I have iPad mini as my primary device to read comic, and it works perfectly. Then why on earth I still need another e-reader? Well, to be honest, comic becomes the only “book” I’ve ever actually read in my iPad mini. Not because any problem with iPad mini, it’s just… there are too many distractions there. I have plenty of non-comic e-books already copied there, waiting to be read for years. And every-time I open my iPad mini with original intention to read book, I always end up browsing the Internet, playing game, opening Facebook, or reading comics. In the end, the text e-book never got read.
Since there are few books I really want to finish reading, I figured the best solution is to get a dedicated book-reader WITHOUT all the fancy features so I won’t get distracted anymore. With this criteria, any book reader with iOS or Android is out of question.
Most of my e-book collection are in EPUB format. Kindle can’t read EPUB format without conversion. So my consideration was between Nook, Kobo and Sony Reader (I owned Sony reader before). This time, my choice is Kobo mini for two main reason. One, it’s small enough to fit my pocket (5″). Two, it’s cheap ($49 AUD, equivalent to $45 USD using today’s rate). I was aiming for e-reader with built-in front light like Kobo Glo or Nook GlowLight. But for the price, Kobo mini became my choice.
So I went home with this nice little reader. The initial setup time is relatively easy, but we are kinda “forced” to download the latest firmware before we can do anything. So if your Internet connection is slow, this might take a while before we can see anything in our new gadget. The initial setup (including firmware download) can be done by cable connection to computer, or via WiFi.
The interface of Kobo mini is quite simple. We get things we need, and not much extra. I like that we can choose font when reading books, can change the font size, and even font contrast. Reading Life feature will keep track of our reading habit. Plus Kobo mini has some sort of “badge” achievements like the one we achieve in games. It’s not actually important, just a fun gimmick to have, I guess. The front page will automatically display up to 5 most recent books. We can choose books using list display or bookshelf display.
Kobo mini has 2GB internal storage. But we only get around 1.3 GB to store our books (the remaining 700 MB is for the operating system). There is no expansion slot to add storage through memory cards.
The official app from Kobo can only be used to manage books we purchase from Kobo store. To enter our own EPUB collection, we simply need to use Finder (for Mac) or Windows Explorer (for Windows) and copy the files directly. 1.3 GB should be enough to store hundreds of books.
The back-side of this reader has some sort of rubbery feeling. It feels nice when we hold it. There’s the usual Kobo’s diamond pattern on the back, along with Kobo logo.
After spending few days with this nice little device and was quite sure I’m going to use it frequently, I went and buy a new Snapback cover. I like the color (teal). And the combination of teal back from white front makes my e-reader looks even better.
I really like the 5″ size. The display can still display good amount of text. And I am feeling encouraged every-time I move to a new page. I notice there’s a little bit of shadow effect in the e-ink display, but it’s nothing serious. It doesn’t hinder my reading experience at all. With such price, people tend to be more forgiving, including myself, lol.
When we finish reading, Kobo will display either a sleeping icon or the cover of the last book we read (depending on our setting). I wanted to use custom screensaver using my own image, but turns out Kobo mini’s system doesn’t have any setting to do that.
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