Kobo’s nice shade e-readers are held again by lock-in – TechnoNews

The issue with most e-readers is that they’re not likely meant for studying books. They’re meant to promote you books. Amazon, which has the largest market share within the US, is very notable for doing this, however Barnes & Noble is responsible of the identical factor. Kobo is probably the least offensive about this — it’s received Pocket and Overdrive integration! However oftentimes, when I discovered myself completely enamored with Kobo’s attractive new shade e-readers, I’d abruptly get slapped with the reminder: this factor is right here to promote me books.

Which is a disgrace as a result of Kobo’s new Libra Color and Clara Color are the closest we’ve gotten to an ideal e-reader currently. Each the $219.99 Libra Color and $149.99 Clara Color are ridiculously gentle, however with a sturdiness that makes them really feel snug and never flimsy. Each embody Kaleido 3 shows, which suggests e book covers are rendered in precise shade. Each flip pages and navigate shops a lot faster than the $249.99 Boox Web page (the larger, slower sibling of the Palma) — spectacular, given the truth that the Kaleido 3 show is somewhat slower than a extra conventional monochromatic E Ink show discovered within the Web page.

I did discover myself liking the dearer Libra as a result of I choose asymmetrical e-readers with devoted buttons to ones that perform extra like conventional tablets. That it additionally has stylus help for note-taking is a plus. But, both one is an enthralling and enjoyable-to-use e-reader, and during the last couple of months, I repeatedly discovered myself reaching for the Libra over the Boox — which, till now, has been my major e-reader. I similar to the texture of studying on it extra. Positive, Boox offers me each studying app accessible (it’s an E Ink Android pill), however the Libra doesn’t have any of the bizarre little hiccups typical of Android on E Ink.

Each Kobo e-readers additionally help highlighting textual content in shade, and their touchscreens really feel a lot snappier and extra responsive than the Boox Web page. These spotlight colours aren’t significantly vibrant, although. The Kaleido 3 show present in each will get you shade, however the shade is akin to what you see in a newspaper left within the solar for a couple of days. Plus, that shade comes at the price of each making the black-and-white studying expertise rather less crisp. It’s nonetheless infinitely higher than earlier shade E Ink applied sciences, which regularly gave the entire show a inexperienced solid.

My actual difficulty with these gadgets isn’t the colour shows. It’s the lock-in.

Kobo’s e-readers really feel constructed extra for purchasing books than studying them. They’re tied to the Kobo bookstore, which is powered by Rakuten, a Japanese retailer that’s usually known as the “Japanese Amazon” or the “Japanese Barnes & Noble” when folks wish to shortly summarize the corporate. Rakuten is superb at shifting books, and Kobo’s built-in bookstore is analogous. It doesn’t have fairly the identical library as Amazon; Amazon has extra self-published books and carries extra area of interest content material from boutique publishers. But, Kobo’s bookstore has a good unfold. If it’s a remotely fashionable e book, you’ll discover it on the Kobo.

In contrast to different non-Android e-readers, Kobo e-readers even have a extra conventional library in-built by way of Overdrive. For those who’ve received a library card from a library that works with Overdrive you may borrow ebooks. Sadly, that is whenever you begin to run into Kobo’s bookselling enterprise butting heads with its e-reader enterprise. To borrow books, you both have to make use of your cellphone to search out them on an app like Libby, or it’s important to use the Uncover tab, then select the Overdrive tab, and hope you may browse for the e book you need. Or it’s important to seek for the e book on Kobo’s retailer, and whenever you discover the e book, it’s important to faucet the Extra Choices button subsequent to the a lot bigger Purchase Now and Wishlist buttons after which really faucet the Borrow From Overdrive button to see if the e book is borrowable out of your library. It’s depressing, and after I requested a typically very intelligent pal to attempt to borrow a e book, she couldn’t even work out how.

You can also’t have multiple library card energetic on the Kobo at a time. As a substitute, whenever you end a e book and wish to learn one other one which’s tied to a distinct library card, it’s important to sign off and log in with the opposite card. I needed to change repeatedly between my New York Public Library and Jersey Metropolis Public Library playing cards and was left deeply irritated. I don’t have to do that after I use the Libby app on my Web page or iPad.

You run into the identical difficulty utilizing the built-in “experimental” internet browser Kobo has. I can navigate to web sites simply tremendous, and if I wish to try to learn a e book over the net, I can theoretically do this. No app crucial. Solely the browser is painfully underdeveloped. It could be good if I might scroll or paginate utilizing the Libra’s built-in buttons as I can with the EinkBro browser on Android e-readers.

Getting ebooks from different shops onto the system can be a trouble. It’s a must to plug the e-reader into your laptop and drag and drop recordsdata (although Calibre, the e-book administration app, does make it a scootch simpler). However that downside isn’t distinctive to Kobo. Amazon and Barnes & Noble additionally insist you sideload books. However after years of the Boox ecosystem (and the iPad), it feels bizarre that these programs all insist you stick so intently to their bookstores. It’s a level of lock-in that appears absurd, and with Kobo’s ecosystem, it feels extra absurd as a result of in so many different respects it actually looks as if the corporate is making an attempt to do e-readers proper.

The Kobo Libra Color and Koko Clara Color are quick and practically good for getting out of your manner whenever you simply wish to learn a e book. Their shade shows aren’t as sharp as an iPad Mini’s LED one — or perhaps a monochrome E Ink show — however the shade offers a welcome zest to the expertise that black and white can not. The truth that they even provide issues like an internet browser and Overdrive and Pocket help could be very welcome when in comparison with what Amazon is doing. However the lock-in, man. The lock-in could be the norm within the e-reader world, nevertheless it shouldn’t be.