Years ago, ereader-related companies marked September and October as months for new device launches. The great Amazon has already abandoned that habit but it seems that its great rival has not. Kobo rakuten, Amazon's biggest rival in the ereader market, recently introduced a new eReader called the Kobo Forma.
This new eReader had already been tracked thanks to the FCC registration but everyone thought it would be called Kobo Aura One 2 or Kobo Aura Two, but the name changed, as well as its shape. The new Kobo Forma is an eReader with a different name and a totally different form.
The look and shape of the Kobo Forma is all about the Kindle Oasis, an ereader that can be held on one side and that facilitates reading in difficult environments such as reading in bed.
The Kobo Forma allows one-handed reading as well as control of the device with a couple of finger taps. And unlike other models, Kobo Forma allows screen flipping, which means that we can change the direction and thus help the reading of pdf documents.
Kobo Forma keeps its 8-inch screen with Letter HD technology and a resolution of 300 dpi. In addition to having a touchscreen, the Kobo Forma has a backlit display.
The screen as well as the rest of the device has Moebius technology that makes the screen not only more resistant but also a more flexible and resistant device. The Kobo Forma continues to count, like its older brothers, with the IPX8 certificate that makes the device resistant to shocks, scratches and water.
This new ereader model is thinner and lighter than the Kobo Aura One with a weight of 197 gr. something that makes many users, avid bedtime readers, able to read for hours without discomfort on the wrists.
This new Kobo eReader It cannot be purchased in Spain until next October 23 and can be booked from October 16. The price of the Kobo Forma will be 279,99 euros, 30 euros more expensive than the Kindle Oasis. The price is not at all affordable when compared to a normal eReader, but we have to say that the Kobo Forma is not a normal or low-end eReader, but a premium device, so the quality / price ratio is quite balanced.
Unlike other ereaders, Kobo Forma supports open ebook formats, which makes it we can buy ebooks in any online store and read them on the device. In addition, Kobo and Fnac have recently joined forces, which means that Spanish users have at our disposal a catalog of more than 130.000 ebooks in Spanish and of these, 15.000 ebooks are free.
Soon we will analyze this new Kobo device on our website, but it seems that everything indicates that Kobo remains a great rival to crack. Do not you think?
It looks great. I tried the Oasis 2 for a month and it seemed amazing. I returned it basically because I was not reading much (I was not taking advantage of it, come on, I have been reading for a weak year) and also because the battery did not convince me. It lasted only a week, not a book. Much less than the Paperwhite that lasts for several weeks.
Another thing is that it also seemed a bit heavy to hold with one hand, you have to get the hang of it and the fact that it allowed to change the arrangement of the buttons was a help.
This one has the largest screen and is a bit heavier, I like the conforlight thing (Amazon is taking a long time to copy it) and we will have to see how the battery handles.
One thing ... I suppose that apart from the buttons the screen is touch, right? well I suppose that it is evident but it is that I have not seen it in the specifications.
The price is high but it is a different reader. I would have liked that if more capacity or memory card reader.
Well ... I'm impatient with that review Joaquín 🙂
What is the price, you talk about it and you don't mention it ...
280€
Sorry about the price, it is one of the data that has been published so much that I assumed that I had written it. As far as I know, the Kobo Forma has a touch screen, come on, it would be a complete delay if the screen was not touch.
About what you say about the Kindle Oasis, it is surprising, normally the battery does not last so short. Maybe you have had a defective unit.
Thanks for reading and commenting. All the best!!!
Joaquín one thing, since you are going to have a unit of this model in tests, can you try the topic of dictionaries? And can you read the books you buy on Amazon on the Kobo?
Hi Javi, what do you want to know about dictionaries? About the ebooks you buy on Amazon, in principle you can't. That is, you cannot directly, but you can do it through Caliber. The reason for this is that Amazon only allows you to download their ebooks in their formats and they are not supported by the rest of eReaders. But thanks to Caliber, the conversion can be done without any problem.
A greeting!!!!
Regarding dictionaries, I mean if it has them incorporated. Of Spanish? Spanish English?
And with regard to Amazon books, I was referring to whether they can be sent directly from Amazon to the ereader, but I have already answered myself: it's silly. Obviously not.
I congratulate you on your blog, as for the Kobo Forma, they have screwed it up with only 8 GB, because that size invites you to use it with study pdf and with comics, the oasis has a 32 GB version, even the paperwhite has a 32 GB version Since the Japanese are fans of manga, a 32 GB version with an option for audiobooks is what this ereader lacks to be perfect and deserve that I spend my money.
I have the kobo Forma since Christmas and it really is a delight to read, a lot of contrast, ease of including types more suitable for your eyes, the way to wear it and be able to read either by pressing the screen or with the button that is at the height of hand. Really comfortable to carry and read on public transport which is where he took advantage of it a lot. However, in my opinion, the on-off-rest button is small, difficult to access, located on the side there are times that you cannot find it and if you press a little more than it should, since you can hardly see it, you turn off the reader instead of letting it rest. They would have to improve this aspect, with the price that it has.