Kobo eReader

I have recently (February this year) purchased a Kobo Clara BW eReader from Rakuten. It freezes on me constantly and always at the most inconvenient times. It has a dictionary function that never works. I believe my Kobo should still be under warranty however I have contacted the Help centre without satisfaction. My advice… Don’t buy a kobo reader Show details

I have 3 kobo devices, a clara and 2xLibra2. I loved these devices for their library overdrive integration, however, it seems like there is a systemic problem with there hardware, specifically related to the batteries used. The first device failed within warranty after 18 months. It was replaced after a lengthy support cycle and several weeks… Read more

without the use of the reader. The second device failed in exactly the same way after about 33 months. Was offered a $20 discount on my next device instead of any form of remediation.

In summary, great for reading and library integration but poor on longevity.

Bought a KLC in November 2024 a recently after their software update the screen stops working and is lagging. I have contact customer care who promised to send me a replacement but it’s been a week now and they keep delaying Ana blaming their internal departments. Stay away from these e-readers as they are faulty due to their software upgrades and… Read more

the company does nothing . Stay away from this company as they don’t take any responsibility to their products . Waste of money

I purchased a Kobo e-reader three months ago, and after careful use, I experienced an issue where the screen froze. I reached out to Rakuten Kobo support, and they claimed that the device had suffered physical damage and was no longer covered by the warranty. However, I did not cause any damage to the device, and there are no visible signs of… Read more

mishandling or pressure on the screen.

Despite my clear explanation and request for a warranty replacement or repair, I was only offered a $20 discount on a new device. This is not an acceptable resolution, especially given that the device is still within the warranty period and should be covered under Australian Consumer Law for faults unrelated to user damage.

I am extremely disappointed with the response from Kobo. I was expecting a fair resolution under the warranty, but instead, I feel my concerns were dismissed. I will be seeking further assistance from Consumer Affairs if this issue isn’t resolved promptly.

I hope Kobo takes customer satisfaction more seriously in the future, as this experience has been frustrating and unsatisfactory.

No problems – I have had my Kobo for about 5 years now. The only trouble I have had was when I took it bushwalking, and the heat seemed to disagree with it (would not switch on). Went back to working OK a week later. Not so with my Kindle. It worked OK for 3 years, then became unusable. First I could not read a downloaded book because apparently the company had… Read more

decided to store bought books "in the cloud". I couldn't figure this out, so stopped using it for about 18 months. I have now tried again - can't even open the app on my computer, as it apparently does not like my operating system. App deleted and reinstalled, but no success. Nearly impossible to find a help line. I am going to give up using my Kindle and go back to the Kobo. It may not be perfect, but it does work! Sorry Kindle, but that's the truth. We are not all computer experts, prepared to spend hours or days figuring out your strange changes to the software. ( A search on the web shows many other people with similar problems. )

I had excellent experience with customer service!!!!! – This is about an e-gift voucher I purchased yesterday. This problem was entirely my fault as I typed in the wrong email address for the gift recipient. The recipient told me this morning at 9am and so I did the online contact, received a ticket number with the option to online chat or given a phone number to ring. I chose to ring, but didn't get… Read more

to ring until 5pm tonight, from my car, on the way to pick my kids up, 10 minutes away. I am super impressed!!!! The lady I spoke to looked up my ticket number, cancelled the voucher to the wrong email address and then applied it to the recipients account - all before I had reached my kids pick up. I checked with the recipient, and yes yes yes, the gift card amount was already sitting in their account waiting to be used. To me that is exceptional service, and I think pretty much every online company, telco etc could learn from this. In this day and age of slack service I was compelled to tell my happy story.

Just like a previous reviewer. 4 month old Libra Colour, screen stopped working. Contacted support who stated it was physical damage and would not be covered. It had been stored upright in a pocket where no pressure could have been applied. They refused my explanation, refused any further help except for a $20 discount (on a $380 dollar device)… Read more

and referred me to a 3rd party repair company ifixit for a new screen worth $140 dollars (not surprisingly it was out of stock). Clearly a product not fit for purpose with terrible after care. Won’t ever be buying a Kobo again. Kindle it is.

