I’ve had the Kobo Glo for about a week now, and I’m really happy with it. I love eink because the battery lasts longer, and I can read outside in the daylight and inside. I usually read in the dark, and the Glo feature was exactly what I needed. I previously read on my Kobo Vox, which was very sluggish and the battery wouldn’t last the whole day. I really wanted to go back to eink reading.
Most reviews that I’ve read mention that the Kobo Glo has a slight blue tint to the light. I haven’t notice this. The light is very bright when turned all the way up. I turned it down a few notches and it’s perfect. I find it more comfortable to read with it turned down a bit. I usually keep the light on during the day as well, since it gives the text a black on white feel, without the light it’s still the black text on the grayish background. The text is very sharp, and I love Kobo’s advanced text formatting which lets you darken or lighten the text, in addition to changing the font style and size. Kobo is very customizable.
The Kobo Glo comes with 2 GB’s of internal storage. Only 1 GB is available to store content. Kobo states that it will hold up to 1,000 books based on books being 1 MB per book. The reality is not all books are only 1 MB. I currently have about 300 books stored, and I’m almost full. The Kobo Glo has the option to add an additional Micro SD card, which is something that I will be adding.
The battery has been impressive. I charge it every few days. I’ve never had the battery deplete more than 50%. I prefer to see if fully charge. I’m sure I can go a week before charging. Adobe Digital Editions was very easy to set up, and downloading review galley’s was very simple. The touch screen is very responsive, and I haven't had an trouble changing pages.
Kobo is very intuitive and easy to use. The Kindle is also easy to use, but I prefer Kobo’s menu. The library displays the book covers, which I really like. I believe the new Kindle Paperwhite does as well. My Kindle 4th generation does not.
Kobo really needs to improve on their book recommendations. Most books recommended to me are in my Kobo library. I don’t take any of their recommendations seriously, and tend to just laugh at my suggestions. The Kobo awards are a nice option, but I haven’t received a new award in a long time. I think I’ve gotten most of them. I wish Kobo would introduce some new ones. Sideloading book is very easily.
(One of these does not belong in the similar books category...)
I will admit I’ve had customer service issues with Kobo in the past. In the end, I’ve been patient with them and they’ve worked through all my problems. In Canada we don’t have many options with ereaders. The Paperwhite is currently not available, and the Nook is also not available. I could order them but I would be paying more for a third party company to ship to me. Since I have over 300 ebooks purchased through Kobo, I’ve stayed with them. I’m still looking for them to improve. Their store still doesn’t have a cart and no preorders. I’m really hoping they don’t release firmware updates that fix one thing, but break something else.
If you are thinking about the Kobo Glo, and you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.
I got a gray cover for my IPad and am sad I didn't get one more interesting, like the pink one you got!
ReplyDeleteI had heard that Kobo has a lot of customer service issues as well. Hopefully that will improve soon!
ReplyDeleteSadly their crappy customer service has turned me off of Kobo. I really hope they improve in that. Happy to hear that you have been having better luck with them.
ReplyDelete*fingers crossed* I really don't want to have any more problems. Moving away from the Kobo Vox should help.
DeleteGreat review. After our Twitter chat about the Glo last week I went out and bought one. I'm glad I did. While I don't find the Glo as intuitive to use as my Kindle Touch, once I get used to the differences in functionalities I don't think I'll have any issues. I LOVE the lit screen, and don't notice much of a blue tint either. The big plus for the Kobo, at least for Canadians, is that library e-books can be loaded on to it, something that can't be done with a Kindle. I always buy the books I read, but now with the Kobo I plan to use the library at least some of the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you like this e-reader and that it works out so nicely for you. It sounds like you made a great choice and that it's quite easy to use and user friendly. I'm very enthralled now! I might have to see one in person!
ReplyDeleteI find that with Kobo book recommendations too - I always think 'but I bought that from you! Why are you recommending it?' I have a Sony, but Kobo is one of the main epub places you can buy from in Australia.
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