The Kobo ereader has brought a new touch to the world of e-reading with the new touchscreen edition. The ereader has a unique contemporary style and is currently dubbed as one of the most sophisticated digital readers on the market. It is also one of the most promisingly marketable ebook readers as of the moment, thanks mainly to its $130 price tag and a selection of features worth more than it costs.
Significantly lighter in physical weight and in financial value than the top two ereaders, Kindle and Nook, the Kobo ebook reader offers quite a deal.
Kobo bookstore – Kobo’s selection of ebooks come close to 2.3 million in number. All purchased ebooks are kept on your account, not just on your device. This means you can sync your Kobo ereader with your other Kobo versions, such as the mobile Kobo that can be installed on your Apple, Android, and Blackberry mobile phones.
What to Expect
Expect many delightful reading hours with the Kobo ereader thanks to its full range of features and capabilities. Boasting of high speed page turns and an extra large memory capacity that can carry up to 30,000 books at one time, this product is extremely tempting for avid book lovers. The new touchscreen edition produced barely noticeable flickers when pages are turned; this is an obvious improvement from one of the problems discovered in the earlier versions of the device.
Also, as the device is armed with WiFi, you can easily browse for and buy books online anytime and anywhere. Supported formats include PDF, Adobe DRM, and ePub. Despite all these, the ereader uses battery quite sparingly.
The ereader has also gotten rave reviews for its unique appearance, which can only be described as beautiful. It has a very classy soft-quilted design at the back and comes in several colors including lavender, light blue, black, and silver. The device itself is also very slim and can easily fit into bags and cases. Many users like how it Kobo shaved off the bulk in the right places, making the device feel really natural and comfortable when held. The best part is that it is surprisingly inexpensive given all its innovative features.
What Not to Expect
Although the device has 17 different font sizes that you can choose from, you don’t enjoy the same selection when it comes to fonts, of which there are only two. Users also found that they had to go through a lengthy series of steps just to change the font. You will experience the same frustration when buying books online; while it’s easy to find books online with the wireless connectivity, the procedure it takes to buy books via the Kobo bookstore can be lengthy, especially the downloading time.
And with over 2 million ebooks to choose from, a bit of confusion while shopping is understandable. It also doesn’t help that the web browser is not that polished and that many users had difficulty connecting to wireless hotspots. Aside from that, many users also noticed that the device took quite some time to warm up.
The Kobo eReader Touch is full of innovative features, far more, actually, than is expected at its price range. This is its main competitive advantage, but when it comes to performance and usage, it is quite prone to some minor bugs such as screen flickers and poor navigation.
The Verdict
As Kobo’s third e-reading device, it is the company’s best yet, although it is not about to topple its leading competitors. You won’t feel as impressed with the Kobo as you will with the market leading ereaders, but you won’t feel compelled to complain much as well. Overall, the Kobo ereader is not a smooth and flawless device, but it definitely has a lot to offer, especially for budget-conscious readers.
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