Kobo Sage | eReader | 8” HD Glare Free Touchscreen | Waterproof | Adjustable Brightness and Color Temperature | Blue Light Reduction | Bluetooth | WiFi | 32GB of Storage | Carta E Ink Technology

Really enjoying my Kobo Sage after putting it through its paces for the last week and a half or so. I was looking for an ergonomic alternative to the Kindle Oasis, as I think not having a USB-C port is atrociously dated, and wasn't about to put up with that. At a quick review, the Sage does everything I want it to. Fantastic screen, adjusts between blue and orange lighting automatically, it feels sturdy and stable, well-made. The buttons and grip allow for me to use and read while doing all sorts of things, and the foldable cover is wonderful for propping up and looking at while occupied with both hands. The store is perfectly serviceable, though I've just been side-loading my existing ebooks through Calibre, which is an absolute breeze. The big thing people ask about is battery life. There was a slight known issue with battery life, and I feel that it has been resolved to a very acceptable level. The overall battery capacity is a little less than desired, so I knocked a star off, but it should be wonderful for those who are simply using this as a reading device. Update the firmware, fully power cycle a couple of times, and I'm now getting several days of reading out of it, probably 3+ hours per day, before getting low. Keep bluetooth and wifi off unless needed, and you'll be fine. My understanding is that annotations and writing will significantly reduce battery life, so please keep that in mind - I would not recommend this for writing. Pros: Ergonomic and high-quality feeling Screen brightness and quality are very high The side-grip is an absolute godsend, compared to normal ereader models. I love it just like the Oasis. USB-C (yay) Minor gripes: Sometimes the screen rotation is a bit slow. I suspect the gyroscope is slightly lower quality, but it doesn't take much beyond a firmer tilt to fix, so this is a non-issue for me. The only other problem I've run into has only happened once, so I can't yet say if it's a problem or just a minor but that occurred, but the screen did stop responding once, along with the buttons, and I had to turn it off and on again to resolve. Expensive Ultimately, I'm quite happy with the purchase, and would happily buy another, assuming that this one stands the test of time.

I love this E-reader. Now that I have a new job I can splurge a little and treated myself to buying a reader. And it's everything I hoped for and more. The font customization is excellent, you can install additional ones downloaded online. The right font for you will make reading MUCH MORE enjoyable and not tiresome, trust me. I downloaded the Atkinson Hyperilegible font set, and it's just soooo smooth for your eyes. I decided to plow through the Game of Thrones series to be my Kobo's hazing, and trying to read those books in the published font just feels tedious and punishing when I can finally pick and choose. Obviously font sizing, margins, line spacing, it has everything to make it just right for you. I got this over the Kindle because I have a library card and can just load stuff for free from there if needed. It has its own bookstore too if you need. But, I just download EPUB files from annas archive website - google it, not sure if links are allowed in reviews. Theres a huge reddit compilation of where to source any type of reading material and audiobooks you'd want. You can load the Kobo through a connected online drive like google or overdrive, etc. its 32 GB, and unless you cram it with hundreds of audibooks, I have no idea how many books you'd need to run out of space on this. Not that most people would ever need, but I wonder why they didn't put in a SD card slot too. Theres ample room on this nicely sized device. The dictionary function is awesome, I had no idea how much of an extensive vocabulary GRR Martin employs. All you do is hold down the word - and voila, no internet required. Obviously you can change the color intensity from bluer to redder depending on the time of day or your lighting. And the battery last very very long if you keep the wifi turned off. If on, it curiously kills the battery within the same day, even on standby it just drains it. But you don't need it apart from storing more files. I havent tried udiobooks, not that I really cared for that, i typically listened to those on my phone on walks, or long car rides, etc. But, being a bit of a niche brand I suppose, finding covers and screen protectors at least on amazon is very limiting. Maybe by design since its a Kindle world. I found only ONE screen protector option here that was shipped from Germany. At least you know that's quality and is designed to actually last you, making up for the steeper price. It charges fairly quickly. Basically, it does all you need a reader to do. Which helped eliminate my annoyance of holding heavy books and traveling will be a breeze now without lugging anything around. I can read at night with ease. I should have gotten this years ago. And don't worry about it being future-proof or whatnot, Just get it if you're on the fence. These are readers, there's not that much innovation going around for what you need it to do. Unlike phones every couple of years, which are proper handheld computers vs a very specific function in mind device.

