Kobo Touch eReader Review {Giveaway – 5 Winners!}

I recently received a Kobo Touch eReader to review. The Kobo Touch is a slim WiFi ready eReader that features a touch screen and no physical keyboard. At just 6.5 ounces and 114mm x 165mm this device is super slim and comfortable to hold in one hand while reading.

I have tested a variety of eReader devices and I appreciate that the Kobo Touch has a no-glare 6” Pearl E-Ink touchscreen with no-backlight. I find that reading for a long period of time using a tablet-like colour LCD screen can be strenuous on the eyes and I appreciate the book-like feel you get with the E-Ink screens.

The Kobo Touch features 16 gray levels and images displayed on the device look clear and less grainy than other eReaders on the market.  At the end I don’t really use my eReaders to display many photos but it is a good feature to point out.

I really like that the Kobo Touch has a very user-friendly interface that allows you to read your books or add new books to your library from the home screen. Very easy, not a lot of buttons to go over and an on-screen keyboard that pops up when you need to enter text.

The device holds up to 1,000 ebooks (2GB of internal storage) and it supports up to 32GB SD cards.  I like that with the Kobo Touch you have the ability to expand your storage if you want unlike other devices that don’t support SD cards.

The Kobo Touch supports multiple formats like: Doc, PDF, ePub and Third-party DRMs, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR and image formats like: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF.  I like that you can read PDF documents using the device and you can also download ebooks from the library for free in EPUB format to read on the Kobo Touch.

The device also features bonus features in their “Extras” menu like a Chess game, Sketch Pad, Soduko and a Web Browser Application.  The browser is very basic but it allows you to surf the net from the device, great when checking your e-mail, google or loading “light” website.

Something that I really like about monochromatic screen devices is that their battery life is usually very good. For the Kobo Touch I found that the battery life is fantastic, using it for reading and a bit of web browsing it can last up to 3 weeks or more.

I really enjoy reading my ebooks using the Kobo Touch eReader and I believe this device is a great bang for your buck.

Buy it: With the number of children reading digitally on the rise and it being the summer, Kobo is offering a fantastic promotion running until July 18th.  Their Kobo Mini is available for $39.99 and the Kobo Touch I just reviewed is only $69.99 (available at top Canadian retailers: Chapters-Indigo-Coles, Best Buy, Future Shop, Staples, Target (Mini only), The Source, Toys”R”Us, and at Kobo.com. While supplies last.)

If you have a child that enjoys reading then don’t hesitate to purchase a Kobo eReader to fill the many hours in the car, the beach or hanging out in the backyard. Reading should be encouraged specially with young children, a fabulous way to spend an afternoon instead of watching T.V. on the couch!

Win it: FIVE (5) very lucky US/CAN OneSmileyMonkey.com readers will receive one Kobo Touch eReader each! Super giveaway! Enter to win below via Rafflecopter below (please wait a few seconds for widget to load).

Disclosure: I received a sample of a product to facilitate this post. All views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.