Money Supermarket's Inspect A Gadget | Kobo Mini

I was recently contacted by Money Supermarket and asked if I'd like to take part in their 'Inspect-a-Gadget' (get it?) initiative to find the best budget gadgets out there that are perfect for travelling. They very kindly offered me the chance to review the new Kobo Mini e-reader and of course I said yes and set out on my way to WHSmith to pick up the pocket-sized device. 

E-readers have always been something I've wanted to try out but have always found it difficult to move away from paper books; I just love having actual books to hold for some reason. That being said I went into this with an open mind and the e-reader experience was actually quite enjoyable one. The device is one of the smallest and lightest out there and comes with a 5" E ink display, which though small (see the comparison photos!), is really just the perfect portable size, both to carry and to read. It's not uncomfortable or hard to read at all and the anti-glare screen means even if you're on holiday in the sun, you can still see the screen! 

It has around a two week battery life, depending on how much you use it and it has up to 2GB of space so plenty of room for all your favourite books. One thing that pleasantly surprised me was the fact that you can actually browse the Internet (sort of) on this device which is great and also that it has three built in games included. These are fun little things that really make it a bit different and less of a standard, E ink reader, they aren't super hi-tech though so don't expect that!

One thing that left me a little disappointed was the navigation within the device. Nothing is really 'signposted' and although once you're on a book it's fine, actually setting up the device proved a little difficult and I just wish things were a lot simpler to begin with. That being said, once you've gotten used to it, it's really simple to use and I've had no real issues with that. One final thing about this e-reader is that although it does have the anti-glare screen, I think a useful thing would be for it to have a back light function because reading this in the dark would be an impossible task; but if you're like me and never sit in the dark, it's not really a problem.

Overall I think for the price, this e-reader is really good but if you're looking for a high-tech device, this may not be right for you. If you want something to simply read on then it's perfect. 

The Kobo Mini e-reader* is £49.99 and is available online and at all major WHSmith stores.