Sage, Forma or Libra 2

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by di9girl

I'm interested to see your comparisons!

Does the difference between epubs and kepubs matter? I don't know what kepubs are. Does the Kobo require kepubs over epubs?

You can use epub or kepub on Kobos. Kepub is just Kobos variant of epub and there are largely cosmetic differences between the two which have been discussed at length on this forum. I prefer kepub. Others prefer epub. And still others don’t care and mix and match on either a genre, or book basis.

[di9girl]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

You can use epub or kepub on Kobos. Kepub is just Kobos variant of epub and there are largely cosmetic differences between the two which have been discussed at length on this forum. I prefer kepub. Others prefer epub. And still others don’t care and mix and match on either a genre, or book basis.

Ok, I'll search around about kepub, thank you!

[rogerinnyc]

I've had a Forma for many years and can't imagine a better e-reader. Then I scratched the screen right before the new models came out. So I of course ordered the Sage and, although the screen was sharper, I was deeply disappointed by its weight compared to the Forma. So I decided to order a new Forma but in the interim, just like Mitch, I saw Amazon could get me a Libra 2 on one day delivery. I ordered that and have not gone back. It's an amazing device. It's almost the same weight as the Forma, but has a much sharper, even contrast, screen. And I don't miss the extra inch of screen size, although I thought I would. I also thought I would not like the recessed screen and I find I like it quite a bit. And I also appreciate the slightly smaller size of the Libra 2 for portability.

[MGlitch]

I’ve just received and set up my Libra 2. I’ve applied the same patches as nearly as I can, there’s one patch dealing with the margins which I tweak further than the default but I’ve done my best to guesstimate the same tweak for the Libra 2 (the Sage and Forma used the same part of the patch so they’re the same as each other).

Initial thoughts

The Libra 2 has darker blacks. This will be very nice if you’re reading comics, or books with maps or illustrations. I’m not sure just why this is the case because the Sage’s screen size is more appropriate for comics and graphics. I tested this both with the front light off entirely and at my general setting of 10%.

The front light isn’t as bright as the Sage at the same setting, but this is pretty standard for Kobo one line of devices will have different brightness levels for the same settings. It’s also by no means a show stopper as the brightness level is sufficient to read in current ambient light and should it prove too low in darker environments it has plenty of more levels for me to increase it. For point of reference it’s at 10% in a well lit room during the day, I’ll test it out in a dark environment tonight in so much as I can living in a major city, but as mentioned I don’t foresee this being an issue.

Playing around with font size, line spacing, and margins to get them on par with the Sage settings I find I lose about six lines of text per screen. This of course will vary a little between users depending on the font they use and the settings they use, but it should be a small variance since they’d of course use similar settings on either device.

I find the Sage and Libra 2 feel similar in weight with the Libra 2 being a bit lighter and the Libra 2 could potentially feel nicer for long term reading, and for those with smaller hands than mine.

The buttons on the Libra 2 are in my opinion better than the Sage and Forma in that they are the best parts of each. Closer together like the Forma but clicky and a bit nicer to press like the Sage.

I’m not sure why Kobo went with a matte finish for the Libra 2 and a glossy finish for the Sage. I’m also honestly torn on which I prefer myself. The matte is nice because it doesn’t reflect ambient light as sharply, but also is more prone to showing oil from your fingertips. Where as the glossy flips those issues. I will say that both are better than the rubbery substance the Forma uses which will break down faster (though arguably not faster than the life of the device) and depending on the environment it’s stored in separating from the device.

I could go on about the specific dimensions of each device but I feel like that’s fairly moot aside from how they feel in your hands. For example the Libra 2 is thicker but shorter and less wide than the Sage or Forma. But unless you’ve got a very small grip the thickness isn’t sufficiently different to be a factor. Height and width maybe but if you can hold something with the height and width of a hardcover book but with the weight of the Sage or Forma you won’t have an issue. And that’s not something anyone else can tell you anyway.

I’ll make the Libra 2 my daily reader for awhile to get more of a feel for it. But, unsurprisingly, right now I’d say it’s between the Sage and the Libra 2 unless you absolutely need an 8 inch reader with longer battery life. The Forma only shines in the weight department IMO, since even prior to a firmware update which helped the Sage with battery life it lasted more than long enough for me to have ample opportunities to charge it before it was 0%.

