chapters and haven’t had any problems, and their shipping is surprisingly fast, but returns are more of a hassle than dealing with Walmart.
Speaking of Walmart, they still don’t have the Kobo Libra listed yet. Big surprise. But they do have some good deals on other Kobo models.
The 8-inch Kobo Forma is available for $249, which is $30 off the regular price. And they also have the 6-inch Kobo Aura 2 for $49 with free shipping. That’s a great deal for a frontlit ebook reader.
For some reason the Kobo Clara HD is $10 less than usual at $119, and it’s the same price at Kobo but it’s not being advertised as a sale so maybe they’ve decided to lower the price slightly.
The Kobo Libra has a 7-inch E Ink screen, and like the Kobo Forma, it has page buttons on one side of the screen and a rotation sensor to switch hands. The device is waterproof, with an IPX8 rating. It has 8GB of internal storage space. It has Kobo’s Comfortlight Pro, meaning the frontlight color can be adjusted from cool to warm.
Stay tuned for a full review of the new Kobo Libra, plus some comparisons, later this month.
Jeff says
Any idea when wallmart will have Libra on pre order? I would rather order from wallmart for easier return, if necessary.
Nathan says
Who knows…. I don’t remember how long it took for them to list the Forma but I’m pretty sure they didn’t do preorders. Maybe it’ll show up closer to the 17th.
Bob says
Pre-ordered mine yesterday off the kobo-canada website (I live in Canada). $199 (cdn) plus tax with free shipping. It didn’t say when I should expect it … but am looking forward to the day! Hope I love it.
rcentros says
What’s really weird, is that Amazon (“Ships from and sold by Amazon.com”) are selling Kobo Claras for $120. But now they’re not showing them shipping until October 1-17th (yesterday it was September 18th).
Nathan says
I noticed that too. It is weird that Amazon would be selling them, even weirder that they would be selling them for $10 less than Kobo. But now Kobo seems to have dropped the price to $119 as well, and yet Kobo is still selling the Aura 2 for $119. None of it makes any sense, along with Walmart’s mysterious fluctuating prices.
Karen says
You have a typo – the Kobo Aura 2 is selling for $99 at Walmart, not $49
Josh says
Yeah, I don’t see those prices for either e-reader. Forma is at $263.
Nathan says
Welcome to walmart’s mysterious fluctuating prices. What will they be tomorrow, or next week?
Nathan says
Not a typo. It was $49 but they just raised it back to $99, which is odd because it’s been $69 for awhile now ever since they started calling it the exclusive Walmart version.
Reader says
It isn’t a typo. The sale was quite limited in time. Wasn’t one of those “good for a week” sales.I checked the link around 10 p.m. September 10. The Koboa Aura 2 was available for $49. I could have driven the 5 miles to WalMart to pick one up, but decided to wait until morning.Nor did I bother to order online. By the morning of Sept 11, the offer was gone.
Oh well. Guess I will finally purchase a battery for my dead Kobo Aura HD and try to install the battery.
jack says
walmart just put up a page for pre-ordering the libra, but it’s not working yet.