Computer Shopper 2019-11-01

ISSUE 381|COMPUTER SHOPPER|NOVEMBER 2019 43

SCREENSIZE6inE-Inktouchscreen•SCREENRESOLUTION

300ppi•STORAGE8GB•DIMENSIONS160x110x8.4mm•

WEIGHT166g•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILS

uk.kobobooks.com•PARTCODEN249-KU-BK-K-EP

SPECIFICATIONS

»l·STSTHEKobo Forma (Shopper375) took
on the Kindle Oasis, the Kobo Clara HD aims
to usurp adifferent Amazon e-reader: the mid-
range Kindle Paperwhite(Shopper372).
The two certainly look similar: take away
each device’s front logo and you could be
fooled intothinking theywere the same
product. The differences are there,however,
such as the wayinwhich the Kobo Clara HD’s
6in displayisslightly inset behind the bezels.
We admittedly preferthe flush design of the
Kindle Paperwhite.

DOTWATER
The bigger problem isn’t how it looks, but how
it feels. There’s no Forma-style rubberisation
to provide extra grip,making it easier to
drop when jostled, and the back panel is
pockmarked with what must be thousands of
tiny craters. This doesn’t feel particularly
pleasant, and the holes inevitably trap dust
and debris that’s difficult to clean out.
As on the Paperwhite, the Clara HD has no
page turn buttons, so you have to swipe the
touchscreen to progress through your ebooks.
There’s asingle port forthe microSD charging
cable,and this sits next to the power button
on the bottom edge.
Anyone accustomed to using an up-to-date
smartphone will feel like they’ve travelled
back in time when using the Kobo Clara HD.
It’s slow to respond as you browse between
menus, and searching forbooks within
the Kobo Store requires
anot insignificant level
of patience.
This sluggishness isn’t
uncommon among
e-readers, but it was
enough to drive us to do
most of our ebook-
browsing on aPC. The
Kobo Store has over five
million titles to choose
from, so it’s unlikely you
won’t be able to find what
you’re after.Having made
your selections, you then
just tap Sync on the Kobo
Clara HD (so long as it’s
connected to Wi-Fi) and
the titles will download to
the device’s library.
Reading on the Kobo
Clara HD is apleasant
experience,ifnot as
enjoyable as on the Kobo

KOBO ClaraHD

★★★★★

£110•From http://www.currys.co.uk

VERDICT

Bluelightreductionandeasyreadingmake
thisastrongrivalto theKindlePaperwhite

E-READER

Forma. It’s light enough to

hold in one hand without

strain, and turning pages just

requires aflick of the thumb

in the desired direction.

Occasionally it misreads the

swipe and turns backwards

rather than forwards though,

something that could have

been avoided with physical

page turn buttons.

INFORMAND

ENTERTAIN

The 300ppi displayis

incredibly crispand, thanks

to its customisable lighting,

we never experienced any

eyestrain. Fonts are highly adjustable.There

are 12 to choose from, including adyslexic-

friendly font called OpenDyslexic, and font

sizing, line spacing and justification can all be

toggled to suit your preference.Kobo provides

lots of detailed statistics on your reading

behaviour and these can be accessed with a

couple of taps while reading. Alternatively,you

can ignore all this and make the interface as

clean as possible,removing the header,footer

and page numbers. Another nice little feature

is that holding down on aword brings up the

Merriam-Webster dictionary definition.

By farthe best thing about reading on

the Kobo Clara HD compared to the Kindle

Paperwhiteisthe former’s

ComfortLight Pro

backlighting. The Clara HD

has 13 LEDs in total; it uses

whiteLEDs forstandard

front lighting and, just like

the new Kindle Oasis,

orange LEDs forwarm or

‘natural’ light. Punch in

your bedtime and the

ComfortLight will slowly

but surely take over as

the clock ticks down

towards evening, reducing

the amount of sleep-

disturbing blue light that

shines intoyour eyes. This

happens gradually and is

barely noticeable.

Sometimes, when we

wanted to go to bed earlier,

we manually lowered the

whitelight and cranked

ComfortLight right up to

achieve that sleepycandlelit look. It’s great

that the more affordable Kobo Clara HD has

afeature that’s currently exclusive to the

top-end Kindle; the Kindle Paperwhiteuses

an ambient light sensor to lower brightness

automatically depending on lighting

conditions, but this doesn’t eliminateblue

light as effectively as the ComfortLight Pro.

However,Amazon’s e-reader has some

advantages of its own. Forone,it’s waterproof

to the IPX8 standard, so will survive being

accidentally introduced to your bathwater,

something that would likely spell the end of

the Kobo Clara HD.Second, the Paperwhite

can download Audible audiobooks and play

them via Bluetooth speakers or headphones,

another trick the Clara HD can’t replicate.

GOOD READS

As aresult, neither of these e-readers are

clearly superior to the other.Rather,the

choice between them boils down largely to

how and where you like to read.

Fortravel and reading in the bath, the

Kindle Paperwhite’swaterproofing gives it an

obvious advantage,but bookworms who value

their sleep will find the orange LED-equipped

Kobo Clara HD much easier on the eyes when

it’s getting late. Whichever you choose,you’re

unlikely to regret the decision, as they’re both

fine e-readers in their own right.

TomBruce

R|NOVEMBER 2019