There is fresh movement around I switched from Kindle to Kobo, but Amazon nailed one thing Kobo completely missed, and the story is worth a closer look.
We pulled together what is known so far and what it could mean for the people following it.
I used a Kindle Paperwhite for over six years, but I never liked Amazon’s proprietary services and restrictions. Recently, I acquired a Kobo eReader—and I’m very happy with it—but there’s one thing the Kindle weirdly does better.
This is actually my second experience with a Kobo eReader. I originally bought the Kindle because it was annoying to transfer ebooks to my ancient Kobo Aura HD. Things have changed a lot since then, but there’s still one thing the Kindle does better (and I have a solution).
First things first, I’m very much enjoying my Kobo Libra Colour. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, though. As I mentioned, I never liked the “Amazon-ness” of my Kindle. However, I have to give Amazon credit for one thing: it’s pretty easy to use a Kindle without Amazon.
Most of the books I read on my Kindle were from my local library, thanks to the Libby integration. If I couldn’t find a title on Libby—or the waitlist was just too long—I’d download the ebook in epub format and remove DRM with Calibre. Then, I could send it to my Kindle with the aptly named “Send to Kindle” feature.
Here’s where the Kindle has the upper hand on Kobo. In both situations above, I did not get the ebook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, but I could still read it in the Kindle app on my phone. Why does that matter? It meant my reading progress was synced between the eReader and the app.
I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to read, but my eReader wasn’t with me or nearby. Sitting in a waiting room, waiting for a friend at a coffee shop, or just being too lazy to get up. It was incredibly handy to be able to open the Kindle app on my phone, select a book from my library, and seamlessly pick up where I left off.
The Kobo Libra Colour shines as a color eReader with its easy-to-use interface, excellent repairability, and ergonomic design. It also packs the latest display tech in the color E Ink space.
In many ways, Kobo eReaders are less restrictive than Kindles. It’s very easy to install custom software, for example (I’ll come back to this). However, the cross-device syncing is much more limited.
Kobo’s integration with Libby (still called "OverDrive") is excellent—you can do it all directly on the eReader itself—but Libby books do not sync across devices. The books you check out can be read from Libby and the Kobo eReader, but reading progress is not shared between them.
It’s even worse with books that aren’t from Libby or the Kobo Store. There’s no way to sync those books to your phone or anywhere else. Only books purchased from Kobo can be synced with the mobile app.
Sending ebooks from other devices to a Kobo eReader is also more limited. High-end models, such as my Libra Colour, have Google Drive integration—it’s super nice! I can drop those aforementioned EPUB files in a Google Drive folder, and they appear on my Kobo. But you don’t get this feature on the base model Clara Colour or BW.
I never expected Amazon’s locked-down ecosystem to work better with books that weren’t purchased from the parent company, but that’s the reality of owning a Kobo.
This all sounds very “doom and gloom,” but I want to reiterate once again that the pros still outweigh the cons. I’m not planning on switching back to a Kindle any time soon.
As I said, Kobo’s Libby integration is a huge upgrade over the Kindle. I never liked that I had to use a separate device to check out books and the weird rigamarole of sending them to my Kindle. Libby works just like a built-in ebook store on the Kobo.
This is a small thing, but I also appreciate that Kobo eReaders have Bluetooth, which makes remote page turners work infinitely better than they do with Kindle eReaders. Yes, I am one of those weird people who uses a tablet holder for my eReader in bed—it’s great.
But the main reason why I love my Kobo so much is how easy it was to fix the problems I mentioned above. I installed the custom KOReader software along with the Local Send and Readest plugins. They allow me to easily drop files on my Kobo and seamlessly sync reading progress to the Readest app (Android, iPhone) on my phone. It’s great.
I would still love to see Kobo do a better job of supporting people who don’t purchase books directly from them. Even just syncing Libby titles between the eReader and phone app would be a big improvement. Regardless, I’m happy to be fully out of Amazon’s ecosystem, and I’m a happy Kobo owner.
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