Chargin foreign fee, falsely as says buying in Australian dollars. Dodgy expensive – Kobo eReader is great. But they say buying in Australia, but every book purchase is through Ireland and incurs a foreign fee. Tax dodge, very expensive for buyer

Limited Useage – After nearly 12 years with the brilliant Sony Ts ereader, I had to upgrade due to no more browser support for the Sony. Bought Kobo Clara 2e, and very disappointed. Here's why: *Overdrive search is pointless, I get '0 Search Results' on 90% of my searches. *The ereader is skewed to Kobo shop, so this limits your choice of library books… Read more

CONSIDERABLY. *The browser is COMPLETELY unuseable. Don't even go there, it will drive you bonkers. *Charging takes forever - 2hrs + * Backlight on the lowest natural light setting still produces some blue light. *Oh how I miss the physical buttons of the Sony; the touch screen page turner on the Clara will often give a word highlight, instead of turning the page. Then you have to get out of this just to get to the next page.

2 out of 10 for lack of book options and, useability.

BEWARE - USEFUL LIFE DEEMED 3 YEARS – We were happy with our Kobo e-reader until it stopped working entirely less than three years after purchased. Upon enquiring with Noel Leeming as to the consumer guarantees act, we were told that the product is deemed to be at the end of its useful life - after 3 years. So beware when you purchase a Kobo - the expectation from the manufacturer is that this will only last 3 years and will have to be replaced after.

Beware - Kobo gift cards cannot be used to buy eReaders, only eBooks – I received a gift card which I redeemed as a Rakuten Kobo gift card, because I wanted to buy an eReader. But then I dicovered that their gift cards can only be used to purchase eBooks, not eReader. This is not clearly stated on the website which advertises eBooks, eReaders and Gift Cards all on the same page.

A real dud product from an uninterested company – The free e reader from the Apple Store is: Very slow to load Clunky for highlighting Highlighting tool has ’a mind of its own’ so far as selecting highlight colours. Highlight colour removal option disappears regularly. Page turning is over sensitive and slow. All up it makes reading a chore. Show details

Not happy! – I bought a Kobo from what I thought was 'Rakuten Kobo Australia' only to find I have been charged and International fee of over $10 Australian! It would have been cheaper to buy at a local supplier!

Waste of time and money – If you can't afford a Kindle, get a paper book instead. I got a Kobo Clara 1e 5 months ago, it lagged and glitched constantly before giving up altogether. Before that my kindle lasted 10 years. JB Hifi provided a Clara 2e as a replacement (I covered the cost difference) and it immediately didn't open any books. I followed all the troubleshooting… Read more

steps provided by the Kobo website to no avail. Is it really that hard to make a product that works out of the box? Not sure how anyone justified giving this 2 whole stars. I'll seek a full refund when I get back to a city after having a lonely Christmas devoid of books. Will I ever find out what happens to the Wizards on Discworld?

Worked ok til they bricked it with an update – Bought a Kobo ereader. Worked fine until it tried to update itself and the device became a brick. Factory reset device, following all documentation. Tried to set up and cannot update over wifi. Using USB cable the device is no longer detected on any of Windows 10, Windows 11 or MacOS. More eWaste. Buy an actual book. All these devices are good for is polluting the planet when they fail far too early in their lifespan. Show details

Slow, cheap and nasty – The Kobo Nia is slow, the touch screen is hit and miss. Only works every second touch. It was a gift to replace an 8 year old Kindle and a 9 year old Sony eReader. Each of them was a budget model, but as old as they are, they still beat Kobo hands down. SO Disappointed!!!! Show details

Sleep cover sets ereader to sleeping unexpectedly – Worse customer service ever!!!! Overdrive is no use!!! Most books you can not find on kobo. Overdrive. They want you to buy!!! Kobo e book has very less variety of books and your kids can access books that are not age appropriate!!!!! Show details

dont waste your money – Kobo interferes with library loans, replacing the order with their own product. The most recent hijack was to remove a library book I had almost finished and replace it with their own 'preview' . No thanks, if I cannot get it from the library via overdrive I'll buy it from Amazon

