For me the front light is essential for an ereader. But before I got my first lighted reader I was perfectly happy with the Kindle 4. I never had a Kobo Touch but I did get a Kobo Aura and I liked that a lot.
I'd try pretty hard to get a reader with a front light. If you can do it that's such a huge improvement that everything else about the device, brand, features, etc. will be secondary.
If you can't get one with a front light you'll probably be happy anyway till you see your first reader with a light. If you do see one never look at it. You'll hate your device from that moment on if you do.
Barry