TECH GADGETS
KOBO, AMAZON COMBINE BEST OF TABLETS AND E-READERS
It might seem like a tablet isn’t an eReader, but Kobo and Amazon have different ideas, and their respective flagship devices are aimed at combining the best of both tablets and eReaders into premium devices worth the price of admission.
The Kobo Arc is a quality device that has been designed to not only compete against Amazon, but also the iPad and other tablets on the market. It has a 10-inch display with a vivid resolution of 2560 x 1600, plus a speedy quadcore processor and 2GB RAM to ensure steady performance.
It’s nice to look at and is equally gorgeous for reading a book or watching a video. The one noticeable design choice is the Arc 10HD’s weight, which is a hefty 1.38 pounds.
This is in stark contrast to the nimbler Kindle Fire HDX 8.9-inch and its 0.82-pound frame. Naturally, having a smaller display is part of the reason, and the two devices actually have the same resolution, though the Fire HDX has added sharpness. The processor, RAM and graphics performance make this the best tablet Amazon has ever made.
Despite the fact these are both Android tablets, they aren’t unfettered. Kindles have always been designed with a unique Android-based interface, which looks great, but doesn’t offer ac- cess to all Android apps.
Amazon curates apps and makes them available on its own app store, excluding a great number of those found in Google Play.
Kobo has the Play store in the Arc 10HD, except the lack of GPS (assisted or unassisted) means certain apps won’t work, like Crackle, NHL GameCenter or NBA League Pass, among others. The Kindle doesn’t have the same restriction, yet it doesn’t offer the sports streaming services, either, despite having the hardware capability to run them.
Storage is another factor to consider, since neither has a microSD card slot for memory expansion. The Arc 10HD only comes with 16GB of internal storage, whereas the Kindle Fire HDX comes in either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB models. Books take up little room, but HD movies take up lots, so you will need to manage the space if you plan on using either one as a media consumption device.
Speaking of which, Amazon’s own cloud-based services are generally not available in Canada, making the Kindle somewhat of an incomplete software experience. The interface doesn’t strike these features out, so if you go in using the device without knowing what they are ahead of time, only trial and error will tell you what isn’t accessible.
Kobo doesn’t have that kind of media depth, since it focuses on its reading app, and the Reading Life and Collections layouts stand out nicely on their own above the standard look of Android.
As far as pricing goes, they aren’t far apart to start off.
At $370, the Arc 10HD is a decent price for a 10-inch tablet, except 32GB would’ve been more ideal. The Fire HDX starts at $400 for the 16GB, going up to $450 for the 32GB and $500 for the 64GB.