The Kobo range was launched in the UK in 2011, and refreshed in October 2012. The latest model, the Kobo Aura HD, became available in April 2013. There are currently five models available from WH Smith shops and online: Kobo Aura, Kobo Touch, Kobo mini, Kobo Glo and Kobo Arc. There are also Kobo apps for most platforms.
All the current Kobo devices are touch screen and Wi-Fi, and give access to an online book shop - the Kobo Store.
The setup procedure for a Kobo requires an internet connection and a Kobo account. If you don't already have an account, you can set one up during the setup process. Setup may include a firmware upgrade which in turn may require a large download, so a fast connection and good data plan are useful!
Kobo Aura HD
The Kobo Aura HD is very similar to the Kobo Glo - see below - with the largest and clearest eInk screen currently available. It costs £140. Indeed, the screen is the largest and clearest eInk screen available, measuring 6.8" diagonally and with a resolution of 1440 by 1080, or 265 dpi.
Benefits
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6.8 inch eInk Pearl display with resolution of 1440 x 1080, or 265 dpi.
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Ten font faces options.
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24 font sizes, with the largest being approximately point size 27.
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Options for line spacing, margins and justification.
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Preserves visual settings: when you open a book and customise your settings, they apply equally to any other book you open.
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Front-lit display ("ComfortLight") can be turned on or off. When on, the brightness can be varied.
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Small (17.6 x 12.8 x 1.2 cm) and light (240 g), and thus easy to hold.
Obstacles
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No text-to-speech feature available.
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No text colour inversion option.
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Cannot increase font size of library, menu items, on-screen keyboard or Store.
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All controls other than power and light require use of the touch screen.
Kobo Touch
The Kobo Touch is the only device released in 2011 that is still available; it costs £60. It has a 6 inch monochrome eInk display and weighs 185g. There is internal storage for over 1000 books (1GB), and you can buy SD memory cards separately to store up to 30,000. A single battery charge can last up to one month, although heavy readers may not get this much time! Books can be transferred to it over a Wi-Fi connection or from a computer via the supplied USB cable .
The same USB cable is used to charge the Kobo from a computer, although it is possible to buy a plug if you prefer to charge it from a wall socket.
The only tactile controls on the device are an On/Off slider and a Home button. All other interaction is through the touch screen.
Once a book is open, its text can be altered by tapping the centre of the screen to show some controls at the bottom of the screen, and then choosing the AA button. It is possible to copy additional TrueType or OpenType fonts to the device (create a "fonts" folder for them first). There are no font options for menus or other facilities such as the dictionary or the purchase of eBooks from the device. You can use the Kobo Store website to purchase eBooks on your computer, and then transfer them.
Benefits
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15cm (6 inch) eInk Pearl display.
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Seven font face options, to which you can add more.
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Font size slider goes up to point size 36 (approximately).
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Sliders also for line spacing and margins.
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Justification can be off, left or full.
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Preserves visual settings: when you open a book and customise your settings, they apply equally to any other book you open.
Obstacles
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No text-to-speech feature available.
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No text colour inversion option.
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Cannot increase font size of menu items, on-screen keyboard or Store.
Kobo Mini
The Kobo Mini was released in 2012. It weighs 135g and has a 127mm (5 inch) screen, making it the smallest and lightest dedicated eReader on the market. It has 1GB of storage, enough for over 1000 books, and no SD card slot for external storage. It costs £60.
The only tactile controls on the Mini are a power on/off button and a micro USB connector. Other than that, it is very similar to the Kobo Touch.
Kobo Glo
The Kobo Glo is similar to the Kobo Touch in its physical specificiation but is £40 more at £100. It has a 152mm (6 inch) diagonal monochrome eInk display and weighs 185g. There is internal storage for over 1000 books, and a slot for an SD memory card (not supplied) that can store another 30,000. A single battery charge can last up to one month, although heavy readers may not get this much time! Books can be transferred to it over a Wi-Fi connection or from a computer via the supplied USB cable.
The Kobo Glo has only a few physical controls on it:
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an On/Off slider button for power, and an on/off button for the light, both on the top edge,
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an SD card slot at the bottom of the left edge, and
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a micro USB connector on the bottom edge.
There are eleven different fonts to choose from, including one called OpenDyslexic. Font size is set with a slider, with the largest size being around 27pt. These options are only available for the content of a book, and aren't available for the library or store screens.
Previously, eInk devices couldn't be used in the dark - you needed a light to shine onto the screen. The alternative of a back-lit tablet computer or phone was not an option for many people because the glare from the screen made reading tiring.
The Kobo Glo has a built-in light that can be turned on or off. Turning the ComfortLight on adds a button to the bottom left of the screen from which the brightness can be controlled. The light can be switched on at any time, so you can use it while browsing the books on the Glo, or buying a book, or reading.
Disappointingly, there is no text to speech at all. In fact there is no speaker and no headphone socket, so it's not possible to listen to audio books either.
Benefits
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15cm (6 inch) eInk Pearl display.
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Eleven font faces options.
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Font size slider goes up to point size 27 (approximately).
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Sliders also for line spacing and margins.
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Justification can be off, left or full.
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Preserves visual settings: when you open a book and customise your settings, they apply equally to any other book you open.
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ComfortLight with good brightness variation.
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Relatively small and light with quilted rear makes it easy to hold.
Obstacles
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No text-to-speech feature available.
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No text colour inversion option.
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Cannot increase font size of library, menu items, on-screen keyboard or Store.
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All controls other than power and light require use of the touch screen.
Kobo Arc
The Kobo Arc is a tablet computer with an emphasis on reading. It weighs 364g, and has a 178mm (7 inch) colour HD screen, two speakers, a headphone socket, camera and microphone. It has a 10 hour battery life, and comes in 16GB and 32GB variations at £160 and £190 respectively. There is no SD card slot.
Once a book is open, it's possible to choose one of three font faces - serif, sans serif and the publishers font - and the largest font size is around 14pt. There are also three themes to choose from - black text on white, black on sepia and white on black.
The Kobo Arc is based on the Android 4 operating system, which includes a Large Text option and a screen reader called TalkBack.
The Large Text setting is used for menus on the general device interface and for book content, but does not affect the Kobo Store (where you can buy books, or download them free) or the library of books downloaded to the device.
TalkBack together with a second feature called "Explore by touch" allow you to use the touch screen without sight. Not all screen items are read, and there is no speech from the Kobo Store or within a book that has been opened. The library screen must be changed from the default icon view to a list before TalkBack will read it.
The Kobo Arc is preloaded with a number of apps like Facebook and Gmail, and it has a browser and access to the Play Store so that you can get more apps.
Benefits
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17.8cm (7 inch) HD colour display.
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Three font face options.
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Choice of reading theme: Classic (black text on white), Night (white text on black) or Sepia (black text on sepia).
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Large text option for some menus.
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TalkBack screen reader for some screens.
Obstacles
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No text-to-speech feature available.
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Largest font size for book content is point size 14 (approximately).
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No line spacing, margins or justification options.
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Large text and TalkBack features do not work for book content or the Kobo Store.
Kobo apps
Kobo have free apps for a number of computer and phone platforms. The app for the iPhone and iPod touch is accessible with the built-in screen reader, VoiceOver. Not only can you read by character, word or line, you can do a continuous read of a whole chapter. It's also possible to connect a bluetooth braille display to read your books. While the iPad app was accessible with VoiceOver, a recent update (to version 5.9, in December 2012) has damaged that accessibility.
The Kobo app for Android partially works with the TalkBack screen reader in that it is possible to read a sentence at a time.