Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review is for anyone who is debating between the new kindle Paperwhite and the Libra 2. If you are like me, you do extensive online research, obsess over reddit forums, YouTube reviews, etc... before making a decision on any electronic device that you buy. I probably watched every single YouTube review of Libra 2 and Paperwhite, and most reviewers said that both were basically equivalent. Well, I went ahead and bought both to try & compare them, and here is what I liked/didnt like between the two below, but before I do, Observations: WEIGHT: * Paperwhite feels significantly lighter weight than the Libra 2. Although the kindle is lighter, it is a lot harder/straining to hold than the Libra 2. Because the side bezels are so thin, it is really un-ergonomic to hold with your thumb on the edge. Or you can hold it from the bottom, but that becomes awkward after about 30-45 mins too. The Libra 2 however, is heavier, but has a, IMO, much more ergonomic grip and has space to put your thumb due to one of its side bezels being large. This allows your other fingers to grip the device from the back much easier compared to Kindle. You can easily flip the kobo for right or left handed grip, and it will auto-adjust orientation. TEXT FORMATTING: * The way Libra 2 formats the text on the screen is better than Paperwhite. It also allows for a few more customizations which, for me, make huge differences. Libra 2 allows you to put the position of where you are in the chapter and the chapter name at the top of the screen (just like most physical books). It also allows you to display your position in the entire book at the bottom of the device. For kindle, it just has a couple options of showing how much reading time you have left in the chapter, and how much time of reading is left in the book at the very bottom left. You don't know how many times I accidentally tap on the screen and lose where am in the book due to lack of page numbers. With kindle, I have no idea what page I am on when I accidentally tap on the page. On the Libra 2, I see the page numbers and its super easy to re-orient myself. The page number count also automatically adjusts if you adjust the font size. Kobo has features that just feels more “physical book” like. SCREEN QUALITY: * Everyone says the screen quality between the kindle and libra are equivalent. I one million percent disagree. Libra 2 display looks WAY more crisp and clear. The dark mode on Libra 2 is leagues better than paperwhite. When you look at them side by side, it is obvious that the Libra 2 screen is better. My wife also looked at both and instantly noticed how much more clear the Libra 2 screen is. It is seriously unbelievable how crisp it is. Every time I pick up the Libra 2, I smile because of how crisp it is. The kindle is not “blurry” by any means, and if looking at it standalone, does feel really clear too, but compared to the Kobo, it just looks more fuzzy. KINDLE ADS: * The whole ADS on the Kindle leaves such a sour taste in my mouth. I hate the fact that the Kindle shows ads and you have to pay to remove them. And even when you remove them, their homepage still has all the kindle store recommendations shoved up your face. Libra's interface is so much lighter. It just displays your books and that's basically it. I like that. DEVICE RESPONSIVENESS: * People say that both devices are equally responsive. I disagree. There isn't a HUGE difference, but there is a noticeable difference in Libra 2 being faster than Kindle. When I want to go back into the Home Screen (exit out of a book) the Libra 2 does it within 1 second. Kindle takes 2+ seconds to go back to the home dashboard. I also notice Kindle does a lot more flashing and redrawing than Libra. I don't know if I can scientifically prove that though, its just my observation, so take that with a grain of salt. One thing that I did notice: The Libra 2 sometimes gets stuck... And the only way to fix it is to sleep it (by pressing the back sleep button) and waking it up again. Kindle got stuck a couple times too, but I notice it a little more on Libra 2. There haven't been any major crashes, but something to note. READING STATISTICS: * Libra 2 has reading statistics for you. Its a really minor thing, but I really like it. I like to see how long I've read, how fast I read, etc, and Libra has a nice interface to see that. It is kind of like the Apple Watch fitness tracking, where you can go into the app and see all the workouts you have done. Its not required, but its nice to see your progress and makes you motivated to keep going, especially if you are buying this to ‘get back into reading.’ DICTIONARY: * I really like the Kindle's dictionary and flashcards feature. Anytime you look up a word on Kindle, it automatically saves it and you can go to all the words you've looked up and run them in a flashcards word define game. On the Libra, you can also save words for the dictionary, but there is no flashcard game for you to study and practice the word. However, the Libra has a `randomize word` feature, where when you tap on `random` it will just display the definition of the random word from your list of saved words. It is kind of like flashcard, but not as nice. Since I am just starting to read a lot more, my vocabulary is very lacking, and I need to look up a lot of words. This helps me improve my vocabulary. Kindle’s feature is really neat. COMPANION APP: * I haven't really used the Kobo app, but the kindle app I think is really amazing. The syncing between the Kindle app and the kindle device is great. I don't know if the kobo device have that, but I think Kindle just wins on this front. I don't read on my phone, so its not a huge deal for me, but the whole Amazon ecosystem with kindle is industry-standard and kobo ecosystem is simply not even close. EBOOK ECOSYSTEM: * Kindle uses a proprietary format it uses for the books. Libra does not-- it just uses the `epub` format. This makes Libra 2 much more versatile. For example, you can buy books from the Kobo store, Google Play Store, or any marketplace that sells ebooks, and transfer them to your Libra 2. With Kindle.... you are basically stuck to only buying books from amazon (there are ways to get around that, but I'm speaking of out-of-the-box functionality). If you like to “own” your books and have control over your book library, then Kobo is much better. If you like a “seamless Apple-esqe” experience where everything just works, even if you have to pay extra or lose customizability, then Kindle is better. HARDWARE QUALITY: * Kindle feels a lot more 'cheap' quality than the Libra. Kindle is all plastic-y and OMG FINGERPRINT GALORE. A few hours of using Kindle, you have pesky fingerprints all over the device. Not only that, the prints are really extremely hard to clean. Basically need to pull out some water and a real microfiber cloth and scrub vigorously to get rid of them. On the other hand, Libra 2 is much more premium feeling, and hides the fingerprints so much better. With the Kindle, the fingerprints actually distract me from reading; with Libra 2, they are not distracting one bit. You can use what you find most important and purchase that. Both devices are really good at what they do, but I personally find the Libra 2 a much more bang for your buck, and an overall better device for me. I hope you find this useful!