Aura One Firmware 4.2.8283

[pluma]

does this firmware release improve battery life to last AT LEAST 3 months??

Seriously, my HD, 6 core arm table last about 2 months un-used.

On the contrary, kobo's Aura ONE struggles to reach half a week!!

this really is killing my reading experience.

[PeterT]

I fail to see why people cant just plug their eReader in at night to reharge if required,

[pagepack]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I fail to see why people cant just plug their eReader in at night to reharge if required,

Indeed, I must charge by phone up 25 times before I charge my Kobo.

[JSWolf]

Cell phones and tablets need a lot more charging than eInk Readers. Yet do we complain that we have to charge our cellphones and tablets so often? No we don't. So we do we complain having to charge a Reader much less often?

[Nemo1984]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Just delete the section from the config file and restart the device. It should add again. If it doesn't, delete the whole file and it will recreate the file.

Thank you very much. All fixed now!

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Cell phones and tablets need a lot more charging than eInk Readers. Yet do we complain that we have to charge our cellphones and tablets so often? No we don't. So we do we complain having to charge a Reader much less often?

Because battery life, one of the two biggest advantages of e-ink (the other being the ability to view the screen in direct sunlight) is gone. So if I have to charge as often as a cellphone or a tablet, I may as well use a cellphone or tablet. When I buy a new device, I expect improved performance, or at least not degraded performance. When my brand new shiny device can't perform at least as well as my old device (especially in an area that is touted as a big reason to buy e-ink in the first place), I am disappointed and annoyed. You're right, plugging a device in every night is not a big deal, except that it reminds me EVERY DAY how disappointed and annoyed I am.

[Braid]

Some people might claim to be dissatisfied with the fonts on their Kindle device and complain that it is negatively affecting their experience of using the reader. I might respond:

"I fail to see why people can't read books using one of the selection of fonts onboard the Kindle. The text is legible."

I am responding to a claim that has not been made. They didn't say they were incapable of reading text. So my response doesn't provide any insight beyond stating the obvious: "if you don't like the fonts on the Kindle, I recommend reading books using one of the fonts on the Kindle. I have no problem reading with the fonts on the Kindle."

Likewise: "if your reader runs out of battery, just charge the reader. I have no problem charging my reader when it runs out of battery."

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by icallaci

Because battery life, one of the two biggest advantages of e-ink (the other being the ability to view the screen in direct sunlight) is gone. So if I have to charge as often as a cellphone or a tablet, I may as well use a cellphone or tablet. When I buy a new device, I expect improved performance, or at least not degraded performance. When my brand new shiny device can't perform at least as well as my old device (especially in an area that is touted as a big reason to buy e-ink in the first place), I am disappointed and annoyed. You're right, plugging a device in every night is not a big deal, except that it reminds me EVERY DAY how disappointed and annoyed I am.

The Aura One battery does not need charging every day. Yes, the battery does not hold as much of a charge as the H2O. But the battery should last longer than my iPhone 6s.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Aura One battery does not need charging every day. Yes, the battery does not hold as much of a charge as the H2O. But the battery should last longer than my iPhone 6s.

As the rated life of the battery on the Aura ONE is 15 hours, then if you read for 15 hours a day, then you will need to charge it each day. And before you say that no-one does that, during my Christmas break, I had at least five days of more the 12 hours reading. I don't know if I actually hit 15 hours, but I came very close.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by davidfor

As the rated life of the battery on the Aura ONE is 15 hours, then if you read for 15 hours a day, then you will need to charge it each day. And before you say that no-one does that, during my Christmas break, I had at least five days of more the 12 hours reading. I don't know if I actually hit 15 hours, but I came very close.

Why would Kobo build such a stupid battery into the Aura One? Weight is stupid reason to cripple the battery.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by icallaci

Because battery life, one of the two biggest advantages of e-ink (the other being the ability to view the screen in direct sunlight) is gone. So if I have to charge as often as a cellphone or a tablet, I may as well use a cellphone or tablet. When I buy a new device, I expect improved performance, or at least not degraded performance. When my brand new shiny device can't perform at least as well as my old device (especially in an area that is touted as a big reason to buy e-ink in the first place), I am disappointed and annoyed. You're right, plugging a device in every night is not a big deal, except that it reminds me EVERY DAY how disappointed and annoyed I am.

When I buy a new device, I expect a "better" device. The definition of "better" is the problem. It could be "better price for performance", so feature/performance might be worse, but the price makes up for it. Or I'm paying the same price for a faster/bigger/lighter/whatever device. And it will depend on why I am buying the new device. Has my current one died or does it just not do what I want. Or is it simply that I have gadget lust and worked out how to convince my wife it was OK to buy it.

In the case of the Aura ONE, the main claim for better that Kobo is making is the screen. Bigger, better, better lit. They also claim it is lighter than the Aura H2O. Their claim for battery life is clearly stated, so anyone buying one should be ready for it. Kobo could easily have put a bigger battery in. But, they have decided not to. I hope that is because their research showed the weight of the device was a bigger concern than the battery runtime.

