From time to time Engadget editors take trip to speak about what they have been shopping for for themselves, with their very own cash. This week, Commerce Editor Valentina Palladino offers her tackle the Kobo Libra 2 e-reader.

I’ll be trustworthy, the pandemic took a toll on my studying habits. Plenty of the time I beforehand spent studying was now spent doom- and hate-scrolling on my iPhone. I didn’t need to drag that behavior into 2022, so I deleted the largest scroll-hole culprits from my cellphone (Instagram, Twitter) and determined to improve to the Kobo Libra 2 as a present to myself.

The Libra 2 isn’t my first e-reader – an previous Kindle Paperwhite nonetheless languishes in my drawer – however I needed a change that will each get me out of a bodily studying droop whereas additionally lessening my dependence on the juggernaut that’s Amazon’s Kindle retailer. I got here to this determination late final yr after pulling out my previous 2018 Paperwhite and studying a e book on it. The expertise was noticeably laggy, taking a number of minutes to correctly sync my books and fetch titles I had borrowed from my native library. It was additionally obvious to me how annoying the Kindle was to carry. I primarily learn with the gadget in my proper hand, and since the Paperwhite’s measurement bezels are fairly skinny, that meant I used to be typically unintentionally turning the web page when my fingers brushed the display screen’s edge.

Enter the Libra 2, one of many firm’s newest e-readers whose bigger chin is dwelling to bodily web page buttons. I knew I needed one with this design, and if I had needed to go the Amazon route, I might have been left with solely the Kindle Oasis to think about. On high of the truth that Amazon’s units help a limited number of file types, I simply didn’t need to drop $250 on an e-reader. Kobo, alternatively, has 4 units with this design, with the Libra 2 being essentially the most inexpensive of that bunch at $180.

The practicality of the bigger chin and page-turn buttons can’t be overstated; they’re a few of my favourite issues concerning the Libra 2. My hand doesn’t cramp anymore after I learn as a result of I can simply change from one hand to the opposite relying on if I’m at my desk, curled up on the sofa, or peeking an eye fixed out from below the covers in mattress. Landscape studying mode has develop into a favourite, too, and I additionally just like the tactical really feel of the page-turn buttons a lot that I hardly ever, if ever, faucet the display screen to progress in my present learn.

The display screen on the Libra 2 can also be noticeably sharper than that of my previous Kindle Paperwhite. It’s a seven-inch E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen with what Kobo calls “ComfortLight Pro,” which simply means you possibly can modify the brightness and shade temperature. I preserve the temperature adjustment on the “auto” setting so the display screen’s lighting turns into much less blue and extra yellow because the day goes on, making it my most comfy display screen to stare at proper earlier than bedtime. Plus, the quite a few font, font sizes, line spacing and margin choices let me customise textual content to my liking, making the whole studying expertise extra comfy and pleasurable.

The Libra 2 can also be waterproof, nevertheless it’s a type of options I don’t truly use every single day and I’ll solely totally admire it if the e-reader will get an surprising dunking in a resort pool. Same goes for the audiobook characteristic: I hearken to books primarily by means of Overdrive’s Libby app, so I haven’t examined the Libra 2 as an audiobook machine but. However, the USB-C charging port is one thing I can admire in my day-to-day because it costs the gadget from almost zero to full in a few hours. So far, the Libra 2 has lived as much as its promise of getting a weeks-long battery life as I’ve solely needed to cost it as soon as within the month or in order that I’ve had it.

So the Libra 2’s {hardware} has confirmed to be simply nearly as good in observe because it was on paper. But along with {hardware}, Kobo’s Overdrive and Pocket integrations had been two large issues that made me critically take into account making the change from Kindle. Having all of my studying materials in a single place – particularly a spot that’s not my cellphone – would absolutely cease me from falling down a scroll gap each night time, proper?

The reply is sure – principally. (I nonetheless scroll typically, I’m however a mere mortal.) Saving articles to Pocket all through the day is tremendous simple and I can flip to them at night time when I’ve extra time to learn. But the kicker for me is Overdrive, which I can browse immediately on the Libra 2 and borrow titles from my library with only a few faucets. I additionally use the Libby app at the side of this – when Libby and my Libra 2 are signed in with the identical library card, any e-book I borrow through Libby mechanically exhibits up on my Libra 2 like magic. Holds additionally present up on the e-reader with the period of time I’ve left to attend; as soon as it’s my flip, a cute little “borrow” button pops up, permitting me to get studying virtually instantly. While Amazon’s Send-to-Kindle characteristic can also be a straightforward approach to get library books from Libby to a Kindle, I discover this direct integration extra handy.

Where this turns into a bit cumbersome is if in case you have a number of library playing cards connected to your Overdrive account (which I do). You’ll should signal out on the e-reader and register once more with the particular library you’re attempting to entry. Most folks will most likely by no means have to do that, however simply bear in mind in the event you’re like me and incessantly take a look at a number of libraries’ catalogs with the hopes of getting the shortest wait time doable to your subsequent learn.

I attempt to use my library as a lot as doable, nevertheless it’s additionally price noting that purchasing books on the Libra 2 can also be handy. You should purchase titles immediately on the gadget from the Kobo retailer and I’ve but to discover a e book that I need to buy that Kobo doesn’t have. I incessantly dump titles that none of my libraries have into my Kobo wishlist, and I used to be stunned to search out that it had lesser-known books like This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik together with anticipated upcoming titles like How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. 

If you reside within the US, you’ve most likely been fed the concept Amazon’s Kindle e book retailer is essentially the most formidable on the internet – and whereas which may be true, it’s not the one possibility out there. Same goes for Kindles themselves: they could be the most ubiquitous e-readers, however in the event you’re even remotely curious about loosening the vice-grip Amazon has in your studying life, a Kobo gadget might do the trick.