Didn’t receive the items I ordered – Ordered books from them on the 9 December they still haven’t been sent 26/01/2021 and no tracking number Not a reliable company I personally wouldn’t buy anything from this company again  Show details

if it doesn't work there's no-one to help – I've had a Sony eReader for many years, nothing remarkable but things were OK. When the virus hit my partner and I decided we should have another eReader and be able to swap. Sony no longer have readers so I chose a Kobo (with the help of a respected consumer magazine) and I'm now wondering why. Nothing works as the rather scant and selective… Read more

manual says it should and when I call the help line, twice now, I've been fobbed off with a link to a site Kobo tells me is in Australia but does not respond. I'm told I can connect with my local library, via Overdrive, and borrow books but that rarely works and I'm told - by Kobo - that I can only borrow a book if it's also available in the Kobo shop for purchase. If you can work that out please let me know!

Kobo Aura One – I have the Aura One and download library books all the time so I disagree with the person who said it doesn't work! They also have good customer service over the phone.

No Overdrive installed - false advertising – Recently bought a Kobo Aura One because the advertising stated that Overdrive came preinstalled so that we could download library books. Wrong - misleading advertising. There was no Overdrive installed. I immediately returned it to JB Hi Fi in Chirnside Park. They also could not find Overdrive anywhere on the device, and mentioned that Kobo were… Read more

having lots of issues. Kobo need to remove this incorrect info immediately so as not to mislead any more consumers. I also could not find a customer service number to call in Australia. I don't think there's an ereader in Australia that has Overdrive. The Kindles do not. Very disappointing.

Fault riddled product, with no help from Kobo Customer Service – I bought a Kobo GLO HD in late August of 2016. To give you an idea of how much use it has had, I have 4 books loaded. 2% read, 4% read, 12% read and 50% read. Hardly used it at all. I’ve always kept it in its case, it’s not got a single scratch, mark or scuff on it and it’s been very well looked after and looks brand new out of the box but… Read more

unfortunately it is completely buggered. The screen flickers white & freezes, and it no longer charges at all whatsoever. Both of these issues seem to be common with Kobo as per my research online.

I contacted Kobo directly regarding the issues and all they did was told me that I wasn’t under warranty, offer me a discounted price on a new one of their products. When I asked about a repair service they said they do not support any repair agent, and again told me they would not replace it (even though I never asked for a replacement).

Their messages were short and felt extremely robotic and rude as they didn’t even give an employee name in their emails.

The only version of mine that is being sold now are refurbished models, which I think screams “faulty product”.

Would never purchase from Kobo again, and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Bad experience – I bought a Kobo. Everything was fine for about 18 months. I didn't use it very often. I loaded 3 new books onto it then all of a sudden the next time I opened it, it was sleeping, on 64% battery and stuck on a book title page. I tried all the tips online to no avail. Spoke to customer support a few times. They refused to replace it because… Read more

surprise surprise it was out of warranty and they couldn't offer any advice on how to fix it. Very annoyed. They offered me a $20 discount to purchase another one! Really??? Lesson learnt. I'm going back to physical books. Kobo is the worst product I have had the misfortune to purchase. Would not recommend to anyone.

Sad – I have had 2 Kobo eReaders which have now died and my daughter had a Kobo Vox which only lasted 6 months, I wish I had of read the reviews before I bought my first Kobo, I now use a samsung tablet. I still bought Kobo books on my account but when I required help from their support team I found them very unhelpful. Hopefully you will read the reviews before you buy.

Looking to replace80 + books disapeared .........no down load eather – This is my second Kobo the first dropped and the screen was broken.Second Kobo i bought 80 books had them in my Books (lost all other from first Kobo) Last night bought 5 new books and all but 10 of my 80 books disappeared.I could not down load the new books or any of my original 10 left from my 80 books.Like others here i have tried to contact… Read more

Kobo they do not want to know .so i am now out 85 books total at a $ cost.The web site wont down load to the Kobo just sits there telling me one time drive is no good other times saying you don't have any books.......well now i am looking to find another replacement for this Kobo thanks for nothing !

