Amazon's Kindle and Rakuten's Kobo e-readers are two of the most popular devices for digital reading around the world. These devices have revolutionized the way people access and consume books, offering a convenient and portable alternative to traditional printed books.
Both Kindle and Kobo have dedicated fan bases and offer a variety of models to suit readers' needs and preferences. We have raised some of the aspects that can weigh most when choosing between one or the other, but the final decision varies from reader to reader.
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Which is the best e-reader: Kindle or Kobo?
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The choice between Kindle and Kobo as the best digital reader depends on the user's individual preferences and the specific characteristics of each device. Here are some points to consider:
1. Book catalog: Amazon, which is the company behind the Kindle, has a huge influence on the e-book market and a vast selection of titles available for purchase in its Kindle store. They offer a wide range of books from different genres and authors, from bestsellers to lesser-known works and independent titles. On the other hand, Kobo, while it may not have the same level of global presence as Amazon, also has a sizable catalog of e-books in its store. Kobo offers a variety of titles from different publishers and authors, and allows users to access books from external and independent sources.
2. File formats: Kindle mainly supports Amazon's proprietary file format (AZW), as well as DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, PNG, GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, EPUB and PDF formats. Kobo supports EPUB, EPUB2, EPUB3 (Kobo Original and Kobo Wi-Fi do not support EPUB3), PDF, FlePub, MOBI, PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF , CBZ and CBR.
3. Water resistance: Some Kindle and Kobo models are waterproof, which can be useful for reading in humid environments, such as near the pool or at the beach. The Kobo models that are water resistant are Clara 2E, Sage, Libra 2, Libra H2O, Forma, Aura ONE, Aura H2O Edition 2 and Aura H2O. The Kindle only has three waterproof model options, which are the Oasis, Paperwhite and Paperwhite Signature Edition.
4. Customization: Kobo offers more customization options than Kindle, such as adjusting font and spacing, which can be attractive to users who want more control over the appearance of text.
5. Color screen: Kobo recently launched a version of the digital reader with a color screen. No version of the Kindle has been released with a color display.
6. Storage: Kobo has storage versions with up to 32 GB, such as the Kobo Libra 2, while the Kindle has a maximum storage of 16 GB in the most complete versions.
7. Price: Kobo offers more e-reader models than the Kindle and many of them have a much more affordable price compared to the competition, but the Kindle also has models with an affordable and good value for money, all depends on the desired model.
Overall, both e-readers have their advantages and disadvantages, and choosing the best one depends on the user's individual preferences. Some users may prefer Kindle for its integration with the Amazon store and wide selection of books, while others may prefer Kobo for greater flexibility in file formats and customization options.
