With Amazon increasingly locking down the Kindle Store I think I am going to take the Plunge and go with Kobo. Any of you all Kobo users? What do you have? How are they as digital Notebooks for the Stylus capable ones? How is Pocket integration for web content? The Hardware on its face looks better than Amazons.
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I don’t know if it’s worth you looking at Bookshop.org then for their new ebook offerings.
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I have used the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite Signature since it’s release and tried to switch to a Kobo Libra Colour last year. Here were my thoughts
- The Kobo was well built but felt more plasticky than the Kindle.
- Side buttons were awesome, Kobo was very comfortable to hold.
- Kobo software felt more customizable but worse than Kindle. For example, I was able to sideload the font I like (Bookerly). On the flip side, I found changing brightness and inverting the screen to be way more tedious than on Kindle
- The Kindle screens are just straight up better. I mean the Libra Colour has the flawed color tech in it which ruins the contrast, but I’m pretty sure if you put a black and white Kobo next to the equivalent Kindle, 9/10 people would prefer the Kindle screen. I also noticed really bad ghosting on the Kobo which is something I hardly ever see on the Kindle.
- This may be a hot take, but I prefer using Libby/Overdrive with Kindles even though Kobo has the built-in functionality. The Libby app is much nicer to use than the Kobo in terms of finding books, and on Kindles, you can put them in Airplane mode and keep access to your checked-out books after the hold expires. As someone who reads long fantasy novels, this is a really nice feature/bug.
- Calibre is plug and play with the Kobo, great experience there.
Obviously I don’t love Amazon taking away downloading books from the browser, but if my Kindle broke today, I would probably buy the newest Paperwhite. I really want Kobo and other ebook people to succeed, but I think they need to step it up with hardware. The Libra Colour was a huge misstep IMO, and they need to focus on building black-and-white e-readers that blow the Paperwhite out of the water.
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I have the similarly aged Oasis. I wanted page turn buttons. (RIP the Oasis Model)
I had an earlier paperwhite but the lack of buttons drove me mad.
I suppose Kobo doesn’t have the sales volume Amazon does for n hardware.
I’ve had Kobos since the early days as they were available in Canada (being based in Toronto) before Kindles. Love the Kobo Aura One I currently have. Didn’t love the hand me down Kindle paperwhite from my wife, found the software harder to understand than Kobo’s software, that’s likely a me thing though.
I also prefer the more portable epub files that Rakuten uses in the Kobo store, as that avoids vendor lock in. However there are ways to get around Amazon’s proprietary format with de-drm tools & Calibre’s ability to convert formats.
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So basically if I want a digital Notebook just stick with the Remarkable but be prepared for some downgrades from Kindle. Got it.
Its a pass from me until they have hardware. I don’t like reading novels on LCD/OLED screens.
The Bookshop CEO was interviewed recently on the Decoder with Nilay Patel podcast, he did say that they are actively working with Kobo to support Bookshop ebooks.
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I used to have a Kobo Libra which was nice - Calibre dealt with all the converting to KEPUB format that it uses to get the fancy things like book cover on the sleep screen but I’d recently gone back to Kindle for the ability to sync between my devices and for ease of getting my notes from books in to Obsidian.
Thats awesome. I would be an Apple Books Loyalist if Apple actually had hardware or worked with other vendors beyond LCD/OLED devices.
Just downloaded my collection. Will keep my kindle until it gives up the ghost and break the DRM to get them on a Kobo.
I like my Kobo. I don’t have one of the colour ones. The page turn buttons on the Kobo make our Kindle (which my wife has for the occasional $1 deal on the monthly subscription service) far less nice to use.
The Libby integration is very nice, and yes, putting your Kobo into airplane mode (and keeping the book open) prevents it from getting returned if you’re not quite done.
No complaints.
Bookshop.org doesn’t have an e-ink device of its own, just an iOS and Android apps. However, it appears that the DRMed ebooks they sell can be downloaded onto Android-based e-ink devices and that they’re negotiating with Kobo to make their books available there as well.
From the FAQS:
Can I read my ebooks on my Kindle, Kobo, Nook, etc.?
• Ebooks from Bookshop.org must be read on either our Apple or Android app, or via a web browser, with the exception of DRM-free titles that can be downloaded and transferred to your reader app or device of choice.
• Users of Android based e ink devices, that have regular access to the Google Play app store (Boox, Meebook, etc), should be able to download and read from our Android app. Mileage may vary depending on the device.
• Due to Amazon’s proprietary digital rights management software (DRM) and publishers’ DRM requirements, it’s not currently possible to buy ebooks from Bookshop.org or local bookstores and read them on your Kindle. We are working with Kobo to support Kobo devices later this year.
I like my Kobo just fine and the built in library integration is cool. The software/store on the device both kinda suck though… I hated browsing the store and would often end up with weird search results and books had very very few reviews.
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I use Yomu Reader and really like it.
Yes Kindle are removing the ability to transfer books to Kindles via USB.
But that is the only change right?
Meaning you can still do the following with any media files you have:
- Send to kindle using USB
- Send to kindle using email
- Send to kindle using amazon web site
- Read any purchased Kindle/Amazon content throughout the Amazon ecosystem
However we can’t gain access to both the downloaded file and decryption key, with the view of liberating the ebook to use more flexibly.
This is really part of most ebook ecosystem’s, I suspect the adobe digital editions pathway won’t exist forever for Google, Libby, Overdrive etc.
I trust that our more adventurous Kindle users will figure out a way around all of this, given a bit of time.
Until then, i’ll be souring my media elsewhere where I can, copying it to my Kindle Oasis that still is IMHO the best reader that I’ve ever used (until it dies, then I’m at a loss to be honest).
I’m tempted to move to Kobo simply because Amazon (I use the uk store) is becoming a worse and worse experience in general and for ebooks in particular.
It’s fine if you know what you want to buy, specifically, but you still have to be careful. Searching for a book will often surface quite a number of obvious scams to trap the unwary. AI summaries of the book or even “in the style of” knock-offs.
It’s much worse if you try to browse a genre or look for something on a specific topic - everything is marketed and “SEO’d” regardless of its merit or provenance and what is brought to your attention is not for example what a real bookshop would offer as good picks, but the result of gaming algorithms. It’s a free-for-all in which Amazon is serving its sellers, not really serving its customers (and you aren’t even an Amazon customer most of the time)
The Kobo store is not perfect either, but feels more like a sensible bookstore, at least for now.
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I have a Kobo. I really like it, I read on it every night. I use the Kobo store’s recommendation engine heavily when searching for a new book to read. No big complaints, but from time to time the device needs to be hard-reset, like, hold down the power button for a few seconds to force reboot. Not often, maybe once every six to eight weeks or so, but something to be aware of.
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@tnetha Wow, I didn’t realize that on Kobo with Libby, you can’t do the “Airplane Mode” trick to keep library books longer than 2 weeks. I do this constantly on my Kindle: I borrow 3 books at a time and then keep the Kindle in airplane mode until I am done with all of them. It sometimes takes me months to read all three. So that’s a dealbreaker for Kobo, sad because I had decided to move to them if my Kindle Voyage (from 2014) ever dies.Thank you for the heads up!
Yep! I think @MurphysLaw mentioned that it does work but just for one book and you can’t close it or it goes away. I do the same as you, inevitably several holds come up at once so I put them all on the Kindle and put it in Airplane mode for a few weeks.