And before you say to look at all the complaints here, I doubt that the denizens of MR are a target market for either Kobo or Amazon. There aren't enough of us to worry about, and we are to fussy. Add to that they know we will moan and complain about it, but we will still buy the new devices.

[koboy]

obviously it's a trade off if you want a bigger screen while keeping the weight down then a smaller battery is all but inevitable, some people won't mind that for the one's that do i would suggest not buying the KA1 in the first place.


best wishes koboy

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by davidfor

When I buy a new device, I expect a "better" device. The definition of "better" is the problem. It could be "better price for performance", so feature/performance might be worse, but the price makes up for it. Or I'm paying the same price for a faster/bigger/lighter/whatever device. And it will depend on why I am buying the new device. Has my current one died or does it just not do what I want. Or is it simply that I have gadget lust and worked out how to convince my wife it was OK to buy it.

In the case of the Aura ONE, the main claim for better that Kobo is making is the screen. Bigger, better, better lit. They also claim it is lighter than the Aura H2O. Their claim for battery life is clearly stated, so anyone buying one should be ready for it. Kobo could easily have put a bigger battery in. But, they have decided not to. I hope that is because their research showed the weight of the device was a bigger concern than the battery runtime.

And before you say to look at all the complaints here, I doubt that the denizens of MR are a target market for either Kobo or Amazon. There aren't enough of us to worry about, and we are to fussy. Add to that they know we will moan and complain about it, but we will still buy the new devices.

Everything you say is true (especially about the moaning and complaining while we still buy the newest devices, lol). I do love the screen size and clarity of the Aura One. It renders text beautifully. It's just that...one of the big selling points of e-ink is its exceptional battery life, so for them to deliberately cripple that particular part of the device while still touting the Aura One's exceptional battery life is what I find disappointing. I understand that perhaps they decided that keeping the weight down (especially when compared with tablets) was just as important as, if not more important than battery life, but in my opinion they went too far with that compromise. The newest firmware has improved the battery life, so I am somewhat mollified. First-world problem, certainly.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by icallaci

Everything you say is true (especially about the moaning and complaining while we still buy the newest devices, lol). I do love the screen size and clarity of the Aura One. It renders text beautifully. It's just that...one of the big selling points of e-ink is its exceptional battery life, so for them to deliberately cripple that particular part of the device while still touting the Aura One's exceptional battery life is what I find disappointing. I understand that perhaps they decided that keeping the weight down (especially when compared with tablets) was just as important as, if not more important than battery life, but in my opinion they went too far with that compromise. The newest firmware has improved the battery life, so I am somewhat mollified. First-world problem, certainly.

Just to be picky, where do Kobo "tout" the "Aura One's exceptional battery life"? Looking at the page in the store for the current devices, Kobo have:

• Aura ONE: with up to one month of battery life, you can leave your charger behind.
• Aura H2O: with up to 2 months of battery life, you have the freedom to keep reading, wherever you go.
• Aura Edition 2: With a battery life of up to 2 months, read an entire eBook on a single charge and enjoy the freedom of leaving your charger behind.

And the specs tables for them state either "Up to 2 months*" or "Up to 1 month*" with the qualification of "*Dependent on individual usage".

None of that reads like Kobo is trying to say the Aura ONE has "exceptional battery life". They have been candid on what to expect.

Having said that, I agree that I would have preferred to see them keep the battery life similar to the other devices. It would be interesting to see exactly how much weight they saved by using the smaller battery.

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Just to be picky, where do Kobo "tout" the "Aura One's exceptional battery life"? Looking at the page in the store for the current devices, Kobo have:

• Aura ONE: with up to one month of battery life, you can leave your charger behind.
• Aura H2O: with up to 2 months of battery life, you have the freedom to keep reading, wherever you go.
• Aura Edition 2: With a battery life of up to 2 months, read an entire eBook on a single charge and enjoy the freedom of leaving your charger behind.

And the specs tables for them state either "Up to 2 months*" or "Up to 1 month*" with the qualification of "*Dependent on individual usage".

None of that reads like Kobo is trying to say the Aura ONE has "exceptional battery life". They have been candid on what to expect.

Having said that, I agree that I would have preferred to see them keep the battery life similar to the other devices. It would be interesting to see exactly how much weight they saved by using the smaller battery.

The odd thing is, I think my H20 actually gets better battery life than Kobo's specs indicate, while the Aura One gets worse. I usually charge my H20 about every five or six weeks, the Aura one about every three days (that is until the new firmware increased that to a week or more). That's a huge difference. I guess I was expecting to get at least two to three weeks out of each charge, based on my experience with the H20. Kobo does of course say "dependent on individual usage" but my brain translated that into "approximately half of what my H20 gets." (Now that I think about it, I have also been reading a LOT lately because of the weather, which I am sure has contributed to my perception of shorter battery life, when it is actually longer reading periods.) The new firmware is much, much better at handling the battery, so perhaps I wouldn't have been quite so disappointed if the original firmware that came with my new Aura One hadn't been so dismally inefficient. In any case, I am reasonably satisfied with the Aura One now, with just some leftover disappointment that I am sure I will get over in time.