Kobo Aura One review

[pbrown]

Hi ciscopixie,

Thanks for asking the question.
In answering, I would be very interested in getting the Aura One if I didn't own an e-reader already, but I don't think I'll be upgrading from the Aura HD (while it is still functioning).
If I happen to loose or break the HD and thus have no e-reader available, I'll probably go with buying the Aura One, mostly due to it's large screen size, although I would sorely miss not having the expansion card slot feature if I bought one.
Reading pdf's on a small screen (including the 6.8" as small) has it's problems. If I were only interested in books in the native epub file format, the larger screen size wouldn't matter too much as an interesting feature to me. Having a lot of pdf files, the larger screen will be an asset.

Best regards,

[filmo]

I have 2 readers with 6 inch screen that I still really like but my 5 inch screen Kobo Mini is always with me for that reason getting used more.

[Ksquared]

Originally Posted by Atunah

I always wondered about the Kobo's, but then I read all the threads here about all the tweaking, installing this and that, this plugin for this and that, I always thought of them as not being for someone like me in any case as I do not mess with any of those things.

I have only tweaked things a few time; the software is good as is. Don't the fact that people can and will tweak and modify the firmware keep you from buying a Kobo if you don't want to.

[robko]

Originally Posted by Ksquared

I have only tweaked things a few time; the software is good as is. Don't the fact that people can and will tweak and modify the firmware keep you from buying a Kobo if you don't want to.

Agreed. There are lots of us that use the device with little or no tweaking. The reason you hear so much about tweaks here is because it can be EASILY done for most of them with no jailbreak or significant risk in adding them. For something like a Kindle the majority of tweaks are going to require a jailbreak which is a whole lot bigger technical step for most people than just adding a tweak on a Kobo.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Atunah

I always wondered about the Kobo's, but then I read all the threads here about all the tweaking, installing this and that, this plugin for this and that, I always thought of them as not being for someone like me in any case as I do not mess with any of those things.

It's not necessary to tweaking, etc. to use a Kobo ereader. Much as you don't need to jailbreak your Kindle to be a happy user. But for some, it is part of the fun in using a device.

Originally Posted by Atunah

Its also very tough to switch to a completely different system when one has books in one format since 2008 that I can access at my fingertips. I don't like downloading everything on my readers, so no matter how good those devices are, I wouldn't or couldn't be switching for those reasons. But its nice to see competition still in the e-ink area.

Since 2008? You likely have ebooks in several different formats and multiple variants -- Amazon has made quite a few changes to their formats (.mobi and .azw3) over the years. As for downloading everything to your reader? Not a necessity with Kobo's ereaders either though not as convenient as Amazon's cloud -- assuming you have network connectivity.

I have to agree that competition does a good job of driving development.

Originally Posted by Atunah

I do like the overdrive integration, that is neat. I guess if Kobo ever decides to drop kindle support from the libraries as they own it now, I might have to get one just to be able to read library books. I hope that never happens, but one never knows. As regular sized one though, not a super sized.

Around here, there is no Kindle support in public libraries. 99% epub format with a few ebooks that give you a choice between epub and pdf format. Amazon didn't start selling Kindles here until early 2013 so most of the library systems did not consider the expense of supporting Kindles worthwhile.

[Atunah]

Thanks all for the answers on the tweaking stuff. I would never ever do anything like that. I never messed with my kindles, or phone or any other device like that. Not something I would ever be comfortable doing. I guess I want stuff to just work as is. Good to hear they do.

Originally Posted by DNSB

Since 2008? You likely have ebooks in several different formats and multiple variants -- Amazon has made quite a few changes to their formats (.mobi and .azw3) over the years. As for downloading everything to your reader? Not a necessity with Kobo's ereaders either though not as convenient as Amazon's cloud -- assuming you have network connectivity.

I have to agree that competition does a good job of driving development.



Around here, there is no Kindle support in public libraries. 99% epub format with a few ebooks that give you a choice between epub and pdf format. Amazon didn't start selling Kindles here until early 2013 so most of the library systems did not consider the expense of supporting Kindles worthwhile.

