Kobo Forma | eReader (Black)

I had Kobo Aura and a smaller Kobo ereader before that and Forma beats them.The Side GripThe main difference is the side grip that allow you to easily read without your fingers touching the screen. The screen is good and system is responsive. switching from hand to hand is fast and the image is rotating without a problem and fast. The side grip is a life saver.Natural LightThe max natural light is tuned down from the max setting the hard yellow in the Kobo Aura was. Its good and still easy on the eyes in the night.GlassThe glass is still reflective against overhead light like sun or home light bulb. Same in the other Kobo ereaders. I never other types so not sure if other makers have better glass. The reflective light does not let you read easily and you still need to find a position where you can not see the reflective image of the bulb.SpeedThe reader feels responsive enough or slightly better then the Aura. I wish ePaper tech will advance soon to allow more responsiveness.OverallWorth the buy. Grip excellent. Using it to read books at night at bed.

I have only had this for a few days but already love it. The touchscreen e-ink display is easy to read and use. The reader is lightweight and feels good in the hand. You are not tied in to just one vendor like other devices but can easily load books (DRM free) downloaded from other sources and can download books directly from the library (great money saver).The product dimensions are given in the description but the actual readable screen size = 4.75" x 6.25" which is comparable to a larger paperback. Type size is easily adjusted as needed.Based on the measurements given in the product descriptions this reader is slightly larger than the other but much more expensive. If you need the larger screen (as I do) then it might be worth the extra money.Regardless of which Kobo reader you purchase the experience will be pleasurable.

It is unfair of me to rate this item. I wanted a Kindle and as the Kindle model was not available this was offered as a "substitute". I foolishly purchased it thinking it would access my kindle account and it did not. (Always read the fine print...) I'm sure its a fine reader, that the books one wants to read on it are great, the screen looked nice though the size was a bit larger than I wanted but this is a minor point and should not dissuade a potential user away from this product. I spent a lot of time with an associate who wanted to make a sale rather than service. This should not reflect on the Kobo.

February 19th, 2019:Before I start writing about the product, let me tell you that I have only spent some 3 hours with the device, and I have read only four chapters of The Da Vince Code so far. I will update this review once I have spent more time with the device.Now, let me start with the pros and cons of the device.Pros:1. Very light weight.2. At low brightness, at least I got this feeling that there was no glare at all.3. The back of the device has a rubbery feel to it, and it does not slip and slide that easily.4. It’s relatively easy to find books using the search feature.Cons:1. The size of the device is on the smaller side.2. It’s in-built feature to detect the orientation of the device is not as responsive as it should be. On occasions, you have to rotate the device a couple of times to get it to display the page the way you want to see it.3. When the user changes the page, the display flickers. In my opinion, we have reached a point where flickering should not be tolerated.4. The on-off button needs design department’s attention.5. The search facility completely ignores the language chosen by the user, and it displays books in whichever language they are available. I quite dislike this bit.6. Although I have said it already, but I am going to say it again: the size of the device is quite small. Reading a book, especially using larger font size, would have been much more enjoyable had the device’s size been larger. Considering that I use slightly larger fonts, not enough text shows up on the screen, which is disappointing. Had it been larger and the search been more optimized to take into account the user’s chosen language, I would have given it 5 stars. It’s just a few stops shy of being an excellent device.Would I buy it again? Yes, I definitely would.

I bought the Forma in 2019 and it is still providing me reliable service. Great battery life, convenient features, nice comfortable rubbery texture, lightweight, I can put pdfs on it and very thin. The perfect alternative to Kindle readers.