It’s hard to believe, but the Kobo Clara HD has been on the market for nearly four years now. That’s a really long time for an electronic device to remain on the market in this day and age without any upgrades, and the fact is it was barely an upgrade over previous 6-inch Kobo models.
The Kobo Clara HD was released in June 2018, and even then at the time the only “new” feature they added to it was the ability to control the frontlight color, which had previously only been available on Kobo’s larger models. Other than that it was pretty much exactly the same as the Kobo Glo HD that came before it.
Kobo tends to release at least one new model each year. Last year they released three, the 10.3-inch Kobo Elipsa, the 8-inch Kobo Sage, and the 7-inch Kobo Libra 2.
That only leaves their 6-inch models left to be upgraded, and the Clara HD is the oldest one.
There are plenty of things they could upgrade. The newer Kobo models now have USB-C support and newer Carta 1200 screens with better contrast. They also have more storage space and Bluetooth support for streaming audiobooks. Kobo officially added Dark Mode support to the new larger models too, something their smaller ereaders still lack.
How many years is Kobo going to stick with the Clara HD? It would be nice to see Kobo release a new 6-inch model soon with some of the upgrades from the larger models.
What features would you like to see on the next 6-inch Kobo ereader?
The only change I want them to make is to the Elipsa by giving it 300 ppi and the warm lights.
And less weight…
That isn’t on kobo but on Eink. The highest resolution they have available for 10.3” devices is 227ppi.
Yes!
I have the Sage and it is great(my Oasis stays in the drawer)…warm light and page buttons-and yep it is time for 300 dpi in this size.
Shrink it by one inch and call it the Kobo Mini 2.0.
A new kobo mini would be amazing!
I’d love another Kobo Mini, especially if it had USB-C and the new Carta ink.
I don’t really care about new models and am still using the aura from several years ago. I manage my ebooks through calibre and my desktop and don’t like having a ton of books on there or access to the internet. I guess I’m old school but think the older model is good enough. I use my ereader like a conventional book but really like the portability and option to increase the font size. I use my phone or mp3 player for audiobooks so don’t need my kobo to do that either.
Good comments.
I like the design of the Clara HD. Keep it the same add USB-C, page buttons and the new Carta screens and it’ll be a hit.
The most glaring deficiency is the horrible, unusable PDF reader that Kobo has foisted on the public for over a decade. Theyneed to upgrade it. Epubs are still pretty good on it. Also, how about a browser worthy of the name?