Amazon might have just announced the dates for Prime Day 2024, but there's still a couple of weeks to go before the Prime Day deals start to flow. Some of the most popular items that see discounts are the best Kindles, and that always gets me excited as I love a good ereader bargain. However, Amazon hasn't been updating its ereaders regularly, leaving rival Kobo to outdo itself by releasing what I think are three of the best ereaders you can get right now.
And two of those are already discounted! Head on over to Kobo's Aussie site and you can buy the Kobo Clara Colour for AU$239.95 (was AU$259.95) or opt for the Kobo Clara BW for AU$219.95 (was AU$239.95). That's AU$20 off ereaders that were released only in April this year.
While that might not seem like a big discount – and I fully admit you can get a Kindle for a lot less when Prime Day arrives – both the 2024 editions of the Kobo Clara ereaders are excellent choices even at full price. Moreover, it's rather rare to see Kobo offer bigger discounts on any of its e-paper tablets, so I think this AU$20 saving is well worth highlighting.
I've tested them both for TechRadar and I'd definitely jump at this chance if I didn't already have the Clara BW.
Today’s best Kobo deals
So why do I think it's worth spending extra cash on the 2024 Kobo Claras rather than picking up the Amazon Kindle (2022) or the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021) for around the AU$150 and AU$180 mark respectively (the lowest prices I've come across for both)?
While the Kindles might be the ereaders with bigger brand recognition, Kobo has been busy making sure its range of devices are regularly updated with new models – that means you get better performance and newer screens with each passing year.
And that's exactly what Kobo has done with its 2024 range. It beat Amazon to market by offering a colour ereader – in two different sizes no less! – with the Kobo Clara Colour now being one of the most affordable entry points into reading digitally in colour.
It's the Kobo Clara BW that truly is groundbreaking, being the first big-brand ereader to feature the latest grayscale E Ink display – the Carta 1300. I've compared how text looks on this screen with the likes of the 2022 Kindle and some Onyx Boox models – the Kobo is hands down the best display to read on. I can't wait for larger ereader models to feature this display but, for now, I can't recommend the Clara BW highly enough just on virtue of that screen.
If digital reading is your thing and you want to cut down on the amount of blue light you're being exposed to, the two Kobo's listed here are great options, and they both feature a Dark Mode too. Yes, even the Clara Colour, where only text colours get inverted, not the images. Clever implementation!
The choice to get a colour screen or a monochrome one is yours alone.
Both models provide 16GB of storage space so you can easily fit in 12,000 ebooks or up to 75 Kobo Audiobooks. Just like a Kindle, it's the convenience that comes from being able to simply take your ereader with you while having a huge supply of books to choose from at any time.
If you're absolutely stuck on the idea that your next ereader (or first one for that matter) has to be a Kindle, then keep an eye on our dedicated Prime Day deals page for all the Kindle deals that we're sure will kick off on July 16. You can also check out this month's Kobo coupon codes to see how you can save more when shopping for ebooks and ereaders.
