Aura ONE Kobo Aura One owners thread

[cerem0ny]

Oops double post, please delete

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by Lemons

I took a picture of it for those curious, not positive of the image resize here so uploaded it elsewhere although its hard to see in pictures. It's under the S in was.

https://i.gyazo.com/920aa521868c734b...3e018888dd.png

Bingo! Seen thousands of these on the forums. Mine is luckily free from any of those, but ive seen them countless times on my own devices. Exxxxxxccchaaaanggggeee it! Not good enough!

[ewphoenix123]

Originally Posted by aceflor

Here a pic I just made with my 2 devices side by side.

Now of course will come our next usual round of discussion, regarding the quality of the pics, the lighting, the quality of the device used for taking the pics, camera vs phone pics, the time of the day those pics were taken, the background, the ugliness of my kitchen table, and the age of the captain.

Been there, done that, it's the PW/Voyage/Oasis/H2O discussion all over again....

Ok, I'm off to the beach, have fun guys.

Actually looking at the photo, your Aura One text looks "washed out" in comparison, are both at the same light level? (My One needs a slightly higher level). If I compare my H2O and ONE at adjusted lightlevel I don't see such a massive difference.
Maybe you got a 'bad' one?

[anacreon]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Opening the collections list has always been slow. How long depends on how many collections and how many books are in the collections. Adding one collection with 500 books in it will add more time to this than adding 20 collections with two or three books per collection.

I experimented with collections on the One:

• bringing them down from 71 to 66 collections by grouping 5 very small ones to just one with 22 books brought the opening time from 16" to 15"
• suppressing 6 collections with between 155 and 525 books (together 1760 books because most of my books have several tags) brought the opening time from 16" to under 10", which is still way too long

I still have 12 collections with more than 100 books but I can't do without them, and I still think that the combination One / 4.0.7523 is way worse that the Glo HD / 3.15.0:

• 69 collections to 64 brought it from 5" to 4"
• 64 to 58 (together -1411 books) brought it under 3".

Sure, I have about 10% more books on the One (many heavy weight). After all I did buy the One also for the 8 Gb and to read some of my PDFs. For a device that advertises the number of books you can put on it, it doesn't make sense not to be able to navigate comfortably amid 2000 + books, and I still use only half of it (I still have 3.8 Gb free of the 6.9 available).

EDIT: The first time after turning on the One (from sleep or closed down) is 19". It is only the next times that are is under 10". The respective numbers for the Glo HD are 5" and 4". My methods with a phone stopwatch with one hand and another hand to start the reader have a 1" precision margin for the shorter times, but I have time to move for the longer times.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Lemons

I took a picture of it for those curious, not positive of the image resize here so uploaded it elsewhere although its hard to see in pictures. It's under the S in was.

https://i.gyazo.com/920aa521868c734b...3e018888dd.png

The tiny bright spot? I'm assuming it only shows with the light on? If it came like that out of the box, has had no direct screen damage, bothers you while reading, and isn't a piece of dust/dirt, then it is a light guide defect and it should be exchangeable.

Nothing to do with pixels.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

The Voyage screen wins in terms of sharpness - its text really 'popped' and kind of floated on the screen, it was amazing. Gradients are on both devices but the colour gradients on the A1 are much more excusable because of the customisation available to you. Eek, I really do love it. Such a fanboy!

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Im not really convinced with these pictures... I mean, the Voyage looks like the worst of the bunch? Which sure aint true... and the Vision 3 HD? Have never seen one of them but apparently its the very best of the bunch? Not sure if any ereader will trump the Voyage in terms of that really amazing, crystal clear screen! thanks for sharing though but I like to think ive got a pretty good eye (pro photographer for ten years) but in order of sharpness its definately:

Voyage > Aura One > Oasis > H20 > Glo > PW2 (which are the only ones I can legitimately comment on...)

Screen quality and colour uniformity is a whole different ball-park, with the Oasis being one of the worst looking devices I have ver seen - period - and the Glo HD being not much better - which was very shocking to me at the time...! Thought it looked worse than my H2O and after seeing it on display in a store had eliminated any of my interest in buying it...

The photos on that blog just look like in comparison to the Aura One and Vision 3HD photos, some of the others are slightly out of focus?

