The journey from walls of books to a pocketable e-reader is a long and complicated one for some, and if the transition wasn’t complicated enough you also have to choose whick e-reader to use. If you’re looking for a backlit E Ink reader to replace your books, two of the best on the market right now are the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kobo Aura HD. How do you choose between the two? We’ve compared the two side by side to help make that choice a little easier.
Kobo and Amazon are both approaching the same group of users with their devices. Aside from the $ 30 price difference between these devices, Kobo being the more expensive at $ 169, they are very similar. Both readers offer a paperback-sized E Ink display with backlight for reading in poor lighting conditions. Battery life is also great, and can easily get you through a week of heavy reading. When it comes to actually reading a book, there’s not a lot of difference in the actual reading experience, either. Amazon’s e-reader has a cleaner black and white display, while Kobo’s display is a little warmer, but in our testing it didn’t seem to be more or less comfortable to use.
When comparing the physical hardware, the Aura is slightly smaller but heavier at the same time. There’s only an ounce of difference between the two devices, and the textured material on the back of the Aura makes it slightly easier to hold with one hand. The softer material on the back of the Paperwhite doesn’t do a bad job providing grip, but it’s clear that Kobo’s device is more comfortable to hold for extended periods of time.
The biggest difference in using the two devices is in the power button and the backlight activation. The Aura’s power button is a toggle switch on the top of the device, with a separate button to quickly toggle the backlight on and off. The Paperwhite has a single physical push button for power, which is much more comfortable for one handed use. The backlight controls for the Paperwhite are all in the OS, requiring several steps to adjust to your needs.
If you’re doing anything other than reading, or if you prefer to read a very small font, the 1440 x 1080 resolution display on the Aura really stands out. The web browser on the Aura is significantly more functional for casual browsing, and the games that come preloaded in the “beta features” section of the device settings are all possible because of the better display. This pushes the boundaries of what most people will end up using an e-reader for, however, so it’s not so much a killer feature as a nice add-on for those already buying a Kobo.
Amazon’s e-readers are designed for the Amazon experience, which is great as long as you don’t plan on doing anything else. Using the Amazon Kindle service is easier than Kobo’s purchase and sync services, and the Kindle library is massive compared to the Kobo library, but that’s only beneficial to you if you are alright with the all-Amazon experience. If you want to add PDFs or e-books from third party sources, the Kindle becomes a little less user friendly. Meanwhile, Kobo’s Aura comes with a microSD slot and software that adds books that can be detected by the OS and added to the library with ease.
Ultimately, the biggest differences between the Kobo Aura HD and the Kindle Paperwhite come with usability. If you want a straightforward, simple experience and you have no interest in getting books from anywhere other than Amazon, the Kindle is a great device. If you want something that is a little more than an e-reader, and offers you flexibility over what you keep on your device, the Kobo Aura HD is by far the best in class.
Now read: Kindle Fire HDX 7 teardown reveals excellent repairability, replaceable battery
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