I'd owned this device for several months before returning it (and yay, I still got my money back). Here's what I found: - The physical pageturn buttons are too thin, too level with the rest, too soft, and not 'clicky'. Therefore they don't react to a button press half the time.. very very frustrating. - It's just not comfortable to hold in one hand. Can't really explain why. Could be very subjective. I like the Kindle Oasis design much better, where most of the weight is in your hand. The ridge gives you something to hold on to... and it's not there on the Kobo Sage. - Battery life (which is one of the main reasons to buy e-ink devices in the first place) is simply the worst of all e-ink devices I've owned, and that's saying something. - Considering it has a fast processor, page turns are relatively slow. In fact, nothing really works as speedy as one would expect with such a processor. Any Amazon Kindle device performs much faster. - As a note taking device... well, I tried, but a pen and a sheet of paper (or a laptop for typing) will do the trick much better. I wonder how many people will actually use this for note taking... even if it's just casual. - For this massively high price, one would expect a premium design and materials used. But in the end, it's a piece of plastic, and there's nothing in the design to justify its price. I've never owned anything where I really, really felt so much of a discrepency between the price and the overall quality of the device and its software. All in all (and really, I don't say this often): do NOT buy this piece of crap. It's just not worth it.
I bought it two weeks ago and it's been doing my head in the whole time, the battery life is even worse than my kindle paperwhite 2, who is 11 years old! And the note taking is also terribly functioning, I don't know if it's just me, but every time I try to write on a book page then turn the pages, it refreshes every page, which is so annoying!! So I had to give up using the pen at all. A total waste of money on that pen.
I've been thinking that keeping my reading and note taking expectations seperate for devices , but this could change my mind. I'll be looking for reviews of longer use with a lot of interest.
I have a Kindle Paperwhite 2018/2019 but I am planning to get a Kobo Sage too. If you are in Canada 🇨🇦, you would be able to read library books on your kindle or listen to audiobooks but Kobo let’s you do it! And the writing feature is a cherry on top. I wish the pen came along with the almost $300 price.
Agreed. But if its helpful, other third party styluses do work (like the surface pen, or other ones from amazon). Im debating with this or the Libra 2. Do you know how often the sage needs to be charged compared to the libra 2?
I do think the Sage is the best ereader yet, and with its size I think of it as a Forma upgrade. However, they took away the slanted bezel and toggle switch of the forma and replaced it with buttons with very little depth (if the buttons had enough depth to depress more easily, that would be fine) and a very slight slant right at the edge which does stop you from losing your grip on it, but which is less comfortable to hold, and increased the weight (at least with the cover) and made the cover harder. The contrast and lighting are definitely better than the Forma (the vertical bars are fixed), as is the speed and the note taking is nice (though mediocre compared to the Onyx Note Air). Overall, if the Forma receives a score of 100, I would say: Better lighting +5, Faster +1, Inferior bezel and button design -5, Increased weight -2, Harder cover -1, Note taking +4, Audio books +2, Better contrast +3, Loss of Mobius plastic design durability -2. Overall score for Sage: 105. I would say it was worth switching and recommend it, but it isn't a no brainer. I may still keep the Forma around for late bed time reading when I am holding it in one hand resting on my side so that my hand does not get tired. That or take the Sage out of the cover each night to reduce the weight (it is easy to remove the cover for the Sage). Still, I do feel that this is the best. Had they not ruined some other Forma components, it would have been just about perfect. Well, making the pen stick to the device or having a loop for it in the cover would haven been nice. Mostly perfect.
We still need an e-reader where we can program the start date and end date of the book we're reading and where it would give us the recommended daily pages to read to meet the target. Speed reading tips integration would also be amazing. Also, it would be nice to be able to print my annotations, which would help to keep me motivated and review what I've read so far. I wonder if scrolling would result in a better reader experience than page turns. Sounded more like an ad than a review.
Thanks for the thorough review! I've heard concerns about battery life and the feel/usability of the buttons. Would love to hear your thoughts on those things. 😀
Yeah the battery life was heavily criticized. I think most e-reader companies just use shit software, while they can and should definitely build one spesifically for e-ink display which would definitely not force you to swipe down to browse your books.
My experience with both Libra 2 and Sage. The latter suffers a lot as far as battery life is concerned. Terrible battery life compared to Libra 2. Other than that, the software is also a bit weird. For example, when I plug in the device through a wall charger, it says the computer is connected. Super weird. Other than these quirks, Sage is so awesome!
Which screen is best when it comes to contrast and sharpness? Libra 2 or Sage? I’m afraid the sage might be worse than the Libra because of the flush screen and note-taking layer
I’d pay any amount of money for a device With smooth PDF reading/annotation, it seems that we are not there yet But in a good track anyways. nice review man.
I was waiting he mentions about Battery problem like My Deep Guide review did on his channel but this is deal breaker for only 2 hours note taking with battery issue..
I have a Libra H2O bit will buy the Sage. Awesome upgrade. The logo is landscape on the H2O too. I aasume you can sideload fonts like on the older versions.
I have an old iRex circa 2009 with 10 inch screen, stylus for note taking and touch buttons for page turning. Still functional and will accept pdf or mobi formats.
Peter, I appreciate your review! I know this isn't necessarily the point of the sage but one thing that I have found to be very helpful although very disappointing is using the pocket app to import articles. It formats them beautifully and their easy-to-read. It will even read them for you. But, I've been unable to take notes on these articles which is really helpful when you're doing some kind of research. Can you tell me how to take notes in an article that is been imported to the sage using the pocket app?
It doesn't work. I tried importing an article using Pocket on my Sage, but if I try to take notes in the article, it says: "stylus does not support this format" or something like that. As a result, you can only use the stylus to select a word and do a dictionary search, or to do a prev/next page.
@@dannaulty9930 I honestly can't tell. :) Is it possible to implement this purely from a software developer point of view? Of course. Whether Kobo will ever do that.. I have no idea. By the way, I have a few sideloaded e-books, and the stylus doesn't work there either (at least not for note-taking).
This is the thing that would lead me to buy a new reader, too -- it's so disappointing that functionality is lacking. I read 90% saved articles / 10% books on my Clara and would LOVE the ability to highlight or export chunks of text.
