Kobo e-readers

[Richard Hakluyt]

Anyone have experience of these? I want to move my e-reading away from the Amazon ecosystem and Kobo looks like the most likely alternative to me. All info gratefully received 

[mongers]

Anyone have experience of these? I want to move my e-reading away from the Amazon ecosystem and Kobo looks like the most likely alternative to me. All info gratefully received 

FWIW I had a kindle keyboard e-reader that died within a couple of years, replace it with a nook simple touch, which seems to be stil working, I think Kobos and Nooks were  similar in build quality and the current reviews suggest Kobos are well made.

Of course the issue you have is, how much of your e-book library is Amazon format?
I remember I 'liberated' most of my amazon purchases into the universal format using calibre (?sp), though a handful failed.


edit:
Just remembered I have a fire tablet, that's never used, seems limited/crippled to me, must give it to my relatives.

[Grey Fox]

I'm on my second one, it's 9 years old. I never had a Kindle so I don't have comparable to offer but they work!

It used to be much easier to get epubs on them compared to Kindles and you get no ads.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I only recently started using my kindle for non-fiction books (navigation has improved) and most of my fiction is out of copyright and hence free; so switching formats is not such a problem. Coverage is important though, it would be no good for me if you could only get relatively popular stuff for it.

[mongers]

I only recently started using my kindle for non-fiction books (navigation has improved) and most of my fiction is out of copyright and hence free; so switching formats is not such a problem. Coverage is important though, it would be no good for me if you could only get relatively popular stuff for it.

Well I logged into my Kobo ebook account, the place I seem to buy most e-books from and copied over my purchases, the 2nd lot are copyright free ebook that I've downloaded from there, so hopefully this randon selection will give you an idea of availability there:

Rakuten Kobo
My Account
eBOOKS

Persian Fire
The First World Empire, Battle for the West - 'Magisterial' Books of the Year, Independent
Tom Holland

Another Now
Dispatches from an Alternative Present from the Sunday Times bestselling author
Yanis Varoufakis

Ancient Worlds
An Epic History of East and West
Michael Scott

Lords of the Desert
Britain's Struggle with America to Dominate the Middle East
James Barr

A Line in the Sand
Britain, France and the struggle that shaped the Middle East
James Barr

The Second World War
Antony Beevor

MI6
Life and Death in the British Secret Service
Gordon Corera

Buried
An alternative history of the first millennium in Britain
Alice Roberts

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister
Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China (From the bestselling author of Wild Swans)
Jung Chang

The Map That Changed the World
A Tale of Rocks, Ruin and Redemption
Simon Winchester

To the Ends of the Earth
Ranulph Fiennes

Eighty Minute Hour
Brian Aldiss

The Vietnam War
An Intimate History
Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns

Helliconia
Helliconia Spring, Helliconia Summer, Helliconia Winter
Brian Aldiss
Book 89 - S.F. MASTERWORKS

A Short History of Europe
From Pericles to Putin. Discover the perfect gift for readers of European history!
Simon Jenkins

Arnhem
The Battle for the Bridges, 1944: The Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller
Antony Beevor

Greybeard
Brian Aldiss
Book 38 - S.F. MASTERWORKS

The History of the Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End
John D. Rateliff, J. R. R. Tolkien

The Day Of The Jackal
The legendary thriller, now a major TV series starring Eddie Redmayne
Frederick Forsyth

The Devil's Alternative
From the number one bestselling author of The Day of the Jackal
Frederick Forsyth

The Apollo Murders
The gripping Cold War thriller from the bestselling author and astronaut
Chris Hadfield

The Brightfount Diaries
Brian Aldiss

Free stuff/previews

The Return of the Native
Thomas Hardy

The Trumpet Major
Thomas Hardy

Tess Of The D'Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy

The Talisman
Walter Scott

Jude the Obscure
Thomas Hardy

The Second Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling

King Lear
William Shakespeare

North and South
Elizabeth Gaskell

Barchester Towers (Chronicles of Barsetshire)
Anthony Trollope

King Solomon's Mines
H. Rider Haggard

The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer

Common Sense
Thomas Paine

The Age of Reason
Thomas Paine

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1)
J. R. R. Tolkien

Reader And Educator Guide To "the Hobbit" And "the Lord Of The Rings"
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Histories
Herodotus, Tom Holland, Paul Cartledge

Episodes
Christopher Priest

The Adjacent
Christopher Priest

The Islanders
Christopher Priest

The Dream Archipelago
Christopher Priest

Read Now
The Last Hero
Terry Pratchett, Paul Kidby

Bring Up the Bodies (The Wolf Hall Trilogy, Book 2)
Hilary Mantel

[Richard Hakluyt]

Yeah, that looks fine, thanks 

Nice to see Christopher Priest still being read 

I have a soft spot for his book Inverted World btw, its a bit crazy but a great read.

[mongers]

Yeah, that looks fine, thanks 

Nice to see Christopher Priest still being read 

I have a soft spot for his book Inverted World btw, its a bit crazy but a great read.

Indeed and one of very favourite books from my 1980s. 

[Jacob]

Anyone have experience of these? I want to move my e-reading away from the Amazon ecosystem and Kobo looks like the most likely alternative to me. All info gratefully received 

I've had a couple of the years. I stopped using my most recent one when I left it on an airplane some years ago   

I was happy with it. I bought books online from a Canadian big-box bookstore/ the Kobo store. I also had it hooked up to my library card and read books that way.

I was perfectly satisfied with it, and plan on getting another one eventually. It was easy on the eyes to read - no eyestrain. The page turning felt a bit slow, coming from a regular tablet, but nothing that really signified.

I can't compare it to the Amazon e-reader as I've never used it. But I was content.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Eyestrain is also a reason why I'm increasing the proportion of books I read in the electronic format. A mix of formats seems to give the most amount of reading time. Old age sucks (apart from the very important freedom of not having to work    ).

[Barrister]

I've had a couple of the years. I stopped using my most recent one when I left it on an airplane some years ago   

I was happy with it. I bought books online from a Canadian big-box bookstore/ the Kobo store. I also had it hooked up to my library card and read books that way.

[Jacob I know you know this stuff - it's for RH's benefit]

In Canada we have basically a monopoly on books-and-mortar bookstores.  Indigo, founded by the wife of a billionaire, formed her own book chain, then bought out rivals Chapters and Coles back in the 90s - only to then face competition from Amazon (back when it was still mostly known for books).

So they formed Kobo as an alternative to Amazon's e-book ecosystem.  They then spun it off (currently owned by a Japanese corporation).

So Kobo is pretty well regarded and well supported in Canada.  But I am uncertain if that is true in the rest of the world.

[mongers]

So Kobo is pretty well regarded and well supported in Canada.  But I am uncertain if that is true in the rest of the world.

Seems to be a major player in the UK as well, or maybe I just stumbled upon it by accident. Anywhere here, their prices are the same as the same individual Amazon e-book, with the added benefit that their DRM in used across the industry, rather than amazon's walled garden.

[The Minsky Moment]

Kobo still makes readers with physical page turn buttons, so they have that going for them.  I haven't bought one as my old Kindle Oasis is still working fine, although the micro-USB charging is an annoyance in 2025.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

So Kobo is pretty well regarded and well supported in Canada.  But I am uncertain if that is true in the rest of the world.

Seems to be a major player in the UK as well, or maybe I just stumbled upon it by accident. Anywhere here, their prices are the same as the same individual Amazon e-book, with the added benefit that their DRM in used across the industry, rather than amazon's walled garden.

Works in Belgium and I assume The Netherlands since it can be connected to the local variant of Amazon.

We're very happy with our kobos