Kobo eReader

Common attributes

All Kobo e-readers share a unique pagination system giving users the option to count and reference pages separately within each chapter as opposed to the book as a whole, although the latter is user selectable as an alternative. All Kobo readers require connection to the Internet during the initial setup phase and will not work until it has connected to Kobo's servers. Kobo e-readers support viewing EPUB, Adobe PDF, plain text, HTML, and unprotected Mobipocket (mobi, prc) e-books. It also supports many other formats unofficially such as ZIM.

Kobo Touch 2.0

The Kobo Touch 2.0 was released on 8 September 2015, as an entry level e-reader. The E Ink Pearl 6-inch display with a resolution of 800×600 and 167 ppi. The exterior is similar in appearance to the Kobo Glo HD and it has a 1 GHz Freescale i.MX6 Solo Lite Processor and 4 GB of internal storage.

Kobo Aura One

The Kobo Aura One was released on 6 September 2016 and it is the first e-reader with a 7.8-inch E Ink Carta HD waterproof display with a 300 ppi screen. The Aura One weighs 252 grams and measures 195 mm by 138.5 mm by 6.9 mm. It has Wi-Fi, 8 GB internal storage, and has 512 MB RAM. The Aura One is lit by nine white LEDs and eight RGB LEDs around the frame. The additional RGB LEDs allow the device to have a night reading mode that limits the blue light that comes from white LEDs. It was the first Kobo eReader with built-in OverDrive support.

Kobo Aura Edition 2

The Kobo Aura Edition 2 was released with the Kobo Aura One in September 2016 as "a refreshed version of a beloved classic". It has a 6-inch E Ink Carta display with a resolution of 1024x768 at 212 ppi. The exterior styling is similar to the Kobo Aura One. Unlike the original Kobo Aura, there is no MicroSD slot. The specifications are otherwise similar to the original Kobo Aura.

Kobo Aura H2O

The Aura H₂0, released on 1 October 2014, is the first commercial waterproof e-reader and has an upgraded version of the Aura HD's 6.8-inch E Ink Carta touchscreen display with a resolution of 1440×1080 with 265  ppi. While its screen is improved over the Aura HD, it contains the same processor, on-board storage, and software as the Aura HD, and has dust/waterproofing - certified to be immersed for up to 30 minutes in up to 1 meter of water with its port cover closed.

Kobo eReader

Kobo Inc. announced its first e-reader on 24 March 2010, at the CTIA show. It was officially released on 1 May 2010. It had expandable memory, holding an additional 4 GB via an SD slot and limited wireless connectivity via Bluetooth to select Blackberry wireless devices. It was available in black or white and came preloaded with 100 public domain books. It was manufactured by Netronix Inc., a Taiwan based company with factories in Taiwan and China.

The pricing strategy of the original Kobo, at USD$149, was to rival the Amazon Kindle, which was USD$110 more expensive. However, in June 2010, just after the Kobo was released, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to USD$189. Its pricing strategy in Australia was similarly aggressive where it was available for A$199, again A$100 less than the Kindle. Borders Australia said that they hoped to sell high volumes of the Kobo to drive up sales at their e-content store.

The original Kobo received a mediocre review from CNET, which said that, while the Kobo was compact, lightweight and affordable, the lack of Wi-Fi or 3G made it outdated, especially when there were similarly priced eReaders available with those features.

In December 2010, the original Kobo's feature set was updated with a firmware update to more closely match the Wifi model.

Kobo Wi-Fi

A new model with Wi-Fi capability was released on 15 October 2010. It included an improved processor, screen, and new colour choices (porcelain/metallic silver, porcelain/pearlized lilac, and onyx). The SD expansion had been improved to claim a capacity for up to 10,000 books with a 32GB SD card. Other improvements included a longer battery life and a built-in dictionary.

As with the original model, the Wi-Fi model came pre-loaded with 100 public domain books.

Kobo Touch

The Kobo Touch was released in June 2011. It introduced an infrared 6-inch touchscreen interface. Other improvements compared to the Kobo Wi-Fi included an E Ink Pearl screen, a faster processor capable of smooth PDF panning, 802.11n capability, and reduced size and weight.

Kobo Glo

The Kobo Glo is an e-reader released on 6 September 2012. It is a front-lit, touch-based E Ink reader. The Kobo Glo supports most ebook standards, including EPUB. It has a 6-inch touchscreen, 1024×768 resolution, 213  ppi, 6.53 oz, 2 GB of storage, and supports microSD.

Kobo Mini

The Kobo Mini is smaller, 5-inch, and lighter than standard ebook readers and was released on 6 September 2012. It has 2GB internal storage and Wi-Fi. The 5" E Ink Vizplex screen has a resolution of 800x600 with 200 ppi.

Kobo Aura

The Kobo Aura is the baseline e-reader with a 6-inch E Ink ClarityScreen display with 1024×758 resolution, 16-level grey scale and a built-in LED front-light. It has 4 GB of storage, weighs 173g (6.1 oz), has 2 months of battery life, a Freescale i.MX507 1 GHz processor, and a microSD expansion slot. It was released in September 2013.

Kobo Aura HD

The Aura HD was a limited-edition device, released on 25 April 2013, with a 6.8-inch E Ink display, with a high resolution of 1440×1080 with 265  ppi. It is 8.47 oz and a microSD expansion slot. Other improvements compared to the Kobo Touch include a built-in "ComfortLight" LED light, a faster processor (1 GHz), twice the onboard storage (4 GB) and a claimed twice the battery life (estimated at 2 months).

Kobo Glo HD

The Kobo Glo HD, released on 1 May 2015, is an e-reader with an E Ink Carta screen and is the successor to 2012's Glo; it has a six-inch screen in a resolution of 1448×1072, or 300 ppi, matching the resolution of the Kindle Voyage. Internally the device stores its operating system and content on a MicroSD card, and this allows storage upgrade for users who open their device; this will invalidate any warranty.

Kobo Arc

The Kobo Arc is a 7" color Android tablet announced 6 September 2012.

In late 2013, Kobo released a high-definition 10-inch tablet (Arc 10 HD), a high-definition seven-inch tablet (Arc 7 HD), and a low-priced seven-inch tablet, the Arc 7 for $149. These tablets are the first device to feature "Reading Mode" on the tablets, which turns off outside notifications, adjusts the back-lighting and turns off non-reading-essential processor functions to save power.

Kobo Vox

The Kobo Vox is a 7" tablet running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It was announced 19 October 2011.

Canada

The Kobo e-reading platform was the best-selling in Canada as of January 2012, with research firm Ipsos-Reid estimating that Kobo e-readers represented 46% of the Canadian market.

France

As of spring 2012, Kobo had 50% of the market share in France.

Other countries

In August 2013, Kobo was the second largest ebook retailer in Japan, and Forbes estimated it at 3% of the market share in the United States.

Selected subsidiaries

In October 2012, Kobo Inc. acquired the digital publishing platform Aquafadas to increase the content available on its e-reader devices.