A lot of people have started switching from Kindles to Kobos this past year because of Amazon making changes to the Kindle platform and locking down Kindle ebooks more than ever, but has the Kobo platform started to reach the enshittification stage as well?
I can’t help but notice a number of things changing for the worse with Kobo over the past couple of years. It’s getting to the point where there are more negative changes than positive changes. It’s not on the same level as Amazon, but there are a lot of little things that are steadily getting worse with Kobo too.
It seems like Kobo has been resting on their laurels for years now. There was a time when they were regularly expanding their store into more countries and taking over other failed ebook stores, but that hasn’t happened in a long time. And their ebook catalog is seriously lacking in some areas, especially when it comes to color content for their color ereaders, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.
Furthermore, they have the most uncreative sales strategy ever. When it comes to deals on Kobo ereaders, they just keep doing the same $20 off sales a few times a year. They never do “big” sales. Even their Black Friday sales are just the same old $20 off deals that they always do. They never do trade-in deals or special upgrade promotions for long-time customers. They used to offer a lot of coupon codes for discounts on ebooks, but now the codes are much less frequent and less effective and they usually only apply to a certain list of books.
Evidence of a Decline
Kobo ereaders no longer support using multiple libraries through OverDrive. They removed the OverDrive login option awhile back so it’s no longer possible to use multiple library cards.
Kobo has raised the prices of their ereaders post release twice in the past two years now. People can point the finger at tariffs for this, but the fact is Amazon hasn’t raised the price of Kindles and Barnes and Noble hasn’t raised the price of Nooks during the same time frame.
Kobo refuses to release new BW models, despite countless requests for a Libra BW from customers. Right now Kobo only sells one current BW model. The Elipsa 2E had an outdated screen when it was released two years ago, and the Kobo Sage is 4 years old now and they stopped selling it in the US months ago.
Kobo’s price match guarantee is no longer guaranteed on certain books.
Kobo’s software updates have gone downhill over the past two years, with fewer new features getting added and more bugs getting introduced. They’ve only released one main update over the past year, when they used to release updates every few months, and the latest software update notoriously bricked a number of devices. To Kobo’s credit, I’ve seen a few reports of people getting sent new Kobos because of that, but it doesn’t look like they’ve actually fixed the problem with the software update yet.
They added some new accessibility features, including a screen reader, but it turns out they are very difficult to use and require different software with less features than the standard software, and the accessibility software is only available in Europe for some reason.
Kobo’s US distribution has worsened since their Walmart partnership ended. Now they only have one US partner, BlueProton, who regularly charges above MSRP for Kobo’s devices in the US. And they aren’t available in any retail stores to test before buying. Kobo launched their own Amazon store earlier this year, but they inexplicably don’t sell their ereaders from there, only covers.
Kobo no longer allows refunds on downloaded ebooks. On one hand this seems logical, but the problem is Kobo ereaders and apps automatically download ebooks after you purchase them, and once that happens you can no longer get a refund.
No more cash back on purchased ebooks and audiobooks. This seems to be another recent change for the worse.
Everyone in my family has a Kobo, and they all are very happy with it.
End of the story.
Please stop the Kobo bashing.
Agreed. I have each size of Kobo because I like switching out. I buy all my books from them and have never had any problem with them. I have also downloaded all of my books and have loaded them onto the Pocketbook Versa Pro since it is the lightest and smallest with page buttons – easy to use and take with me to chemo treatments. I think Kobo has done a good job with their devices and have never had any problems with their customer service reps. I am glad they added the software updates where can chose to update or skip instead of automatically updating. I have always ordered directly from Kobo and my devices are shipped to me from Idaho. They have arrived as timely as USPS can deliver and are packaged well. Even before Amazon made all of their negative changes I have always like Kobo devices over the Kindle PW which I have and rarely use. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is that Kobo is doing a great job in their ereaders and website.
I may be wrong but your grievances sound like just that: grievances, some possibly indicating Kobo is a smaller business than Amazon’s Kindle and thus with smaller ressources.
But I don’t see much in terms of enshitification as I understand the term. I think the term actually applies more to Amazon with their ads and the priority given to the store and the lockdown of the devices and the ebook format.
Kobo has in fact reacted quickly and effectively by replacing the read it later app with Instapaper.
In agreement with Claude, I am under the impression that this blog is biased against Kobo and while Kobo might not provide enough news for sites such as this there really is no need to bash them to the extent on display in this article.
Whoosh! So Amazon has NOT raised the price on the new Kindle Scribes? Seems to me they DID, in a big way with their 2025 releases! I was contemplating getting one, but not at the moment!
I’m still using my Kobo devices, I’m still happy with them.
I did make sure to buy a second Sage BEFORE they could discontinue offering it in the USA. In other words, I could see the handwriting on the wall and acted accordingly. It’s a niche device, and likely has sales far below that of the 7″ devices. I covered my bases.
Amazon has YET to make an 8″ e-ink device of any sort!
If Kobo declines to make new 7″ or larger BW readers when my two Sages have died, hopefully there will still be BW options from other manufacturers. Either that, or perhaps color options will have improved. I should be good for the next 4 years at the least, between my Kobos and my Pocketbook Era.
All four of my Kobos, including my Aura One from 2016 are running the latest update without any issues. The reading experience remains excellent.