@@christopher1800 You have to side load books (on the Elipsa, anyway, assuming Sage is the same?) through Digital Editions for it to work. Side loading directly through Calibre didn’t, but when I copied a book from Calibre to ADE and ADE to the Elipsa (assuming Sage is the same), it worked. I stumbled on that when I could notate Overdrive books, which come through ADE even when you download them directly to the device. The book was non-DRM, loaded from Calibre to ADE on my laptop and then to my reader. (It’s an older version of ADE.) Again, assuming Sage is the same, but I’ve never used Pocket.
I can't believe how such a developed e-reader still doesn't have the most basic pdf abilities like annotation and highlighting by tapping. It makes this a garbage for me
I have the Libra H2O for my reader and the Supernote A5x for note. The note taking experience on the SN is in a completely different class but this seems a decent all in one
The side of the screen near the large bezel and buttons is clearly brighter at certain points/areas especially when compared to the opposite side of the screen. It seems there are three groups of LEDs there making the light bleed a little bit
I am an owner of the Sage, and if there's a difference, I can't see it. Backlight is the most regular compared to previous Kobo devices (they've had problems with it in the past). For sure, the backlight won't be an annoyance while reading.
Thanks for this detailed review. I am tempted, but you mentioned that the note taking device might not work if the books do not come from Kobo. That’s the point. I have a lot of epub and the note taking is a must for me. Could you specifically compare differe devices as for annotating epub and pdf et exporting notes (with character recognition if possible)?
If this is what's top-of-the-line then it's safe to say I'm still not impressed with eReaders as a whole. I have the newest model of the Oasis and it's.. fine. And that's _not_ a good thing to call something I paid $300 for. Years later and this Kobo Sage looks just as sloooow as the Oasis. Where the heck is the innovation in this field? By now we should have full size(8.5" by 10"), 600dpi b&w, 300dpi color, 30Hz ePaper displays. Even watching Peter in this video struggle with the lag and hitting the same button multiple times because he didn't know if the device registered his touch command is unbearable.
Thanks for this awesome review. Is it possible to export notes from e-book and PDF in a text document? And is it possible to export highlighted texts as citations? I am looking for a professional device to take notes and pick up citations from academic books and articles.
I’m thinking of getting a Kobo Sage. But I keep hearing about the battery life. So I had a question if I don’t do any note taking and just use it to read books and manga. Does the battery last longer?
could you please tell me if is there any ereader with a better screen? I mean, one with even better contrast (blacks being as black as possible I mean) or at least similar
Maybe but this one is very good. I bought the new Paper White and this one is my preferred on the 2. I don’t think any Kindle is going to be quite as good though if you need to have your prior purchases to read from Amazon.
Question: the website says it plays audio books but it's own format. What about side loaded audio books in mp3 format? Since I buy alot from humble bundle, this is a deal breaker
Hope you are having a good time. I have recently purchased Kobo Sage 8 plus it`s pen (Kobo Stylus). but the problem is that I can`t add any note in that note sign section that pops up along the line that you want to add some note. I have seen that people easily do that in review videos on TH-cam but I really can`t do it. plus people will easily highlight anything they want quite easily with a very clean and sharped highlighting ability but mine is like using shade brush, I don`t know what is exactly wrong with it. I`d be grateful if you could help me out. Btw I am sure that the pen is quite alright
8:28 "Because you have a pen with a battery you can do a lot of fancy stuff ..." This is misinformation. It's not "because of the battery". You can have multiple buttons working in a pen even without a battery. Wacom pen tablets use that. Don't get me wrong though; I appreciate your review. I would've liked a "how this looks on a computer (including handwritten notes and drawings in manga).
Oh darn! I’m just seeing this today …. I very recently purchased my Kindle Oasis despite the new Paper White release. I like it but I would have gone for the Kobo Sage had I known about it. I used a Nook for a long time - this is my first foray into Kindle. Maybe I’ll purchase a Kobo, too….someday! 😩 thanks for that excellent info…
Since I relied on reviews it's only fair that I comment. I have the Sage and I am very happy with it. A quad-core with 512 MB of RAM the specs are far superior to the next reader down. That I can write on pdf and other formats is terrific. Owing to the beefy Hardware the battery isn't up to par with other e-readers. However, it charges fast and you can use it while charging and portable power banks are ubiquitous. I've never been close to running out of juice. Get off of negative social media and read books. Ditto for the news networks it's all about clickbaits
The way things are going, with all the fake news, government snooping, AI and constant accept or reject pop-ups boxes online the Kobo Sage has been chosen to take my eReader virginity. 😍 👍
The battery life is horrible. I am upgrading from the Kobo Aura One. I have to charge it every single day and I am only reading for a few hours. It is much lighter and easier to hold. I wish they would find a way to disable the highlight and dictionary functions. When laying down to read I somehow manage to turn them on constantly.
Can you bring up the keyboard in the notes app to type instead of using the stylus? My kid likes to type stories on an iPod touch so thought this might be better
You can't. And I don't think it would be better anyway... typing on these e-readers is always a bit clumsy. Still, it's silly they did not implement that... it would make perfect sense to include a 'text block' or whatever where you can type text.
Can the order of the page turn buttons be programmed (as they can be on the Oasis)? So if I want the page forward button on the bottom, can that be set up in settings?
Peter it would be helpful if the channel was more receptive to constructive feedback. Viewer feedback helps to improve the quality of future videos, which only helps the channel to grow.
Please, anyone, can I take notes on a CBR file?? I can't find a video showing it. I use my kobo Forma to read tons of comics transferred from my pc or dropbox. I love the new Sage specifications, but if I can't use the stylus over a CBR file I'll just save my money. Can someone help me out??
Audiobooks need to be downloaded from the Kobo store, anything else won't work (not even sideloading). There are ways to use Kindle e-books on Kobo, but it's not easy. It involves using software called Calibre on a desktop/laptop computer, and you'd need to remove DRM from the Kindle e-books. On the other hand... once it works, it works fine. I use Calibre as my 'central book store', and I dispatch my books to either the Kindle or the Kobo (or both).
