Amazon Kindle Oasis 3 vs Kobo Forma Comparison

Both devices can be purchased here:

Kobo forma:

Oasis 3:

There havent been many battles quite like this before; Amazon vs Kobo!
Check out how the two latest offerings from each company stacks up against each other!

[mrj]

I wish you would pick up the devices rather then leave them flat . Would love to see how they fit in hand, especially 1 handed. It would be good if you could update the comparison few months after, with real life battery stats and anything further you've liked/disliked after continuous use.

[clairemccann]

What about water-proof comparison? What about whether or not if mimics paper? What about which one is lighter and easier to hold? You're missing a lot of things people want to know...what color choices do each come in? How long does the battery last on each?

[SocialWorkProfessor]

I don't understand the demand for audio in the Forma. Doesn't your phone perform that function?

[ParadoxicGer]

I'd really like for you to eventually do a roundup/head-to-head specifically about what reader is best for manga. I still have an Aura One because because it was a nobrainer back in the day due to its screen size but I wonder if now something better is out there so a comparison between multiple readers instead of just 1v1 would be nice.

[millanferende]

1:39 - maybe it's my monitor or video or I dunno... but it looks like Kindle has WAY more contrast. Especially in images.

[jeremyfreeman]

Bigger screen/viewing area, no Ads, Overdrive... and yet you seem a bit biased towards the Amazon product.... Most of us aren't buying an e-reader for translation purposes either. The choice seems clear to me.

[kbhasi]

7:06 That's only if you have an active subscription to Kindle Unlimited…
7:35 I've just noticed the brightness menu on Kobo devices vaguely resembles the one on Likebook…

[Enos]

I love my kobo forma but I'd jump ship on a heartbeat if an alternative ereader comes into existence with physical buttons and expandable memory. Manga is pretty space intensive.

[nngnnadas]

Reading a whole book with machine translation is my new nightmare thanks.

[reynerl]

I used kindle before but after the ads I'm done! Tried Kobo and never been happier. I'm hoping they would release forma 2 with audiobook support! Cant wait!

[gsogymrat]

Most of the ebooks I read are from the public library and I wish Kindle had Overdrive integration. Using Overdrive on my phone to send books to Kindle is easy enough but for $250 I think the Oasis 2019 should have ALL the bells and whistles. I suspect Amazon doesn't want to encourage borrowing books rather than buying.

[Tmcarr]

Can you mention how the new cases for the kindle oasis are not magnetic anymore? I updated from the previous oasis and the case DOES NOT magnetically clip onto the back anymore... the new cases are all wrap around. It sucks.

[mongollloyd]

I like the Forma for the supported formats, esp cbz and cbr - nice touch. Hopefully by the time I can afford to buy it will have even more features.

[Lippdinos]

I appreciated the review. I am looking to upgrade my old paperwhite and was considering the new oasis 3 until I noticed it didn't have this one important feature which makes such a huge difference for me. My paperwhite (the 2nd, I think) has a screen with the texture of paper. This makes such a huge difference for me, I never thought I would miss it that much. Can you tell me if any of the new devices of any brand have this feature still? I certainly don't want to upgrade unless it has this characteristic.
Thanks!

[odedia]

I wish you'd compare the low-light throbbing issue with the Forma. That's the only reason I didn't choose it, but now I feel like the Oasis is just too uncomfortable - too sharp, slippery and uneven in weight distribution.

[sabineb.]

