Kobo Libra 2 | eReader | 7” Glare Free Touchscreen | Waterproof | Adjustable Brightness and Color Temperature | Blue Light Reduction | eBooks | WiFi | 32GB of Storage | Carta E Ink Technology | Black

I wanted desperately to love this e-reader, I value accessibility and was over the moon with the hyped overdrive capability and epub use-ability. I scoured reviews and spent weeks deciding, and was beyond disappointed when I got the reader set up. It was not clearly stated was how epubs are read on the device, they require the use of Adobe Digital Editions and and activation/download via PC. For me personally, I do not have regular access to a PC which means in order to download epubs I would have to seek out PC sources where I could download the necessary Adobe software to transfer over the ebooks. Not only does the aforementioned pose significant issues but the capabilities with overdrive are lack luster. My library card gives me access to three separate library systems and in order to sync up my loans I needed to sign out of my over drive account and switch systems despite my library card and overdrive account granting access to each system. You also cannot search in all of your accessible overdrive accounts via the device and must sign in and out to see if one of your libraries carrys the book you are searching for. Which wouldnt be an issue if the sign in was easy, unfortunately it is not and all credentials must be re-entered each time, a difficult task with e-ink and secure passwords. At this point I wish I had just gotten the kindle, I cant read most epubs on this device and it doesnt work with overdrive as advertised. So for me there are no upsides to this device, kobo has a smaller and often more expensive library compared to kindle, you are forced into using Adobe software to read epubs which strands you if you dont have regular access to a PC (at that point I would rather support calibre to convert the epubs to mobi, whats the difference if both devices require file conversion?), and the overdrive capabilities are clunky and unreliable.

I love books. The feel, the smell, nothing beats opening a new book or rereading a beloved favorite for the twentieth time. However, books are heavy, and they take up a ton of space, which comes at a premium when you dont live in the local library/arent allowed to line every wall with bookshelves by the significant other to make your place feel like a library. Enter ebooks. Yes, I know audio books are a thing and possibly even easier to use, but I read much faster than I listen, and even speeding up the reading I can finish multiple books in the time it would take to listen to the first audio book. So I started reading ebooks on my laptop, and moved to my tablet and phone. It was meh at best, and annoying to always have to drag a power cord for charging everywhere I went. Its also terrible for your eyes. But e-readers were barely better than the tablets, until e-ink technology arrived. But I still held off, until I finally started doing my research at the beginning of the year. Kindle seemed the only real choice, but I already had thousands of ebooks and it seemed a daunting task to figure out how to load them to a Kindle properly, and the thought of paying for a device that came with ads unless I paid even more just made me angry. So I bought a Kobo. And I fell in love. Ive been using my Kobo for months, dragging it to work, on planes, to the beach, out to the pool, the local parks, on road trips, to doctors offices, basically everywhere I go its in my purse. The screen is easy to read in the brightest sunlight and the darkest nights when I cant sleep without finishing just one more chapter at barely 5% brightness, and the night mode makes the screen comfortably warm so the blue light doesnt bother me. I can easily get a week or more of reading between charges with the wifi turned off, and adding my own books from outside sources is a piece of cake. I cant speak for the audio book usability, but I have hundreds of books on my device with barely a dent in the available memory, and borrowing books from the library with Overdrive is a snap. The feel of the reader isnt a book, but it still feels solid without being heavy or awkward, and I love the buttons for turning the pages rather than being entirely touchscreen. The USB C also makes it easier to charge as most of my other electronics use the same type of cable. The only hiccup is in adding books from Barnes and Noble, as their file type is essentially unusable with anything not running their Nook software, but there are workarounds for everything. The magnetic screen off and on with the case I bought from Amazon is also great because I can close my book at any time without needing to find a bookmark or remember a page number. I can also skip between books to my hearts content and I never need to worry about losing my place because the reader remembers where I am in every book! If youre on the fence about getting an e-reader for reading books, this is the one to try. If you want something that can also browse the internet or have multiple apps, buy a tablet. This thing is solid as a rock for the serious reader. You wont regret it!

This is my second Kobo device and Im very pleased: The screen quality is magnificent and the battery life is out of this world. I love that this device doesnt restrict me to one bookstore and that I can side-load e-books that I already own or use it to read e-books that Ive made, myself. Would I prefer a slightly larger screen (like my previous Kobo)? Yes. Is this screen too small? No. Do I prefer buttons to touch-screen? No. Do the buttons work well? Yes. Does the touch-screen work well? Yes. Do you need both buttons and touch-screen? No. Will I continue to purchase Kobo e-readers? YES!

The good: I love this device. The book is easy to hold, love the fact that therere no ads, power button is in a good spot, love the lighting, its easy on the eyes, love that I can turn the page by clicking a button. I was able to get the books I had on Calibre that are in epub format loaded on to this device. I was able to sync books that were free from the Kobo store. These are the books I have been reading. The bad: There were no instructions that came with the device. It was trial and error and pushing a bunch of buttons and a long time spent trying to get Calibre and kobo dot com to all sync up since there were no instructions and I am no tech genius. I got this device for 2 reasons. 1. I wanted to not give any more money to Amazon than I needed to (even though I purchased it on here, but I was thinking books, etc). I also like the fact that it had imbedded overdrive so I could check out books, no ads, a button to turn pages instead of swiping, it came with a charger, and this ereader uses epub format so I could download books from other sources. 2. I love reading and have a millions books and am running out of places to store them so I am donating a bunch. I wanted to use overdrive and utilize my library instead of buying books. The problem is that even though I have been on overdrive on my laptop and borrowed books, I cant get the books onto the device. It doesnt sync to overdrive when I am on overdrive, or through the Kobo dot come website. The overdrive on the reader goes in an endless loop, having me input my library card information and pin number over and over again. I have tried signing in with the other options on there including google, using my phone number and the endless loop continues. I called customer support, which was less than helpful, the person was half asleep. I looked on the user guide for my device, also not helpful. If I cant use it for the purpose I spent all this money on, and cant get the support I need to get this dang thing to work, than it is a gigantic paperweight once I have read the few books I have on there and that is why it got 1 star. So I am going to return it and buy the kindle I was trying to avoid buying.

A month and a half worth of battery, easy on the eyes, wonderful to hold comfortably. Easy to sideload.

This is my first e-Reader and I am really enjoying it. Pros: - Very light, which makes it super easy to use in any situation, like laying in bed - USB C charging - Screen brightness & color options - Font options - Ability to side load books from your computer - The screen itself - Battery life - Charging speed - Comfortable to hold one or two handed - Book cover is shown when the device is in sleep mode, which looks nice Cons: - None whatsoever as of right now