I’m a Kindle reader but have been using phone and tablet apps for years. I want to get an reader and love the Kobo offerings, but all of my books are currently kindle. Anyone else make the switch from kindle to Kobo and are you happy you made the switch? (I’m in the US, I know that might make a difference)
The main problem is that your whole library is in Kindle format(s), which are incompatible with Kobo (most other brands supports the EPUB format, and Adobe DRM, so they're more or less compatible, but Amazon has its own format and DRM scheme). If you want to convert your Kindle books to epub (which is in itself pretty easy, the format are quite close), you'll have to strip the DRM from your ebooks. This is probably illegal in the US, though nothing would ever happen to you as long as you keep the DRM-stripped copies for your own usage (and this is morally okay for me, I bought those books and I want to read them in any manner I choose). If you ever want to do that (which I recommend, if only to have archive of your Kindles, since Amazon can delete those remotely and has done so in some cases), use Calibre to manage your ebooks (nothing illegal there, only the best ebook manager, and free) and search a bit for a Calibre plugin for a hassle-free way of stripping DRMs.
I have been a kindle user for roughly 10 years. My kobo is primarily for a seemless library borrowing experience and I will host all of my Book Of The Month books on the kobo specifically. It helps me divide things up sort of like my physical book shelves. I keep things separate. I am also in the US and this was a huge concern for me. Having both devices allows me variety of reading options while limiting the books that pile up in my house. Not sure if this helps, but you don't necessarily have to make a full switch. Plus kindle can always be accessed via an app. (even though I don't like reading on non e ink devices)
I own both the All New Kindle and Kobo Libra H2O. I much prefer Kobo, and only buy e-books from Amazon if I have to (which usually ends up just being small self-published writings from private individuals). Kobo has a better user interface. Being able to turn on the backlight just by swiping up the left side of the page is a deal maker for me. Whoever decided it was okay to put the backlight in a menu was just a moron. Kobo also has a better organization system for books. But as mentioned in another comment, e-readers are not mutually exclusive. Own both!
I sold this Kobo Sage out last week. So happy and wanted to get rid of it for a long time. Poor battery life, yellowish, non-paperlike white. The note-taking is terrible and the Sage Stylus that I bought is a big disappointment. So far, I bought and tried 4 Kobo e-book readers, including Kobo Mini (sluggish), Kobo Aura One (USB slot 65%, out of order), Kobo Forma (screen cracked), and the Kobo Sage (poor battery life, yellowish, non-paperlike white as mentioned). After Kobo Sage, no more Kobo! I will stick with my Kindle Voyage, Kindle Oasis and Kobo Aura One (USB slot, 65% out of order). I still find Kindle more reliable and durable! Much better user experience for me.
The Kobo Sage could have been a near perfect E-Book Reader but unfortunately the underpowered battery ruins the experience quite a bit; its not a deal breaker for me but I must say that the battery life is really pathetic! I am guessing that per hour of reading and highlighting it loses at least 20 % of its battery power, which means that if it was fully charged after about 3 hours of reading and highlighting it will have about 40% of battery power left. My Kobo Aura One would in 3 hours of reading and highlighting probably still have at least 85% of its battery power left. I just don't understand why Kobo chose such an underpowered battery for this otherwise great E-Book Reader. Also, I don't know if this is just my particular Sage, but whenever I touch the light or battery icon there is an immediate intense flickering that occurs; this is something that only the Sage does, my other 2 Kobo's never did this. And there is clearly way more ghosting on the Sage then on both of my older other Kobo's! Again, this could just be my particular Sage, if I got a bit of a defective model. Also, I have noticed another glitch; when I charge it via a socket with USB slots it becomes often difficult to highlight what I am reading, which is kind of strange. On the bright side, is the fact that the screen resolution is great and makes reading even a better experience, and I also like the physical buttons that are very practical for turning pages. Overall, I am still satisfied with the Sage, but I am surprised that this review never even mentioned the poor underpowered battery of the Sage, which makes it look like it was a promotional video.
Yes me too , everybody speak about the underpower battery , because of that problem I will not buy it and keep my good old h2o with the super koreader UI . I ll wait to buy a 7,8 300 dpi kobo model if they work on it
Can anyone tell me can I put the kindle app on the sage? I read on my phone through the kindle app is there a way I could do this on the kobo sage? It's very confusing
For me the kindle with glass screens are awful. I loved everything about the oasis 2, but I just always felt the text was somehow soft or blurry at times, and I started to think it might be the glass adding a layer on top of the eink screen that was the issue. It really irritated my eyes causing me to feel like I had focus issue (my vision is perfect). I sold it and got a libra 2 and have never looked back. However, I'm just curious if this sage has the same issue? Does anyone who is aware of this issue and can see it have experience with the sage? I'd love an 8" kobo with an easier to clean screen.... but not if it has that issue...
@@christopher1800 in this video is clearly visibile at the button side. A strip of different color / light. A very well know issue also with Forma and Libra. Try a kindle..the display is perfect
@@Fr3dom1987 I can only speak from personal experience. I've had quite a few Kobo devices, and the Sage has excellent backlight. It's perfectly even to my eyes. I own the Kindle Oasis 2 as well, but it doesn't have "ComfortLight". So it's a bad comparison.
SO, So, So, disappointed, just purchased, popped it into the charge case, impressive. Okay till I tried to switch it on, looked all over for the button. Un-bloody-beliveable, you have to take the reader OUT of the case to switch it on and off, Raging, for this price with the power case, sent it back.
I received it after 2 times I've got a failed screen Forma: classic black lighting bar on the edge. Customer service offered me an upgrade to Sage, adding a little amount of money. I've made it and Christ I REGRET IT. The ergonomics are OBSCENE. NO NO NO NO. The buttons are nearly impossible to use because too close to the edge of the body, and is really hard to clamp the device with one hand. This is because if you take the device with your thumb on the button, you feel that is too heavy to hold. Is even strange because the thumb doesn't cover all the button, because you feel that the edge of the frame interferes. DON'T BLIND BUY IT. TRY IT BEFORE IN A STORE. Never buying again a Kobo device. One time a TOTL product with congenital problems on the screen, and now a product with clear ergonomics problems.
