Kobo Aura One Long-Term Review

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I was under the impression that both the Kindle and Kobo eInk devices used a customized version of Linux.

Which just makes the analogy that much worse.

Really the review makes good points, but it's in need of an editor.

[anacreon]

I've never had a Kindle: I started with Sony, and went over to Kobo with the Kobo Glo. I read a minimum of 4 hours a day, have problem eyes, and I buy into any significant improvement - always with Kobo.

For myself I wouldn't buy a Kindle, but I do recommend it around me for non tech-savvy people (mainly the parents of the friends/family who ask me), and they always tell me they are pleased with the choice.

But I dislike Kindles' very poor typography (see http://www.cgpgrey.com/blog/voyage-to-nowhere), the poor font choice (number of fonts, with no possible adding, number of font size choice, weight adjusting), and Amazon's proprietary formats.

My main sources for books are Amazon and Kobo for a similar %, ebooks.com, ebook.de and feedbook for half of this %. I choose according to pricing (I'm French and buy from amazon.com, so there is no price compensation from Kobo - books price is fixed in France), but I've had to cancel books from Amazon and buy the Kobo version, because the Amazon version was unreadable. This was mostly non-fiction(no links to notes for instance), but I have a 220 pages fiction exemple in 4 parts, each with 4 and 5 chapter and a glossary, which in the Amazon version had no separation whatsoever. Also a book where all the poems were images, unreadable. So I only buy from Amazon when the price difference is significant, because the refunding costs a little (because of change charges both ways), and I prefer buying epubs for html quality sensitive books like poetry, where Amazon converting the publisher book and me reconverting it in an epub can make strange beasts.

In any case, I would NEVER buy books from any reader: I want to own the books I buy, so I import them into Calibre to get rid of the DRM's, correct them in Sigil and polish them in Calibre. And then I send them as kepubs to my Kobos to have the best look for me: header, footer, margins, fonts, plus the advancement bars.

[MariusMasalar]

Originally Posted by tnforpaul45

I will say one thing about your review: The stability of the software/firmware and the frequency of crashes across the Kobo line is an ongoing issue and needs to be resolved. After the first occurrence, the whole device feels cheap.

For what it's worth, Kobo has been excellent about investigating the crashes I've brought to their attention.

Some are difficult to track down because I can't figure out a clear set of steps to reproduce them, but for instance the latest post-release firmware version seems to resolve the issue I described that eats through battery and slows everything down to a crawl. I'll be amending the review to account for their firmware work once I can confirm that it is indeed gone.

[MariusMasalar]

Originally Posted by anacreon

I've never had a Kindle: I started with Sony, and went over to Kobo with the Kobo Glo. I read a minimum of 4 hours a day, have problem eyes, and I buy into any significant improvement - always with Kobo.

For myself I wouldn't buy a Kindle, but I do recommend it around me for non tech-savvy people (mainly the parents of the friends/family who ask me), and they always tell me they are pleased with the choice.

But I dislike Kindles' very poor typography (see http://www.cgpgrey.com/blog/voyage-to-nowhere), the poor font choice (number of fonts, with no possible adding, number of font size choice, weight adjusting), and Amazon's proprietary formats.

My main sources for books are Amazon and Kobo for a similar %, ebooks.com, ebook.de and feedbook for half of this %. I choose according to pricing (I'm French and buy from amazon.com, so there is no price compensation from Kobo - books price is fixed in France), but I've had to cancel books from Amazon and buy the Kobo version, because the Amazon version was unreadable. This was mostly non-fiction(no links to notes for instance), but I have a 220 pages fiction exemple in 4 parts, each with 4 and 5 chapter and a glossary, which in the Amazon version had no separation whatsoever. Also a book where all the poems were images, unreadable. So I only buy from Amazon when the price difference is significant, because the refunding costs a little (because of change charges both ways), and I prefer buying epubs for html quality sensitive books like poetry, where Amazon converting the publisher book and me reconverting it in an epub can make strange beasts.

In any case, I would buy books from any reader: I want to own the books I buy, so I import them into Calibre to get rid of the DRM's, correct them in Sigil and polish them in Calibre. And then I send them as kepubs to my Kobos to have the best look for me: header, footer, margins, fonts, plus the advancement bars.

Thanks for mentioning this!

I dug into the typography more in my more general Kindle vs. Kobo piece from last year, so I didn't feel the need to restate things in this review, but you're absolutely right to be critical of Amazon on this front. I certainly am.

The update from earlier this year to their devices made a meaniningful improvement, but you still have a limited choice of fonts, limited adjustment options, and so on.

