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Specs:

Our Analysis:

When Borders launched the original Kobo eReader in May of 2010, it was billed as an economical alternative to competing units from Sony, Amazon and Endless Ideas.   At just $150 per copy, Borders hoped to capture a part of the eReader market that wants an entry-level reader at half the price of the more full-featured models available at the time.  The result?  Online reviews and end-user reports all but panned the Kobo, citing the lack of WiFi and 3G wireless, among other things.  Worse yet, Barnes & Noble answered Borders with a value-priced eReader of its own (the Nook) which carried expanded features at essentially the same price. On October 15^th 2010, the brick and mortar giant released an updated version of the Kobo eReader that that addresses a few concerns.  And guess what?  The new Kobo, despite its facelift and features upgrade, is actually retailing for less than the original version at release ($139 vs. $150).

How I conducted my analysis of the Borders’ Kobo eReader:

My review of the new Kobo began at my local Border’s store, where I asked the manager if I might take one home to conduct an in-depth analysis of the device.  Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let me do that without committing to purchasing it, and their return policy is, well, no returns if the box is open.  So, with her permission, I sat down with the floor model and played with the Kobo right there in the store, happily taking my notes in full view of the day’s patrons.

In addition to my own observations about the Kobo, I consulted more than a dozen online resources, including everybody from cnet, PCMag, and PCWorld, to Electronista, EnGadget and Wired.com.

What I thought of the Borders’ Kobo eReader:

Right away, it was readily apparent that Borders understands what the eReader user is looking for in terms of physical size.  The unit felt comfortable in my hand, and it’s plenty light and thin enough (less than 8 ounces, and 0.4” thick) to hold confidently with just a thumb and forefinger.  That’s still lighter than the Nook or the Kindle, so kudos to the Kobo in the size department. 

The design itself is nearly identical to the original Kobo, including the “quilted” back.  Personally, I liked the textured feel of the back of the unit.  It reminded me of my cell phone (the Samsung Captivate); there’s just something soothing about that texture – it seems to elevate the sense of control and assurance that you have a firm grip on the eReader. 

 
The display is the same size as the original Kobo at six inches, so the new Kobo still stacks up nicely with the Kindle and the Nook as far as raw reading area goes.  I took the unit for a little walk in the Borders store, trying it out in both dim and well-lit areas.  The display was always easy to see, even when I held it up by a window near the front of the store.  We had a bit of snow in our area that day, but it was sunny outside, so there was plenty of glare pouring through the window and yet I had no difficulty seeing the screen clearly.

As far as text size, the Kobo’s eInk display comes with five adjustable font sizes, and the letters on the screen seemed crisp enough for my taste.  Overall, the contrast is good (especially for the price).

The bad news about the display is the same as it was on the introductory Kobo: no backlight.  As such, you’re not going to see the screen at all if you don’t use the passenger light in your airplane seat at night, or leave a reading lamp illuminated on your nightstand in bed.  Of course, paperbacks don’t have backlit pages either, so as the lower end of the price spectrum goes, the Kobo made a wise choice in feature compromise by nixing the backlighting, in my opinion. 

The user interface is going to be another area of less than welcome news for some people.  The new Kobo, despite its addition of a few new features and corrections, is still relying on a navigation pad for moving through screens and turning pages.  There are also buttons on the side of the unit (home, menu, display and “back”) but there is no touch-screen functionality.   Again, this is a reasonable compromise when trading off price versus features, so no complaints there.  Plus, there is plenty of space on the bottom of the device for physically holding it without worrying about page-turns or menu choices being selected inadvertently.

But when it comes to actually using the Kobo’s navigation pad, frankly I didn’t like it so much.  First, if you’re left-handed, you’re going to find the Kobo to be one more reason to curse righties like me.  The ergonomics of the eReader seem to be geared entirely toward right-handed users.  Secondly, for all the solid construction evident everywhere else in the device, the navi-pad seems a bit chintzy; all the high praise I gave to the textured finish on the back of the Kobo notwithstanding, the little knurled bumps on the rubber-covered navigation pad feel more suited to the emergency-stop button on my rototiller.  Furthermore, the navi-pad seems raised up to an unnecessarily high elevation on the device, which kind of ruins how nice and thin the Kobo is everywhere else.  I can’t say that the navigation didn’t work well or the pad was deficient in terms of function, but I can certainly say that this little mesa sticking up out of nowhere on the Kobo reminds me of a pimple on the prom queen’s face.