The thing I do not get with this device is why with 1.8GHZ processor when scrolling still is very jittery and not fluid like an ipad? What is wrong with those readers not to be able to scroll without looking like an old pentium dx1 that has just loaded a fancy 2022 game? They use linux right? Shouldn't Linux be lighter still???
It is not about the cpu, ram or software. You can put Intel i7 12700k. It doesn't matter. Please make a research about e ink panels. They are not responsive. Their only duty is to save battery and paperlike screen. Otherwise they can put an LCD or oled panel, they put 165 hertz refresh rate and you charge your device every second day. That's the point.
Love the Kobo products in so many ways, but they do not allow me access to my documents downloaded (to my PC) via my paid subscription services which I need for my work. Hence it is a no go. Otherwise I would buy a Kobo today.
Documents can be transfered through Dropbox. However, it depends on your definition of 'Documents', since only a few formats are supported (no Microsoft Word documents, you'd need to convert those to PDF first). It would be impossible for Kobo to implement any/all "paid subscription services" on their devices. Or maybe I completely misunderstood your comment? ;)
@@goodereader Just the triumphalism about Kobo seems excessive - particularly in the intro, up until 01:00. If I were a Kobo product manager, that's exactly what I'd want you to say. Don't get me wrong, I like these devices, but a more sober style would maybe be more appropriate? Especially considering that many of these devices, for years, have been consistently having lighting issues that are unacceptable at that price. I'm not insinuating anything and appreciate your work here.
@@crca486 Kobo husband a major player in the e-reader scope for over a decade, is one of the top three largest producers of ebook readers, and has one of the most International presences. This device lacks nothing in the current scope of what makes a good eBook reader It's also not exorbitantly priced like other note-taking slates. We have been in the industry for 13 years. In terms of ebook readers, this is one of the best. We're not talking about tablet powerhouses with epaper screens like the dasung 103, or anything from the boox note line. So yeah, this isn't a promo, this is a review, it is a very lengthy, long, and in-depth review where we cover books, manga, audiobooks, store, and everything else. Please actually watch the video, not just the lead-in artistic opening :-)
@@goodereader I did watch it. Let's put it this way: I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy a Sage, and respectfully, I was expecting this review to cover topics like: - Is the "better contrast" advertised as a selling point by Kobo real, compared to the Forma? - Is the "massive 1.8 GHZ quad-core processor" making a real difference in terms of responsiveness? - Are page turns really that faster as advertised? - Is the flickering issue of the Forma gone? - Is the battery life decent considering it employs a smaller battery than the Libra 2? - I do see a brighter zone close to the buttons. This has historically been an issue with Forma, Libra H20 , Aura One and other devices. Other reviewers reported that too.
Kindle scribe pen is world better than the stupid kobo stylus, I might have to attend some anger management class for wanting to smash that pen every time I use it.
@@goodereader ...not associated in any way, except that you sell this product in your store, so therefore you make a living from Kobo products. I would say that is actually very associated with Kobo.
Still very primitive this devices. no colour, slow motion on pdfs, small screens( could be foldable- would be perfect 10 inch), more battery etc....etc.... 🤔
Great review but reading "The Madness of Crowds" on it? 😬 Cripes. I don't know if you selected the book randomly, but it is a harmful screed which primarily aims to belittle the suffering of women and other sections of society. The author also penned a book perpetrating "white replacement" theory. He is a seriously problematic dude who engages in far-right conspiracies.
Yeah, okay. It's to show the crispness of the screen technology. We don't care what the book is. And you should email the author, not us. We didn't write it. Thank you :-)
I'd owned this device for several months before returning it (and yay, I still got my money back). Here's what I found:
- The physical pageturn buttons are too thin, too level with the rest, too soft, and not 'clicky'. Therefore they don't react to a button press half the time.. very very frustrating.
- It's just not comfortable to hold in one hand. Can't really explain why. Could be very subjective. I like the Kindle Oasis design much better, where most of the weight is in your hand. The ridge gives you something to hold on to... and it's not there on the Kobo Sage.
- Battery life (which is one of the main reasons to buy e-ink devices in the first place) is simply the worst of all e-ink devices I've owned, and that's saying something.
- Considering it has a fast processor, page turns are relatively slow. In fact, nothing really works as speedy as one would expect with such a processor. Any Amazon Kindle device performs much faster.
- As a note taking device... well, I tried, but a pen and a sheet of paper (or a laptop for typing) will do the trick much better. I wonder how many people will actually use this for note taking... even if it's just casual.
- For this massively high price, one would expect a premium design and materials used. But in the end, it's a piece of plastic, and there's nothing in the design to justify its price.
I've never owned anything where I really, really felt so much of a discrepency between the price and the overall quality of the device and its software. All in all (and really, I don't say this often): do NOT buy this piece of crap. It's just not worth it.
I bought it two weeks ago and it's been doing my head in the whole time, the battery life is even worse than my kindle paperwhite 2, who is 11 years old! And the note taking is also terribly functioning, I don't know if it's just me, but every time I try to write on a book page then turn the pages, it refreshes every page, which is so annoying!! So I had to give up using the pen at all. A total waste of money on that pen.
I've been thinking that keeping my reading and note taking expectations seperate for devices , but this could change my mind. I'll be looking for reviews of longer use with a lot of interest.
Have you checked My Deep Guide? He touches on battery life with his review video and then revisits his battery concerns in a follow-up video.
I have a Kindle Paperwhite 2018/2019 but I am planning to get a Kobo Sage too. If you are in Canada 🇨🇦, you would be able to read library books on your kindle or listen to audiobooks but Kobo let’s you do it! And the writing feature is a cherry on top. I wish the pen came along with the almost $300 price.
Agreed. But if its helpful, other third party styluses do work (like the surface pen, or other ones from amazon). Im debating with this or the Libra 2. Do you know how often the sage needs to be charged compared to the libra 2?
