Kobo

Why r/BuyItForLife recommends Kobo

18 mentions from real owners

• #1Dec 23, 2025

  What was the best purchase you made this year?

  Kobo readers for my 2 young kids.

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• #2Jul 5, 2025

  Stuff you will continue buying for life

  I kind of look at this like what things would I immediately repurchase if lost or destroyed (not including electronics) and the first that come to mind-- a yeti water bottle and a yeti mug for tea, Birkenstock Arizonas in either black or cognac, Duluth trading no yank tanks, Fantasie side support bras, classic short Uggs (great house shoes/slippers when it's cold.) I'll also never be without either a kindle or a kobo if I have a choice. I'm also stupidly loyal to cetaphil gentle face cleanser, cerave and vanicream moisturizers/lotions, and Aquaphor.

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• #3Jul 4, 2025

  What purchase changed your habit?

  Kobo ereader. 2 of them. Swap them when I need to charge one. I used to find it way harder to read. Now I read outside, no glare. On the bus. Only downside is they are both so old they don’t connect to my new laptop! But the epub support is amazing.

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• #4Jul 3, 2025

  Name your top 5 BIFL items

  Also outside of the US, kobo has library access through libby, but the kindle does not. That was the deciding factor for me.

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• #5Jul 2, 2025

  Name your top 5 BIFL items

  That's why I bought a kobo 15 years ago. It's just like a USB, in the end. Plug it to laptop, see it show up in the device bar, drop epubs in it and boom. No dependency on their software, no need to be online.

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• #6Jul 2, 2025

  Name your top 5 BIFL items

  I have a Kobo (another brand than kindle) and I agree, these devices are bulletproof ! Mine is going strong 15 years after purchase, and travelled with me from burning tropics to siberian temperatures, unaltered.

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• #7Jun 11, 2025

  Companies with reliable “right to repair” products: can we compile a list?

  Kobo ereaders

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• #8May 11, 2025

  What are some items under $500 you’ve made so far that changed your life?

  I have a Kindle and a Kobo (one for the streets and one for the sheets) and neither takes micro sd cards but both accept books from any source.  It's more complicated with the Kindle because you can't transfer books via cable from you laptop but you can use the Amazon "send to Kindle". If you particularly dislike what Amazon is doing with digital books you can always jailbreak your Kindle and install KUAL instead. I'm not a thech girly but the process has not been difficult because it's guided by https://kindlemodding.org/

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• #9May 11, 2025

  What are some items under $500 you’ve made so far that changed your life?

  I've had a Samsung one before, it was fine. I've changed to Kobo for a few reasons; it is light, long battery, very easy and friendly interface. Mostly because it has a connection to the webshop I buy most of my books from, which saves me a lot of hassle. I just need to update the Kobo and wham! New books are there :) I did not choose Kindle, because I'm in Europe and don't use Amazon..

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• #10May 11, 2025

  What are some items under $500 you’ve made so far that changed your life?

  Kobo Libra 2 is impeccable. Use mine everyday. Battery lasts weeks.

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• #11May 10, 2025

  What are some items under $500 you’ve made so far that changed your life?

  A few things actually; Kobo e-reader, wool blanket, wool duvet, Le Creuset castiron, Vivobarefoot shoes, Oscha Slings ringsling, JBL Charge 3 speaker, North Face duffel bag, Fjallraven coat, Exped sleepmat. This is quite a few years of saving, buying and maintaining.

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• #12Apr 13, 2025

  Items that made your life so much easier/saved time?

  I'm so happy I switched to Kobo, but I find the device freezes a lot which is a bummer. My first Kindle lasted for a really long time but subsequent purchases got shorter and shorter lived (🖕 Bezos). Switched to Kobo so I could have library access and minimize contact with the Borg, I mean Amazon.

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• #13Apr 10, 2025

  Items that made your life so much easier/saved time?

  i am in the states! i'm not 100% sure what you mean by kobo compatible vs kindle compatible -- all the books i have checked out on libby since purchasing my kobo have been read on my kobo. i've never received an error message or had any issues at all. i just linked my libby account to my kobo and everything seems to work just fine. you can check out books directly through the kobo device but i prefer to check them out on my phone (because i have some to read lists i can't access on the device) and then just sync my kobo. all my checked out library books appear after i sync. i hope this helps?

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• #14Apr 10, 2025

  Items that made your life so much easier/saved time?

  LOVE my kobo! Going strong for years now

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• #15Apr 9, 2025

  Items that made your life so much easier/saved time?

  the QOL difference between a kobo and a kindle is crazy. my kobo is so fast with way less ghosting, the battery life is significantly better, the libby integration is so nice as someone who only borrows books and doesn't buy them, and my kobo libra color has this really great slightly raised edge with buttons that makes it vastly more comfortable to hold for long amounts of time. i like reading comics so having the color ink is great. idk if any ereader is BIL (surely the battery and e-ink will both wear out eventually) but i hope to have many happy years with my kobo lol

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• #16Apr 9, 2025

  Items that made your life so much easier/saved time?

  I don't know about kindle but if you get an older kobo I have a 1st gen) you can drag and drop from you pc, it appears like a removable drive and you just have to put it in the main directory.

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• #17Apr 9, 2025

  Items that made your life so much easier/saved time?

  You will have to pry my Kobo Forma from my cold dead hands hopefully.

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• #18Apr 9, 2025

  Items that made your life so much easier/saved time?

  Kindles don't use the typical open standard .epub, they only work with Amazon's proprietary format .azw Kobo/boox would be better

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