While I was very happy with my Kindle Voyage (IMO one of the best readers Amazon ever made) and therefore have skipped the two previous Oasis models, I upgraded recently and got the newest Oasis - mainly because Amazon finally decided to give us a warm night light. I'm very light sensitive and I was always bothered by the cold blueish screen illumination of previous e-readers. What took you so long, Amazon!!! And after a few weeks of using it I have to say that the newest Oasis is the best e-reader I have owned so far. That doesn't mean, though, that it is flawless. I'm not especially fond of the asymmetric design, which has now apparently been copied by Kobo. I think it's a bit awkward to turn the device upside-down in order to switch hands. It was much easier and less disruptive to just pop the Voyage into the other hand without having to turn it around. I also liked the smaller size of the Voyage since it fitted easier into most of my pockets. And because of the asymmetric weight distribution the Oasis feels slightly heavier than it really is because the bulk of the weight is on one side. That said, because of the 7-inch screen and the warmer screen illumination the reading experience with the new Oasis is much better than with any other reader I have owned so far. And while Amazon gets heavily criticized for not supporting ePub, this was never really a problem for me. The Kindle ecosystem is exceptionally easy to use and to navigate and has many supporting extras - like the send-to-kindle feature which is very practical. You can convert all your documents into a Kindle format, and they are added to your cloud library. So far it happened very rarely that an e-book which I wanted to read, wasn't available on Amazon. But in those rare cases there's always your little helper called Calibre which makes all e-books Kindle-compatible ☺
The only thing which really doesn't work with a Kindle is the use of online-libraries. For those who love to use them frequently, this is of course a bummer. I really think that Amazon should contemplate to add an online-library as a service for Kindle owners. The already available kindle-unlimited library which Amazon prime customers can borrow one e-book per month for free, is too limited (pun absolutely intended!) and only rarely offers the books I'm interested in.

The Kobo Forma seems to be a terrific e-reader which can compete with the Oasis. Kobo has offered many good features like a warmer screen illumination and a waterproof device, before Amazo n introduced them. But for me the Kobo is too big and too heavy and since I rarely read comics I really don't need such a big screen. When I read a book with many colored pictures and graphics I always use my tablet. Colored stuff and detailed graphics are much better on a tablet.
On the whole I'm very content with Amazon's ecosystem and their customer service and see no reason for using another system regularly.
Then there's the often mentioned issue that all Kindle readers still have micro-usb. This seems to be a big issue for many potential customers. But I have to say - I couldn't care less. I still have a lot of devices where I need micro-usb, and when I travel I can use one cable for all of them. And since the Kindle doesn't need to be re-charged constantly, it doesn't bother me that it takes slightly longer. Btw, my Oasis is fully re-charged after half an hour. So, there's no reason to complain. And I think that it will take many more years before we can finally jettison our micro-usb cables.
So, I really can recommend the new Oasis if one is willing to spend a lot of money for a one-trick pony like an e-reader. But this little pony does what it's supposed to do, really very well. The overall reading experience is very enjoyable and easy on the eyes. For those who don't want to spend so much money, the good old Paperwhite is probably the next best bet. Unfortunately the Voyage isnt available any longer. i hope to use the Oasis for quite a while. Only if Amazon should decide to give us an upgraded waterproof version of the Voyage with a warm night light, I could be tempted to try it. But I don't think this will happen because it probably doesn't make sense to offer two high-end readers.

[SuperPlastered]

Forma. I like to actually own the books I buy.

[Dierre]

Battle of the Titans but let's not forget the Forma came out a year earlier 🤗

[Lippdinos]

There are two features that I really would like on a e-ink reader. The main one is the screen having paper texture such as my paperwhite 2 ( I think that's it.) It's just really special, makes you feel like you are reading real paper. (Even if it had to be via bluetooth since the e-ink's don't have speakers yet) The other feature is one that is available on the kindle fire. it's the feature where it reads the book to you. I realize it is possible for you to get the oasis 3 to do this if you activate a mode for people with certain disabilities, but it's super annoying because, well, it will read everything out loud, every single menu or option while this is activated. It's just too annoying.

[BikeRideTherapy]

I just bought a Kindle keyboard (3 gen) and I LOVE it. I was a nook user at the time of the release of the KK3, but wow, it is amazing even today. It is my very first experience with "text to speech" and whisper sync are keeping me on the Kindle side. I love the features of the KOBO, but is missing "text to speech". I want to justify buying the Kobo Forma but Kindle offers more for the same about of money except for the 8" screen.