About a month ago, the CEO of Kobo teased new hardware on X (Twitter), a surprise we would hear about soon. Well, “soon” has transpired: Kobo has announced a remote for its e-readers, known as the Kobo Remote, which was initially set to launch on November 4th for $30, but has since been delayed to December 2nd. Of course, this is precisely the hardware we predicted a month ago, as we had assumed it would be an accessory of some sort, likely an official remote to compete with third parties and homebrew options. Now that Kobo has made it official, the only thing left to do is wait for the release.
The Kobo Remote lands next month for $30
Take it in, this is what the Kob Remote looks like. It’s designed to be ergonomic so that it will fit comfortably in your hand, hence the curved look. Rakuten claims the battery life is “long-lasting,” but so far, no specific numbers have been shared. What we do know is that the device will retail for $30, which is a little pricey when third parties certainly clock in at half the price. Still, there is a reason people have been purchasing 8Bitdo’s Micro Bluetooth Gamepad; turning e-reader pages remotely is something readers are clamoring for.
Now, you could say the consumer’s desire for a physical page-turn button is a result of removing them from the majority of e-readers on the market, where even Kobo offers physical page-turn buttons on only two of its five devices. But I feel this is more about accessibility: a remote means you don’t have to actually hold the e-reader in your hand (unlike using page-turn buttons built into the device), so for those who can’t or don’t want to hold their e-reader, a remote keeps them reading without any hassle. This way, you can burrow into your duvet during the cold winter months without breaking the ever-so-warm seal to turn a page and keep reading.
A first-party option may work better than third parties
There is no guarantee that using a third-party page-turning remote will work as expected. If you check out Reddit, there are several complaints about using third-party remotes with Kobo devices, including inconsistent connection to Bluetooth and excessive battery drain. So if Kobo has managed to sidestep these issues with its official remote, I can certainly see it being a success despite the high price.
Orders open December 2nd on Rakuten
Ideally, more information will be released before the Kobo Remote launches on its new adjusted timeline on December 2nd, like battery size, expected battery life, while detailing precisely what the remote can control, as it would be nice to be able to adjust lighting remotely while also retaining the ability to turn pages, so here’s hoping the two buttons can be programmed for a multitude of uses.
Kobo Remote
