I love my Kobo e-reader, but one feature makes the Kindle still worthwhile

Like any keen reader, I own an Amazon Kindle. However, for the last few years it's been gathering dust, as I've moved my reading over to Kobo.

But in recent months, I've been paddling my feet in other ponds, testing out small e-readers from Xteink, and revisiting Boox's Android-based e-readers. And as part of that experimentation, I thought I'd go back to the Amazon Kindle once again.

The Kindle is the market leader in e-readers, but I'd be hard-pressed to figure that out from using it. What shocked me is that there seemed to be only one reason to still use a Kindle, and it's a very compelling one.

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By  Mark Jansen

The hardware really isn't very special

And the software is lagging behind

The Amazon Kindle is, without doubt, the number one e-reader in the world. Which is why it's surprising that the Kindle isn't anything special.

Going back to using my Kindle after using other e-readers, it's clear the Kindle hasn't risen to where it is because of the quality of the hardware.

E-readers aren't speed freaks by anyone's definition, but my Kindle is markedly slower than most other e-readers I use.

The hardware is worse than most of the other e-readers I use, with the lone exception being my Xteink X4 Pro's paltry dual-core 240 MHz chip. But even then, it feels like my 11th gen Kindle's 1GHz single-core processor barely keeps pace with the tiny e-reader's capabilities.

But it's blown out of the water by my Kobo Clara Colour's 2GHz dual-core chip. It's just not up to the same standard.

To be fair, they're not in the same weight class. The Clara Colour is more expensive than the basic Kindle, so comparing the two is unfair.

But even when you compare the Kindle Paperwhite, the closest device to the Clara Colour in price, the Paperwhite's 1 GHz dual-core processor isn't up to the same standard.

If you were hoping the software would be the saving grace, that's unlikely to be the case.

In full fairness, it's fine. It works. But it doesn't get the same support as other brands.

The Kindle gets access to Libby, like Kobo. But unlike Kobo, which gets access to Instapaper for free, Kindle users need to pay for their Instapaper use. That's not because there are more of them; it's because Kindles need articles to be converted to special formats to work, and that's expensive.

You get all of Amazon's features and services, and they work well. But they're not special, and they don't offer anything other e-readers can't.

So far, and thoroughly unimpressed, I moved on to other elements.

Most of the sales are mirrored

I find Kindle offers at other stores all the time

You might assume a big reason for staying on Amazon Kindle was access to the sales on the biggest books. I certainly did, and it was one reason I was hesitant to move.

A big part of the reason I did was down to Kobo's pledge to match sale prices with Amazon's storefront. Sounds like a bit of a hassle, but at least I don't miss out.

I haven't needed to use it.

It turns out the big publishers mirror their sales on all the e-book platforms they're on. So if a book is on sale on Kindle, you can usually find it for the same price on Kobo.

I'm sure this isn't the case for every book, but it has been for every book I've checked.

I've even used it to my advantage. Since Amazon's recommendation algorithm is better than Kobo's, I can see which cheap e-books Amazon recommends, then buy them on Kobo.

This has worked well for me, and I've bought dozens of books this way over the last few years. But it doesn't work for everything, and that's because I can't buy some books on Kobo.

That's where Kindle still has an advantage.

There's only one reason to still have a Kindle

One feature has Unlimited potential

I've become a big fan of LitRPG and progression fantasy books in the last year.

This obsession started with reading the My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered web novels, and moved on to the excellent Cradle series by Will Wight.

Since devouring those, I've wanted nothing more than to keep reading more of these fun and fast-paced stories. But the problem is, most stories like these are shackled to Kindle Unlimited.

This isn't restricted to my genre of choice, either. Amazon's webstore is one of the best ways to self-publish a book, and it's well known that Amazon offers preferential rates for Kindle exclusivity.

And with Amazon being the most popular e-book store, it's easy to see why a struggling author might take that deal.

Authors like Brandon Sanderson have tried to fix it, especially on Audible, but it still exists.

As long as it exists, there will always be a reason to come crawling back to the Kindle.

It just keeps pulling me back

I don't have another legal way forward

I'm not going back to Kindle for good. Not at all. I love my Kobo Clara Colour, and I still have a bunch of books on there to read.

But I also started a two-month trial of Kindle Unlimited to read as many of the books on there that I'm desperate to read. Because I simply can't find them anywhere else, and they're the top books that everyone recommends.

Sure, there are other options. But none of them are legal, and at heart, I'm totally a square. Plus, as a professional writer, I'm generally in favor of authors getting paid.

Kindles are slower and less useful than their competition. But I'd be lying if I didn't say there wasn't a reason to go back. And that reason is Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon Kindle Unlimited

See at Amazon
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