IMHO I think the H2O and Voyage look the best two screen in terms of how clear the text looks. With the H2O I think Kobo have made it a top-of-the-range device and managed to get the best possible looking screen you can with a built-in light/IR touch combination. And while there is a little bit of a gradient away from the LED's on the Voyage, Amazon have done the same with it's built-in light/capacitive touch screen. I think it's down to the high quality glass screen it has, which makes the text almost seem printed on top.

By comparison, the likes of the Glo HD and PW3, are made that little bit cheaper, and therefore not surprisingly aren't quite as good (more noticeable with the previous gen PW2, Glo). But you don't actually notice the fuzziness of the text on these readers until you look at them next to the more expensive models. I think if Kobo have managed to make the Aura One only slightly less crisp than the H2O, they've done a good job with it considering the added factor of the capacitive touch screen.

Originally Posted by aceflor

Here a pic I just made with my 2 devices side by side.

Can you post a link to a bigger photo aceflor, its hard to see that clearly since you can't zoom in (picture, camera, lighting quality discounted ;-)). We all know only too well of the variances you can get in ereader screens (seemingly even more so with those that have capacitive touch), so perhaps yours is just a 'bad' one in terms of the text crispness? Although to be fair, the few comparison photos I've seen of the H2O and Aura One, the latter doesn't look quite as clear to me.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

The photos on that blog just look like in comparison to the Aura One and Vision 3HD photos, some of the others are slightly out of focus?

IMHO I think the H2O and Voyage look the best two screen in terms of how clear the text looks. With the H2O I think Kobo have made it a top-of-the-range device and managed to get the best possible looking screen you can with a built-in light/IR touch combination. And while there is a little bit of a gradient away from the LED's on the Voyage, Amazon have done the same with it's built-in light/capacitive touch screen. I think it's down to the high quality glass screen it has, which makes the text almost seem printed on top.

By comparison, the likes of the Glo HD and PW3, are made that little bit cheaper, and therefore not surprisingly aren't quite as good (more noticeable with the previous gen PW2, Glo). But you don't actually notice the fuzziness of the text on these readers until you look at them next to the more expensive models. I think if Kobo have managed to make the Aura One only slightly less crisp than the H2O, they've done a good job with it considering the added factor of the capacitive touch screen.


Can you post a link to a bigger photo aceflor, its hard to see that clearly since you can't zoom in (picture, camera, lighting quality discounted ;-)). We all know only too well of the variances you can get in ereader screens (seemingly even more so with those that have capacitive touch), so perhaps yours is just a 'bad' one in terms of the text crispness? Although to be fair, the few comparison photos I've seen of the H2O and Aura One, the latter doesn't look quite as clear to me.

Hrmmm fair enough. Myself I know that if I got an Aura One and it was less clear than my H20 I'd probably be on these forums kicking up a stink every chance I got! But to my eyes the A1 is several grades clearer, especially when comparing the two directly - my only very minor complaint being that it's not AS clear as I expected the jump from 265 to 300 ppi to be. But then again, what the hell do I know? Cant understand why some people seem to take it so personally.

[aceflor]

Back from the beach, too hot for me today !

I will try to repost the pic to make it zoomable, I was careful not to have a big pic as the original is 2MB and I don't want Dr Drib having to post an angry green post.

Anyway, to be fair, The Aura One is not as bad as it looks on the pic, but it is a tad washed out in comparison to the H2O. I made a test with my group of friends at the beach this morning. I first showed them the Aura One and they fell in love. Then, I showed them the H2O. They did not find it as sexy. Some (4) found that both displays had the same crispiness, the others (3) found that the H2O was crispier, just by a bit. I never said anything, just showed them both devices, let them play with them, and then just asked which one had a crispier display. Of this group of 7, every one has an E-Reader (we belong to the same book club). There are if I remember properly 4 or 5 PWs, 2 Voyages, 1 Sony T3 and 1 Energy Sistem in there.

What I want to say is that is a tough call, but some people, like me, might find their H2O a bit crispier. My H2O is very good, probably because I managed to cherry pick it when I bought it in a brick and mortar shop.