Let’s bear in mind that Kobo, at least, offers firmware updates to most of its older devices. Amazon does NOT. Yes, something went badly wrong with the latest update for SOME older Kobo devices, but in many cases, they’ve been replacing the bricked devices for their customers, even if technically, they didn’t have to!
How often have Kindle customers NOT been pleased with an Amazon update, hmm? More often than once in a very great while.
Although I never really used Pocket much, and have yet to sign up for an Instapaper account, Kobo did act to replace Pocket fairly promptly.
And I can still download my epubs from the Kobo store to my PC. And get true DRM-free epubs from publishers like TOR, who offer that. Kobo is just SO horrid that way….
I don’t have a Kobo. I see how much people like them, and have briefly considered getting one. However, while I do my best to support small/local businesses, I am invested in kindle/Amazon. I have 5000+ books. I borrow from the library all of the time and use KU. I also subscribe to a few emails where books are offered for free/$.99. I don’t like being so connected to it, but I’m on a small pension and need the various deals Since reading is my thing – after the Nov election I canceled my Sling TV. – and during Covid, I strictly quarantined – I appreciated not coming in contact with hard-copy books which might contain covid germs (I did not get covid).
I don’t know if kobo books are as budget friendly. Plus, since covid, I order some staple groceries, etc from Amazon – peanut butter, Tylenol, some vitamins, etc cos they are cheaper than my grocery store.
I feel like they only need to do software updates if there actually is a problem. Everyone complains about Amazon’s constant tinkering and DRM adding with updates – why do we need Kobo following suit?
There are only two small things I would like Kobo to add in their software : The option to see the clock when I read, and to put the Dark Mode toggle up with the lighting menu. No dealbreakers here, just personal preference.
The clock is also something I wish Kobo would add also. I truly love being able to swipe the screen for the lighting adjustments instead of going thru the extra steps Amazon makes you go thru.. I also like Kobo allowing you to delete your WiFi to keep offline instead of Amazon’s airplane mode. Where we live our internet is very limited and lets you have only a certain number of devices connected. I don’t want Kobo making a lot of changes. Their home page and finding your books is easy. How many changes has Amazon made to their home page.
While Kobo doesn’t offer a native software implementation to see the clock on the screen, there is a very simple hack out there in order to see both the clock and the actual battery percentage (as a numerical value). I was looking around just the other week for a solution and came across it (a simple internet search should turn up many results). It was quick, and painless, and now I have both these features on screen while reading.
However, just last week I ended up picking up a Nook GlowLight 4 Plus because I wanted both a bigger screen, as well as page turn buttons (on either side of the screen), and this was the only reader I could find that fit the bill. I don’t buy e-books directly from Barnes & Noble (I have all my e-books in my computer and they are managed by Calibre), and still primarily get them from either Kobo or Google Books, but the actual Nook hardware is great. The Nook software, on the other hand, is pretty lackluster. I wish Kobo made an e-reader with this kind of hardware, as I love the actual Kobo software, and even switched back to it from KO Reader as I didn’t need all the options that offers. Unfortunately, my Kobo Clara BW only has a 6″ screen and has no page turn buttons, and I found myself really wanting something else.
I admit that I had to look up the word “enshittification” to find out what it means. And if I understand it correctly, I’m not sure it applies to Kobo, and I would venture to say that it doesn’t apply to other e-reader brands either (not even the “evil” Amazon). That doesn’t mean, as people here think, that Kobo is beyond criticism. My long experience with their e-readers (I’ve had 10, currently only 3) and my comparison with other brands have made me put their virtues (which, of course, they have) into perspective.
In any case, I believe that user satisfaction with their favourite brand of e-reader is quite high. I sincerely believe that most users of Kindle, Kobo, PocketBook, Onyx Boox… are happy with their respective brands. And I don’t think there has been a decline in their rating from their inception to the present day. There will always be people who feel disappointed and switch brands, but in general (and I am sorry to say that what is expressed in e-reader forums and blogs is not very representative of that generality), I believe there is great loyalty to their respective brands.
As the owner of Kindle, Kobo, and Pocketbook, it’s safe to say I love ALL THREE … for different reasons and use cases. I have in the distant past used a Sony and a Nook device as well, and enjoyed reading on both of those.
Every single one of my current devices are excellent for READING. And THAT is all I care about!
This whole business of which is “best” or what “family” or “club” to be in is pure PIFFLE from my point of view.
Of the three brands I own, the latter two (Kobo and Pocketbook) are MORE excellent for reading for my older eyes, for the simple reason that both Kobo and Pocketbook allow me to use more of their screen size than Kindle does. Thus I get a more pleasing experience at larger font sizes than Kindle ever allows.
My loyalty is to READING. Not a brand, an ecosystem, or anything else.
Could it be that people – particularly younger people – are just not interested in a separate ereader? I mean, most young-to-middle age folk have a phone and/or tablet and/or laptop. And if you grew up with one or all of these, you’d be used to reading on them so why buy another device, one that’s dedicated to only one purpose?
Also, as was mentioned, Kobo may not have the financial backing or oomph that Amazon does and even BN has physical stores to generate income. AFAIK, Kobo doesn’t so huge discounts, etc. hits them harder than the others.
Sounds like they’re trying, but struggling to keep up.