Kobo at Best Buy US 2026: What It Means for EPUB Readers
Kobo Just Quietly Entered Best Buy US
On August 3, 2026, Rakuten Kobo quietly started doing business in the United States at Best Buy. The retailer is now stocking the latest-generation Kobo Libra Colour, Kobo Clara Colour, and Kobo Clara BW, plus Kobo Stylus pens, remotes, SleepCover cases, and gift cards. The e-readers and accessories are available both in stores and online, with shipping and select in-store pickup, according to Good e-Reader.
It does not look like much on the surface — another retailer stocking another gadget. But the tech press framed it correctly: this is the moment Kindle's 16-year retail lock at Best Buy ends. Amazon has sold Kindles through Best Buy since 2010, which made the chain the default place Americans walked into when they wanted an e-reader. For the first time in over a decade and a half, a serious EPUB-first competitor will sit on the same shelves.
Here is what changed, how Kobo got here, which models you can actually buy, and what the deal means for EPUB readers.
Kindle's 16-Year Retail Lock at Best Buy
To understand why this is news, you have to understand how dominant Amazon has been in US physical retail. Best Buy is the largest dedicated consumer-electronics chain in the country, and Amazon has been selling Kindles through it since 2010. For sixteen years, a shopper walking into a Best Buy to look at e-readers saw essentially one brand: Kindle. The display case had Paperwhites and Basics; the accessories wall had Amazon cases and chargers.
That retail presence is a big part of why the Kindle family holds such a large share of the US e-reader market. Most people do not buy a niche device like an e-reader after months of research — they buy one when they see it on a shelf, touch it, and decide on the spot. If the only e-readers on the shelf are Kindles, most of those impulse decisions go to Amazon.
Kobo has always had a much stronger position in Canada, Europe, and parts of Asia, but in the US it has never had much market share, and it has had no physical retail partner at all since late 2024. The Best Buy launch is Kobo's attempt to fix both problems at once.
The Walmart Chapter: A Cautionary Tale
This is not Kobo's first US retail rodeo, and the previous one ended badly enough that the Best Buy deal deserves a skeptical look.
In 2018, Walmart and Rakuten Kobo partnered to sell e-readers in more than 1,000 US locations and online. Alongside the hardware, Walmart launched Walmart eBooks, letting customers who bought a reader from Walmart purchase ebooks through Walmart, with dedicated Android and iOS apps.
Right off the bat, things were rocky. Kobo expected a US retail giant to have demo e-readers so people could try before buying. Many locations did not stock the devices at all; the ones that did often had dead batteries that were never charged. Nobody was trained on the e-readers, so staff could not answer even simple questions, and the devices were primarily sold online rather than from the shelves. The partnership was officially dead on October 31, 2024, and the app was shut down.
The lesson is that a retail partnership is only as good as the execution on the floor. A box on a shelf is worthless if nobody can demo it, and a demo unit with a dead battery is worse than none. That makes one detail in the Best Buy news worth watching: there are no demo units in Best Buy stores yet, the way there are in Canada. Until working demos appear and Best Buy staff can actually talk about the devices, the partnership is a logistics win, not yet a sales win.
Which Kobo Models Are at Best Buy?
Best Buy is stocking the three current-generation Kobo readers, which together cover the mainstream of the lineup:
| Model | Screen | Best For | Typical US List Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kobo Clara BW | 6" E Ink Carta 1300, black & white | Budget, distraction-free EPUB reading; pocketable | ~$129.99 |
| Kobo Clara Colour | 6" Kaleido 3 color e-ink | Color covers, comics, and magazines on a small device | ~$149.99 |
| Kobo Libra Colour | 7" Kaleido 3 color e-ink, page-turn buttons | Note-taking with stylus, larger color library, one-handed reading | ~$219.99 |
Alongside the readers, Best Buy carries Kobo Stylus 2 pens (for the Libra Colour), remotes for hands-free page turning, SleepCover cases, and Kobo gift cards. Prices shown are the typical US list prices — Kobo runs periodic sales, and Best Buy frequently matches or discounts them, so check the live listing before you buy.
If you are choosing between the three, the logic is simple. The Clara BW is the purest reading device: high-contrast black-and-white text, no color, lowest price. The Clara Colour adds color at the same size, which matters if you read comics, cookbooks, or anything with color illustrations. The Libra Colour is the flagship: a larger 7-inch color screen, physical page-turn buttons, and stylus support for handwriting notes and annotations. For most EPUB readers who want a color device, the Libra Colour is the one worth the extra money.
Why Kobo Is the EPUB Reader's Choice
For the audience of a PDF-to-EPUB converter, the important thing about Kobo has never been the hardware — it is the format politics. Kobo reads EPUB natively. You do not need to convert, re-wrap, or jump through a Send-to-Device pipeline to read a standard EPUB on a Kobo. You plug it in, drag the file over, or use Calibre, and it just works.
That is the opposite of the Kindle experience. Amazon's devices read a proprietary KFX/AZW3 format, and EPUB files have to be converted through Amazon's pipeline before they will open. Amazon has been slowly improving that flow, and the store now accepts EPUB uploads for KDP publishing, but the reader experience is still conversion-first rather than open-format-first. If your library is built from DRM-free EPUB files, a Kobo is the device that treats them as first-class citizens.