Well all the books are still all in one place though on Amazon, no matter the format. They are all amazon format. And since all my books are amazon books, in order to use a kobo, I would have to convert them epub and then put them all on my Kobo so I would always have access to them. Or keep them in mobi as I see it supports that format. The issue there of course is that I like how the newer azw3 formats look like, not like plain mobi. But fiddling with much in calibre is way over my head. I just back up my books there for reasons, but do not know anything other than that.

I think I would be much more tempted if they had the color thing on a regular sized Aura. Same features, but 6 inch. And if it had buttons, I might try it out. For the fonts and the light. Not sure if I need the waterproof, but it sounds neat too.

Always good to keep things in mind. I am pretty happy overall with my Oasis so its not like I need another type device. I just want there to be e-ink readers in the future as I can only read on them.

Thanks guys. Any general kobo questions, I should probably put in a different thread as not to clog up this review one.

[Poodlemom1]

Originally Posted by Atunah

I always wondered about the Kobo's, but then I read all the threads here about all the tweaking, installing this and that, this plugin for this and that, I always thought of them as not being for someone like me in any case as I do not mess with any of those things.

I have the Glo HD. I haven't done any tweaks. I am satisfied without them. I mainly use it for Overdrive ePubs that are not available in Kindle. One of my libraries uses 3M cloud and I can download the books to my Glo HD. I really hope it gets the Overdrive integration. If it doesn't I will probably buy the One eventually.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[SCION]

Originally Posted by pagepack

I had a Voyage with that exact feature, I sent it back.

[anacreon]

http://techcresendo.com/2016/08/19/k...e-full-review/ :

"With its large screen, Long battery life waterproof, and wide file format support, the Kobo Aura One is the best ebook reader. But, the price $229 is too much to spend when there is also other options available in the market at low prices."

other options????.

Yes this big car is the best but it's price is too much when there are cheaper much smaller cars with less options?

[beachboybogart]

From what I can find on the Weeb, the Aura HD (my reader) uses Pearl E ink tech, while the HD One uses Carta E ink tech. E ink's site says this has 50% more contrast, along with sharper edges. The Kindle Paperwhite has been using Pearl, and I find it clearer (at 64 with reading glasses, anything that is lit causes a bit of ghosting for me). So I will be getting the HD One both for the size and the improvement in clarity.

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/wp-...a-vs-pearl.jpg

While I really do like the Aura HD, I wish it had darker text. Amazing, when you look back at unlit eReaders, how impossible they seem now to enjoy.

[oren64]

Originally Posted by anacreon

http://techcresendo.com/2016/08/19/k...e-full-review/ :

"With its large screen, Long battery life waterproof, and wide file format support, the Kobo Aura One is the best ebook reader. But, the price $229 is too much to spend when there is also other options available in the market at low prices."

other options????.

Yes this big car is the best but it's price is too much when there are cheaper much smaller cars with less options?

No doubt it's the best ereader today, a ford and a ferrari can take you from A to B, but you enjoy the ride more in the ferrari.

"Long battery life" it is up to 1 month of reading (battery 1200 mAh in the FCC), compare to 2 month of reading in the Glo HD, but it weigh only 230g.

[Lemons]

I rely don't understand the one month being 'Long battery' as that's just a few hours more than a tablet has (15 hours or so) unless that is on max brightness with Wifi it sounds pretty short esp if you go on trips for a week without any power source.

[barryem]

I have a Kobo and a few fairly recent Kindles. I'm perfectly able to root things and install things if there's a reason and I've done it a few times with recent devices. But for the most part the devices work the way I want them to and I leave them alone.

I've never made any modifications to my current Kobo. On a Kobo I used to have I did reduce the size of the bottom margin using something someone posted in here. I don't think I've modified any other Kobos. I've had several over the years.

I've also had several Kindles and I don't think I've ever done anything out of the ordinary with them. The Kindle is my preferred ereader but they're both so good it's a close call.

Barry

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I already have the ids for both the Aura One and Aura Edition 2. The driver will be ready for these devices.

cool .

[filmo]

I have battery pack 65 grams with mini USB charging cable. 94 X 59 X 6 mm 2800 mAH. Could charge Kobo Aura twice. Small and light enough to attach to reader and hold both whole reading? Combined weight 295 grams. Another battery to charge later.