Even though the battery issues are resolved, I will be returning this KA1. I prefer using my Android tablet to read. In comparison, the KA1:
- No color – black & white only. Color isn't needed in novels but is very useful with technical docs having images & graphs. I also like to use color coded highlighting in my annotations.
- PDF experience is poor compared to tablet, and I sometimes have to read PDFs.
- Buggy touch screen & laggy response compared to tablet.
- Night reading mode – my tablet does reverse video white on black, which I prefer as it's easier on the eyes and less disturbing to my wife who is trying to sleep.
- The auto-illumination just doesn't work well. It slowly pulses while I'm reading, it wastes battery getting too bright in a light room.
- The manual illumination doesn't work well either. The left-side finger slide doesn't trigger reliably, and when it does, it changes in big steps making fine adjustment impossible.
- The hue adjustment is uneven, with a greenish shard sticking up from the lower left corner of the screen.
- The battery life isn't much better than my tablet.
- Single-function – KA1 is cumbersome to read news and can't watch video, check email, etc.
- The KA1 is an extra device to carry around, keep charged and loaded with books. Since I'm gonna have my tablet anyway, I might as well load it with books too.
If that's all the case, why did I get a KA1 in the first place?
- I read a lot and I thought the e-Ink screen would be easier on the eyes.
- I thought the battery life would be significantly better than my tablet.
- I thought sync with Calibre might be smoother, and it is, but not enough to overcome the other drawbacks.