I Am Not Ashamed to Admit the Kobo Remote Is the Best Gadget I Have Bought This Year

Every year the tech press produces a predictable parade of best gadgets: the latest iPhone, some new over-ear headphones, a smart home device of questionable utility, a laptop thin enough to cause anxiety. I bought most of those things too. The one that genuinely changed how I use my devices every day costs less than thirty dollars, has no app, requires no account, and does exactly one thing.

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The Kobo Remote is a small Bluetooth device that turns pages on your Kobo e-reader. That is it. No AI. No subscription. No notifications. You click the button, the page turns. And it has made me read more, read more comfortably, and enjoy reading more than any single gadget purchase I have made in years.

What the Kobo Remote Actually Is

The Kobo Remote is a compact Bluetooth clicker designed specifically to work with Kobo e-readers, enabling hands-free page turning. It pairs via Bluetooth in under thirty seconds, fits comfortably between two fingers, and works reliably at the distances you would actually use it: from your hand resting on a desk, from a pillow on your lap, from a treadmill handlebar, from a bathroom counter.

The device has two physical buttons: one to go forward a page and one to go back. The battery lasts months on a single charge because the idle power draw of a device that does nothing but wait for a button press is negligible. There is no companion app because no companion app is needed. This is hardware design at its most honestly purposeful.

Why Page Turning Matters More Than You Think

The ergonomic case for a remote page turner is more substantial than it sounds. Holding a Kobo e-reader with one hand and tapping the screen to turn pages requires maintaining a specific grip that puts mild but consistent strain on your thumb and wrist over a long reading session. This is not the kind of pain that sends you to a doctor. It is the kind of low-grade discomfort that makes you put the book down earlier than you otherwise would.

With the Kobo Remote, you can hold the e-reader in whatever position is most comfortable, rest it on a surface, prop it against a pillow, or use a stand, while keeping the remote in your free hand or resting your finger on it. The separation of the holding task from the turning task unlocks reading positions that were impractical before. Lying on your side with the e-reader propped on the mattress in front of you, for instance, is a genuinely pleasant way to read that requires a remote to be sustainable.

The Treadmill Reading Discovery: The Kobo Remote makes treadmill reading practical in a way that it simply is not with screen tapping. Walking at a moderate pace creates enough vibration that tapping an e-reader screen precisely is mildly annoying. A physical button you press with your thumb eliminates the problem. If you have ever wanted to make your exercise time also be reading time, the Remote is the missing piece.

The Build Quality and Pairing Experience

The Remote is made of matte plastic with a texture that prevents it from slipping between your fingers during use. The two buttons have satisfying tactile feedback without being loud, which matters for reading in environments where noise is a concern. The device is small enough to slip into a pocket and light enough that you forget you are holding it.

Bluetooth pairing with a Kobo e-reader is handled through the e-reader’s settings menu and completes in under a minute on first setup. Subsequent reconnections happen automatically when the Remote comes out of sleep mode. I have not had a pairing failure or connection dropout in months of daily use. For a Bluetooth accessory, this reliability is more notable than it should be.

Who Should Buy the Kobo Remote

• Anyone who reads in bed and wants to read without holding the device
• Treadmill or stationary bike users who want to read during exercise
• People with wrist, hand, or arthritis-related discomfort that makes repeated screen tapping painful
• Anyone who reads at a desk or table and wants to keep their hands resting comfortably
• People who read in the bath or kitchen where hands-free operation is practical

The Broader Lesson About What Makes a Great Gadget

The Kobo Remote earns its place as the best gadget of the year not because it is impressive in the ways that gadget reviews usually celebrate. It does not have a beautiful display, a novel form factor, or a feature set that required years of engineering. It earns the designation because it solves one real problem completely, costs almost nothing, requires no maintenance, and genuinely changes behavior.

The gadget industry is saturated with products that are impressive to review and underwhelming to use. The Kobo Remote is the opposite: underwhelming to describe and genuinely delightful to use. That inversion is rarer than it should be and worth celebrating when it appears.

Bottom Line: Buy the Kobo Remote if you own a Kobo e-reader and read for more than thirty minutes at a time. It costs less than a paperback, lasts for months on a charge, and will make you more comfortable reading in positions you never tried before. The best gadget purchases are the ones that quietly improve something you do every day. This one does exactly that.

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