So I’ve been using the Rakuten Kobo Libra for a while now, and honestly… I think I might’ve found my new favourite way to read. As someone who’s usually glued to a phone or tablet, this thing felt like a breath of fresh air — especially for my eyes.
First thing I noticed — it’s really lightweight. Like, I could hold it for hours without my hand getting tired. Reading on this is a lot less straining compared to my phone, which I really appreciate especially at night. The built-in front light helps a lot too, and it doesn’t give me that eye fatigue I usually get with screens.
Another thing I liked is the physical page turn buttons. Might sound small, but it makes reading way more natural, especially when I’m lying down or only using one hand. It has WiFi built-in, and what I really love is that it can sync with both Dropbox and Google Drive. I just drop in my ebooks there and boom — it shows up on the device. Super convenient.
Battery life? Solid. I charged it once and been using it on and off for a week now and it’s still going strong.
Now, not everything’s perfect. There is a bit of a learning curve when you first get started — navigating the interface took me a bit of trial and error, but once you get the hang of it, it’s all smooth. PDFs though… they’re a bit tricky. Depending on the layout, I had to zoom in and out which was kinda annoying. Works better with regular ebooks like EPUBs and such.
Design-wise, I kinda wish the body was slightly smaller, but still keeping the same screen size. Not a huge issue, but would’ve been nice. Also, no expandable storage — would’ve been great if there was a microSD slot for those who like keeping a massive ebook library.
But overall? I’m pretty happy with it. In fact, I think this would make the perfect gift for my dad. It’s got that ease of use (once set up), good screen, excellent syncing options, and just works well for someone who enjoys reading without distractions.
If you’re someone who reads a lot and looking for something simple, distraction-free, and easy to carry around — the Kobo Libra might be worth checking out.