The Kobo isn’t fully released in the USA, but it is available for pre-order. During the pre-order period, at least until this week, it was one of the cheapest of the better designed eReaders available. The Kindle and the nook were going for $260 while the Kobo was going for $150. Obviously, at such a low price point, this means you are getting less, right? That really depends on how you look at it.
Overall, the Kobo has far fewer features than the Kindle and the nook. The Kobo is, basically, a bare metal eReader with pretty much no wireless communication (it has Bluetooth for syncing books with a Blackberry, but I don’t count this due to its very specific use). It has no internet capabilities, no built-in store, no fluff. This really does explain why it was so much cheaper before. However, the Kobo has lost its price advantage, but I’m not canceling my pre-order.
Why would I pass up a superior device for the same low price? Because superiority is a matter of perspective.
It should be pretty obvious how the Kindle and the nook are superior (wireless connectivity, feature rich interfaces, etc), so what makes the Kobo superior?
The simple answer: Design.
I’m not a huge fan of the color scheme, but if it really gets to bothering me, I can easily fix that. However, the Kobo is designed to be light weight and easy to use. In reading various reviews, it has been noted that a user can start using it without even reading the user’s manual. This isn’t a major deal for me because I rarely reference the user’s manual for many of the devices I buy, but this goes to show how easy it is to actually navigate the device and get to reading a book.
Another major advantage of the Kobo is how easy it is to hold. People who have looked at the device noted that the side buttons didn’t seem intuitive and the D-pad was out of place, and southpaw hostile. However, when people actually use the device, everything, then, made sense. Well, that is if you were a righty. It actually is a bit southpaw hostile, unfortunately. This is one advantage of the Kindle and nook.
Another great advantage of the Kobo is it’s just plain simple. There are four buttons on the side and a D-pad for navigating the device. There are pretty big areas on the device for the reader to hold on to while reading without fear of accidentally mashing buttons or obstructing the page you are reading. This is a pretty big disadvantage of the Kindle and nook and is a common complaint about them.
Honestly, given the limited feature set of the Kobo by comparison to the Kindle and nook, I would like to see a price drop on the Kobo as well and be able to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will happen. I haven’t canceled my pre-order and plan to completely go through with it and not take advantage of the price drops of the other bigger players. I’m not looking for a ton of features in an eReader. The Kobo appears to provide everything I want out of it. I’m betting Borders will see some Kobo pre-orders cancelled in favor of the cheaper Kindle or nook (Kindle is now $190, Wifi only nook is now $150) and maybe that will give them incentive to lower the price to keep or recover pre-orders.
Note: I have not used any of these devices, and this should not be construed as a review of any of them. As the title should imply as it explicitly states, this is simply why I chose to go with the Kobo. I’ll review the Kobo once I get it next month.
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