The workflow you describe is convoluted, but I tend to do the same whenever I encounter problematic books. Usually without the Sigil step, but that's just me. Either way it's unfortunate that such workarounds have to exist in the first place. Then again, the percentage of folks for whom those enhancements make a difference is, I suspect, vanishingly small in the grand scheme of things so I guess it makes sense ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Sweetpea]

Nice review, but there's one thing that bothers me: reading on your back with the reader above your head??? I think even holding nothing (just holding your arm up) will be uncomfortable after a few minutes!

About the size:
I have small hands, and I've no problems holding it one handed for a longer period of time... And ever since I have bought my 6.8" reader (Onyx T68, later the H2O) I never wanted back to 6". I really love the larger screen of the One, not because of failing eye sight or PDF files, but simply because there's more text per screen. And the typography settings I set once and that usually works with all my books (and if they don't, I'll clean the book using Calibre once and for all).

So far my best use of the waterproofing has been scaring family members by “washing” the Kobo. Granted, that’s a lot of fun, but I have yet to encounter a real-world scenario where I’ve needed it. For the record, I do some pool/beach reading and I haven’t sustained any water damage on any of my Kindles. I don’t know if I’m just unusually careful (a distinct possibility) but either way it’s not something that I consider necessary.

I had to laugh at this, I did the same! At my mother's pool, I was reading while floating on the water. My mother saw me and asked if I wan't afraid I'd make my reader wet, at which point I simply dunked my H2O in the water and continued reading

(skipped the part about overdrive and pocket and syncing, I never use those features)

And lastly, I buy most of my books at Amazon. Not that I have a Kindle (though my husband has), I've only had epub readers (from the BeBook Mini to the One). But thanks to some friendly people at this forum, every single book I buy from Amazon can be read on my Kobo's. And every single book I buy from non-Amazon sellers can be read on the Kindle.

[CatherineStewart]

(Overdrive)...The result is the Aura One’s biggest selling point. Renting a book from the library is now as easy as buying a copy from the Kobo store.
This is a big deal and I’m convinced that it’s going to sell a lot of units.

This. 1000x this. I have a Kobo Glo that is 4 years old and works perfectly. The built-in overdrive was the selling point for me to not even question dropping $250 on the KA1. I have no patience to side-load borrowed books.

Great review! I enjoyed reading it.

[MariusMasalar]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Nice review, but there's one thing that bothers me: reading on your back with the reader above your head??? I think even holding nothing (just holding your arm up) will be uncomfortable after a few minutes!

About the size:
I have small hands, and I've no problems holding it one handed for a longer period of time... And ever since I have bought my 6.8" reader (Onyx T68, later the H2O) I never wanted back to 6". I really love the larger screen of the One, not because of failing eye sight or PDF files, but simply because there's more text per screen.

Admittedly, this may just be a weird thing that I do. It's not how I do ALL of my reading, or even all of my bedtime reading, but when I'm not reading on one side or the other I do tend to hoist the book up and hold it aloft for a while.

The absolute best bedtime reading experience I've had to date was with the Kindle Voyage in the Origami case; it allows you to easily rest it at an angle on either side and just lie down beside it, reading.

Ultimately, I'm very glad Kobo tackled the size problem. There's been a lot of demand for a modern e-reader at a larger size, and that's exactly what they delivered. Those of us who prefer the smaller sizes have plenty of options available to us so it was about time the rest got some attention.

I do hope these enhancements trickle down to their smaller e-readers as well though.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Very good review although I have a couple of criticisms. I hate to get all JSWolf on someone but people who read lying on their back with their ereader up in the air are DOING IT WRONG. It's really the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. As Sweetpea mentioned, (and I was thinking the same thing) if you held just your hands up in the air for 15 minutes straight you'd find them aching. The Aura One is a larger form factor with a smaller weight than the H2O! That is a plus, not a minus.

My second nitpick is with the waterproofing. So you read by the pool but you've never dropped it in so you don't need waterproofing? I've been licensed for 20 years but I've never had an accident, I guess that means that I don't need insurance?
Other than that, a good review.

[MariusMasalar]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Very good review although I have a couple of criticisms. I hate to get all JSWolf on someone but people who read lying on their back with their ereader up in the air are DOING IT WRONG. It's really the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. As Sweetpea mentioned, (and I was thinking the same thing) if you held just your hands up in the air for 15 minutes straight you'd find them aching. The Aura One is a larger form factor with a smaller weight than the H2O! That is a plus, not a minus.

My second nitpick is with the waterproofing. So you read by the pool but you've never dropped it in so you don't need waterproofing? I've been licensed for 20 years but I've never had an accident, I guess that means that I don't need insurance?
Other than that, a good review.