One big point of good news about the Kobo’s October upgrade is the addition of wireless and 3G connectivity.  This is the one area that Borders seemed to know it had to address, especially since similarly-priced eReaders included wireless.  Without it, buyers of the original Kobo were faced with having to connect to their PC (unless they carried a Blackberry, which could sync with the first Kobo version via Bluetooth) for downloading eBooks.  I tested the new Kobo’s WiFi in the Border’s store, and it was fast enough to satisfy my impatient disposition. 

Speaking of impatience, much like other lower-priced eReaders, the Kobo does suffer from a bit of a lag as you change screens.  It’s no more pronounced that what we’ve seen elsewhere, but it’s there and you should be aware that you’re not going to be popping through menus and pages with the same speed you would experience with an iPad or laptop.  There are trade-offs in everything, though, and if you’re planning on using your eReader largely for entertainment / leisure purposes, you’ll get along fine with the Kobo’s overall speed.

On-board memory is another aspect you’ll be pleased with.  The Kobo comes equipped with 1 GB of internal memory, and if that’s not enough for you, the micro SD slot can boost it up to 4 GB.  That’s enough storage for 5,000 eBooks in total (roughly 1,000 without the use of the micro SD expansion).   Battery life is also a plus, with up to two weeks between charges.  Borders brags that the battery is capable of providing 10,000 page turns before you need to plug it back in.

In general, the Kobo eReader from Borders seems to be a reasonable choice for an entry level eReader solution.  I still think the unit’s most attractive feature is the price, but even that particular feature is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook also offer models at the same price point as Kobo - $139.  Nevertheless, the Kobo provides a “just as good” reading experience as anything else I’ve looked at, at least when it comes to the down and dirty functionality of eBook readers.  And despite my complaints about the directional pad, I’d have to say the Kobo would be among my top choices if I weren’t ready to carry around an iPad or spend more than $250 for a more full-featured eReader.

Online experts’ opinions of the Kobo eReader:

After consulting several respected online resources including cnet, PC World, PCMag, Wired.com, EnGadget and Electronista, it appears that many of my own observations were ratified by the experts.  The general consensus seems to fit the conclusions that I came to; in other words, most online reviews gave the opinion that the Kobo’s attractive price is once again a valid selling point, given the new version’s compliance with the market’s “must have wireless” demand. 

The review from cnet wasn’t very flattering for the Kobo, with the editor giving the device just 2.5 stars out of five.  As such, cnet is conveying that the Kobo is inherently “average,” which we think is reasonable given that it’s stacking up against more expensive offerings in a freshly emerging market.  Still, cnet did give the Kobo high marks in the areas of battery life, size, integration with the Border’s eBook store, and of course, price.

Electronista, on the other hand, seemed to like the Kobo’s minimalist approach for the same reasons we did.  If you are looking for a lightweight, easy and affordable solution that allows you to carry over 1,000 books in your briefcase, you really don’t need a whole lot more than what the Kobo has to offer.  On the downside, one of the biggest concerns Electronista cites is the Kobo’s equally minimalist approach to file support.  At the time of this writing, the Kobo is set up to interact only with PDF and ePub, which means that reading an MS Word or .txt file isn’t in the cards for carriers of the Kobo.

What customers who bought the Borders’ Kobo eReader thought about it:

Predictably, end-user reviews were all over the map.  Opinions are always diverse when it comes to devices employing cutting-edge technology, and the ones about the new Kobo were no exception.  We saw comments ranging from “too slow to load” to “love how easy the eInk interface is on the eyes.”  We also noticed some users panning the navigation pad as much as we did, with one review calling it reminiscent of the clicking one hears when tapping away on a “cheap calculator.”

More on the positive side, many customer reviews praised the unit for its attractive price, especially since Borders was able to hold the unit at under $150 despite the addition of 3G and wireless connectivity.

The Verdict:

If you are in the market for a new eReader and budget is a concern, then we think the Kobo represents quite a logical choice.  The ease of managing your library with Wi-Fi, the eye-friendly eInk interface, the battery life and the memory are all well in line with what we expect when we use an eReader.  Yes, you’ll make a few sacrifices, just as you would if you bought the standard version of a Lexus instead of a “limited.”  But at the end of the day, the Kobo will take you where you want to go, even if it lacks burlwood accents or a 12-cylinder engine.  

One last note: Borders has lowered the price of the original Kobo eReader to just $119, which is really a cheap way to get your first eReader.  However, you’ll have to give up 3G and wireless if you go that route, and we suggest you part with the extra twenty bucks if you’re serious about taking your reading to the electronic arena.

Our Sources:

*Prices are only estimates and may vary from time to time, eReader central does not guarantee the stated prices.