Switching from Kindle to Kobo was the perfect determination I ever made

I beloved my Kindle Oasis. I nonetheless do, if I am being sincere. Its construct high quality is great, its display is sharp and exquisite, and studying e-books on it’s, usually talking, a complete pleasure. However final month, I made the change to Kobo, and I’m not trying again.

It was the announcement of the Kobo Libra Colour in 2024 that first had me critically contemplating the change. I might been interested in color e-ink screens for some time. The expertise is fascinating, however I used to be additionally interested in studying full-color comics on my e-reader. And whereas I knew that will include compromises in display high quality, in addition to shade accuracy in comparison with an precise comedian or a standard pill, like an iPad, I remained intrigued.

Lastly, after months of hemming and hawing, I lastly made the transfer and acquired a Kobo Libra Colour, together with a Kobo branded SleepCover and a third-party stylus for taking notes on it. After only a few weeks of utilizing it, I’m sure I made the appropriate option to ditch Amazon.

Me and my Kindle

Why I needed out of the ecosystem

Amazon Kindle Oasis

Display screen

7in E Ink, 300ppi, 25 LED illumination, adjustable heat mild

Storage

8/32GB

Battery

6 weeks

Dimensions

159 x 141 x 3.4-8.4mm, 188g

The 2019 Kindle Oasis might be the perfect all-around e-reader Amazon ever made. It has since been discontinued, as Amazon focuses in on its common Kindle, Paperwhite, Scribe, and lately launched Colorsoft traces. That is too dangerous, because the Oasis had a selected benefit over their different Kindle merchandise: buttons. Whereas the remainder of Amazon’s e-readers use equally wonderful e-ink screens, and have most of the identical options because the Oasis, they lack the Oasis’s asymmetrical format, with web page flip buttons on one facet.

Merely put: the Oasis is simpler to carry, because of its form, and clicking the web page flip buttons makes for a way more fulfilling studying expertise than swiping the contact display. You’ll be able to nonetheless swipe to show the web page on the Oasis, however there isn’t any query in my thoughts the buttons are higher.

I beloved my Oasis, and I nonetheless do in some ways, however I slowly started feeling irritated by it. First off, I did not like how locked down Amazon’s ecosystem was. Whereas it was attainable to sideload books, together with by Amazon’s send-to-Kindle operate, which added syncing performance between units, the Oasis clearly wasn’t constructed for that. It would not be an issue if all my books had been bought straight from Amazon, however I supply books from every kind of locations, together with shops, the Project Gutenberg web site, superior copies, and extra. Preserving all that organized on the Kindle was turning into a chore.

However there have been two greater points for me. The primary was that I needed to have the ability to borrow e-books from my native library. Sadly, I’m in Canada, the place the OverDrive lending system doesn’t work with Kindle. That was instantly a degree in Kobo’s favor. Then there was the straightforward undeniable fact that I, like many others, have grow to be disillusioned with Amazon as an organization, together with their monopolistic practices throughout the e book business. I needed out of their ecosystem.

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A splash of shade

Making the transfer to Kobo

Kobo Libra Color

The Kobo Libra Color is a recreation changer. The Libra Color permits customers to scribble down their each thought as they learn, write in a separate pocket book, and entry their very own Google Drive.

Display screen

7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 show with FastGLR and Darkish Mode (150ppi)

Storage

32GB

Battery

A single cost on the eReader lasts as much as 40 days, primarily based on half-hour of studying per day with the entrance mild at 30% brightness and WiFi and Bluetooth® wi-fi expertise off.

Dimensions

5.7 x 6.3 x 0.32-inches (144.6 x 161 x 8.3mm)

Model

Kobo

Connectivity

USB-C

Increase

A part of the rationale it took so lengthy to make the change to Kobo was that my Oasis was, and stays, a wonderfully nice machine. Why ought to I spend the cash on a complete new e-reader when I’ve a working Oasis already? However these points, significantly the dearth of library borrowing and the Amazon of all of it, began weighing on me. And it helped that Kobo had launched the Kobo Libra Color.

The Libra 2 was already an interesting machine to me, on condition that its format and web page flip buttons already made it a good various to the Oasis. Nonetheless, it wasn’t precisely an improve. The Libra Color, although, marked an improve in quite a lot of methods. Higher battery life than the Oasis, for instance, in addition to the power to take notes with a stylus, and a quicker processor for a smoother expertise. Plus, after all, the colour display.

Although it must be mentioned, the colour display isn’t essentially an improve. Due to how e-ink expertise works, to realize shade, the very sharp black-and-white display has a filter utilized to it that makes the display darker general, affecting distinction, in addition to softening textual content. There are various who will discover the display a downgrade, regardless of the colour capabilities. Once I evaluate the Oasis and Libra screens straight, there isn’t any query the Oasis is the higher one, although the Libra remains to be superb. And shade has benefits, too, together with a nicer-looking interface with shade e book covers, in addition to color-coded highlights, and, after all, shade comics.

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An incredible determination

Selecting my alternative

I am going to admit that I waffled a bit on whether or not to maintain my new Kobo Libra Color after buying it. It was an awesome machine, however was it actually higher? And was spending that cash price it simply to get away from Amazon and borrow books from the library? It did not take lengthy for me to know I might made an awesome determination.

The very first thing was getting my private library all arrange. Although Kindle books usually have DRM locking them down, I used to be in a position to obtain all my purchases, strip them of their copy protections, and cargo them into the e-book group app Calibre. Utilizing Calibre, I additionally organized all my different e-books into one massive library, and I even went forward and glued a number of the metadata on my books to get all of them to ensure that syncing with my new Kobo. It is a fairly handbook course of, however one which has me feeling extra in charge of my library. Now, even once I buy books straight from the Kobo retailer, I preserve a saved copy in Calibre.

Then, only a few days after I purchased the Kobo, Amazon made a giant change that confirmed my transfer was the appropriate one. The corporate introduced that on the finish of February, they’d not enable customers to obtain copies of their bought Kindle e-books on to a pc. It is dangerous sufficient to have DRM on bought books, however not permitting customers to obtain the information straight makes it clear that buying books doesn’t imply proudly owning them. Fortunately, I might made the change to Kobo in time to obtain all my Kindle books, however others have needed to scramble, on the lookout for different methods to get entry to the e-books they purchased. I am actually glad that I used to be in a position to undergo that with none headache, and be away from Amazon’s closed ecosystem for good, having fun with comics on my Kobo Libra Color.

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