Is Kobo better than Kindle? (In-Depth Comparison)

Today, we do a deep dive comparison between Kindle and Kobo! Is one really better than the other?

0:00 Video Starts
0:28 Unlocking and Screensavers
2:52 Home Screen & Organization
5:39 Book Store and Supported Formats
11:42 Reading Customizations
15:46 Advanced Settings & Integrations

Hi there!

It’s great to meet you 🥰

My name is Maneetpaul Singh, but my friends call me Maneet (pronounced muh-neet). I'm a bookworm from Connecticut who loves tech. When I bought my first e-reader in 2020, I began reading more than I ever had before. I’ve made it my mission to help people fall in love with reading through Book Tech.

Think of me like the MKBHD of books.

There are three things I want you to know.

Thanks so much for being here.

Happy reading!

Social Links:

[protractman]

Amazon attempting to monopolise their platforms as well as the book distribution is disgusting and baffles me that so many people seem to be ok with this. The $20 dollars to remove undisclosed ads from a device you paid for is the cherry on top and actually made me laugh

[santacruzmidwife]

The primary advantage of Kobo ereaders is that you can support independent booksellers with your purchases. I bought a Kobo ereader because I was looking to dissociate myself from the Amazon platform.

[oldman]

I have Kindle Oasis and Kobo Sage. I'd give a slight edge to Kobo primarily because of Dropbox and the ability to add books outside the Amazon and Kobo ecosystem.

[jacquelinevs]

I have both, and the actual reading experience is so much better with my Kobo. Plus, they price match by an extra 10%

[gailcbull]

The ePub and Overdrive support on Kobo is the reason I prefer the Kobo. I hate that Amazon is designing their eReader to consolidate a monopoly over book sales. If I want to read a book published by an author on their own website (ePub format), then why would I bother with an eReader that won't let me support that author? My local public library also has a great eBook catalogue, so no Overdrive support is an absolute deal-breaker. Amazon forbids me from supporting my own local library? Nope. Not happening! Kobo seems like it's actually designed for readers by readers. They know we don't always go to the same book store to buy our books, and that we like to support our local libraries!

[Pugwash.]

What a great comparison. I spend 99.9% of my time on my kobo just reading, so the reading experience is the only thing that influenced my choice.

[KerrieRedgate]

Thankyou, Maneetpaul. That was a very thorough comparison. I’m in Australia. I’ve had a Kindle since 2011, but I’m thinking of getting a Kobo, mainly because I don’t like Amazon as a company, and I’d be happier supporting Kobo — plus their devices seem great. I’ve learned a lot about Kobo from you here. And your point about the freedom of really owning the ePub books I buy is an important one. Many thanks!

[carriebuchda]

Thanks for another great video. I have both the Kobo Clara and a 10th generation Kindle Paper white. I find the Kobo so much easier to use to check out library books. I read a lot of library books and tend to be forgetful about returning them. The Kobo has paid for itself with the amount of money that I am no longer spending on fines. I do like the Kindle and the Amazon book selection. I’ve saved quite a bit buying ebooks rather than physical copies. I think that if I had to pick one over the other, I would go with the Kobo, solely because of the amount of books I check out from my library.

[bradv]

I have a Kindle and a Kobo, and prefer the Kobo for one small petty difference. The page numbering. The Kindle shows the page number of the physical book, so while I am reading, I swipe a few pages on the Kindle to advance a single page, while the Kobo shows the number of pages in the ebook, so every swipe advances the page number. It also adjust the pages as I change the font/size. I find this easier to predict how long I will have to read until the next chapter, as the Kindle "x minutes left in the chapter" doesnt reflect the number of times I get distracted while reading.

[dintan]

I personally have a Kindle, but by far the most frustrating part is how all cover dimensions don't match. Some are way too small while other too large. It happens either in the library view or when the Kindle is on standby.

[andrewnixon]

No mention of format conversion with Calibre? Kindle only supporting azw and mobi doesn’t mean you won’t be able to read anything in epub, converting is free and easy.

[Headtalk]

There’s a free e reader program called Calibre that allows you to change what format an ebook is in. I took an entire collection of ebooks and took them from epub to mobi very quickly. I haven’t messed with the more advanced settings, but you can alter things like line spacing and indentation during the reformatting process.

[MsTinaSnow]

I have an Oasis and a Kobo. I prefer the Kobo reading experience, but like many, I am in the Amazon ecosystem with the books. However, I do the majority of my reading on my Kobo. My only gripe with the Kobo is there seems to be a glitch with the turn page button. After a while, the button will stop responding, and then you have to touch the screen to turn the page, and somehow it activates the button again. Very annoying but not a deal-breaker.

[kyrilson]

I have both and for some reason I always go back to the Kindle. It might be because it’s where I started. But I just feel more comfortable with the kindle layout, reading experience, store, sideloading, etc. I have everything set up just right. With kobo, I couldn’t get the sideloaded books to look right. EPUB was fussy and kepub didn’t have the settings I wanted. I also use Kindle Unlimited a lot so that is a big plus for me. The wireless options with kindle are much better than with kobo, I have found, especially with note taking and highlights, etc.

[euxine]

I have both devices. I prefer the Kobo screen over the Kindle, just because it's not flushed and it does look better and sharper. However, comfort wise, I have to give it to the Kindle. The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 with a case and pop socket is still lighter than my bare Kobo Libra 2 and does not strain at all.

[tivonutdc]

Kobo does have bold feature but it only is on certain fonts. For example choose "Caecilia" then you get "Advanced" for more options, choose it and you can see the example of now and with change, "before" and "after". Here you can adjust Font Size and Weight (boldness) with a sliding scale. The fonts available for weight are Amasis, Avenir, Caecilia, Georgia, Gill Sans, Kobo Nickel, Malabar.

I believe on the Kindle "bold" is only available for certain fonts too.

[ReadGameCraftCook]

Great video. I’ve been a kindle user since the very first iteration and this year considered Kobo to get away from it. I did hear kobo was getting more invasive with the store though. I ended up getting a pocketbook era instead and the customization in the os is fantastic. I can read my own epubs and moved my kindle books there as well with a bit of work.

[Eunostos]

Have some algorithm engagement.

And thank you for your thoroughness, you helped me considerably.

[Dream-benf]

I would add that the Kobo Plus has three subscription options: a Kindle Unlimited rival that offers ebooks for 10 dollars per month, a similar subscription that offers audiobooks for 10 dollars per month and - to conclude - an all-in-one option that offers both ebooks and audiobooks for 13 dollars per month.

[lorettabertoli]

I own a kobo, mainly because of the epub format and my Kobo Libra has probably more adjustable night light adjustment settings but kindle seems awesome too and as a Prime subscriber I'll definitely look into the books I can get monthly. thanks so much for the review