Aura HD Kobo Aura HD Impressions Thread

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by FJames

But it still reports the Aura on 2.4.1. Aren't we supposed to be on 2.5.0?

It should have updated to 2.5.1. What happens when you try a WiFi sync?

Regards,
David

[Nil Einne]

Are there any good photos of the Kobo showing the casing? I know there are the ones on Kobo itself and various webstores but I'm also looking for user photos particularly of Black/Onyx and Brown/Espresso ones. Most of the reviews except http://dearauthor.com/ebooks/review-kobo-aura-hd/ seem to be of White/Ivory ones (I guess this is what Kobo sent out to reviewers) which I'm not particularly interested in any way.

If anyone has side by side comparisons, all the better :-)

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I posted a side by side earlier in the thread with the PRS 650.

[FJames]

I've seen photos of the Espresso ones, and the color looks nice, but none of the Chapters stores seem to have them in stock. I took a black one.

Comparing black and white in the store, the optical illusion that the black ones have better screen contrast remains strong. Even when placed side by side and trying to ignore the bezel color, you would swear that the black one has a lighter screen background.

Compared to my black Touch, the Onyx black Aura case is slightly darker when viewed side by side from the top. But that changes when the light is coming from an angle. The hard plastic case of the Aura starts to reflect more light as the angle changes. When viewed from the side, the Aura hard plastic surface is quite shiny, while the soft matte surface of the Touch remains inky black.

Overall I really dislike the Aura hard plastic case, especially compared to the Touch. The Aura case feels cheap and nasty in the hand, with a slippery surface that gives a much less secure grip with light pressure, and a much sharper-edged corner than the Touch. I can't understand why Kobo got rid of their best design feature on their most expensive model. They must really be drinking the Kool-aide together there at Kobo design HQ!

[ewphoenix123]

My Aura finally arrived today, and I'm really glad I got one.

First Impressions:

This thing really is bigger... I didn't get a proper impression on the improved screen real estate by looking at the screenshots. I love it, the size feels right to me as it is closer to a real book. On the plus side it is just small enough that it fits in the old oversize soft sleeve I use for my Glo.

The weight difference is noticeable, not to bad for me personally, but it might be for some, especially if you plan to read with a cover on. On the other hand it's still lighter then your average real book.

Whats countering that weight increase, for me, is the new back shape, it is more comfortable to hold with my small hands then the Glo.

The screen is great, mine is a tad more "white" without light then my Glo.
Maybe I just got lucky, as there are usually slight differences when it comes to screen whiteness even in the same production batches.

No world changing improvement compared to the Glo when it comes to text rendering, but a bit crisper, and the bigger screen size and resolution is noticeable.
I could reduce my fontsize by two steps and maintain the same level of reading comfort.

The light is close to perfect for me.
No shadows I could see, although I couldn't test it in perfect darkness yet.
It's even, a bit warmer (more yellow/less blue) then the one on the Glo and can be reduced to a much lower level. I didn't have the opportunity to test night reading yet, but a short "under the blanket" test, let's me assume that I gonna read at 4-5% at night.
Little information on the side, as I haven't noticed it mention in detail before, you can change the lightlevel in steps as you do on the Glo, but also by dragging the light slider. This allows you to choose more varied light-levels between those big jumps. Really nice.
Oh yeah, no bright spots for me in the light layer.
One annoying point, You need one more tap to adjust your light level.

I absolutely love the new frontpage.
Books you currently read remain on the front even when you add new books.
Shelves you visited are shown on the frontpage.
Newly added books are shown as a single field and don't clutter the screen.
And you can remove each item you don't want there manually.
I even like the searchbar on top, which I assumed I would hate.
But if you know which books or series you want to read next, you won't have to browse through the shelves anymore, just enter the title or series name (or author).

I really really hope other Kobo devices get this Frontpage design aswell, chances are imo pretty good as the whole concept looks like a perfect example for responsive ui design, which makes it easily adaptable to the different screensizes of other koboproducts.

The new keyboard is much better and makes it possible to use the searchbar properly.

Bootup time, book opentime and pageturn speed are identical to my Glo.
BUT I replaced my internal Glo SD Card with a faster one, which gave it actually a slight speed improvement. So the Aura may actually be slightly faster then the average Glo, but the difference is minimal. So the important impression here is, that it is not slower, as some were afraid.



