[gmw]

My wife has been using an Aura One for almost six years and really liked it. But it had always had a slightly dodgy USB port, and for the last few months it had been getting harder and harder to get the cable to sit exactly right to take a charge or sideload new books. I was hoping we had more time, because I don't really like either of the 8" options from Kobo at the moment ... but it was not to be. Just over a week ago it absolutely refused to connect with any of the cables we have. (I have since pulled it apart and found the PCB had cracked around the USB mounting.)

After some discussion we decided on the Libra 2 as the replacement, and exactly one week later it arrived. I found the set up a bit frustrating: it auto-updated but not to the latest, that had to be done later - and the process ended up pushing me through the initialisation sequence multiple times. Being forced to create an account is annoying (I didn't want this linked with the main book purchasing account because I prefer to manage the reader via Calibre), but it was not unexpected. And all worth it...

My wife is very happy with the Libra 2: clear, comfortable and well balanced. Neither of us were keen on having buttons, but didn't want to step down to a 6" screen either, however the buttons turn out to be a non-problem: just turn the screen so they're away the from hand and every proceeds as normal.


Which leaves me using an older reader now. The USB port on my H20 is not perfect either, but so far it's holding up, and I'm hoping the next generation of 8" readers from Kobo will arrive before it dies. And I do hope the USB-C ports on these newer Kobo readers will be better than the micro-USB ports were on the old - certainly the cable feels more secure on the Libra 2.