Kindle Voyage vs Kobo Aura H2O

[cct1]

I didn't remove the headers, I get more text on the H20 than the Voyage, same font size, for what it's worth. I will probably remove the header at some point to get even more text on there, just been too lazy to patch it, and eventually Kobo may make it an option with a firmware update anyway. I've grown to like the footer, having an accurate number of pages left in a chapter somehow clicks with me. To me, it's the extra width of the H20 that's so darned nice, it feels more like a page from a book, on the Voyage, it feels more like a newspaper column.

Karter, I have the refresh to every page, and I have the font weight somewhere between default and 100%, I don't have it turned all the way up, using Caecilia or whatever it is. I have no graying of the letters, try that and see how it looks.

Personally, comparing the screens next to each other at roughly equal lighting, the H20 looks much, much better IMHO--more natural, less electric looking.

I'm keeping the Voyage--I've given my paperwhite 1 and 2 to my kids over the years, and kept an old basic kindle (which I liked better than the paperwhites, the screen was sharper, blasphemy, I know). But the Voyage is so much better than the Basic that I'm hanging on to it--it's really the ultimate in portability. At home though, it's the H20 hands down.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Yeah, so did I. GeoffR's patches cleared that right up

Exactly. I applied the patch on mine, but on a side note, for those that don't want to use a patch, there are other quick changes you can make to remove the extra space.

[cct1]

Is there a way to remove the header on Kpubs (ie through Calibre) other than with the patch?

[karter]

Thanks cct1. I will try. I just wanted to know whether it is normal or not, just to know if I have to return it to the shop and get another one without that problem (since I have a limited time to do that). So, that graying of the letters is normal when not modifying the default refresh rate and font weight? (The graying isn't exact on every letter, it depends on where the letter is located). Thanks again

[cct1]

Originally Posted by karter

Thanks cct1. I will try. I just wanted to know whether it is normal or not, just to know if I have to return it to the shop and get another one without that problem (since I have a limited time to do that). So, that graying of the letters is normal when not modifying the default refresh rate and font weight? (The graying isn't exact on every letter, it depends on where the letter is located). Thanks again

I didn't notice it on the default settings, so it might be an issue with your device, but I switched mine from default almost as soon as I got it, to optimize everything. I've always had the refresh with each page on all my ereaders, I did that straight out of the box, and I weighted the font until it was perfect (for me), and I have no issues with the font graying out--it's consistent from top to bottom.

[muse]

So I've seen many comparisons photos of these two devices but they don't reveal much to me. Most of the photos suffer from lack of sharpness, blur from hand-shake, noise from high ISO or inaccurate White Balance.

Can anyone comment on how do they perform with serif fonts?

Does the higher pixel density of the Voyage make a big difference?

[cct1]

Can't comment on Serif, but the higher pixel density of the Voyage is outweighed by the ability to increase the weight of the fonts on the H20 IMHO; the letters look better/clearer (to me at least) on the H20 with the font weighted to my preferences.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by muse

So I've seen many comparisons photos of these two devices but they don't reveal much to me. Most of the photos suffer from lack of sharpness, blur from hand-shake, noise from high ISO or inaccurate White Balance.

Can anyone comment on how do they perform with serif fonts?

Does the higher pixel density of the Voyage make a big difference?

Yes, to me it does. While you can change the weight of the fonts on the H2O, making it them bolder, you cannot change the sharpness for every font. For some you can, for others not, and for this you have to manually change the config file. The sharpness is better on the Voyage, without a doubt.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by muse

So I've seen many comparisons photos of these two devices but they don't reveal much to me. Most of the photos suffer from lack of sharpness, blur from hand-shake, noise from high ISO or inaccurate White Balance.

Can anyone comment on how do they perform with serif fonts?

Does the higher pixel density of the Voyage make a big difference?

I had difficulty reading on the Voyage due to the thinness of the fonts, no adjustment possible, and the color gradient. YMMV I can't comment on the H2O since I don't have one in hand yet.

ETA - the KV screen did make the type appear very crisp and contrasty, however. That was good.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by muse

So I've seen many comparisons photos of these two devices but they don't reveal much to me. Most of the photos suffer from lack of sharpness, blur from hand-shake, noise from high ISO or inaccurate White Balance.

Can anyone comment on how do they perform with serif fonts?

Does the higher pixel density of the Voyage make a big difference?

You're likely going to get very different replies, I'm guessing, since our experiences on here seem to vary quite a lot. To me, the voyage actually made the fonts look worse, too thin and light. Between that and the harsh cold florescent light, I had eye strain reading on it at low light levels. I returned mine due to that and the gradient issue and I also had color hues on mine as well.

I actually prefer the way the fonts look on my PW2 and far prefer how they look on the H20, especially since you can change the weight of the fonts and the light is much more natural to my eyes as well. So that was my personal experience. The only way to really know how you'll find it is to try the different devices yourself. If you're in the states, you can easily compare the PW2 2014 to the voyage demo in Best Buy.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

You're likely going to get very different replies, I'm guessing, since our experiences on here seem to vary quite a lot. To me, the voyage actually made the fonts look worse, too thin and light. Between that and the harsh cold florescent light, I had eye strain reading on it at low light levels. I returned mine due to that and the gradient issue and I also had color hues on mine as well.

I actually prefer the way the fonts look on my PW2 and far prefer how they look on the H20, especially since you can change the weight of the fonts and the light is much more natural to my eyes as well. So that was my personal experience. The only way to really know how you'll find it is to try the different devices yourself. If you're in the states, you can easily compare the PW2 2014 to the voyage demo in Best Buy.

Yes, yes, and yes.

[muse]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

It seems like the advantage of higher pixel density on the Voyage is negated by the limited customisation on the Kindle.
I suppose that can solved by modifying the e-books but it's not something I'd do.

Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely I'd get to demo them at all in Australia.
It'd be interesting to see the differences with both readers using the same font, size and weight.

LCD pixel density comparison:
http://www.mrgeek.me/wp-content/uplo...-50-to-300.png

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by muse

It seems like the advantage of higher pixel density on the Voyage is negated by the limited customisation on the Kindle.

That may be true if you have a problem with the Voyage's fonts, but personally I find them to be entirely satisfactory.

The other features of the Voyage make it a winner for me: the page turn buttons, and the much more accurate touch-screen. Last week I was reading a book on my H2O which had a lot of endnotes, and trying to activate the small hyperlinks for the notes was extremely frustrating - I had to tap the screen time after time before the link would work. Most of the time it just turned the page. That just doesn't happen on the Voyage.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by muse

LCD pixel density comparison:
http://www.mrgeek.me/wp-content/uplo...-50-to-300.png

Thank you for that. As I suspected, the H2O would be aces for me!

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by muse

Can anyone comment on how do they perform with serif fonts?

Does the higher pixel density of the Voyage make a big difference?

Comparing fonts on the H2O and the Voyage and making the font the same height with no font adjustment on both, I really can't see much of a difference other than getting more text on a page with the H2O. Adjusting the font size so I have the same amount of text on the page, the H2O looks fractionally better likely due to playing with the font adjustment and slightly larger font size on the screen.