Kobo Clara BW Review: The Easiest Ereader to Live With

By Editorial Team | April 2026

You do not need another tablet pretending to be a book. The Kobo Clara BW is the cleaner answer: a compact, glare-free eReader that is made for reading first and distraction second. Its strongest case is simple — it gets out of the way, and that matters more than flashy extras.

Our pick: Kobo Clara BW

Kobo Clara BW — £129.99

With an 8/10 score, this is the eReader for people who want novels, library books, and bedtime reading without the glare, noise, or temptation of a full tablet. The 6-inch E Ink Carta 1300 screen is the real win here: crisp text, easy outdoor readability, and none of the eye strain you get from a backlit phone.

Why it works:

• The E Ink Carta 1300 display at 1448 x 1072 keeps text sharp enough for long reads without feeling fussy.
• ComfortLight PRO lets you tune brightness and colour temperature, which is exactly what you want when you read at night.
• IPX8 waterproofing means you can read in the bath, by the pool, or in the rain without babying it.
• Kobo’s open ecosystem is the quiet advantage: OverDrive, Pocket syncing, Kobo store access, and audiobook support all make it more flexible than a lot of rivals.

The honest trade-off: the 6-inch screen is compact, not roomy, so PDFs and dense textbooks feel cramped. If that’s your use case, this is the wrong buy.

Buy the Kobo Clara BW here.

Best upgrade: Kobo Libra Colour

Kobo Libra Colour — £209.99

If you want a more versatile Kobo, this is the better step up. You get a larger 7-inch class screen and colour E Ink, which makes book covers, magazines, and graphic novels far more useful than black-and-white alone. It is the smarter premium choice if you actually want to read beyond plain text.

Worth it if: you read comics, magazines, or want page-turn buttons and a more spacious screen for longer sessions.

Best budget pick: Amazon Kindle (2024)

Amazon Kindle (2024) — about £94.99

This is the cheaper way into e-reading if you only care about plain-text books and want the lightest possible spend. It is fine for casual readers, but you give up the Kobo’s stronger library integration, waterproofing at this level, and the more flexible ecosystem.

Worth it if: you mainly buy Kindle books already and want the lowest-cost entry point.

How we chose

For an eReader, the only things that really matter are screen quality, comfort in low light, battery-friendly reading, portability, and how painful the ecosystem is to live with. We used the product data here and cross-checked it against current reviews from Wirecutter, The Independent, and other recent hands-on coverage to anchor the comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Kobo Clara BW good for first-time eReader buyers? Yes. It is simple, light, easy on the eyes, and less annoying than reading on a phone or tablet.

Is £129.99 good value? Yes, if you want a dedicated reading device and not a do-it-all gadget. It is not cheap, but it is sensibly priced for the feature set.

Can it handle water and audiobooks? Yes — it has IPX8 waterproofing and Bluetooth audio support for audiobooks.