Kobo Vox user reviews (black)

Pros 1. Spectacular screen.
2. External storage (micro SD Card).
3. Kobo library.

Cons 1. No Netflix or Youtube.
2. Slower processor.
3. Battery Life.

Summary PROS:
1. Spectacular screen. My downloaded movies look amazing. My magazines and photos are clear and vibrant. Excellent viewing outdoors. Obviously one of the best screens in the tablet market.

2. External storage (micro SD Card). Most tablets do not have external storage. That makes it (IMO) useless for travel. I want a place to store a bunch of HD movies for when I travel. Also want to store my magazines and books on it.

3. Kobo library. I love Kobo's book selection (Even interactive books just for the Vox!). I love the direction they are taking in social eReading. I have started to use Pulse, but it looks too new to have gotten going yet...

CONS:
1. No Netflix or Youtube. Developers are working on this, I am told - but can't get either to work reliably. Streaming is generally hit and miss on this thing.

2. Slower processor. This means games will probably not be as good.

3. Battery Life. There are bugs with the battery indicator and issues with sleep mode (where the battery is drained or you cannot wake it/it locks after a sleep and you need to do a reboot to get it to turn on). Battery life will improve once they implement a firmware upgrade to address these issues (which I am told will be SOON!). Currently turning off WiFi or turning off the Vox entirely will help improve battery life.


SUMMARY:
I love my Vox. Works well for watching downloaded movies, books, magazines and email. It does things that the iPad, PlayBook and Fire cannot do for me. The microSD card is essential for my intended use. I don't play games or do much streaming, so I am not too concerned about those flaws. I want to use it to read, read magazines, and watch movies when I don't have access to WiFi. (It does all these very well). I also want it as a back up to have internet access for casual browsing. It does all these things - and does them well.

I think Kobo customer support is rather lacking, but fortunately, I am resourceful enough to solve all my own software problems without their assistance, so I am not too concerned about it. I will be concerned if my Vox has a hardware issue within the warranty period. That could be a fun venture...NOT. If Kobo had excellent customer service, this product would have gotten a perfect score from me...

Pros Excellent, bright screen
Nearly basic Android
Long standby life
Available outside the US

Cons No Android Market
Can bog down and require reset from time to time
Not powerful enough to run intensive programs
Default reading app doesn't allow for modifications to text alignment

Summary First of all, I'm in Canada, so no Kindle Fire or Nook tablet for me. It is likely that my rating would be a bit lower if I had access to these two.

Most official reviews are spot on for this device, but I think that they are a bit harsh for the device. This wasn't meant to be a 7-inch tablet offering a full tablet experience, it was meant to be an ereader with some extra features, and if you take this into consideration, you realize that it's a better device than many claim.

Many no-name companies have released "color ereaders" of that size for less, but the Kobo Vox has one big advantage to it: its wonderful screen. It is extremely bright with good viewing angles and a decent 1024x600 resolution. On that point, it's just as good as the best. It also runs a lightly modified Android OS, so if you can find APKs, you can install them without any fuss. You can install the Kindle app or Aldiko without problem. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the Android Market and the market that it comes with is pretty poor, with poor navigation and lacking many useful apps.

The processor in this however is pretty weak, as long as you only do one thing at a time, you should be okay, but if you try demanding apps and open them successively rapidly, the device may start bogging down horribly. This is the fate of many of them on public display in stores, which creates a very bad impression, but when you have your own Vox, it is much better.

Aside from reading, it can also play music, play videos, surf the net and watch youtube videos with no lag. It can play simple games like Angry Birds too. However, it cannot run Flash, nor would I want to try, honestly.

It has a microSD slot, which is always nice, and a decent speaker. It has few ports though, only an USB connector to plug it on a computer and an audio jack. So no HDMI and no USB host, but as I said, it's not a full-feature tablet, but an ereader with extra features. Its dimensions are okay and it's pretty light. They put a special texture on its back with a rubbery "quilted" texture. It's nice but forgettable. It's reasonably light, so it's easy to hold in one hand.

As to battery life, it's true that it isn't that great, around 5 hours I guess, but I have to point out that it has great standby life, so you don't have to shut it down if you don't expect to pick it up for a couple of days.

Finally, one nitpick, the default Kobo reading app has no settings for text alignment, so I can't have the text "justified". This is annoying, but nothing serious.

Updated on Jun 20, 2012

Update:

Following an official firmware update, the Vox has gained access to Google apps, including Maps and Google Play Store, which makes finding and installing apps easy as pie. Furthermore, the stability and performance of the device seems to have been increased. No one will mistake it for a dual core tablet, but apps crash less often and the device no longer freezes when too much is demanded of it. Battery life also seems to have increased.

Pros Colour screen
Touch screen
Easy set up
Backlight to read in the dark

Cons A bit heavy
Battery life

Summary I just got my Vox, it is pretty great! I knew that it would not be a replacement for my iPad as I have read the reviews, but I did want to set the record straight that for an eReader it is an awesome product. I can do all the things I used to on my old eReader, plus I get added features like games and magazine reading. I also think it is great that it runs on an android operating system as this is constantly evolving and becoming more prominent! Things like weight and battery life can be expected of a newer product on the market. I just know I have to plug it in and let it fully charge. When the next versions come out, I bet they will be even better!

Pros Big colour screen. Non-slip backing. Touchscreen. Easy to use. Android! Easy on the eyes, can read on it for hours. Decent battery life. Can watch Netflix on it :0) The price was wicked!

Cons Has more weight than other products, but it doesn't bother me

Summary The vox is a good buy. It's a amazing ereader! Great bang for the buck!