The e-reader market has been hit hard by the advent of tablets, as Their high-resolution displays and auto-brightness features make onscreen reading more appealing than ever. However, there’s still something to be said for the feel and simplicity of an e-reader like the Kobo Glo HD.
e-readers do not pretend to be able it to everything and brow bar cuppa. They do one thing, and one thing only, Which is what makes them dry an appealing prospect for book lovers. The question is, for £ 109, the Glo HD can make a dent in Amazon’s dominance of the e-reader market?
Kobo Glo HD review: design and features
Rakuten’s tagline for the Kobo Glo HD Is That it’s “the most book-like e-reader” around – a laudable ambition, but the One That isn ‘t PARTICULARLY reflected in the design of the device.
It has a fairly bland, matte-plastic body That borders and recessed touchscreen, and a dimpled, rubberised plastic back providing grip . Measuring 115 x 9 x 156mm (WDH), the Glo HD is a shade thinner, shallower and shorter than Amazon’s Paperwhite , and a fraction thicker and lighter than the Kindle Voyage .
aesthetically and in terms of build quality, it lags behind Amazon’s flagship e-reader, and it certainly can not compete with the feel and tactile experience of reading a real book. On the plus side, though, the rubberised finish makes the Glo HD comfy to hold, Which is an important consideration.
In terms of what it offers for the money, the Kobo Glo HD is a highly enticing product. It has a 6in, 1,448 x 1,072 Carta E Ink screen with a pixel density of 300ppi – the same as the far more expensive Kindle Voyage.
It has an That integrated light, with the brightness kicked up to a full house, beams out at a respectable maximum luminance of 115cd / m2. That’s slightly behind the Kindle Voyage’s 134cd / m2, but it still Whitens the screen nicely in the daytime and leaves enough adjustment to make reading in darker conditions comfortable.
however, automatic brightness – a feature found on the Kindle Voyage – is conspicuous by its absence. Countless times I would switch the Glo on in a dark room only to be blinded by the light. And, occasionally, I’d accidently switch off the light completely, unable to turn it back up until I’d switched on a nearby light to see what I was doing.
Despite That black mark, reading on the Kobo Glo HD is a pleasurable experience. The E Ink display delivers Carta crisp and sharp text against a bright white background. In this respect, as Rakuten promises, it really does feel like you’re reading from the printed page.
Page turns using the infrared touchscreen are quick and simple, too. Fans of physical buttons will be disappointed, but turning the page over with a flick of the thumb does not take much getting used to. Even with the Kobo set which is fully refresh with every page turn, it does not feel too sluggish.
If you opt to have pages that refresh every five the pages, response times are even quicker, and there’s little to no apparent ghosting. Comics remain sharp even after multiple page turns.
Kobo Glo HD software and interface
Kobo Glo HD boasts the same tile-based homescreen as its siblings, providing an easy way to get an overview of what you’re reading and a reasonably unintrusive way for Kobo to suggest new titles are readers.
For some reason, Kobo likes to give you obscure stats and achievement badges related to how much you’ve read and how quickly you’ll finish a book. This is a touch patronizing, Especially since most people who make an effort to buy a dedicated e-reader to not need to be Reminded to read.
Boots otherwise the usability and content on offer is pretty good. While Rakuten can not match Amazon’s exhaustive and ever-growing library, it still has four million titles on offer, and a few major modern releases are missing. And, do not forget, the Kobo ecosystem is more open than Amazon’s, allowing you to read books you’ve Purchased from almost anywhere, thanks to support for EPUB files and Adobe Digital Editions.
Elsewhere, the Kobo Glo HD also allows you to choose from the font styles and 24 font sizes, and even adjust the sharpness and weight to your preference. You can also alter how you scroll through pages and access menus and the homescreen. Essentially, you can tailor the reading experience to Precisely fit your preferences.
Kobo Glo HD verdict
The Kobo Glo HD apr not have the premium style and sheen of Amazon’s Voyage, then, but for the price you’d be hard-pressed to find anything better. It’s £ 69 cheaper than the Voyage, and the same price as a standard Kindle Paperwhite, compared with the Kobo Which is Clearly superior in terms of hardware.
If you’ve already invested in Amazon’s ecosystem, it’s hard to recommend anything other than a Kindle, with Amazon’s bookstore off-limits here. But, if you’re open-minded on where you buy your ebooks, you could do far worse than the Kobo Glo HD.
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