 This is Joanna for The Verge and this is the Kobo Vox, which is Kobo's color tablet that goes up against the Kindle Fire and the Nook tablet. And while it is $200 like the competition, you get a lot less for your money. From the outside, it actually doesn't look like a terrible tablet. I actually do like the back, the quilted feel in hand. But it's with the screen that you start to see most of the big issues. The screen itself is made out of plastic, which makes it feel pretty cheap, but also the panel is really low quality. It has pretty bad viewing angles and it just isn't that bright. But the bigger issue is actually the touch responsiveness. Swipes and taps are really sluggish, which can obviously ruin the entire experience. There's been times where I've just sat here tapping the screen with nothing happening. Unfortunately, that poor screen experience is also bred with some pretty subpar specs inside. You get an 800 MHz processor and half a GB of RAM, which would typically be okay for running Android. You get Android 2.3 here and it's a relatively clean version. But unfortunately Kobo doesn't seem to have done much in terms of optimizing the software. Kobo's also partnered with a few third party app vendors. It includes Rdio and Zinio for reading magazines. And it's also included GetJar's App Store for downloading your own apps. It's also pretty easy to sideload your own apps. But unfortunately some of those, including Angry Birds, just have pretty terrible performance. And you'll see in Angry Birds, actually there's a ton of stuttering. Kobo's added its own reading widget and has access to over 2.2 million books in its bookstore. But unfortunately the reading experience isn't all that great because of that screen problem and also the slow performance. It especially trails the Kindle Fire when you look at the page turn times. For $200 I think the answer is pretty clear. Kobo's Vox cannot compete with the Fire or Nook tablet. Its performance, software and hardware are simply inferior. If you need a cheap tablet this holiday season, I would definitely suggest Amazon's or Barnes and Noble's.
 This is Joanna for The Verge and this is the Kobo Vox, which is Kobo's color tablet that goes up against the Kindle Fire and the Nook tablet.
 And while it is $200 like the competition, you get a lot less for your money.
 From the outside, it actually doesn't look like a terrible tablet. I actually do like the back, the quilted feel in hand.
 But it's with the screen that you start to see most of the big issues.
 The screen itself is made out of plastic, which makes it feel pretty cheap, but also the panel is really low quality.
 It has pretty bad viewing angles and it just isn't that bright.
 But the bigger issue is actually the touch responsiveness.
 Swipes and taps are really sluggish, which can obviously ruin the entire experience.
 There's been times where I've just sat here tapping the screen with nothing happening.
 Unfortunately, that poor screen experience is also bred with some pretty subpar specs inside.
 You get an 800 MHz processor and half a GB of RAM, which would typically be okay for running Android.
 You get Android 2.3 here and it's a relatively clean version.
 But unfortunately Kobo doesn't seem to have done much in terms of optimizing the software.
 Kobo's also partnered with a few third party app vendors.
 It includes Rdio and Zinio for reading magazines.
 And it's also included GetJar's App Store for downloading your own apps.
 It's also pretty easy to sideload your own apps.
 But unfortunately some of those, including Angry Birds, just have pretty terrible performance.
 And you'll see in Angry Birds, actually there's a ton of stuttering.
 Kobo's added its own reading widget and has access to over 2.2 million books in its bookstore.
 But unfortunately the reading experience isn't all that great because of that screen problem and also the slow performance.
 It especially trails the Kindle Fire when you look at the page turn times.
 For $200 I think the answer is pretty clear.
 Kobo's Vox cannot compete with the Fire or Nook tablet.
 Its performance, software and hardware are simply inferior.
 If you need a cheap tablet this holiday season, I would definitely suggest Amazon's or Barnes and Noble's.