Kobo Remote Page Turner Release Delayed

Last week Kobo announced that they would be releasing a new remote page turner for Kobo ereaders on November 4th, but then a few days later they decided to change the release date to December 2nd.

They didn’t give a reason for the delay, but I bet it’s because they still need to optimize the software on their Kobo reading devices to make sure the new remote provides a good user experience. The last time I tried to use a Bluetooth page turner with a Kobo it worked well enough once it was connected, but you had to manually go through the process of connecting it every time because Kobo’s software turns off Bluetooth whenever turning the device off, and it doesn’t automatically reconnect when turning it back on.

You can use Bluetooth page turners on Kobo ereaders right now; there’s nothing special about the Kobo Remote that makes it better than other options, except maybe the design is more comfortable to hold than some of the other brands.

Kobo’s devices have supported using Bluetooth page turners for over a year now. A lot of people like using the 8Bitdo micro controllers, and they have more functionality than the Kobo Remote because there are extra buttons that can be programmed to do different things in addition to turning pages. Plus they’re cheaper than the Kobo Remote, and they can be used for things other than just page turning.

If you don’t want to wait for the Kobo Remote there are plenty of other options online that will work, and for a fraction of the price. Just make sure to get a Bluetooth page turner and not one of those clip-on types. When searching on Amazon, mostly the latter kind turn up, but those aren’t as good because you have to clip a receiver onto the device so it’s physically touching the screen. Those got popularized with Kindles because Kindles don’t support regular Bluetooth page turners so they have to use the clip-on variety. They’ll work with Kobos too, but they’re clunkier and the clip-on receiver is visually distracting.