Is Kobo accidently leaking (sarcasm) of new device's

[Quoth]

Easier to try Audiobooks on a phone.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Rid

I want to try audiobooks so I wish they had included a headphone socket so I don't get COVID while using Bluetooth. Bluetooth 5.1, 5.2 & 5.3 are obviously new variants of 5G!!

S*^! just realized if the book had a virus I would get it anyway....!

To make you feel happier, Bluetooth 5 still uses the 2.4-2.483GHz band. I suspect few here would be interesting in discussing frequency hopping spread spectrum, forward error correction, etc. as implemented in Bluetooth 4/5 or it's better ability to co-exist with Zigbee.

[psbernitz]

but the battery is the same for Kobo Sage as Kobo Forma (1200 mah) so with the more efficient and modern CPU the sage must have a slightly better batter performance than Forma no?

And did I see correctly that the Kobo Libra 2 has just a screen, not a glass over the screen? That should improve the contrast compared to Sage

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by psbernitz

And did I see correctly that the Kobo Libra 2 has just a screen, not a glass over the screen? That should improve the contrast compared to Sage

Contrast doesn't depend on whether the screen is flush or recessed. There have been ereaders with excellent contrast and poor contrast with both flush and recessed screens.

[Quoth]

A flush screen may need an extra layer of glass or plastic, so does slightly degrade eink when the front light is off. It also makes the top layer more vulnerable to cracks and makes it harder to hold and easier to accidentally activate touch.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

A flush screen may need an extra layer of glass or plastic, so does slightly degrade eink when the front light is off.

Well, my Oasis with the flush screen has somewhat better contrast than my Libra with the recessed screen. Granted, I never read with the frontlight off. Still, my experience with various ereaders doesn't confirm the "recessed=better" hypothesis. A flush screen may be very sharp (the Voyage) and a recessed screen may not be all that sharp (the Libra).

[Quoth]

There are many parameters to consider and only having the front light off allows overall ambient contrast to be compared.
The Original H2O is "brighter" than the PW3 or the Libra probably because there is no capacitive touch layer. The same eink panel without the front light's lightpipe/diffuser would likely be better contrast in ambient light.

Also any top protective layer could have very little light loss. So comparing two models, one recessed and one flush might show no difference, the recessed worse or the flush worse. Certainly the PW4 is poor than the PW3 or the Libra for contrast or sharpness, viewed in decent ambient light. I had the three side by side.

The KK3 and DXG are a little brighter than the Sony PRS-350 possibly because the PRS-350 has touch. But the PRS-350 appears much sharper than the KK3 because it's the same number of pixels but 5" rather than 6".

Also some flush screens have no bezel at all surrounding the glass edge and others have glass to the edge which is much more risky.
So it's not simple.

Does anyone know why the Voyage is claimed to be so good?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Does anyone know why the Voyage is claimed to be so good?

Its screen was micro-etched or something. I no longer remember the details.

And it's not merely a claim, but as good as a fact that the Voyage had a very sharp and contrasty screen. Multiple Voyage owners have said so here and elsewhere. I have compared my Voyage to various other ereaders, including the latest Oasis, and the text on it was always sharper and darker (the frontlight of the Voyage was uneven, though). The Libra actually has average contrast, worse than the Oasis 3, but I can well believe it's better than the PW4, which is notorious for its poor contrast.

It remains to be seen how the new Kobos compare to the older ones.

Myself, I'm not terribly fussy about contrast, unless it's really poor. The Libra screen is good enough for me. Of course it's always nice to have good contrast, but it's not the most important aspect of an ereader for me. After all, I sold my Voyage.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by psbernitz

but the battery is the same for Kobo Sage as Kobo Forma (1200 mah) so with the more efficient and modern CPU the sage must have a slightly better batter performance than Forma no?

The CPUs are very different, single core at 1GHz vs. quad core at 1.8GHz so battery performance is hard to compare without having both devices on hand. I looked at the data sheets and I suspect the Forma should have a better battery life but power management is going to be critical.

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The CPUs are very different, single core at 1GHz vs. quad core at 1.8GHz so battery performance is hard to compare without having both devices on hand. I looked at the data sheets and I suspect the Forma should have a better battery life but power management is going to be critical.