I do think the Sage is the best ereader yet, and with its size I think of it as a Forma upgrade. However, they took away the slanted bezel and toggle switch of the forma and replaced it with buttons with very little depth (if the buttons had enough depth to depress more easily, that would be fine) and a very slight slant right at the edge which does stop you from losing your grip on it, but which is less comfortable to hold, and increased the weight (at least with the cover) and made the cover harder. The contrast and lighting are definitely better than the Forma (the vertical bars are fixed), as is the speed and the note taking is nice (though mediocre compared to the Onyx Note Air). Overall, if the Forma receives a score of 100, I would say: Better lighting +5, Faster +1, Inferior bezel and button design -5, Increased weight -2, Harder cover -1, Note taking +4, Audio books +2, Better contrast +3, Loss of Mobius plastic design durability -2. Overall score for Sage: 105. I would say it was worth switching and recommend it, but it isn't a no brainer. I may still keep the Forma around for late bed time reading when I am holding it in one hand resting on my side so that my hand does not get tired. That or take the Sage out of the cover each night to reduce the weight (it is easy to remove the cover for the Sage). Still, I do feel that this is the best. Had they not ruined some other Forma components, it would have been just about perfect. Well, making the pen stick to the device or having a loop for it in the cover would haven been nice. Mostly perfect.
Just got my tonight, i am very excited. I haven't upgraded in years, and it is time to switch out my kobo clara hd for something a little bigger
OMG I got this as a birthday gift to myself and a Microsoft stylus and it is so way cool i can write on it. cant wait to start using it
This rings all the bells for me: 8". Note-taking capabilities. Made by Kobo.
Will order mine undelay.
hows the battery been
We still need an e-reader where we can program the start date and end date of the book we're reading and where it would give us the recommended daily pages to read to meet the target. Speed reading tips integration would also be amazing. Also, it would be nice to be able to print my annotations, which would help to keep me motivated and review what I've read so far. I wonder if scrolling would result in a better reader experience than page turns. Sounded more like an ad than a review.
Thanks for the thorough review! I've heard concerns about battery life and the feel/usability of the buttons. Would love to hear your thoughts on those things. 😀
Yeah the battery life was heavily criticized. I think most e-reader companies just use shit software, while they can and should definitely build one spesifically for e-ink display which would definitely not force you to swipe down to browse your books.
USB-C charges very quickly plus ergonomically speaking most avid readers could not handle tthe wrist ache if it were heavier with a larger battery.
I love my Kobo Sage. I have to recharge it every two or three Weeks. I am reading daily. So I am fine with battery life.
Really ? You don’t have battery problèm ? 3 week is ok for me , I read a lot and don’t take many notes
My experience with both Libra 2 and Sage. The latter suffers a lot as far as battery life is concerned. Terrible battery life compared to Libra 2. Other than that, the software is also a bit weird. For example, when I plug in the device through a wall charger, it says the computer is connected. Super weird. Other than these quirks, Sage is so awesome!
Which screen is best when it comes to contrast and sharpness? Libra 2 or Sage? I’m afraid the sage might be worse than the Libra because of the flush screen and note-taking layer
@@chiaraluoni7635 I do think both are comparable. I did like the sunken screen slightly better but then I wanted the Sage for it's pen feature
I’d pay any amount of money for a device With smooth PDF reading/annotation, it seems that we are not there yet But in a good track anyways. nice review man.
try boox？note 5 maybe？
I concur the Boox products have amazing PDF reading and annotation capabilities. I'd get the Nova air today if I didn't aleady have a Nova 3.
iPad Pro.
Uhhhh... Kobo Sage with the Koboreader install. Best you could have
@@mikele7982 agreed 🤣
I was waiting he mentions about Battery problem like My Deep Guide review did on his channel but this is deal breaker for only 2 hours note taking with battery issue..
I have a Libra H2O bit will buy the Sage. Awesome upgrade. The logo is landscape on the H2O too. I aasume you can sideload fonts like on the older versions.
I have an old iRex circa 2009 with 10 inch screen, stylus for note taking and touch buttons for page turning. Still functional and will accept pdf or mobi formats.
🙀 wow that's impressive
Peter, I appreciate your review! I know this isn't necessarily the point of the sage but one thing that I have found to be very helpful although very disappointing is using the pocket app to import articles. It formats them beautifully and their easy-to-read. It will even read them for you. But, I've been unable to take notes on these articles which is really helpful when you're doing some kind of research. Can you tell me how to take notes in an article that is been imported to the sage using the pocket app?
It doesn't work. I tried importing an article using Pocket on my Sage, but if I try to take notes in the article, it says: "stylus does not support this format" or something like that. As a result, you can only use the stylus to select a word and do a dictionary search, or to do a prev/next page.
@@christopher1800 would this be something they could fix with a future update or is this something that will likely only be available on a new model?
@@dannaulty9930 I honestly can't tell. :) Is it possible to implement this purely from a software developer point of view? Of course. Whether Kobo will ever do that.. I have no idea. By the way, I have a few sideloaded e-books, and the stylus doesn't work there either (at least not for note-taking).
This is the thing that would lead me to buy a new reader, too -- it's so disappointing that functionality is lacking. I read 90% saved articles / 10% books on my Clara and would LOVE the ability to highlight or export chunks of text.
@@christopher1800 You have to side load books (on the Elipsa, anyway, assuming Sage is the same?) through Digital Editions for it to work. Side loading directly through Calibre didn’t, but when I copied a book from Calibre to ADE and ADE to the Elipsa (assuming Sage is the same), it worked. I stumbled on that when I could notate Overdrive books, which come through ADE even when you download them directly to the device. The book was non-DRM, loaded from Calibre to ADE on my laptop and then to my reader. (It’s an older version of ADE.) Again, assuming Sage is the same, but I’ve never used Pocket.
I can't believe how such a developed e-reader still doesn't have the most basic pdf abilities like annotation and highlighting by tapping. It makes this a garbage for me
can you tell me anything else that's better than this that isn't too costly
But it does. It’s shown in the video.
Thanks Peter, getting mine delivered today!
$90 for the pen seems extortionate after $330 for the device. This ends up rather more expensive than a 7.8" Boox Nova Air or Supernote A6X.
