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renee0986 · 01-18-2012, 09:23 AM

I recently purchased a Kobo Vox during Indigo's lovely online Boxing Day sale for $169.99 CAD. I have been considering the purchase of an eReader for over a year now and finally took the leap. After much research I decided I wanted a Kobo as I like the fact that you can easily side load books (or apps as in the case with the Vox) via SD/microSD and the fact that with the expandable storage you are not limited to the smaller capacities of some of the other readers internal memory (I am the type that likes to have all my books and/or music with me at all times).

At first after seeing some of the reviews online about the Vox I was a little hesitant to buy it. Most of what you'll see online is reviews by those who actually have wonderful access to books on the Kindle because they are in the US - being in Canada the Kindle doesn't work as great for us. The kindle actually doesn't work with my local library's eBook borrowing system either (major – for the Kindle). So once you look past the kobo v. kindle reviews and get deep into the reviews that are specific to Kobo you really have to decide for yourself what you want.

The Vox is a little more expensive than the touch but in my mind (after playing with both for a period of time in the store) I preferred the Vox. It allows extra capabilities should you want to check your email or facebook on the run, it's colour which is a plus, I find the back lighting to be a plus for me as I like to read in bed in the dark – I don’t want to have to purchase a book light and worry about battery power for that as well especially when travelling (it also has a nice night mode where it swaps the text for a black background and white text), which is extra friendly on your eyes in the night). Despite the fact that the Vox is a glossy colour screen and not pearl eInk when you turn the screen’s brightness up to adjust for the brightness of the sun it is still quite easy to read in direct sunlight – great for beach reading!

The Vox's processor is a little slow when comparing it to a "real" tablet but if you're looking to use it primarily as an eReader and not to use apps or the internet I think it's wonderful. However, if you're looking for something to first browse the web and use apps first and then second to read on you may want to invest a little more money into purchasing a "real" tablet. I also found the Vox to be a little heavy but when I considered the weight and thickness of some books I read that are 1000+ pages the Vox is still much lighter.

Right now on my brand new Vox with the wi-fi turned off I can get about 8-9 reading hours out of it. I don’t know what the longevity of the battery will be as time goes on with several charges and discharhes. So the battery life is not quite as great as what you can get out of the touch but again it’s all in what you expect out of a eReader.

So obviously by owning a Vox I’m a little biased and would say get a Vox. But it all depends on what you’re looking for. I suggest going to YouTube and watching some video reviews of both the Touch and Vox (not those irritating ones where it compares the Kobo to the Nook or Kindle – those won’t help you much if you’ve committed to sticking with the Kobo). Prehaps visiting a FutureShop or Chapters store and playing with the demo versions of the devices could also assist you.

I hope my input helps you decide, or at least get a better understanding of what the Vox has to offer.

01-18-2012, 09:23 AM	#6
renee0986 Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kobo Vox	I recently purchased a Kobo Vox during Indigo's lovely online Boxing Day sale for $169.99 CAD. I have been considering the purchase of an eReader for over a year now and finally took the leap. After much research I decided I wanted a Kobo as I like the fact that you can easily side load books (or apps as in the case with the Vox) via SD/microSD and the fact that with the expandable storage you are not limited to the smaller capacities of some of the other readers internal memory (I am the type that likes to have all my books and/or music with me at all times). At first after seeing some of the reviews online about the Vox I was a little hesitant to buy it. Most of what you'll see online is reviews by those who actually have wonderful access to books on the Kindle because they are in the US - being in Canada the Kindle doesn't work as great for us. The kindle actually doesn't work with my local library's eBook borrowing system either (major – for the Kindle). So once you look past the kobo v. kindle reviews and get deep into the reviews that are specific to Kobo you really have to decide for yourself what you want. The Vox is a little more expensive than the touch but in my mind (after playing with both for a period of time in the store) I preferred the Vox. It allows extra capabilities should you want to check your email or facebook on the run, it's colour which is a plus, I find the back lighting to be a plus for me as I like to read in bed in the dark – I don’t want to have to purchase a book light and worry about battery power for that as well especially when travelling (it also has a nice night mode where it swaps the text for a black background and white text), which is extra friendly on your eyes in the night). Despite the fact that the Vox is a glossy colour screen and not pearl eInk when you turn the screen’s brightness up to adjust for the brightness of the sun it is still quite easy to read in direct sunlight – great for beach reading! The Vox's processor is a little slow when comparing it to a "real" tablet but if you're looking to use it primarily as an eReader and not to use apps or the internet I think it's wonderful. However, if you're looking for something to first browse the web and use apps first and then second to read on you may want to invest a little more money into purchasing a "real" tablet. I also found the Vox to be a little heavy but when I considered the weight and thickness of some books I read that are 1000+ pages the Vox is still much lighter. Right now on my brand new Vox with the wi-fi turned off I can get about 8-9 reading hours out of it. I don’t know what the longevity of the battery will be as time goes on with several charges and discharhes. So the battery life is not quite as great as what you can get out of the touch but again it’s all in what you expect out of a eReader. So obviously by owning a Vox I’m a little biased and would say get a Vox. But it all depends on what you’re looking for. I suggest going to YouTube and watching some video reviews of both the Touch and Vox (not those irritating ones where it compares the Kobo to the Nook or Kindle – those won’t help you much if you’ve committed to sticking with the Kobo). Prehaps visiting a FutureShop or Chapters store and playing with the demo versions of the devices could also assist you. I hope my input helps you decide, or at least get a better understanding of what the Vox has to offer.