Kobo Libra H2O Review

Readers outside of Canada may not realize that the Amazon Kindle has a serious competitor, namely Kobo. They've just introduced a new ereader, the Kobo Libra H2O aimed squarely at Amazon's premium Oasis ereader.

Good E-Reader has published a detailed review of the Libra H20, and it looks quite appealing. It features a high-resolution 7" screen, has page turn buttons, and is waterproof.

On the software front, Kobo offers integration with the library ebook download service, Overdrive, which is owned by their parent company, Rakuten, and Pocket for downloading articles from the internet directly to the ereader. Kobo has always offered more typographic controls than Amazon's Kindle and they've added a new feature that I find especially appealing, namely a large-print mode.

There is a large print mode in the beta features, along with an internet browser. Large print mode will change the entire UI and most of the text based features of the software experience and make the fonts larger. This is great for people who wear glasses, have vision disorders or just are getting a little bit older and the eyes aren’t what they used to be. 

That and the 7" screen might be enough for me to consider getting a Kobo Libra H2O.

It will be available starting September 15 in Canada and the US. The Canadian price is $199, which is $60 more than the Kindle Paperwhite, but $130 less than the Kindle Oasis.