Getting the this is a "not an ad" ad, vibe from this video
I have the Libra H2O for my reader and the Supernote A5x for note. The note taking experience on the SN is in a completely different class but this seems a decent all in one
The side of the screen near the large bezel and buttons is clearly brighter at certain points/areas especially when compared to the opposite side of the screen. It seems there are three groups of LEDs there making the light bleed a little bit
I am an owner of the Sage, and if there's a difference, I can't see it. Backlight is the most regular compared to previous Kobo devices (they've had problems with it in the past). For sure, the backlight won't be an annoyance while reading.
@@christopher1800 my eyes are sensitive to such things. 😭
@@christopher1800 my eyes are sensitive to such things. 😭
It's probably due to viewing it from a camera lens. Irl it's probably perfect like most have said
Just got a Kobo Sage, and I can say that you are absolutely right -- it drives me nuts seeing it.
Thanks for this detailed review. I am tempted, but you mentioned that the note taking device might not work if the books do not come from Kobo. That’s the point. I have a lot of epub and the note taking is a must for me. Could you specifically compare differe devices as for annotating epub and pdf et exporting notes (with character recognition if possible)?
If this is what's top-of-the-line then it's safe to say I'm still not impressed with eReaders as a whole. I have the newest model of the Oasis and it's.. fine. And that's _not_ a good thing to call something I paid $300 for. Years later and this Kobo Sage looks just as sloooow as the Oasis. Where the heck is the innovation in this field? By now we should have full size(8.5" by 10"), 600dpi b&w, 300dpi color, 30Hz ePaper displays. Even watching Peter in this video struggle with the lag and hitting the same button multiple times because he didn't know if the device registered his touch command is unbearable.
Thanks for this awesome review. Is it possible to export notes from e-book and PDF in a text document? And is it possible to export highlighted texts as citations? I am looking for a professional device to take notes and pick up citations from academic books and articles.
+1
@@h.b.5577 Hi, same question here: did you find out :) ?
Hi, same question here: did you find out :) ?
I’m thinking of getting a Kobo Sage. But I keep hearing about the battery life. So I had a question if I don’t do any note taking and just use it to read books and manga. Does the battery last longer?
Nope. Basically after 2 hours it just drops 30%
could you please tell me if is there any ereader with a better screen? I mean, one with even better contrast (blacks being as black as possible I mean) or at least similar
Maybe but this one is very good. I bought the new Paper White and this one is my preferred on the 2. I don’t think any Kindle is going to be quite as good though if you need to have your prior purchases to read from Amazon.
Question: the website says it plays audio books but it's own format. What about side loaded audio books in mp3 format? Since I buy alot from humble bundle, this is a deal breaker
Please do a comparison with kindle oasis and kindle voyage. I'm so curious what the new eink 1200 screen looks like. Can it beat kindle voyage?
Coming up soon!
@@goodereader can’t wait comparing 1200 with voyage. Thanks.
Hope you are having a good time.
I have recently purchased Kobo Sage 8 plus it`s pen (Kobo Stylus). but the problem is that I can`t add any note in that note sign section that pops up along the line that you want to add some note. I have seen that people easily do that in review videos on TH-cam but I really can`t do it.
plus people will easily highlight anything they want quite easily with a very clean and sharped highlighting ability but mine is like using shade brush, I don`t know what is exactly wrong with it.
I`d be grateful if you could help me out.
Btw I am sure that the pen is quite alright
Got mine yesterday, I'm over the moon!
8:28 "Because you have a pen with a battery you can do a lot of fancy stuff ..." This is misinformation. It's not "because of the battery". You can have multiple buttons working in a pen even without a battery. Wacom pen tablets use that.
Don't get me wrong though; I appreciate your review.
I would've liked a "how this looks on a computer (including handwritten notes and drawings in manga).
Oh darn! I’m just seeing this today …. I very recently purchased my Kindle Oasis despite the new Paper White release. I like it but I would have gone for the Kobo Sage had I known about it. I used a Nook for a long time - this is my first foray into Kindle. Maybe I’ll purchase a Kobo, too….someday! 😩 thanks for that excellent info…
Return Oasis and get Sage. You won't be disappointed.
Why not both?
I have both and I love both of them
Can we use another pen than Kobo Stylus?
just got the sage. when i plug it in to charge - there is no indicator light. is this odd?
How common are AAAA batteries? Does the stylus last long?
Isn't poor battery life a major problem for this device?
Since I relied on reviews it's only fair that I comment. I have the Sage and I am very happy with it. A quad-core with 512 MB of RAM the specs are far superior to the next reader down. That I can write on pdf and other formats is terrific. Owing to the beefy Hardware the battery isn't up to par with other e-readers. However, it charges fast and you can use it while charging and portable power banks are ubiquitous. I've never been close to running out of juice. Get off of negative social media and read books. Ditto for the news networks it's all about clickbaits
The way things are going, with all the fake news, government snooping, AI and constant accept or reject pop-ups boxes online the Kobo Sage has been chosen to take my eReader virginity. 😍 👍
The battery life is horrible. I am upgrading from the Kobo Aura One. I have to charge it every single day and I am only reading for a few hours. It is much lighter and easier to hold. I wish they would find a way to disable the highlight and dictionary functions. When laying down to read I somehow manage to turn them on constantly.
Mine is coming tomorrow, very looking forward to it!
Can you bring up the keyboard in the notes app to type instead of using the stylus? My kid likes to type stories on an iPod touch so thought this might be better
You can't. And I don't think it would be better anyway... typing on these e-readers is always a bit clumsy. Still, it's silly they did not implement that... it would make perfect sense to include a 'text block' or whatever where you can type text.
@@christopher1800 thanks!
Does it have an orientation lock so you can lay on your side reading without enabling landscape mode?
Hi Y'all lovely Kobo people... Are there any cheap alternative for the Kobo pen that I can use with Kobo Sage?
Can the order of the page turn buttons be programmed (as they can be on the Oasis)? So if I want the page forward button on the bottom, can that be set up in settings?
yes you can flip them in the settings
Peter it would be helpful if the channel was more receptive to constructive feedback. Viewer feedback helps to improve the quality of future videos, which only helps the channel to grow.
agreed, maybe a comparison with the Forma, which replace, and the Libra 2
Can it play audiobooks borrowed from the library?
