Kobo’s current lineup of ereaders is seriously lacking when it comes to traditional black and white E Ink screens. The overall market for BW screens is still much larger than the market for color E Ink screens, so it makes you wonder why is Kobo so intent on selling devices with color E Ink screens?
Kobo only sells one basic 6″ model with a BW screen, and one overpriced large model with a BW screen that was outdated when it was released, the Elipsa 2E. It looks like the Kobo Sage is in the process of being phased out after four years, so you can’t count on it being available anymore (it’s been out of stock in the US for a couple months now).
Something just doesn’t add up about the lack of BW Kobo models. It would be like Amazon discontinuing the Kindle Paperwhite in favor of the Kindle Colorsoft and only offering the basic Kindle with a BW screen.
Kobo has been selling mid-sized black and white devices since 2014 when they released the Kobo Aura H2O with a 6.8″ E Ink screen. Then came the Kobo Aura One with a 7.8″ screen in 2016. That was followed by the Kobo Forma and then Kobo Sage, both with 8″ BW E Ink screens.
Now the only mid-sized model that Kobo sells is the Kobo Libra Colour with a color E Ink screen. They also sell a 6″ Clara with a color screen, and I wouldn’t be surprised if their next new model is a color Elipsa with 10.3″ color screen.
The Kobo Libra 2 was one of Kobo’s most popular models ever, and yet they decided to phase it out and only release a color version. That makes no sense. It’s been over a year now and people are still waiting for a BW Libra but Kobo simply refuses to release one, and there are zero signs of one getting released anytime soon (new Kobo devices usually show up months in advance on the FCC website).
At this point the only way that makes any sense is if Kobo has an agreement with E Ink not to sell a BW Libra. It makes you wonder if they’re getting a discount on the color screens or if they’re being compensated in some way to promote color E Ink.
E Ink has invested over $100 million dollars into developing their color screens, and they’ve been slow to catch on because of the disadvantages with color E Ink. I wouldn’t be surprised if E Ink is incentivizing Kobo in some way to use color screens instead of BW screens to help bring color E Ink into the mainstream.
Problem is, I feel like Kobo isn’t a big enough vendor to really be behind a push for color eink. They’d need Amazon to start pushing it harder to really make a dent.
That said, a color Elipsa sounds nice, but I suspect it’d be $450 or $500, a bit much.
Nathan, you may be right about a color Ellipsa…my guess also! An E ink deal is possible. What would make the most sense without your speculated Eink deal would be to bring two models per size(economy of scale and presented choice), one color and one black and white with the same body and hardware, to market. The Ellipsa 2 seemed rushed…should have waited and released a 300 dpi device. It has been quite awhile without a refresh.
In my opinion there is no point in refreshing Elipsa unless they improve the note-taking software.
I agree, I’m so disappointed with the note taking function and I’m seriously considering dumping my Kobo in favour of Boox
They still have the first gen Elipsa in huge stockpiles, so to release another gen of unsalable model line would be a very silly move.
What I don’t understand: why is there zero communication about any new or upcoming models, like ever?
If someone wants to buy a Libra 2 they can’t, so best choice is to go to the competition. Literally, like Go 7 BW.
My other thought: smartphones and tablets must have user-replaceable batteries by 2027. Ereaders count as tablets, so probably they won’t release any >new< models until then.
Libra Color is probably selling well enough for Kobo not to bother with a bw model.
My MIL got one a few weeks ago and she’s very happy with it even though she only reads (romance) novels.
Around me, lots of older people are getting their first ereader. They chose a Kobo Libra Colour, mainly for the size and the addition of colors. They are all very happy. They don’t know what a BW ereader looks like.
By the way, the Kindle Colorsoft is still not available in Canada. So there’s that also to consider, I guess. And it’s also easier to borrow books from the library with a Kobo than a Kindle in Canada.
I doubt E Ink requested that Kobo not sell a BW Libra, as that stupid decision is likely owned solely by Kobo.
I am trying out a Libra Colour right now, as I would love a 7” ereader with a white bezel. However, as hard as I have tried to like it, I will be returning it as the screen is just too dark. Every time I crank up the light to use it inside, I wonder why I just don’t use an iPad instead. And outside the screen is too dark to use, and there isn’t anything you can do about it.
Nathan once said that he didn’t think the people who design ereaders use them. (I don’t remember, but maybe he was referring to a specific company.) I thought he was being too harsh, but I am think I see his point now.
I’ll add my 5 cents. Just pure speculation, what if Kobo is prepping the idea of color display knowing that there is a new technology on horizon with much better qualities. Basically convert existing color display user for a better technology is easier and in process convince those who was on the fence and lifecycle of existing models is not as long as we might expect… dunno, but really interesting case.
PS: I’ve got myself a Clara Color, to be honest I’m not really fussed about the screen quality for one simple reason, only now I’ve started to notice that with Clara 2E or Libra OG or Aura One I was using backlight in 90% of situations and with Color it is not less, the only difference that I need to increase the brightness a bit to compensate for difference of screen quality.