This is my first non-Kindle reader. Prior to the Sage, my most recent reader was a launch day Kindle Voyage from 2014 that's still going. I've kept my eyes open for new options in the Kindle line for a while, but nothing's really impressed me, and with the recent discontinuation of the Oasis and move to only buttonless readers, I decided it was time to explore other vendors' products. First, the good. The screen is gorgeous. It's crisp and clear, with great contrast, and has a fantastic light with a very wide range of brightness and temperature on it. It's also very responsive, with pages turning (even with a full refresh) nearly instantaneously. It's also nice to have a flush display rather than an inset one, as it means that dust and such doesn't get stuck in the corners. From my exploration so far, there's a vibrant community developing tools for customizations and integrations with Kobo readers, which allows for a lot of quality of life features, like automatically converting EPUB books to the Kobo's KEPUB format when copying them to the device, keeping the device's metadata up to date for manually-copied books, installing additional reader applications with more customizability, etc. Even just having EPUB as a native format is nice, since that's what nearly everybody (other than Amazon) uses. The OK is the buttons. They're decent. They'd be better if they were wider, and if the edge of the reader curved downward instead of upward. But they work just fine. Also, the official case can be kind of iffy with flipping pages when you open it. The bad is the battery life. This doesn't impact me too much personally since I don't mind charging it every day, but the battery life on this is dramatically worse than any other e-ink reader I've ever heard of. It's very possible to drain it in a day of reading even with the wifi, Bluetooth, and light all turned off completely. My understanding is that this is an anomaly in the Kobo line (which I was aware of going in), and that the other Kobo readers are more in line with typical reader battery life, but that's a huge drawback here. Overall, I'm quite happy with it. The worst I can say about it is that I wish the page turn buttons were a little different, and it really needs some work on the battery in a future revision. Aside from those things, it's a pretty nice reader that's fast, responsive, and highly customizable.

Build Quality Solid, premium feel in hand. The Kobo Sage is built like a tank without being heavy. The magnesium alloy frame and rubberized back offer a great balance between sturdiness and grip. It feels far more robust and high-end than most e-readers, including the Kindle Oasis. Reading Experience Absolutely soothing on the eyes. The 8" E Ink Carta 1200 screen offers fantastic contrast and sharpness. The ComfortLight Pro with adjustable brightness and warm light reduces eye strain, making long reading sessions a pleasure. It doesn’t just let you read — it invites you to keep reading. Dropbox & Google Drive Integration Game-changer for productivity. Once you experience syncing your PDFs and eBooks directly via Dropbox or Google Drive, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. Seamless cloud integration makes personal document management far more fluid than Kindle’s email-based system. Overall Experience vs. Kindle Far, far, far superior to Kindle. From UI customization to open file support (like EPUB and CBZ) and the freedom from Amazon’s ecosystem lock-in, Kobo Sage outclasses Kindle in every meaningful way. It’s not just an e-reader — it’s a reading companion built for serious book lovers and professionals alike. Button and speed: Soft clicking button show no sign of easy wear. Note taking -- not yet tried. Confused in Kobo Stylus 2 or Metapen M2.

