Does anybody actually want a distant for a tool you’re already both holding or utilizing at arm’s size? E-readers have saved us from the danger of paper cuts and the burden of bodily turning pages, however Kobo is making it even simpler by releasing a wi-fi page-turning distant. The Kobo Distant could be indulgent and fundamental, nevertheless it’s all about maximizing comfort, and on the finish of the evening after I’m trying to unwind with e book, that’s precisely what I would like.
Clip-on web page turners have at all times felt too cumbersome and complex to me. I’m most likely not alone, as a result of shortly after it launched final November, the $30 Kobo Distant rapidly offered out and remained out of inventory for a number of months. It wasn’t till late January that I used to be lastly in a position to purchase one, and whereas I believe Kobo might have squeezed in somewhat extra performance, each my spouse and I’ve readily embraced the distant.
At simply shy of 4 inches lengthy and concerning the dimension of a pack of Juicy Fruit, the Kobo Distant is rather a lot smaller than I used to be anticipating. It feels even smaller in my giant arms, however on the identical time large enough to comfortably maintain and function, and to not get misplaced within the bedsheets if dropped. The distant contains an elective wrist lanyard, which on a couple of event has prevented it from going lacking after I’ve fallen asleep studying.
There’s no rechargeable battery, however Kobo says the included AAA ought to final for months. The distant will solely connect with Kobo units that assist Bluetooth for audiobooks, however the pairing course of is as painless as connecting headphones. As soon as paired, the distant routinely reconnects when your Kobo wakes, requiring only a second or two earlier than it’s able to go. If you wish to join it to a distinct e-reader, a button on the entrance fringe of the distant manually prompts pairing mode.
The distant has two clicky buttons. The bigger one goes to the following web page, and the smaller one flips again. They’re simple to distinguish by contact — along with the scale distinction, one button is concave, whereas the opposite is convex — however you’ll be able to’t customise their performance. It could be good to have the ability to press and maintain both button to extend or lower display screen brightness, or make font dimension changes. And my spouse, a voracious shopper of audiobooks, was disenchanted to search out she couldn’t use the distant’s buttons to regulate the quantity or pause playback — they solely skip ahead or again 30 seconds at a time.
Is the Kobo Distant a must-have accent for each Kobo consumer? In all probability not, however we’ve already discovered a number of eventualities the place it’s been a welcome improve. My spouse, who makes use of her Kobo mounted to a bedside stand, can now learn books whereas staying fully cocooned beneath the covers. I favor studying whereas laying on my aspect and may now prop my Kobo up on my nightstand and flip pages with out having to awkwardly attain over.
The distant has additionally made studying on the treadmill simpler. And for Kobo e-readers missing buttons, it could possibly facilitate web page turns whereas carrying gloves throughout a cold morning commute, or save your display screen from greasy fingerprints whereas snacking. It’s an adjunct that’s all about consolation, ease, and comfort, and today I’ll take about as a lot of all of these as I can get.
Pictures by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge