[KipPrdy]

The Kobo Aura One is by far the best e-reader I've used. But it's terribly let down by the QC. I'm wondering how it can be so bad:

Of the five I've used, only two worked as they should.

First one worked great for a couple weeks, then the screen froze and it was dead, never to return to life.

Two have light issues:

In one, even at the end of the night slider, the light is very yellow, as opposed to the nice red it should go to (as it does in the others); in the other, the light has the right color, but there is totally, distractingly uneven, with big dark shadows covering the lower corners.

(Even more annoying, customer service just told me to reset it, and that would solve all my problems. I wonder if I was communicating with a chatbot. Sure felt like it. Generally does when I chat with most customer service reps, which is why I always try to email, thought it's less and less an option.)

Two have worked just as they should with no issues so far.


I don't get how it can be that bad. Still.

I want to give these as gifts. I want to send one to a friend in Australia, for example. But I can't just order it from a retailer there and have it sent. Rather, I have to have shipped to me in the US, where I am now, make sure it works properly, then send it along. It's already not cheap, and that just adds too much to the expense.


With a defect rate as high as it is, it seems they need to have someone physically inspect each screen before it goes out. That would surely be cheaper than paying the shipping for all the returns, having so many duds, and giving so many customers bad experiences.