With the Olympics on, there's plenty on the telly to keep you occupied during lockdown. But if you're not much of a sports fan and you've already burnt through your binge-watching list, it might be time to catch up on your reading.
In a very rare offer, you can now get a Kobo ereader for less. While we've seen the Kobo Forma available for maybe AU$10 or AU$20 less than its rather pricey RRP on occasion, this is the first time we've seen a 20% discount on the device bundled with its sleepcover – available over at Booktopia.
Kobo Forma + sleepcover | AU$483 AU$375 at Booktopia (save AU$108)
Unlike any Kindle alternative, this Kobo ereader has an 8-inch screen, bigger than the premium 7-inch Kindle Oasis. And that makes a huge difference when it comes to your reading experience. Page-turn buttons mean you can use the Forma in one hand, and 8GB of storage will see you carry your entire digital library around with you... with days of battery life, if not weeks.
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The Kobo Forma is one of our favourite ereaders here on TechRadar, competing with the Kindle Oasis on several fronts. But where the Oasis wins out on a gorgeous design, the Forma proves that size does matter when it comes to ereaders.
While the device alone doesn't seem worthwhile at AU$428 (just a couple of dollars less than the price listed on the Kobo Store), the AU$108 saving you get with the sleepcover included – which usually costs AU$54.95 on its own – offers good value for money.
Is the Kobo Forma worth the money?
The answer to that question is entirely dependent on how flexible your budget is. Sure, it's pretty pricey for a device that does one thing – let you read ebooks – but the Forma offers several advantages you won't find on the competition from Amazon.
That 8-inch screen is sharp, glare-free and wonderfully lit in any condition. You can set the brightness to automatically dim and get warmer during the evening hours so as to avoid blue light before bed. Moreover, the larger screen is better at rendering comics and graphic novels as compared to the usual 6- and 7-inch displays available on most mainstream ereaders.
Despite that size, the Forma isn't ungainly or heavy, and you can comfortably use it one-handed, even on crowded public transport.
And while that large display is its biggest selling point, we think Kobo's baked-in OverDrive support is the biggest advantage an avid reader in Australia can get. OverDrive allows you to borrow ebooks from your local public library, saving you money on buying ebooks... and making the Forma a worthwhile investment.
Plus, Kobo ereaders support far more file formats than a Kindle, so you likely won't need to worry about converting ebook files if you already have an extensive digital library.
If you happen to use Pocket to read long-form web articles, you can access them on your Kobo, and link your Dropbox account (if you have one) to transfer books saved in the cloud without needing to even plug the ereader into a computer – easy!
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