I got the Kobo Sage for a great deal at fifty percent off MSRP, but the device is still overpriced. The Kobo Sage promises to be the best of both worlds: a Kobo eReader with integrated OverDrive and a notetaking e-Ink device. Unfortunately, it only does each of those half as good as other eReaders in the Kobo line up. Why? Cons: 1. The battery life is abysmal. With or without the front light on, *reading a book* for 20 minutes will see you lose nearly 10% of battery life. That's unheard of for any e-Ink device If you take notes while reading, you can lose 20%. Keep the charger on standby! 2. The buttons are placed too far a part, so I cannot use them to change the page with one hand, even though the device material should give a good grip. 3. The touchscreen is occasionally not responsive when turning pages. 4. After downloading the most recent firmware, 4.33.19611, the device has less crashes and less "Cannot export notebook" errors, but one wonders why they released such a buggy device to begin with. And why the firmware still doesn't entirely solve the battery drain issues. 5. Although you can put the system language into Japanese, French, Turkish etc., my version won't allow the text of Notebooks to auto-recognize those language's texts. Is it because the device comes preloaded with a Wal-Mart Rakuten Kobo splash screen? I'll never know. Very disappointed. 6. Dictionaries are very limited. 7. If you are a tinkerer, you may not mind the workarounds to get the Kobo Sage to operate in your preferred language, dictionary, menu-style. I don't want to be a tinkerer, so this is a con. I *can* tinker--but I don't enjoy a Saturday afternoon tinkering with Python, terminal commands and eBook management software to get the device to perform at its best. 8. Math Equations are very limited, so it's more a gimmick than anything. You wouldn't be able to use this for class. 9. Although Kobo sells EPUB and allows you to download the EPUB file when you purchase it to read on your computer with Adobe Digital Editions/DRM (yay!!), the Kobo itself renders EPUB files that you sideload in such a way as to prohibit zooming in on images (nooo!!). Awful! You must use third-party software to convert EPUBs from other vendors into KEPUB so you can zoom in on any images, or have them displayed in full, proper size. I have so many non-fiction history eBooks with maps, family trees and so on, and I have had to convert them to KEPUB just to get the proper eReading experience on this beautiful 8 inch display. PDF rendering is also bizarre, such that you cannot zoom in more than 265% in Portrait or 173% in landscape. Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and Nook GlowLight 4 do not have those limitations. PDFs also may cause the device to stutter or freeze. 10. Cannot export highlights or annotations without tinkering in the system files. And, even once you've done that, the exported file doesn't even tell you the page number or location where your annotation is from, unlike the Kindle. 11. Annotations handwritten on a book cannot be exported as a PDF. I would be fine with only exporting my annotations to PDF or PNG, but no, the handwritten annotations must forever live on the device. Pros: 1. Awesome 8 inch screen is great for reading graphic novels. We zipped through Legend of Korra in 2 days. 2. Beta feature allows "My Words" which saves words you want to remember/practice, similar to Kindle's "Vocabulary Builder." 3. Handwritten annotations on language learning books is great. Quick, natural note-taking very closely mimics paper. Note: I am using a stylus from brand Rennaiser: the Raphael 530. 4. Very easy to borrow books from your local public library using Overdrive and your public library card. Note: unlike Libby or Overdrive apps, you cannot load multiple library accounts onto the Kobo Sage--you'll need to create an Overdrive account to which you add all your library cards instead. Minor inconvenience, but an inconsistency in app vs. reader functionality. 5. Home screen shows mostly your own eBook library with only 3 books showing from the Recommendations. Very welcomed for those of us who don't want to see unwanted ads or recommendations!! 6. Simple sliding gesture makes it easy to turn on and off the front light. 7. Font adjustments. Conclusion: Get the Kobo Libra 2 if you just want a bigger eReader screen. If you want to take notes, this device feels too much like it's still in Beta, so go for ReMarkable 2 or Onyx Boox. If you desperately want to stay inside the Kobo ecosystem, pick this one up on a sale only. The Kobo Elipsa software is the same as the Kobo Sage, and doesn't promise anything better in functionality.

Screen is very crisp and larger than the usual 6" screens, backlighting has no hot spots and the night/amber feature is a good tint even in daytime. The only desirable feature would be if the battery lasted a bit longer, although they are making a supplementary attachable cover with extra battery storage. I also absolutely love having actual tactile buttons - nothing wrong with the touch screen. They even thought to allow to reverse the buttons as to which does next and which does back. Once in awhile (like one out of every couple hundred page turns) the buttons seem to stop responding. One swipe on the touchscreen restores it; I do not find it particularly annoying or troublesome and I'm guessing eventually a firmware update will come along. Bottom line: This is an awesome product and I don't mind paying what I did for it; it's already provided a lot of reading enjoyment and will continue to do so.

I have to say that the initial setup is extremely frustrating. The device came completely drained of battery... Ok, no big deal. When it got plugged, there was no indication whether it was getting charged or not... Ok, no big deal. Then, after it finally started, I figured I could proceed with the setup. It was one of the worst initial setups I experienced. I don't complain a lot, but this got me frustrated. For starters, it took me 5 minutes to type my Wi-Fi password as the screen kept freezing. When I was finally done, It kept telling me that it cannot connect to the Wi-Fi. After a few retries, it eventually did but right after that, came un update... Ok, great. No, not really. It just kicked me back to the screen to set up the Wi-Fi again. I am not sure if I got a lemon, but this one was extra sour. At this point, I am contemplating returning the device and just use my iPad instead. I got the device as I enjoy reading and that helps relax and not to get my blood pressure up.

This is my favorite ereader now. I began my ereader journey with the Nook Simple Touch, then upgraded that to one with glow-light. I chose B&N because of their adoption of the epub format. After many years of product neglect, I gave up on Nook and purchased a Kobo Clara HD (2018). That device is fantastic (I highly recommend it still in late 2021). My eyes are getting older and I wanted to get a bigger more full-featured device. I Haven’t tested any of the accessories or the note taking functionality, but I just read my first book on my Kobo Sage. Everything about this ereader is awesome. Even the dark mode looks amazing on this. If you’re in the market or on the fence - I suggest buying one - I have no regrets even at this price point. UPDATE: Still love reading on this device (18 months later), however... the battery life is abysmal. I get about a week on a single charge with WIFI and Bluetooth off and the light between 8 and 12% averaging 3-4 hours a day of constant usage.