Disappointed – Bought my second Kobo after my first developed lines through screen after 5 years. Was very happy with the first one. Bought a Kobo Aura 2nd edition to replace the first one. Unfortunately I have never been able to read a book on it as it won't hold battery charge. It takes ages to charge then drains very quickly, less than a day. I have emailed… Read more

and rang Kobo, the first person I spoke to said that I qualified for a replacement. However since then and 4 emails they have offered me a refurbished one. Not what I would expect when I paid for a new one and it hasn't worked since I received it.

Customer service is seriously lacking with a 'don't care' attitude. Wouldn't recommend, it's too hard to communicate with this company.

Terrible company – My Kobo Ereader froze under warranty and I wrote a glowing review as to their efficient support. WRONG It is now two weeks since I posted back my under warranty Kobo and ZERO support. I have contacted them numerous times asking, simply, where is my replacement Reader. I get to their Mexican service centre who are polite but can do nothing!! After… Read more

two weeks they send me a smart butt email that I should perhaps contact the shipping agent in Australia. They point out they have no service agent in Australia and perhaps I might sort it out myself!! So never...ever...by a KOBO E Reader...it has ZERO Warranty support

Have to log – I have to log in with password every time I want a book. I have contacted them with no answers. This is rubbish. I want answers from the company but no real answers.

Kobo – I have been using Kobo for about 3 years. Love it never leave home without it. Customer support is lacking, but I don't have to much trouble, very lightweight. If it's a windy day I don't have a problem with the pages of a paper back blowing around in the wind.

Do not consider under any circumstances – Started working fine, then stopped. After getting a new laptop (newer version of Windows) it worked again. Then stopped, again. Some books just wouldn't download without a message about DRM. (They were totally legally downloaded.) Factory reset the device, uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe Digital Editions (twice, different version the second… Read more

time). Deleted old versions of the files, then re-downloaded them. Guess what? They came back. The thing had been out of warranty so long in between not working and working again, no comeback from the retailer. No support either from Kobo or my public library. The greatest satisfaction I gained from it was smashing it. If you are thinking of buying one, take $200 from your wallet and give it to charity. You will do a lot more good and save yourself a lot of time and frustration.

Great reader when works . Crap customer service – So I've had my AuraHD for about 3 years. Love it. Easy to use and great selection of books...HOWEVER...when you have a problem their customer.service is appalling. Can only deal.with them via email until.they choose to call you. Days can go between emails ND problems can take weeks to resolve. No Australian contact number to call Dr or help. For… Read more

this reason alone I would not recommend them. They are not cheap to buy so poor customer service isn't worth it. My next will.be a Kindle

Kobo Aura One – Kobo Aura One is my first Ereader, and I like it a lot. Easy to read from large 7.8 inch screen and I particularly like the "natural light" feature (which reduces blue light exposure at night). No more weightlifting heavy hardbacks! Took a little while to understand how the Kobo works, and how to access Kobo bookstore and borrow books from my… Read more

local public libraries (via Overdrive). Australian Kobo users have the advantage of being able to borrow library ebooks unlike Kindle users who can only do so in USA.

All in all I recommend this product highly.

Useless and frustrating – I have had a Kobo for a few years. Purchasing the books are easy, its the downloading into the EReader which is nigh on impossible. Trying to get someone to help you is hard. I fill out the details of the query and it says all contact numbers etc will be shown when the page is completed. What a surprise, no details come up. This is why I am… Read more

writing this review. I have purchased two books but can't read them. I've always had a problem and on the rare occasions I do speak to someone they tell me I am entering in the wrong internet password!!!. I use the computer every day and never have a problem downloading anything else. So frustrating

Best alternative to Kindle : but Fragile even with cover – I have had a number of Kobos over the years. I now have an Aura One. Excellent product - BUT - they all have one fault - the display screen is too easily broken, eg by dropping the unit, or having objects on the unit. I used to leave my sleeping Kobo under a pillow, but just rolling over onto it in my sleep was enough pressure to break it. … Read more

While the recommended "sleep-cover" helps, its still not sturdy enough.

Kobo should develop a hard-shell version of a cover/case to minimise accidental breakage, or users learn to handle them with extra gentle care.