And now to the point I was most worried about... the slippery back.
Well... It's actually not that bad.
Most reports make it sound they switched materials in a drastically, and for people that came from the amazing padded back of the touch it might seem that way.
But it's actually the same plastic they used for the later batches of the white Glo (in germany at least).
For those not aware of it, the later produced Glo's that were sold in Germany were a bit more slippery, less soft then the original batches sold in f.e. France. The difference is minimal.
I had acer tablets that were much more slippery.
Might be a different experience for people who have sweaty hands, but I was expecting much worse.


So is it a must have device?

It depends greatly on your reading habits.
If you read mostly during the day or in slightly dim conditions and usually use a normal to small font-size, imo the Glo is a great device for you, especially considering the price difference.
The Aura will be generally a bit better and offer more text on the screen, plus a better Frontpage interface but not so much that it will really matter for you.

If you regularly read in darker environments, or use a bigger then usual font-size the Aura really becomes a much much better device for you.

[ballfresno]

I am getting quite used to the back and I am now at the point where I prefer the Aura to the Touch for holding, especially with two hands which is often how I read.

I am also surprisingly coming to like the front page quite a lot. I don't see it very often as I usually read a book from start to finish without switching to any other book. When I do see it, the front page does seem to have the information I want already there. I much prefer it to what I had on the Touch.

Finally, the light is brilliant (no pun intended).

Basically, I am really enjoying the Aura!

[FJames]

I noticed that after I experimented with the web browser, it was added to the home page for quick access. I think that's new.

[paola]

has any Aura owner who is also a previous Kobo owner tried any of the hacks? Light control, tweaks, applications launchers etc? So far I got that the custom dictionary work ok, but what about the rest? Just curious (and immensely tempted by the Aura)...

[ewphoenix123]

I can't get the Tweaks plugin to work atm, but I had for some weird reason problems to get it to run on my Glo yesterday after a factory reset. I'll try again over the weekend.

Application launcher works fine, when you start it using the picture. Which is actually pretty nice in combination with the new frontpage, as it is easy to keep the launcher icon on the screen.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by FJames

The Aura case feels cheap and nasty in the hand, with a slippery surface that gives a much less secure grip with light pressure, and a much sharper-edged corner than the Touch.

While I agree with you that I would have preferred a more rubberised back like the other ereaders out there I'd hardly describe it as nasty or even cheap. While the material isn't the greatest the design is pretty ingenious.

[drew2720]

Just got my kobo aura and downloaded some library books thru Adobe Digital...no cover images on the aura. I have no problem downloading library books with cover pictures on my kobo mini. Tried reloading..same thing. The aura has a full charge and the latest software (2.5.1). Any ideas?

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Here are a few more hi-res pics for those who are interested. I tried a manga but with this particular manga the 650 actually performed pretty well against the aura. I remember trying a different manga before (one piece perhaps?) and I was not at all impressed with the results on my 650 so obviously not all manga are the same.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Here are a couple of up close text photos for those who are curious. I never would have been able to tell a difference with my naked eyes but obviously one is more hi-res than the other-I won't say which is which.

Spoiler:

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by drew2720

Just got my kobo aura and downloaded some library books thru Adobe Digital...no cover images on the aura. I have no problem downloading library books with cover pictures on my kobo mini. Tried reloading..same thing. The aura has a full charge and the latest software (2.5.1). Any ideas?

I happened to download a library book through ADE today, and its cover did show up fine. This was from Overdrive in my local library system. I'm not sure why it would show up on my 2.5.1 Aura, and not yours. Were your books borrowed via Overdrive?

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by drew2720

Just got my kobo aura and downloaded some library books thru Adobe Digital...no cover images on the aura. I have no problem downloading library books with cover pictures on my kobo mini. Tried reloading..same thing. The aura has a full charge and the latest software (2.5.1). Any ideas?

Some further thoughts on this:
1) Do you have the latest edition of ADE? Mine is 2.0.67275
It's a very recent edition, and I think it fixed some issues between it and the Aura. (Unless I'm thinking of Calibre, and mixing up the two.)
2) I have not inserted an SD Card into my Aura at this point. (Since I don't need the extra storage yet, I wanted to keep it out of the equation at this point. Some issues, perhaps even some cover issues, as I recall, can be different depending on what's where, i.e., what's on the SD Card versus what's in internal memory. I don't recall the specifics that have come up in these threads. But I'm just trying to think of elements that could make a difference between why you're not seeing covers of library-loaned ebooks, while I am.)