A new e-reader from Rakuten-owned Kobo has been in the news this week, mainly because it could very well outrun the poster child of e-readers, the Kindle, and now the new Kindle Voyage, with its $130 price. The Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten snatched up Kobo back in 2011, and started producing good quality, affordable e-readers and tablets. Not only is it cheaper than its alternatives, the Glo HD-sporting device is said to be the “highest resolution e-reader at the lowest price”.

Dubbed the Kobo Glo HD, reading is as close to the real thing (real print on real paper) as it can get. It sports a 6-inch, 1448 x 1072 Carta E-ink touchscreen (equaling 300 ppi), putting it on par with the Retina-class displays we are seeing on current smartphones. It also puts Kobo and the Kindle Voyage in a tie when it comes to screen resolution. It features Kobo's ComfortLight tech for reading in the dark, has an unnamed 1GHz processor, and 4GB of on board storage (Tech Crunch). Kobo weighs 180 grams, and measures 157 x 115 x 9.2 mm, making it the same weight as the Kindle Voyage, but a slightly shorter and thicker version of it.

If you really want to put the two devices head-to-head, then we can get into some of the known technicalities out there. The Kindle Voyage does contain automatic lighting adjustment features, page turn pressure buttons on the bezel, and both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity options. Kobo does not have these features, but does connect using Wi-Fi. However, when you think about it having the same screen resolution as its counterpart, and the same 4GB of built-in storage for those of you who love to build your libraries, spending a little less sure sounds nice. If you are interested, the Kobo Glo HD will be on sale in the states (as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) for $129.99 as soon as May 1^st.