[di9girl]

Originally Posted by rogerinnyc

I've had a Forma for many years and can't imagine a better e-reader. Then I scratched the screen right before the new models came out. So I of course ordered the Sage and, although the screen was sharper, I was deeply disappointed by its weight compared to the Forma. So I decided to order a new Forma but in the interim, just like Mitch, I saw Amazon could get me a Libra 2 on one day delivery. I ordered that and have not gone back. It's an amazing device. It's almost the same weight as the Forma, but has a much sharper, even contrast, screen. And I don't miss the extra inch of screen size, although I thought I would. I also thought I would not like the recessed screen and I find I like it quite a bit. And I also appreciate the slightly smaller size of the Libra 2 for portability.

Well, it seems like Mitch, you're a fan of the Libra 2 too.

[di9girl]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I’ve just received and set up my Libra 2. I’ve applied the same patches as nearly as I can, there’s one patch dealing with the margins which I tweak further than the default but I’ve done my best to guesstimate the same tweak for the Libra 2 (the Sage and Forma used the same part of the patch so they’re the same as each other).

Initial thoughts

The Libra 2 has darker blacks. This will be very nice if you’re reading comics, or books with maps or illustrations. I’m not sure just why this is the case because the Sage’s screen size is more appropriate for comics and graphics. I tested this both with the front light off entirely and at my general setting of 10%.

The front light isn’t as bright as the Sage at the same setting, but this is pretty standard for Kobo one line of devices will have different brightness levels for the same settings. It’s also by no means a show stopper as the brightness level is sufficient to read in current ambient light and should it prove too low in darker environments it has plenty of more levels for me to increase it. For point of reference it’s at 10% in a well lit room during the day, I’ll test it out in a dark environment tonight in so much as I can living in a major city, but as mentioned I don’t foresee this being an issue.

Playing around with font size, line spacing, and margins to get them on par with the Sage settings I find I lose about six lines of text per screen. This of course will vary a little between users depending on the font they use and the settings they use, but it should be a small variance since they’d of course use similar settings on either device.

I find the Sage and Libra 2 feel similar in weight with the Libra 2 being a bit lighter and the Libra 2 could potentially feel nicer for long term reading, and for those with smaller hands than mine.

The buttons on the Libra 2 are in my opinion better than the Sage and Forma in that they are the best parts of each. Closer together like the Forma but clicky and a bit nicer to press like the Sage.

I’m not sure why Kobo went with a matte finish for the Libra 2 and a glossy finish for the Sage. I’m also honestly torn on which I prefer myself. The matte is nice because it doesn’t reflect ambient light as sharply, but also is more prone to showing oil from your fingertips. Where as the glossy flips those issues. I will say that both are better than the rubbery substance the Forma uses which will break down faster (though arguably not faster than the life of the device) and depending on the environment it’s stored in separating from the device.

I could go on about the specific dimensions of each device but I feel like that’s fairly moot aside from how they feel in your hands. For example the Libra 2 is thicker but shorter and less wide than the Sage or Forma. But unless you’ve got a very small grip the thickness isn’t sufficiently different to be a factor. Height and width maybe but if you can hold something with the height and width of a hardcover book but with the weight of the Sage or Forma you won’t have an issue. And that’s not something anyone else can tell you anyway.

I’ll make the Libra 2 my daily reader for awhile to get more of a feel for it. But, unsurprisingly, right now I’d say it’s between the Sage and the Libra 2 unless you absolutely need an 8 inch reader with longer battery life. The Forma only shines in the weight department IMO, since even prior to a firmware update which helped the Sage with battery life it lasted more than long enough for me to have ample opportunities to charge it before it was 0%.

I have no needs for patches at the moment, I'd be unsure about installing anything like that as I'm not familiar, maybe something I need to look into. I know Calibre has a lot of plugins.

I'd mostly be reading just before bed, by lamp light (which in itself is quite bright, it's LED). As I've no experience with front lights that bothers me a bit, because I'd be wondering "if only I'd picked the other device".

Weight won't be an issue as I lean my device on a pillow-pad thing so don't need to hold it Buttons may be an issue, I'm looking to get a case for it (Ali Express have some beautiful designs, so whilst not official Kobo cases, I like them).

So the Sage screen is more like an iPad and the Libra 2 maybe like the old original Kindle devices which were recessed under the outer plastic?

I thought I'd have a huge pros/cons list between the Sage and Libra 2 but I just don't. It's more of a "ooh, Sage is shiny and bigger" kinda thing. I keep wondering if I'll be okay without the Dropbox feature on the Libra 2, but I don't need it as there are other ways to transfer (Calibre direct to Libra 2 at least is the easiest I know).

