Kobo Vox reading tablet – review & video no comments
Kobo managed to beat both Amazon and B&N to market with its tablet offering. Like other Kobo readers I’ve tried before, the Kobo Vox feels like something of a work in progress. When I first turned the Vox on I was greeted by a firmware update that was already available and took awhile to install itself before I could use the tablet.
The Kobo Vox is a bit blocky in appearance and feels rather plasticky. It is slightly thicker than both the Fire and the Nook Tablet. A more rounded edge would probably have made Kobo’s tablet look a little more elegant, and the lip of the case is not perfectly flush with the screen, which gives an impression of somewhat cheap construction. The Vox features Kobo’s trademark quilted back with a nonslip coating which does make it comfortable to hold.
Kobo has thoughtfully placed the speaker on the edge of the Vox, so it does not get muffled when the tablet is laying on its back on a table. Sound is not very loud over the speaker, but is more than loud enough when earphones are used. I did find the bass rather lacking when listening to music with earphones. The Vox will probably not be the best choice for listening to music.
The display of the Vox is nice, although it is nowhere close to the display quality of the Nook Color/Tablet or the Kindle Fire. The viewing angle is good. In spite of any hype you may have seen about the display being suitable for outdoor use (“Enjoy Reading Outdoors with the Most Advanced 7 inch AFFS+ multimedia touchscreen with anti-glare”), it is pretty useless in full sunshine, although it can be read in shade.
I often found the Vox to be a bit laggy when loading apps or in transitions during games. Things like orientation changes and pinch-to-zoom generally work quickly and smoothly. YouTube videos played well for me.
The web browser on the Vox is a bit hit and miss. When it is working properly it seems quick, and features like pinch-to-zoom and orientation changes work smoothly. Sometimes the browser stops working though, and every site I try to load gives me a Webpage Unavailable error, even when the Vox is well connected to my Wi-Fi network.
Sometimes hitting the menu button and closing all except the current window will fix this problem. Sometimes clearing all of the cache, history and cookies has also worked, but occasionally the only way I can get the browser to work properly is to reboot the Vox.
For reading the Vox comes with the Kobo for Android app. One of the Kobo ereading platform’s strongest features is its social reading suite. Reading Life shows your reading stats and awards, While Pulse lets you share your thoughts and comments about a book with other Kobo users. Pulse will also reveal some statistics about the Kobo book you are reading, such as how many other people have read the book and what comments they have made about it. Notes and highlights can be shared on Facebook. Both Reading Life and Pulse are included in Kobo’s Android app. All of the social reading features can be turned off if that is your preference.
Other than the social reading features, I find that the Android app from Kobo is in some ways a bit vanilla. There is a night mode, but no options for differently colored backgrounds other than black. Font size is selected by means of a slider rather than by icons that show the relative size of different fonts, which I prefer. The largest font is about the same size as the largest Kindle font and will be good for readers with visual impairments. There are nine different font styles to choose from. Books can be read in landscape with either one or two pages displayed, but there are no page turning animations if you are into that.
Other reading tools include a slider to quickly navigate through the book, an icon to take one to the table of contents, an info icon that brings up an overview of the book, and an icon to view your notes and highlights. One thing I don’t like is that you cannot make multiple bookmarks anywhere you like — a bookmark is automatically placed at your last-read page. I also am not a big fan of Kobo’s system of chapter-centric pagination. The Kobo for Android app does not currently support PDF files, but you can download a number of apps for that. Neither does the app have a built-in dictionary — getting a definition requires closing down the Kobo reading app and opening the standalone Merriam Webster app that comes preloaded on the Vox.
For digital newspapers and magazines the Vox comes preloaded with PressReader and Zinio. Some of the other apps that come preloaded onto the Vox (like Rdio, Globe2Go, etc.) may be unwanted but it appears one is stuck with them as they seem to be unremovable.
The app store for the Kobo Vox is Getjar, but the selection of apps you have access to there is tailored for the Vox. For example, Getjar does have the Kindle for Android app, but if you sign in with the Vox you will not see it. The Nook app is available at Getjar and can be installed on the Vox.
Getting the Kindle Android app onto the Vox is not difficult. You can use the browser to search for “Kindle APK” (you will probably have to go into the settings and under Applications allow installation of non-Market applications before you can install this).
Or you can simply point the browser to Amazon.com where you should be greeted with a button to “Get Amazon Apps for Android” (this is on Amazon’s mobile site which should open by default on the Vox’s browser) which will enable you to download and install the Kindle app, Amazon Appstore for Android as well as Amazon’s other mobile apps. Other app stores can also be installed on the Vox to give you access to even more apps. The Vox, like other tablets that run versions of Android intended for phones (Android v2.3 in the case of the Vox), cannot access the Android Market.
The fact that you can install ereading apps from multiple ebook sellers does give the Kobo Vox a leg up over both the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet in terms of being able to access ebooks from all three of the major ebooksellers in North America from one device. With access to Amazon’s Appstore, Getjar and other app stores the Vox will have access to 
more apps as well. Now obviously these tablets will get rooted and probably thereby gain access to the Android Market — I’m just talking about what’s available for them out of the box.
The OverDrive Media Console can be installed for borrowing library ebooks. You can download it here (you have to agree to the license to start the download). Adobe Digital Editions unfortunately does not yet recognize the Kobo Vox.
The most recent Netflix APK does not seem to want to install on the Vox. I have also tried a couple of older versions without success. The closest I could get was to be able to sign into my Netflix account and see my queue, but when I tried to play a video the app would force close. Hopefully the Vox will have access to Netflix and Hulu in the future or it will be a major mark against it when compared to the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet. Video I’ve played on the Vox has worked fine, both when encountered on the Internet and that which I’ve sideloaded.
My impressions of the Kobo Vox so far are so-so. Kobo is good about continuously improving its ereaders with firmware updates and presumably will be doing the same with the Vox. Once I have been able to use the Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire I’ll be able to do some side-by-side comparisons and it will be interesting to see how the Vox holds up. My Kindle Fire arrived last night while I was finishing this up and, while I only have been able to use it for a few minutes, my first impression is that it blows the Vox out of the water.
The one major advantage the Vox does seem to have over the Fire and Nook is that you can get reading apps from all three stores onto it and it will have access to more apps. A few reading apps from Kobo, Wattpad, Aldiko and others are available in the Amazon Appstore for Android, and I was hoping that these would be installable on the Fire. That, unfortunately, is not the case.
The Vox is available now for $199.99 direct from Kobo,or from Best Buy and Fry’s in the US. In Canada the Vox is available from Chapters Indigo Coles, Future Shop, Best Buy and Kobo.
Below is my video review of the Kobo Vox. While I was working on it my Kindle Fire arrived, so it also makes a brief appearance at the end.
Covers and Cases for the Kobo Vox
There are not many covers available yet for the Vox. A couple to look at are the Leather Executive Folio ($20) and the Leather Executive SRX Series Case ($25), both by Kiwi Cases.
