Switching from Kindle to Kobo was one of the best ...

I liked my Kindle Oasis. I nonetheless do, if I am being sincere. Its construct high quality is superb, its display screen 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 wanting again.

It was the announcement of the Kobo Libra Colour in 2024 that first had me significantly contemplating the change. I might been inquisitive about color e-ink screens for some time. The expertise is fascinating, however I used to be additionally inquisitive about studying full-color comics on my e-reader. And whereas I knew that might include compromises in display screen high quality, in addition to coloration 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 correct option to ditch Amazon.

Me and my Kindle

Why I wished out of the ecosystem

Amazon Kindle Oasis

Display

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 one of the best all-around e-reader Amazon ever made. It has since been discontinued, as Amazon focuses in on its common Kindle, Paperwhite, Scribe, and just lately launched Colorsoft strains. That is too unhealthy, because the Oasis had a particular benefit over their different Kindle merchandise: buttons. Whereas the remainder of Amazon’s e-readers use equally wonderful e-ink screens, and have lots of the identical options because the Oasis, they lack the Oasis’s asymmetrical format, with web page flip buttons on one aspect.

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

I liked my Oasis, and I nonetheless do in some ways, however I slowly started feeling aggravated 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 way of Amazon’s send-to-Kindle perform, 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 instantly from Amazon, however I supply books from all types of locations, together with shops, the Project Gutenberg website, superior copies, and extra. Conserving all that organized on the Kindle was turning into a chore.

However there have been two larger points for me. The primary was that I wished 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 some extent in Kobo’s favor. Then there was the easy undeniable fact that I, like many others, have grow to be disillusioned with Amazon as an organization, together with their monopolistic practices throughout the ebook trade. I wished out of their ecosystem.

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A splash of coloration

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

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

Develop

A part of the rationale it took so lengthy to make the change to Kobo was that my Oasis was, and stays, a superbly nice system. Why ought to I spend the cash on an entire new e-reader when I’ve a working Oasis already? However these points, notably the shortage 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 system to me, on condition that its format and web page flip buttons already made it an honest different 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 flexibility to take notes with a stylus, and a quicker processor for a smoother expertise. Plus, after all, the colour display screen.

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

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An incredible choice

Deciding on my selection

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 incredible system, 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 incredible choice.

The very first thing was getting my private library all arrange. Although Kindle books usually have DRM locking them down, I used to be capable of 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 loads 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 accountable for my library. Now, even once I buy books instantly from the Kobo retailer, I hold 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 correct one. The corporate introduced that on the finish of February, they’d now not permit customers to obtain copies of their bought Kindle e-books on to a pc. It is unhealthy sufficient to have DRM on bought books, however not permitting customers to obtain the recordsdata instantly 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, in search of different methods to get entry to the e-books they purchased. I am definitely glad that I used to be capable of 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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