The Kobo ereading app on the Vox is similar to the Android app, but it adds some new features. The placement helps to keep the sound from being muffled, but the speaker is just so-so. There is one speaker built-in to the top-right corner of the device. It has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, volume buttons, power button, and microSD card slot for cards up to 32GB. ![]() The Vox has a micro USB port for connecting the device to a computer to transfer files and for charging it with the included wall charger. The sides of the device come in four color options: black, green, pink, and blue. It feels nice to the touch and reminds me of the Blackberry Playbook, which has a similar feel. The rear of the Kobo Vox has Kobo's patented quilted backing. There's a white light behind these that illuminates them whenever the device is turned on. One thing that is unique about the Kobo Vox is it has three capacitive Android buttons below the screen for Home, Back, and Menu. Most the games I tested worked well enough to be playable and fun, but the Vox isn't a gaming machine and shouldn't be purchased if that is to be one of its primary purposes. For instance, Angry Birds is smooth with the sound muted, but the Birds stutter slightly when flying through the air with the sound on. Several games I tried run smoothly while others lag. One thing it struggles with is certain games. The Kobo's single core 800MHz processor handles most tasks fine, ereading, web browsing, pinch-zooming, scrolling, playing music, and even watching movies is very smooth. Much has been made about the Kobo Vox using a single-core processor when newer tablets are using faster dual-core processors. You can't notice it when using night-mode for reading or whenever the background is black unless the brightness is turned all the way up in a dark room. The good thing with the Vox is that anytime the screen is alight with color it is impossible to see the light bleeding. And that's coming from someone who returned two Asus Transformers for the same problem. The screen does have some light bleeding that is apparent on the black background when it boots up, and I thought it would a problem, but it's actually a complete non-issue. Side-by-side with the Nook Color, the text is noticeably darker and the background lighter, and that's saying something because the Nook Color fairs better than most tablets in sunlight. Like most screens, it is very reflective and glossy, so outdoor reading isn't nearly as effective as with an E Ink ebook reader, but the Vox's screen manages better than most tablets outdoors and is readable as long as it's not in direct sunlight. If it would have been released at this time last year up against the Nook Color, or if it came with a dual-core processor, the Vox would have a much better chance of contending. However, the Kobo Vox it is inevitably going to be compared to the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, and against those two it doesn't stand much of a chance, other than the fact it costs $50 less than the Nook, has a memory card slot unlike the Kindle, and is available internationally. Between the excellent screen quality and open operating system, it's better than most budget tablets by a mile. The Kobo Vox has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Software needs polishing, annoying minor bugs, and Kobo's eReading app is too slow at times and needs more features such as custom shelves, dictionary integration, bookmarks, etc.No Google Apps or Android Market without hack.Single core 800MHz processor is faster than expected but is still slower than Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet's dual core processors.8GB of memory and SD card slot provide ample storage space.Open Android 2.3 so you can install apps, even competing ereading apps like Kindle and Nook. ![]()
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