The size difference is only 15mm width and 20mm height. I actually drew out the dimensions on graph paper and when you hold them up to the light, it's really minimal.

[Sirtel]

If you live somewhere with easy returns, one possibility is to order both and return the one you like less, after you've had a chance to play with both of them.

[di9girl]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

If you live somewhere with easy returns, one possibility is to order both and return the one you like less, after you've had a chance to play with both of them.

Cost is the issue there. No idea on returns, I'm in the UK.

[MGlitch]

Yeah the differences between the two are fairly minimal and aside from the size/weight and recessed screen vs flush screen you’ll only really notice them when you have both devices in hand.

I suspect you’ll abandon the LED light for reading if you give the frontlight a try. Both the Sage and Libra 2 (and all Kobos for some time now) have frontlights which make reading in pitch black conditions possible.

Still running the Libra 2 through its paces, but as I suspected the frontlight was just fine to read with when set to 10%.


Patches are actually fairly easy to install. For the most part you need to know how to change ‘no’ to ‘yes’ in a text editor, double click on a file, and drag and drop a file. You’d have to enable seeing hidden folders but this is also easy and requires no tech knowledge to do. But if you don’t want to that’s also ok these devices have pleased tons of people without any modifications.

[di9girl]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Yeah the differences between the two are fairly minimal and aside from the size/weight and recessed screen vs flush screen you’ll only really notice them when you have both devices in hand.

I suspect you’ll abandon the LED light for reading if you give the frontlight a try. Both the Sage and Libra 2 (and all Kobos for some time now) have frontlights which make reading in pitch black conditions possible.

Still running the Libra 2 through its paces, but as I suspected the frontlight was just fine to read with when set to 10%.


Patches are actually fairly easy to install. For the most part you need to know how to change ‘no’ to ‘yes’ in a text editor, double click on a file, and drag and drop a file. You’d have to enable seeing hidden folders but this is also easy and requires no tech knowledge to do. But if you don’t want to that’s also ok these devices have pleased tons of people without any modifications.

I'm really leaning towards the Libra 2 (after more searching online, reviews/videos etc).

So far I haven't seen any patches that I actually need, lol. Maybe that'll change one day. But yes, I can do text editor etc I'm just wary in case I mess something up that isn't reversible.

[di9girl]

Well, leaning towards the Libra 2...

Now to decide whether to get it from Kobo UK, Argos or Amazon UK. There are only two reviews on Amazon UK one of which isn't good - apparently the device froze up after a short time and had to be returned.

I have a gift card for Amazon but just two reviews put me off a little unless they've only had it for sale a short time here in the UK? It's been out since what, October 2021?

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by di9girl

Well, leaning towards the Libra 2...

Now to decide whether to get it from Kobo UK, Argos or Amazon UK. There are only two reviews on Amazon UK one of which isn't good - apparently the device froze up after a short time and had to be returned.

I have a gift card for Amazon but just two reviews put me off a little unless they've only had it for sale a short time here in the UK? It's been out since what, October 2021?

I'd get it from Amazon or Argos, both will have better return processes than Kobo.

As to the sales on amazon, they don't get them as soon as Kobo releases.

[di9girl]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I'd get it from Amazon or Argos, both will have better return processes than Kobo.

As to the sales on amazon, they don't get them as soon as Kobo releases.

True!

Yes, that must be the reason. It did seem odd that there were two UK reviews and four overall (incl international) but the other two were just ratings and not reviews. I usually avoid products with so few reviews but this is direct from Amazon and not a knock-off.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by di9girl

True!

Yes, that must be the reason. It did seem odd that there were two UK reviews and four overall (incl international) but the other two were just ratings and not reviews. I usually avoid products with so few reviews but this is direct from Amazon and not a knock-off.

the advantage of buying the Libra 2 from Amazon rather than Argos is you have the option to buy the 2/3 year Product Protection if you so desire. i most certainly would.

best wishes koboy

[di9girl]

Originally Posted by koboy

the advantage of buying the Libra 2 from Amazon rather than Argos is you have the option to buy the 2/3 year Product Protection if you so desire. i most certainly would.

best wishes koboy

I usually avoid things like that... I remember going into a store and buying anything electrical and they try to hit you with the extended warranty for crazy money lol.

But, I'll see what it costs when I come to purchase.