Kobo also stays closer to the open ecosystem in other ways: public-library lending through OverDrive/Libby works on Kobo devices in supported regions, sideloading via USB, Dropbox, and Google Drive is frictionless, and the company has kept adding services rather than locking things down — from StoryGraph integration to the EPUB Checker built into recent firmware. We compared the three main platforms in depth in Kobo vs Kindle vs PocketBook 2026, and the short version is: if EPUB is your format, Kobo is the mainstream device that respects it.
What the Best Buy Deal Means for the Market
First, it gives US readers a genuine choice at the point of sale for the first time in sixteen years. Even if most shoppers still pick a Kindle, a visible Kobo display normalizes the idea that an e-reader does not have to come from Amazon — which is a meaningful step for format diversity.
Second, the timing is good. August is back-to-school season, when e-reader sales traditionally pick up, and retailers run aggressive promotions. Kobo devices have been discounted at various points through 2026, so the first few months of the Best Buy relationship may come with the best prices US buyers have seen.
Third, it reinforces a broader trend in 2026: the open e-reader movement is accelerating on every front. In the last two weeks alone we have covered FreeInk's open-source firmware and SDK and Cobalt, an app SDK for Kobo, and color e-ink has finally become affordable on mainstream devices. A Kobo on a Best Buy shelf is the retail manifestation of the same shift: readers are asking for devices that do not lock them into a single store or format.
The caution remains the Walmart experience. Best Buy can stock the hardware, but the partnership lives or dies on demo units, trained staff, and consistent in-store availability. If Best Buy treats Kobo like a real product category rather than a shelf-filler, this could be the moment Kobo finally builds US momentum. If it repeats the Walmart pattern, it will be another footnote.
Should You Buy One — and How to Make the Most of It
If you are an EPUB reader in the US and have been eyeing Kobo, the Best Buy launch removes the biggest practical objection: you can now buy one with a normal US retailer return policy, in-store pickup, and periodic sale pricing, instead of ordering online and waiting.
For first-time buyers, a few practical notes:
- Choose the model by screen, not price alone. B&W Clara BW for pure text; Clara Colour for color on a budget; Libra Colour for buttons, stylus notes, and the biggest color screen.
- Check for demo units. As of launch week there are none in US stores. If demos matter to you, buy from a store with a good return policy and test at home.
- Watch for sales. Kobo runs periodic promotions, and Best Buy has already shown it will discount Kobo hardware. If you are not in a hurry, a sale is likely within a few months.
- Plan your EPUB workflow before you buy. Convert your PDFs to reflowable EPUBs with our free PDF to EPUB converter, then manage the library with Calibre's KEPUB sync workflow so annotations, reading position, and covers all transfer cleanly to the Kobo.
That last point matters more than it sounds. The whole value of an EPUB-first device is that your library stays portable: DRM-free EPUBs, organized in Calibre, will outlive any single device, retailer, or store policy. A Kobo at Best Buy makes that philosophy easier to adopt, not harder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kobo sold at Best Buy in the US?
Yes. As of August 3, 2026, Best Buy stocks Kobo e-readers and accessories in the United States, available online with shipping and select in-store pickup, with retail availability rolling out in stores.
Which Kobo models are available at Best Buy?
Best Buy is stocking the Kobo Clara BW, Kobo Clara Colour, and Kobo Libra Colour, along with Kobo Stylus 2 pens, remotes, SleepCover cases, and gift cards.
Does Kobo support EPUB files?
Yes. Kobo e-readers read EPUB natively, including sideloaded EPUBs over USB, Dropbox, or Google Drive. You do not need to convert EPUB files before reading them on a Kobo, unlike on a Kindle.
Is Kobo better than Kindle for EPUB files?
For an EPUB-first library, yes. Kobo opens standard EPUB files directly with full reflow, while Kindle requires EPUBs to be converted to Amazon's KFX/AZW3 format through its Send-to-Kindle pipeline. Kobo also supports public-library lending via OverDrive/Libby in supported regions.
What happened to the Walmart-Kobo partnership?
Walmart and Kobo partnered in 2018 to sell e-readers in over 1,000 US locations with a Walmart eBooks service. The partnership struggled with poor in-store execution — missing demos, dead batteries, and untrained staff — and officially ended on October 31, 2024, when the app was shut down.
Bottom Line
Kobo's arrival at Best Buy is the most concrete sign yet that the US e-reader market is no longer a one-brand aisle. Sixteen years of Kindle-only shelves gave Amazon a retail monopoly that no amount of online comparison could fully counter; a visible, returnable, discountable Kobo display changes the calculus for ordinary shoppers, not just enthusiasts.
Will it work? That depends on execution — demo units, trained staff, and consistent stock — the exact things that killed the Walmart partnership. But for EPUB readers, the direction is unmistakable: the open-format ecosystem is expanding in every channel, from software to firmware to retail. If you have been waiting for a low-risk way to buy into it, a Kobo from Best Buy is now the easiest option the US market has ever offered.