Kindle vs Kobo: Custom Screensavers Compared
Kobo supports custom screensavers; Kindle does not. A Kobo reads images from a folder you create at .kobo/screensaver — copy files across, enable two settings, done in about five minutes. Amazon has never shipped a screensaver setting, so every Kindle method is a workaround: you wrap the image in an EPUB as its cover and let the lock screen show the current book.
The screens themselves are far less different than the software. Both brands buy e-ink panels from the same suppliers, so a 1072 × 1448 image frequently works on a Kindle and a Kobo without re-cropping. Everything below covers where the two actually diverge.
Screensaver Support, Side by Side
| Kindle | Kobo | |
|---|---|---|
| Official custom screensaver setting | None. Amazon has never shipped one. | Yes — reads images from a folder on the device. |
| How the image gets on | Wrapped in an EPUB as its cover, then sent to the device. | Copied over USB into .kobo/screensaver. |
| Software needed | Calibre or an image-to-EPUB converter. | None — a file manager is enough. |
| Amazon or Kobo account required | Yes, to deliver the file to the device. | No. The device never has to go online. |
| More than one image | One at a time, by opening a different dummy book. | Yes — a folder of images. |
| Blocked by ads | Yes. The cover setting is hidden on Special Offers devices. | No. Kobo does not sell ad-supported readers. |
| Survives a firmware update | Yes, the book stays in your library. | Usually, though the folder is worth re-checking. |
| Jailbreak required | No, for the cover method. | No. |
What Kobo does
Kobo reads sleep-screen images from a folder you create yourself. Put your resized images in a folder named exactly `screensaver` inside the hidden `.kobo` folder, then enable the two sleep-screen settings.
What makes this genuinely easy is that nothing converts the image on the way in. The file you copy across is the file the device displays, so if it is the right pixel size it will look exactly as you exported it. You can also drop several images into the folder and let the device choose between them.
The one catch: The folder name is case-sensitive. If the screensaver does not appear, re-check the folder spelling and confirm both settings are enabled.
What Kindle does
Kindle has no official custom screensaver setting. The standard non-jailbreak workaround is to turn your image into an EPUB whose cover is that image, send it to the device, and let the lock screen show the current book's cover. The cover setting is hidden entirely on ad-supported Kindles, so ads have to be removed from the device first.
Two consequences are worth being clear about before you start. The lock screen always follows whichever book you last had open, so it reverts the moment you start reading something real — there is no way to pin an image. And because the file passes through an EPUB conversion on delivery, sizing it exactly to the panel matters more here than on a Kobo, not less: anything that has to be rescaled arrives soft.
The one catch: This is a community workaround, not a supported feature. On Kindles sold with Special Offers the cover setting is hidden until ads are removed from the device, and the lock screen always follows whichever book you last opened — there is no folder of wallpapers and no rotation.
Where Kindle wins anyway
Screensavers are one narrow feature, and it is worth saying plainly that Kindle beats Kobo on others. Amazon's store, delivery and cross-device sync are better; the Scribe has the largest and sharpest panel of any device on this site, at 1860 × 2480 and 300 ppi; and Kindle hardware holds resale value. If custom lock screens are a nice-to-have rather than the deciding factor, none of the above should push you off a Kindle.
Panels the Two Brands Share
Because both brands source panels from the same suppliers, most Kindle sizes have a Kobo equivalent. If your two devices appear on the same row, one image file covers both.
| Size | Kindle models | Kobo models |
|---|---|---|
| 1072 × 1448 px | Kindle (11th Gen), Kindle Paperwhite (10th Gen) | Kobo Clara BW, Kobo Clara 2E / Clara HD, Kobo Clara Colour |
| 1264 × 1680 px | Kindle Paperwhite (12th Gen), Kindle Oasis (3rd Gen), Kindle Colorsoft | Kobo Libra 2 / Libra H2O, Kobo Libra Colour |
Kindle sizes with no Kobo equivalent
- Kindle Paperwhite (11th Gen) — 1236 × 1648 px, 300 ppi
- Kindle Scribe — 1860 × 2480 px, 300 ppi
Kobo sizes with no Kindle equivalent
- Kobo Nia — 758 × 1024 px, 212 ppi
- Kobo Sage — 1440 × 1920 px, 300 ppi
- Kobo Elipsa 2E — 1404 × 1872 px, 227 ppi
Which should you buy?
If a custom lock screen is something you want to change often — a photo, seasonal artwork, a rotating folder — buy the Kobo. It is a supported feature there and a workaround on Kindle, and no amount of familiarity with the workaround changes that the Kindle lock screen follows your current book.
If you want one fixed image and never think about it again, the Kindle method is perfectly adequate. It takes about ten minutes once, needs no hacking, and Amazon has left the behaviour alone for years. Pick the device on the rest of its merits and treat the screensaver as a ten-minute afternoon job.
Kindle vs Kobo Screensaver FAQ
- Is it easier to set a custom screensaver on a Kindle or a Kobo?
- Kobo, by a wide margin. A Kobo reads screensaver images from a folder you create at .kobo/screensaver, so the whole process is copying files over USB and turning on two settings — about five minutes, no software and no account. Kindle has no custom screensaver setting at all, so the image has to be converted into an EPUB whose cover it is, then delivered to the device through Amazon.
- Can I use the same screensaver image on a Kindle and a Kobo?
- Yes, whenever the two devices share a panel resolution — and they often do, because both brands buy panels from the same suppliers. 1072 x 1448 covers 2 Kindle and 3 Kobo models, 1264 x 1680 covers 3 Kindle and 2 Kobo models. The file is identical; only the way you install it changes.
- Why does my Kindle have no Show Cover option?
- Because the device is ad-supported. Kindles sold with Special Offers hide the cover setting entirely, and it only appears once ads are removed from that device through Amazon's Manage Your Content and Devices page. On an ad-free Kindle that is missing the option, an outstanding firmware update is the usual cause.
- Do Kobo screensavers rotate automatically?
- Yes. Because Kobo reads a folder rather than a single file, you can drop several images in and the device picks between them. The Kindle cover workaround has no equivalent — the lock screen always shows the cover of whichever book you last opened, so changing the image means opening a different dummy book.
- Does Kindle or Kobo have better colour e-readers?
- Both use the same Kaleido 3 panel technology, so neither has a real advantage in colour quality. The Kindle Colorsoft is 1264 x 1680 at 7 inches; Kobo offers the Libra Colour at the same 1264 x 1680 and the Clara Colour at 1072 x 1448. On all three, greyscale renders at the full 300 ppi and colour at roughly half that, so flat colour reproduces better than fine coloured detail.