Here what I just read (http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...uld-have-been/ see Mo's comment :

And the fonts on the H2O look sharper than the fonts on the Aura One.

I am not saying I am right, because there is no right or wrong here, I am just saying that I am not the only one.

[Stingo]

Well I finally got my Aura One and was wondering if others have run accross what I've found. So let me recap the issues.

The device itself is very nice and I have no problem with washed out text. The text is sharp and clear. I also have had no issue with battery life which is fine. But....

-when using dim front lighting the top and edges are noticeably darker forming a slight gradient. The lighting is not as even as on the H2O.
-in dim light the screen lighting will suddenly adjust a step or to up or down for no reason at random times later adjusting back.
-In night light there is a noticeable green/blue blotch about a third of the way across on the bottom. It extends up about an inch.
-The screen sensitivity is not great.

[anacreon]

Not only are our eyes different, the devices are different too. There are some with glaring defects, which we exchange, but some look good, and we keep them and like them - one gets attached to those companions during hours of reading. But if we compare them with another of the same model, they might have a slightly different tint, a slightly different lighting. Not to speak of we read with different level of lighting: I tend to be at 100% during the day for most of my devices (I feel the One needs less), contrary to many people her.

That's what just happened with me for the One.

I had battery problems, but it improved when, after a few days, the new F/W arrived, and when I added "PeriodicAutoSync=false" to the configuration files.

I had written to the French customer service just to inform them about that bug, and explain that the battery went better after modifying the configuration, but they pushed me to exchange. I still had some battery problem, and some people in this forum advised me to exchange, so I thought why not, even though I thought part of it could have been due to software problems, specifically that the light/natural light gestion needed improving, but I was afraid that if it persisted I might have problems exchanging the One.

So I exchanged it on the 8th. It is too early to know about the battery: the first full cycle completed on the 9th afternoon - the last 60% in 6 hours reading with light at 74%, natural light off - but I'll see how it goes after the second full cycle.

If the battery proves better, I wont regret exchanging the first One, but I do regret its screen/lighting when reading in good daylight: it was whiter when natural light was off; the second One feels like the first with the natural light one step up. No problem at night of course.

Regarding comparisons, with MY eyes and MY devices, I feel

• the Glo HD screen is sharper than the H2O
• the Glo comfort light is better than the H2O's
• the Glo screen color is less comfortable than the H2O's reading in very low lighting, but that's when I need sharp characters
• I've just put all 3 device at 100% lighting in a well lit room: I see a slightly higher sharpness on the capitals in the heading, but no real difference in the text - and the real estate makes everything so much better that for hours long reading I much prefer the One.

I might continue bringing the Glo when commuting, or for long trips with no charging possibilities, but since August 31th, I've only done it when charging the One.

EDIT: the pictures http://ipparis.fr/documents/jpg_sortie.zip

I had difficulties with the focus, so I did one each with a different device center stage (and focus), plus one with the color checker not cropped to compare white levels.

In this light, to my eyes (not photos), there is a VERY slight blurring due to the capacitive level, which makes the Glo HD sharper than the One, but the One beats the H2O because of the sharper definition (300 instead of 265). The Glo HD has the whitest screen, my second One slightly pinker (the first One was better, though still less white than the Glo), the H2O is too yellow.

I still prefer reading on the One because of the real estate.

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by aceflor

After reading 2 hours more, I have to add 3 things.
1. Page turning is quite slow (reading an epub, and have to anticipate the page turning time in order not to interrupt my reading. On the positive side, due to the page size, I don't have to turn pages that much). But I am sure Kobo will improve that in a next FW update. It's just weird coming from the Tolino Vision 3HD, which is really quick, or even the H20.
2. The automatic lighting adaptation works very well, both the brightness and the natural tone. Think Voyage plus the natural tone change. I love, love, love that !
3. (almost forgot that third point.. ): highlighting is still a pain. Come on Kobo, you did a very good job with the hardware, and the press and communication work was brilliant, now go back to work on the software !!!!

The Kobo Extended Driver (a plugin for calibre) will fix both your cons. Page turning with Kepub is extremely fast and responsive, (unless large images are invovled,) and Highlighting works just fine. (At least, as fine as any Eink device I've used.)