Love your blogs
Please, anyone, can I take notes on a CBR file?? I can't find a video showing it. I use my kobo Forma to read tons of comics transferred from my pc or dropbox. I love the new Sage specifications, but if I can't use the stylus over a CBR file I'll just save my money.
Can someone help me out??
If I have a kobo. Can I use my library that come mostly from kinddle? What about the audiobooks too? Can I listen audiobooks buyed from amazon?
Audiobooks need to be downloaded from the Kobo store, anything else won't work (not even sideloading). There are ways to use Kindle e-books on Kobo, but it's not easy. It involves using software called Calibre on a desktop/laptop computer, and you'd need to remove DRM from the Kindle e-books. On the other hand... once it works, it works fine. I use Calibre as my 'central book store', and I dispatch my books to either the Kindle or the Kobo (or both).
I’m a Kindle reader but have been using phone and tablet apps for years. I want to get an reader and love the Kobo offerings, but all of my books are currently kindle. Anyone else make the switch from kindle to Kobo and are you happy you made the switch? (I’m in the US, I know that might make a difference)
The main problem is that your whole library is in Kindle format(s), which are incompatible with Kobo (most other brands supports the EPUB format, and Adobe DRM, so they're more or less compatible, but Amazon has its own format and DRM scheme). If you want to convert your Kindle books to epub (which is in itself pretty easy, the format are quite close), you'll have to strip the DRM from your ebooks.
This is probably illegal in the US, though nothing would ever happen to you as long as you keep the DRM-stripped copies for your own usage (and this is morally okay for me, I bought those books and I want to read them in any manner I choose). If you ever want to do that (which I recommend, if only to have archive of your Kindles, since Amazon can delete those remotely and has done so in some cases), use Calibre to manage your ebooks (nothing illegal there, only the best ebook manager, and free) and search a bit for a Calibre plugin for a hassle-free way of stripping DRMs.
I have been a kindle user for roughly 10 years. My kobo is primarily for a seemless library borrowing experience and I will host all of my Book Of The Month books on the kobo specifically. It helps me divide things up sort of like my physical book shelves. I keep things separate. I am also in the US and this was a huge concern for me. Having both devices allows me variety of reading options while limiting the books that pile up in my house.
Not sure if this helps, but you don't necessarily have to make a full switch. Plus kindle can always be accessed via an app. (even though I don't like reading on non e ink devices)
I own both the All New Kindle and Kobo Libra H2O. I much prefer Kobo, and only buy e-books from Amazon if I have to (which usually ends up just being small self-published writings from private individuals). Kobo has a better user interface. Being able to turn on the backlight just by swiping up the left side of the page is a deal maker for me. Whoever decided it was okay to put the backlight in a menu was just a moron. Kobo also has a better organization system for books. But as mentioned in another comment, e-readers are not mutually exclusive. Own both!
can you read outloud on a non audiobook?
Which bluetooth speaker is that
Can I write with the pen on pdf files?
I sold this Kobo Sage out last week. So happy and wanted to get rid of it for a long time. Poor battery life, yellowish, non-paperlike white. The note-taking is terrible and the Sage Stylus that I bought is a big disappointment. So far, I bought and tried 4 Kobo e-book readers, including Kobo Mini (sluggish), Kobo Aura One (USB slot 65%, out of order), Kobo Forma (screen cracked), and the Kobo Sage (poor battery life, yellowish, non-paperlike white as mentioned). After Kobo Sage, no more Kobo! I will stick with my Kindle Voyage, Kindle Oasis and Kobo Aura One (USB slot, 65% out of order). I still find Kindle more reliable and durable! Much better user experience for me.
The Kobo Sage could have been a near perfect E-Book Reader but unfortunately the underpowered battery ruins the experience quite a bit; its not a deal breaker for me but I must say that the battery life is really pathetic! I am guessing that per hour of reading and highlighting it loses at least 20 % of its battery power, which means that if it was fully charged after about 3 hours of reading and highlighting it will have about 40% of battery power left. My Kobo Aura One would in 3 hours of reading and highlighting probably still have at least 85% of its battery power left. I just don't understand why Kobo chose such an underpowered battery for this otherwise great E-Book Reader.
Also, I don't know if this is just my particular Sage, but whenever I touch the light or battery icon there is an immediate intense flickering that occurs; this is something that only the Sage does, my other 2 Kobo's never did this. And there is clearly way more ghosting on the Sage then on both of my older other Kobo's! Again, this could just be my particular Sage, if I got a bit of a defective model. Also, I have noticed another glitch; when I charge it via a socket with USB slots it becomes often difficult to highlight what I am reading, which is kind of strange.
On the bright side, is the fact that the screen resolution is great and makes reading even a better experience, and I also like the physical buttons that are very practical for turning pages.
Overall, I am still satisfied with the Sage, but I am surprised that this review never even mentioned the poor underpowered battery of the Sage, which makes it look like it was a promotional video.
Yes me too , everybody speak about the underpower battery , because of that problem I will not buy it and keep my good old h2o with the super koreader UI . I ll wait to buy a 7,8 300 dpi kobo model if they work on it
Can anyone tell me can I put the kindle app on the sage? I read on my phone through the kindle app is there a way I could do this on the kobo sage? It's very confusing
Absolutely not
Why do you keep telling the same things that other Kobos have too?
Very interested in these note taking e-readers!
I have the forma and there is a bright spot on the right side of screen. Does the sage have the same problem with one side brighter than the other?
Yes, at least mine does
Mine has the same problem too.
Can you access play store with this ?
No you cannot :-(
For me the kindle with glass screens are awful. I loved everything about the oasis 2, but I just always felt the text was somehow soft or blurry at times, and I started to think it might be the glass adding a layer on top of the eink screen that was the issue. It really irritated my eyes causing me to feel like I had focus issue (my vision is perfect).
I sold it and got a libra 2 and have never looked back. However, I'm just curious if this sage has the same issue? Does anyone who is aware of this issue and can see it have experience with the sage? I'd love an 8" kobo with an easier to clean screen.... but not if it has that issue...