I didnt pay much attention to this potential issue when it was announced, but this has the potential to completely kill my interest in the Sage.

You see the higher core and frequency and automatically think its a meaningful upgrade, but I would gladly trade whatever speed increases for increased battery life given that Im okay with the speed of the single core 1ghz processor of my Clara. Im skeptical they can power management this away.

This has just become my biggest question about the Sage. I wouldnt dream of pre-ordering it because of this uncertainty.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by mezzanine

I didnt pay much attention to this potential issue when it was announced, but this has the potential to completely kill my interest in the Sage.

You see the higher core and frequency and automatically think its a meaningful upgrade, but I would gladly trade whatever speed increases for increased battery life given that Im okay with the speed of the single core 1ghz processor of my Clara. Im skeptical they can power management this away.

This has just become my biggest question about the Sage. I wouldnt dream of pre-ordering it because of this uncertainty.

Heh. I'm the opposite. I'd gladly trade some battery life for a noticeable increase in speed.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Heh. I'm the opposite. I'd gladly trade some battery life for a noticeable increase in speed.

Depending on how much battery life, I'd agree. The Forma more than meets my needs in terms of battery life, I can go multiple days minimum without needing to charge it. As I can't stay up multiple days in a row I'm good with this.

I think the claims of multiple weeks of battery life (assuming only 30mins reading/day w/ wifi off, light off, etc) get peoples expectations out of whack with reality, and with what's typically needed. Spare me the "if I go camping for multiple weeks..." stories, most people don't go camping for multiple weeks, and when they do they bring chargers for other devices (like phones) meaning they can charge their ereader just as easily.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Depending on how much battery life, I'd agree. The Forma more than meets my needs in terms of battery life, I can go multiple days minimum without needing to charge it. As I can't stay up multiple days in a row I'm good with this.

I think the claims of multiple weeks of battery life (assuming only 30mins reading/day w/ wifi off, light off, etc) get peoples expectations out of whack with reality, and with what's typically needed. Spare me the "if I go camping for multiple weeks..." stories, most people don't go camping for multiple weeks, and when they do they bring chargers for other devices (like phones) meaning they can charge their ereader just as easily.

Very true. No ereader I've used has lasted for multiple weeks with everyday use. A couple of weeks, yes, sometimes, but not 4-5-6 weeks. We already traded some battery life for a frontlight and no one is complaining about that (or vanishingly few). A modern ereader doesn't have to be Usain Bolt, but neither should it take more than a second for every operation. That gets old fast.

I'm sure many people will disagree, as preferences differ.

[mezzanine]

Probably the biggest complaint I read about the Oasis is the battery life. I can see how it wouldnt be an issue for most users. I had an Oasis 1 and the tablet-like battery performance drove me crazy, even though it wasnt a big hassle to charge it more frequently.

My issue is the lifespan of the device seems mostly to be governed by battery degradation. Its not that I have a problem with the charge it holds in the first year of use, but rather after a couple of years when it becomes much less efficient. With the slow speed with which the screen tech changes, the battery ends up forcing unnecessary upgrades.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by mezzanine

Probably the biggest complaint I read about the Oasis is the battery life. I can see how it wouldnt be an issue for most users. I had an Oasis 1 and the tablet-like battery performance drove me crazy, even though it wasnt a big hassle to charge it more frequently.

My issue is the lifespan of the device seems mostly to be governed by battery degradation. Its not that I have a problem with the charge it holds in the first year of use, but rather after a couple of years when it becomes much less efficient. With the slow speed with which the screen tech changes, the battery ends up forcing unnecessary upgrades.

I haven't noticed much degradation with any of my ereaders (current ones are all 2 years old), but then I'm not one of those people who read for several hours every day. And I tend to have more than one ereader in active use, so that I switch between them. I didn't even notice any degradation with the infamous Oasis 1, which I loved and used for 1,5 years before buying the Oasis 2.

As I said before, preferences and user habits differ. I can believe that someone who reads for 3 or more hours every day might notice their battery life getting steadily worse. It just hasn't been my personal experience.