I was gifted a Kobo Clara2E by my wife and I’m very happy with it.

I’m using a boox. I dislike their built-in library tools, but it’s just an e-ink android tablet, so I installed a simple launcher and download whatever apps I want, including Libby.

My Kobo Clara screen froze entirely so I opted for a second hand e-reader for €50, a Tolino. It’s got a backlight and I can load Libby books on there which is all that I need.

I will give the Kobo one more chance though once I make it to a repair café.

P.S. Hopefully this post lasts longer than my one on Lemm.ee and works for those searching the Fediverse/Lemmyverse for the same question 🙃

Just for the record, I’m using kindles since their keyboard version came out, and never paid any subscription fees or bought an e-book from Amazon. But I can understand the sentiment, and the touchscreen-only platform development was a horrible choice of directions. It could be argued if a reader needs a full keyboard, and the always-free internet also turned to shit thanks to “development” of the internet, but I loved the first Kindle.

For kobo users, where do you get your books now that Amazon has stopped you from downloading and converting into epub?

Caveat: I haven’t purchase or used another e-reader since I bought my first one (Kobo) ~15 years ago.

My Kobo still works and the battery still lasts like a week or longer before needing a recharge.

I don’t think I’ve run into a book file it can’t read, but I mostly stick to epubs and PDFs.

I’m pretty sure it has an online store, if that’s important.

For your requirements, I have no idea if a planner has been implemented in the last decade, but I would suspect Kobos can read Libby library books (not sure what they are though). I believe my ~15 year old Kobo has a sync feature, but I don’t use it. So that’s probably available as well. For easy on the eyes, I’m assuming brightness settings, which Kobo had and I used on occasion (they may have adaptive sensing now).

I recall Kobo used to be marked as the “open” platform, so unless something has significantly changed, Kobo shouldn’t lock you in or charge you a subscription fee.

Best of luck. Hope you are able to find an e-reader that works for you.

Edit: Just found this website with a bunch of Kobos compared. It looks like some have Dropbox sync and “Dark Mode” (I assume for easier on the eyes).

I have a Kobo Libra Color. It doesn’t have an actual planner but it has a notebook that I’ve actually considered using as a Planner before.

I like my Kobo Libra H2O, it’s still chugging along nicely since 2019 (I think?) and fits my needs perfectly with my Calibre lib

Onyx Boox, runs on Android so you can install whatever apps you want.

If you are in Europe: Pocketbook.

Reasonably open plattform, good support, works with almost everything.

My wife really likes her kobo aura (edition 2?). She was and is using it with overdrive and a library card. During Covid we had applied for cards from multiple counties to have more holds. Switching from card to card was annoying. I have recently started collecting an ebook library, starting with her overdrive wishlist. I use calibre to load the books, and that’s been great

I bought her a Kobo Clara BW for this Christmas, and I plan on adding our library to it and setting up the library cards before I wrap it

Another Kobo fan here. Got the Libra 2 for physical page turn buttons. No subscriptions. Haven’t accessed Libby but it’s an option. Can sideload with no issues. Doesn’t have a planner unfortunately. Great device, had mine for three years so far and hoping I never have to buy another one.

Another vote for Kobo here. I have a Clara 2e that i really like. It can use Overdrive to get books from the library, or you can just load books yourself either over USB, or download documents using its built in web browser. The browser would also let you look at an online planner, I guess? There isn’t one built in. The slow screen updates make using the browser pretty impractical for the most part, though.