Hey, any updates on the battery life?
it's still terrible, 5 hours of reading in my case with everything off and 10% light, I'm returning it
Same display bad light zone as Forma
yeah, on the button side, yet he says it's perfectly even...i don't get it.
Really? Do you have one?
I own the Sage, and I honestly can't see any difference. If it's there, it's not annoying.
@@christopher1800 in this video is clearly visibile at the button side. A strip of different color / light. A very well know issue also with Forma and Libra. Try a kindle..the display is perfect
@@Fr3dom1987 I can only speak from personal experience. I've had quite a few Kobo devices, and the Sage has excellent backlight. It's perfectly even to my eyes. I own the Kindle Oasis 2 as well, but it doesn't have "ComfortLight". So it's a bad comparison.
SO, So, So, disappointed, just purchased, popped it into the charge case, impressive. Okay till I tried to switch it on, looked all over for the button. Un-bloody-beliveable, you have to take the reader OUT of the case to switch it on and off, Raging, for this price with the power case, sent it back.
I received it after 2 times I've got a failed screen Forma: classic black lighting bar on the edge. Customer service offered me an upgrade to Sage, adding a little amount of money. I've made it and Christ I REGRET IT. The ergonomics are OBSCENE. NO NO NO NO. The buttons are nearly impossible to use because too close to the edge of the body, and is really hard to clamp the device with one hand. This is because if you take the device with your thumb on the button, you feel that is too heavy to hold. Is even strange because the thumb doesn't cover all the button, because you feel that the edge of the frame interferes. DON'T BLIND BUY IT. TRY IT BEFORE IN A STORE.
Never buying again a Kobo device. One time a TOTL product with congenital problems on the screen, and now a product with clear ergonomics problems.
The thing I do not get with this device is why with 1.8GHZ processor when scrolling still is very jittery and not fluid like an ipad? What is wrong with those readers not to be able to scroll without looking like an old pentium dx1 that has just loaded a fancy 2022 game? They use linux right? Shouldn't Linux be lighter still???
It is not about the cpu, ram or software. You can put Intel i7 12700k. It doesn't matter. Please make a research about e ink panels.
They are not responsive. Their only duty is to save battery and paperlike screen.
Otherwise they can put an LCD or oled panel, they put 165 hertz refresh rate and you charge your device every second day.
That's the point.
Love the Kobo products in so many ways, but they do not allow me access to my documents downloaded (to my PC) via my paid subscription services which I need for my work. Hence it is a no go. Otherwise I would buy a Kobo today.
Documents can be transfered through Dropbox. However, it depends on your definition of 'Documents', since only a few formats are supported (no Microsoft Word documents, you'd need to convert those to PDF first). It would be impossible for Kobo to implement any/all "paid subscription services" on their devices. Or maybe I completely misunderstood your comment? ;)
People should check forum posts about the battery life before they buy this. Apparently its atrocious.
Man oh man, I'll tell you , we have received a non stop stream of literally JUST that issue.
Quite troubling :(
Got to one minute into the video and it shows smoke coming out of the reader. Maybe not a good idea.
What?
@@goodereader I'm half joking. The smoke effect.
@@goodereader Anyway. I'm buying one. You've sold me on it.
Guys, the Sage might actually be a good device, but this sure sounded more like a Kobo marketing campaign than a real review
Well, we aren't sponsored by kobo and have no affiliation with them whatsoever,.. so, no it isn't LOL
Also, as we literally reviewed the crap out of it for 13 minutes.. I'm not sure why you think this isn't a review.
@@goodereader Just the triumphalism about Kobo seems excessive - particularly in the intro, up until 01:00. If I were a Kobo product manager, that's exactly what I'd want you to say. Don't get me wrong, I like these devices, but a more sober style would maybe be more appropriate? Especially considering that many of these devices, for years, have been consistently having lighting issues that are unacceptable at that price. I'm not insinuating anything and appreciate your work here.
@@crca486 Kobo husband a major player in the e-reader scope for over a decade, is one of the top three largest producers of ebook readers, and has one of the most International presences.
This device lacks nothing in the current scope of what makes a good eBook reader
It's also not exorbitantly priced like other note-taking slates.
We have been in the industry for 13 years. In terms of ebook readers, this is one of the best.
We're not talking about tablet powerhouses with epaper screens like the dasung 103, or anything from the boox note line.
So yeah, this isn't a promo, this is a review, it is a very lengthy, long, and in-depth review where we cover books, manga, audiobooks, store, and everything else. Please actually watch the video, not just the lead-in artistic opening :-)
@@goodereader I did watch it. Let's put it this way: I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy a Sage, and respectfully, I was expecting this review to cover topics like:
- Is the "better contrast" advertised as a selling point by Kobo real, compared to the Forma?
- Is the "massive 1.8 GHZ quad-core processor" making a real difference in terms of responsiveness?
- Are page turns really that faster as advertised?
- Is the flickering issue of the Forma gone?
- Is the battery life decent considering it employs a smaller battery than the Libra 2?
- I do see a brighter zone close to the buttons. This has historically been an issue with Forma, Libra H20 , Aura One and other devices. Other reviewers reported that too.
Notetaking in books only works with ebooks purchased at Kobo? True?
First and please make Sage giveaway!
Laughs in Kindle Scribe.
Kindle scribe pen is world better than the stupid kobo stylus, I might have to attend some anger management class for wanting to smash that pen every time I use it.
Niiiiice!
sponsored? Looks like it though
nope. Goodereader is not associated with Kobo rakuten in any way.
@@goodereader ...not associated in any way, except that you sell this product in your store, so therefore you make a living from Kobo products. I would say that is actually very associated with Kobo.
Still very primitive this devices. no colour, slow motion on pdfs, small screens( could be foldable- would be perfect 10 inch), more battery etc....etc.... 🤔
Great review but reading "The Madness of Crowds" on it? 😬 Cripes. I don't know if you selected the book randomly, but it is a harmful screed which primarily aims to belittle the suffering of women and other sections of society. The author also penned a book perpetrating "white replacement" theory. He is a seriously problematic dude who engages in far-right conspiracies.
Yeah, okay. It's to show the crispness of the screen technology. We don't care what the book is.
And you should email the author, not us. We didn't write it. Thank you :-)