Totally fair, I admit that it's bizarre. Like I said to Sweetpea though, it's not as if that's my exclusive reading position, it's just one that's more uncomfortable with the A1 than with other e-readers.

I also want to make sure I'm not misunderstood: I'm by no means saying the Aura One's size is bad, just that it isn't better for my reading preferences. I think I was careful to make that clear in the article but just in case I didn't manage I wanted to make sure I said it.

Bigger can most certainly be better, and I know there are a ton of people out there for whom it is—that's why they built it this big, after all. It's just solving a problem I don't have. Same idea with the waterproofing. I don't say that it's a useless feature for everyone, I just describe why it isn't one that I find compelling. Even though I don't need it, I do appreciate the peace of mind it brings.

[davidfor]

My comments on the review...

I'm not surprised that "Kobo’s ‘Beyond the Book’ is still no match for Kindle’s X-Ray". Especially as Kobo dropped the function over a year ago. Reading something like that in the middle of a "long-term review" makes it hard to take the review seriously.

And yes, the stats isn't recording when you finish a sideloaded book. But, it also doesn't record when you finish a non-sideloaded book. It's a bug in the firmware that affects all books.

"Buying & Renting"? As no money is changing hands to use Overdrive, shouldn't that be "Buying & Borrowing"? Of course, the "buying" side is buying a license and that always feels more like "renting", so maybe it should be "Renting & Borrowing".

But, I am amused by the criticism aimed at Kindles for showing a random image for the sleep screen considering how often a request for that function is raised here.

[MariusMasalar]

Originally Posted by davidfor

My comments on the review...

I'm not surprised that "Kobo’s ‘Beyond the Book’ is still no match for Kindle’s X-Ray". Especially as Kobo dropped the function over a year ago. Reading something like that in the middle of a "long-term review" makes it hard to take the review seriously.

Yikes, that's my mistake. Thanks for flagging that, I'll amend the article.

They didn't mention its removal to me so I wasn't expecting it to be gone, but I should have verified. Since most of my books are sideloaded, when I did test a native book it didn't occur to me to check if BTB was still there. Totally my bad.

[howyoudoin]

I really wish kindle-kobo comparison exercises stopped using Cecelia on the kobo. It's an ugly font (IMO) and there are much more elegant fonts to better showcase the kobo. I know the intention is to make an apples to apples comparison because kindles don't allow font freedom like kobo, but that is unnecessary and there is no reason to cripple the kobo and bring it down to the kindle's level. We don't shy away from highlighting the deficiencies of the kobo, like inferior highlighting or inferior store ecosystem, so why should kindles be spared the shame of highlighting their inferior font selection system?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by davidfor

But, I am amused by the criticism aimed at Kindles for showing a random image for the sleep screen considering how often a request for that function is raised here.

I don't think it's the random image that upsets Kindle users, it's the fact that it's a random selection from a limited Amazon-selected set of images - not a set of their own choosing. I think 'cover of current book' is also a popular choice which is why many Kindle owners jailbreak and apply the relevant screensaver hack.

[MariusMasalar]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

I really wish kindle-kobo comparison exercises stopped using Cecelia on the kobo. It's an ugly font (IMO) and there are much more elegant fonts to better showcase the kobo. I know the intention is to make an apples to apples comparison because kindles don't allow font freedom like kobo, but that is unnecessary and there is no reason to cripple the kobo and bring it down to the kindle's level. We don't shy away from highlighting the deficiencies of the kobo, like inferior highlighting or inferior store ecosystem, so why should kindles be spared the shame of highlighting their inferior font selection system?

I'm not sure if this is directed at me, but the only image where I used the same typeface on both is the one where I'm illustrating how much more text is displayed on the Kobo Aura One—a point very much in its favour. And the typeface used in that example is Bookerly, not Caecilia.

The image with a close-up of the A1's text rendering is set in Meta Serif, for the record.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by MariusMasalar

I'm not sure if this is directed at me, but the only image where I used the same typeface on both is the one where I'm illustrating how much more text is displayed on the Kobo Aura One—a point very much in its favour. And the typeface used in that example is Bookerly, not Caecilia.

The image with a close-up of the A1's text rendering is set in Meta Serif, for the record.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant comparison reviews in general. Any sighting of a comparison where the same gimpy fonts are used on both devices triggers this pet peeve of mine. (FTR, the only Amazon font I can stand to read for extensive periods is palatino. YMMV).

GoodeReader are infamously notable for engaging in this kobo crippling crime.