Kobo Aura One
 

Thinking of buying brand new KA1 seen advertised but worried as these are quite old now and concerned battery may not be up to much (even if new). Am i correct to be concerned? Have they made any in past year or two?

As far as I know, the last Aura Ones were manufactured before the Aura One was discontinued in Jan. 2019. So the batteries will be at least 18 months old which is not that old in terms of battery life but who know how and where the units currently being sold were stored.

As DNSB notes, we don't know for sure when those units were made. There's a rather lengthy thread about it:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=331929

TL;DR of it is that it's probably wise to be skeptical about the battery life being as good as if it had just rolled off the line.

Thanks for answers. For information, if anyone else interested, they are back for sale on UK kobo books

Curious...what's the price? And the warranty?

The KA1 is a fabulous device so at the right price the risk might be well worthwhile.

https://uk.kobobooks.com/products/ko...SABEgJV5fD_BwE

£189.99

Tempted but worried about age and battery. Don't think battery covered by warranty?

If in Great Britain you can decide to send back within a few days everything bought in a internet shop without problems (I don't know your laws, here you can do it) you can also take it and see how it works and, if you are not satisfied, return it.

I have the Aura ONE LE (LE = limited edition; only difference is that the LE has 32GB of onboard storage vice 8GB on the non-LE version) and I absolutely love it! I've had it for about 2-3 years and the battery has held up incredibly well, IMHO. It's still supported by Kobo WRT firmware upgrades.

Mine is a launch one and the battery is failing since 6 months ago, it still running but I have to charge it every week now. So I guess 4 years is a good assumption for the battery life (weaker than my other Kobos)

The KA1 has a number of design defects. Most of us kind of accepted at the time because of the very many unique pros. (Larger screen, high dpi, colour shifting, and the top/bottom LED with the RGB LED's made the contrast pop like no other.)

However, you also have to be aware of the cons. A1 was the first Kobo reader that reduced battery capacity from 1500mAh to 1200mAh. Combined with the RGB LED's, it was *terrible* in terms of battery life compared to any other Kobo before or since. (30-40% reduction in reading time, and that was reflected in Kobo's own marketing. Still better than the Amazon Oasis 2). So even if time from factory wasn't a factor, you're already significantly behind on Battery life.

Another very common problem with the A1 was the grossly inaccurate touch screen. It's suitable for going forward and backwards in a book, but that's about the best that can be said for it.

TL;DR: Now that Libra is out, I would not bother with A1 unless I was saving well over $100... even though I much prefer the A1 form, (not lopsided, pleasant to hold texture on the back, flush screen.)

The Libra H2O is an Aura H2O replacement and the Forma is a Aura One replacement.

With the exception of the asymmetrical form factor of the Forma, it's very similar to the other aspects of the A1 that you like - it's also got the textured back and flush screen. As a comparison between the Kindle Oasis 3 and the Kobo Forma, of which I have both, I find the Forma incredibly easy & comfortable to hold. Not so much for the Oasis.

Thanks for all input. From your information I will give this a miss, considering price.

I had my cataracts removed the first of this year, but I'm now seeing double.

:D

I'll throw in my own experience with the Aura ONE, in case it's of any use. I bought one the first day they were available and have been using it ever since. The battery is still going along fine, but this is just one person's experience, and I agree with those who are doubtful about an older battery holding up well in general.

Re the Aura ONE screen, I used to be tied in knots because of the highlighting problem, but that's gotten so much better through software upgrades that I don't have much trouble with it any more. Mind you, my Oasis 3 is a snap to highlight, and quite an improvement. But I like so many other things about the Aura ONE that I mostly use it and my Forma.

All that said, I think you're making the right decision in avoiding old stock. I do wish Kobo would consider another Aura ONE-style device, an Aura TWO, or whatever. I love the Forma and use it a lot, but if I had to pick one device, I'd pick one without the page turn buttons, and I much prefer the simple shape of the Aura ONE. The Forma is easy to hold (easier than the Oasis), but I'm enough of a minimalist to prefer the utter simplicity of the Aura One's form.

I think there would be room for two large-screen e-readers in Kobo's lineup, one the descendant of the Forma, the other of the Aura ONE. I suspect both would show strong sales over time. I think they're making a mistake by going with a single large-screen offering.