Kobo Vox Takes On Kindle Fire With Sub-$200 Tag

Ereader firm Kobo has announced the Kobo Vox, the company's latest Android-based ereader. Previewed last month with a premature store listing, the Vox features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display, 800MHz Freescale iMX51 processor, 8GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM, and runs a reskinned version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, all for under $200.

There's also a microSD card slot, microUSB port and 3.5mm headphone, together with an integrated speaker and WiFi b/g/n. Users will also get full access to Android underneath, so if they tire of reading ePub ebooks and viewing photos, music and video they can side-load apps too. The display is a 400 nit multitouch panel, while the whole thing measures 192.4 x 128.4 x 13.4mm and weighs 402.5g.

Battery life is tipped at up to 7hrs with WiFi turned on, and of course there's access to Kobo's ebook store directly from the Vox itself. The Kobo Vox will go on sale in the US and Canada today, priced at $199.99. Broader international availability has been promised but not dated.