According to the latest news, Kobo has announced a pair of new e-readers: the $260 Kobo Sage and the $180 Libra 2. Both devices keep the asymmetrical design popularized by Amazon’s Oasis e-reader, and offer E Ink Carta 1200 screens with Kobo’s ComfortLight Pro feature. They come with Bluetooth support for wireless headphones.
The Sage is the larger of the two e-readers and has the functional ability of that of an e-note device. It is compatible with the company’s Kobo Stylus which lets users make handwritten notes on ebooks and PDFs and also allows those to be converted into plain text. Note that the stylus is sold separately for $40. With an 8-inch (1440 x 1920) E Ink display, the Sage is smaller than Kobo’s dedicated e-note slate, 10.3 inches Elipsa. However, it is cheaper too as the Elipsa comes with a price tag of $399.
The Sage also works with Kobo’s new $80 PowerCover. It automatically wakes and sleeps the device when opened and closed. The e-reader has 32 GB of non-expandable storage, a quad-core 1.8 GHz processor, and USB-C port.
On the other hand, the Libra 2 is an update to the Kobo Libra H20. The new gadget is IPX8 waterproof which means it will survive up to 60 minutes if submerged in 2 meters of water. The Libra 2 has a 7 inches display (1264 x 1680) that is supposedly faster than that of its predecessor.
It comes with a non-expandable storage of 32 GB, USB-C ports, and a 1 GHz processor. Note that it does not support Kobo’s new PowerCover, but supports Kobo’s SleepCover. Both Kobo Sage and Kobo Libra 2 are now available for pre orders and the company will start shipping from 19th October.
