
Kobo employs a front-lit display and also a Comfortlight color temperature system, so you will be able to read at night. It also has a power button and USB port for charging. Choosing the right storage option is important, because the Forma does not have expandable storage via an SD card. The 32GB version initially will only be available in Japan, but it should have wider availability in more markets next year. It has 512MB of RAM and has two different storage options, 8GB and 32GB. Underneath the hood is a Freescale/NXP IMX6 Solo Lite 1 GHZ processor. Kobo claims that by using Mobius the e-reader is 15% lighter than the Kobo Aura One and weighs 197g. This in turn enables Kobo Forma’s lightweight and ergonomic design. This plastic backplane is thinner, lighter and stronger than glass backplanes. The Mobius technology replaces the glass TFT backplane with a flexible plastic TFT backplane. The Carta technology is the latest version of this layer and determines the optical properties, such as contrast ratio. In the case of E Ink, this layer contains the actual ink particles that creates the image.

The layer on top of the TFT backplane determines the actual display type (e.g. These transistors control each pixel on the display. The TFT backplane is an array of transistors that are typically deposited on a piece of glass. Like most display technologies, E Ink displays use an active matrix thin film transistor (TFT) backplane. Now you might be wondering, how is this e-reader using two different screen technologies at the same time? The spec sheet for the Forma mentions that it uses both Mobius and Carta HD. Many e-readers are using Carta HD or Mobius for the screens, but Kobo is using both. The Kobo Forma has a giant 8 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1440 × 1920 and 300 PPI. The Kindle Oasis 2 has a 1,000 mAh and the new Kobo Forma has a 1,200 mAh battery. The Forma also has a far superior battery, which should last around three weeks on a single charge.

Whereas the Kindle Oasis has a small hump, where the battery is. The back of Forma e-reader is completely flat and can be held with one hand. It less of a liberal copy and more of an improvement on an existing concept.

#Kobo forma review software#
It features the same asymmetrical industrial design as the Kindle Oasis, but Kobo takes it to an entirely new level with their hardware and software experience. The Kobo Forma is the boldest design decision yet. The only products that really stood out from the rest of their modern portfolio was the recently discontinued Voyage and the first and second generation Oasis.

Things got so bad that Amazon had to create a dedicated page that gave out each products model ID number, so people could know exactly what unit they had. Each generation of the Paperwhite looked exactly the same and ditto with the Kindle Basic. They were the first company to make waterproof e-readers popular and their devices ranged in size from the five inch Kobo Mini to the eight inch Kobo Aura One and Forma.Īmazon has kept product design deadsimple over the past six or seven years. They constantly change the grip on the back of the e-reader for each generation and really pioneered the concept of Comfortlight, which basically added a new color temperature system. They have experimented with big and bright home buttons and different colors. Kobo has always innovated their product designs over the years and it has won them a ravenous following of serious readers.