[Wearever]

Thanks to those of you who posted pictures here

I think this is why, it's so much easier to go to a brick & mortar store, and see in person if the device is right for them. No matter what brand or size, they may look & feel just right, to one person and not the other. Also if it isn't just right after you buy it, it's easy to return to the store and get a replacement or a refund. I know Amazon makes this easy too, but you still need to be careful with too many returns. I prefer to see a device before I buy it. I can tell just by using the device after a few mins. If the screen is good for me ? How does it feel weight size ? does it work well ? So far I have not seen an Oasis, but eventually I will in Best Buy or another store. I miss seeing Kobo's in stores, and hope to see them again in stores in the U.S.

[MGlitch]

Having sold eink devices in a brick and mortar store I can tell you that even seeing the demo models next to other generations doesn't help.

You're still gambling on the quality of the device you pull out of the box. And after a certain time the demo models wont be representative of the ones in boxes simply because they're usually abused by some customers (not all, but some folks could use lessons in personal hygiene).

And depending on the company returns to a brick and mortar store can be harder, they are generally stricter than websites when it comes to returns, even within the same company.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I'd have to disagree. I have both devices and using the same font size and font settings on both, I can't see a noticeable difference with the naked eye other than the Aura One putting more text on the screen.

I will admit that my eyesight is probably not what it was in the past but taking pictures of the screen at 1:1 using my digital camera and looking at the images on my laptop monitor magnified well past life size, I still don't see any noticeable fuzziness comparing the Aura One and the Aura H2O.

I believe you and I believe aceflor too. I'm glad people post their differing experiences, my only point in replying was that I find it a little frustrating when someone posts what they see and someone else replies basically saying that's impossible, as JoOrwick did. I don't think people are trying to be rude, but it rubs me the wrong way. I experienced this constantly years back when I was having trouble getting a decent kindle paperwhite screen. People acting like I couldn't possibly be seeing what I was seeing. Why would someone say they see something they don't? I should add, as someone who has had experience with the same make and model of e-readers next to each other, I also know how much the same make and model can vary as well. I also know some people can look at the exact same device and see different things. The main thing is if you're happy with your device that is all that matters.

Originally Posted by JoOrwick

I understand that, but there are several people already saying how this a deal breaker for them and how this convinced them not to get the KA1 which is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. Why trust a post on a forum with no pictures saying the screen is not as sharp as the H20 when in the site I linked they can see for themselves that the H20 is definitely not sharper than the Aura One? If anything, it's clearly more pixelated.

Well, everyone has to decide for themselves if they want to order or not, but to say aceflor is wrong in what she sees is ridiculous to me. I do agree with you in that you shouldn't necessarily go with what someone is saying on a forum, you should see the device in person as your experience may be different. That said, as someone who is very sensitive to e-reader screen variances, when someone says theirs looks a little more fuzzy than their H20, I take it into consideration. It also makes sense to me due to the extra layer. At this point, I have seen more than a few people saying their H20 is a tad sharper, and I've also seen some people saying the opposite. It gives me pause when I see conflicting reports mainly due to my sensitivity to such things and also because I don't have easy access to seeing one in person. It's a pain ordering online and having to return it. Been there, done that. More times than I care to remember. LOL.

[Wearever]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Having sold eink devices in a brick and mortar store I can tell you that even seeing the demo models next to other generations doesn't help.

You're still gambling on the quality of the device you pull out of the box. And after a certain time the demo models wont be representative of the ones in boxes simply because they're usually abused by some customers (not all, but some folks could use lessons in personal hygiene).

And depending on the company returns to a brick and mortar store can be harder, they are generally stricter than websites when it comes to returns, even within the same company.

That's true I have seen demos that don't work well. I tend to go to different stores that have them, and look for one that is working well. I also saw some blue screen Voyages and waited till I finally saw one that had whiter screen, for my eyes anyway. I ordered from Amazon for the easier return, plus a prime deal. I did get the same white screen Voyage, fortunately. I also carry hand sanitizer with me, for shopping carts & touch screens. I know some people have terrible hygiene.

I should also add that I did buy other things at Best Buy that day. If the screen wasn't right from Amazon on Prime Day, I would have tried again at Best Buy. I do support brick & mortar stores.