A Novel Approach (To Me)

The hotly anticipated Kobo Touch has arrived in stores and I thought I’d take a few minutes to give a brief review. I’ll compare it to the old Kobo and to the iPad, both of which I’ve used. The biggest concern I had with the new Kobo Touch was whether the page turn speed would improve. It turns out that I had nothing to worry about, it is much better.

Positives:

• Improved page turn speed
• Slimmer profile and good screen size vs. the old Kobo
• It’s as small as a paperback novel but you can carry your whole library with you wherever you go.
• Touch functionality to make it easier to use the dictionary.
• Added the ability to highlight passages and store them for later use (which I find very useful).
• New Kobo Life functionality including reading statistics.
• Easy to read due to the e-ink technology.  The iPad isn’t a great choice for reading outside because it is back lit.
• Feels more like a book in your hand than the iPad does, especially if you buy one of the ‘book’ covers for it.  When turned off, the screen defaults to the book cover–again, making it feel closer to carrying a book.
• Easier to carry in your purse, or on a plane, than the iPad.
• Has the ability to import books in other file types and to borrow books from libraries.  Kindle just announced they are working to bring the library borrowing function to their e-reader, but they have not yet moved on allowing readers to import e-books they’ve purchased elsewhere.
• Battery Life is phenomenal if you shut it off when you are not reading (vs. sleep mode).  It takes a bit longer than I’d like to load the book when you turn the Kobo on, but it’s worth it in being able to go weeks between charges (depending on how much you read…I read about an hour a day, sometimes more).  I’ve found this extremely convenient when traveling.  On the other hand, my iPad needs to be charged on almost a daily basis–in fairness, I use it for more than just reading.

Negatives:

• Fingerprints on the screen.  This seems to be less noticeable on the iPad than the Kobo Touch. My guess is that it’s due to the Kobo not being back lit.
• Single use gadget, unlike the iPad (I don’t consider this a negative, but some people would)
• Only has a black and white screen.  As a result, the iPad is, by far, the better choice for reading magazines in e-format.

Overall, the Kobo Touch is a significant improvement over it’s predeccessor and my preferred choice of an e-reader (e.g. when compared to Kindle, Sony, etc).

The choice to purchase an iPad over the Kobo Touch is really dependent on what you are looking for in a device.  I’m a fan of single-purpose devices that do what they are supposed to do very well. That is the case with the Kobo Touch. However, if you are looking for something that will do more than just allow you to read books, and you don’t mind the higher price (iPad starts at $519 and goes up from there, Kobo Touch is $139) then the iPad may be for you.