The Kobo reader: you may have seen posters about it over the past few months. It’s been trying to steal the attentions of Amazon Kindle buyers in the run up to Christmas. That aim may have just been given a shot in the arm, as Asda’s just become the first UK supermarket to stock the Kobo – at a frankly insane price.
The Kobo as stocked by WHSmiths has been selling at the same price as the new bottom-end Kindle: £89. With Asda’s extra weight and ability to discount, that’s now gone down to £67. It’s a steal for several reasons.
Firstly, the Kobo is pretty much on par with the Kindle in terms of hardware. It offers a very similar reading experience and is only 10mm thick. It’s got wireless access to a store packed with 1 million books and comes pre-loaded with 100 classics.
Why Brits pay more for the Kindle
The real killer feature is that the Kobo Wireless doesn’t tie you into using just that device – it’s got an ethos wherein the books you buy are your books, meaning you can fish them out of the Kobo and then onto any other device further down the line.
With the Kindle, the books you’ve bought can only ever be accessed on a Kindle device or on a Kindle app, which is slightly more restrictive. The Kobo Touch is also on offer, for £107.
Both devices hit Asda this Friday. At £67, you’d almost be mad not to have a punt. Amazon may need to rethink its UK Kindle pricing, which is famously more expensive than in the US.
