Why the Kobo Aura One is the best eReader available

[bagpiper1]

Alright, so I have spent an inordinate amount of time reading about the Kindle Oasis 2 and Kobo the Aura ONE. Why have I done this ? 1.) I am anxious waiting for my KA1 to arrive 2.) I want to remind myself that I probably will not have buyer's remorse when it arrives. After reading a review that compared the Oasis 1 to the H20 (yes I am aware the the H20 is not the KA1) , on Gizmodo, certain things became apparent to me and crystallized more in my thoughts

1.) 7.8 screen size is better than 7 inch. Most eReaders are have six inch screens and they claim this is good because it makes them more portable. Well, I never put my eReader in my back pants pocket because I might sit on it and break it if I forget it is in my back pocket. Also, really this conceals the fact that it is cheaper for companies to make 6 inch eReaders. Also, they claim these eReaders are the size of paperback but in actuality the screen itself is about half the size of the pages in a paperback.So what does the 6 inches have to do with with these eReaders ? As it turns out the KA1 screen happens to be about the size of a paperback page while the kindle Oasis screen is still smaller than one or at least an average like one.

Also, why are books printed in paperback size with paperback size print ? it is not because
it is the best for the person doing the reading but because it is cheaper. To make the text bigger , in a paperback, means more pages which is more expensive to print. Kobo Aura ONE can make the font bigger with the 7.8 screen in a way that is not about saving money for the publisher.

2.) This first point also relates to making the KA1 better at reading non-fiction technical documents than the Oasis 2. Is the KA1 as good at as a sony dpt rp1 at this ? No, but it is a hell of alot more cheaper, portable and can double better as a reader of more textual non-technical books.

3.) The second points leads me to my third point. It is easier to add alternative readers like Koreader to the KA1 with sideloading in specific directories while you have to jailbreak a kindle ( a PITA) to do the same.

4.) The Oasis 2 is meant to be held by the side and unlike the Oasis 1 does not come with a cover with more battery that more levels out the weight of the sides. As far as I can tell this makes the Oasis 2 designed oddly and not in a good way. For instance, holding it from the side means one side is heavier than the other so making highlights, of passages, and possibly even looking up a word, in the dictionary, by pressing on it, with your free hand is likely to put pressure on the lighter side making the reader tilt towards the light side at an awkward angle. This , among another reason, I will come to, makes me think the Kindle Oasis 2 is for low level barely literate elementary readers. While the kindle Oasis 2 has adequate firmware/software support for highlighting, annotating, and dictionary lookup using it with the bad physical design choice , in practice, is more troublesome. This combined with the physical turn buttons on the side mean most people using the kindle probably read non-challenging pop fiction and are barely literate. Not that physical page buttons are bad per se but this means Amazon is prioritizing a reading function that even a 1st grader can utilize. It is not putting higher level reading core functions (analytical and syntopical) on the same playing field. This is no surprise since most Americans only read at the 8th grade level that is why authors like James Patterson are so popular.

5.) Following from the previous point : Amazon kindle Oasis 2 has support for audio books. Audio books are for functional illiterates. Seriously, watching TV , listening to the radio or listening to an ebook is like popping a cassette tape into your head and parroting back ideas without critically thinking about it. Again : the Amazon kindle Oasis is for people who can barely read and cannot even read on the highschool (analytical) and college (syntopical) level but at the elementary James Patterson level.

6.) The kindle UI is getting better at this but Kobo is still better at customizing fonts and the larger screen means more adjustable or customizable margins. Also, you can add more fonts to the Kobo by sideloading it.

7.) The default screen saver on the Kindle sucks at you cannot change it without jailbreaking the kindle (which is a PITA). I am not sure if this is still the case but it probably is. The Kobo shows the book cover of the book you are currently reading. This is not as trivial as it sounds. Seeing the cover of the book you are currently reading is a reminder and kind of inducement to pick it back up.

8.) The Kobo Aura ONE has a comfort light

9.) The KA1 has integrated library checkout with Overdrive directly with the Kobo store and can be accessed from the KA1 UI.

10.) Kobo devices support epub and more formats. Seriously, Kindle does not have epub support and it is 2018 ? I get it , it does not make good business sense for Amazon to do so but that does not make lack of such a feature any more relatively unacceptable in 2018. Even with Amazon's virtual dominance of the US and UK markets AZW3 is not the de facto standard and if there is standard epub is it or closer to it.

I am tired of enumerating reasons so I will stop here.


I see a lot of superficial arguments for the Kindle Oasis 2 over the Kobo Aura ONE. I will address some here :

1.) Amazon has a better ecosystem

Response : That has nothing to do with the technical differences between the hardware itself and only minimally so with the UI. It is also a matter of opinion. Seems to me Amazon caters to the LAZY in this sense. Also, I personally already have a huge library so sitting down and sideloading my eReader in advanced in one computer session, with Calibre, is not really going out of my way. If I am feeling impulsive for another book or reading material, which is probably not a good thing, I preloaded my eReader with wise forethought, then there is the Kobo store, Calibre content server, Overdrive function on the Kobo and pocket etc...

2.) You can export annotations easier to other devices or computer and you can email yourself books.

Response : if you are exporting your annotations wirelessly to use on a computer, tablet or phone you have to grab that other device anyway eventually. In that case I might as well just plug it into my laptop anyway etc.. of course this fits my use case better than maybe yours. Also, again this appeals to the LAZY. Also, I can , by editing a config file, on the Kobo, one time, export notes from any book onto my Kobo itself. Personally , I mostly only need the annotations , on my eReader, unless I want to back it up and I can do that in bulk with a bunch of books at once rather than have to do it for every book.

3.) Amazon has extra cool useful things like X-ray etc...

Response : X-ray in particular probably only works on Amazon books not sideloaded ones. Also, it is not that these sophisticated extras are not useful and when I say the former 2 appeal to the Lazy that does not mean automation and time saving are bad but rather :

All these extras are pointless and extraneous when Amazon cannot even get the core reading experience right. It is putting he proverbial cart before the horse. Kobo gets the core reading experience right. What core experience ? Look again at the points in the former half of this post. I does not take a rocket scientist to see which ones are related to the 'core reading experience.'

Disclaimer : I do not work for Kobo and I am not being paid by Kobo I was motivated to write this post because :

1.) The English speaking portion of the internet, at least, is full of pro-kindle propaganda that focuses on the ecosystem instead the merits of the eReaders themselves. Alot of these idiots rank the Oasis 2 higher than the KA1 based on this mostly.


.) I still waiting for my Kobo Aura ONE to come in the mail and I basically just convincing myself, as I type this post, that made the right choice.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by bagpiper1

.) I still waiting for my Kobo Aura ONE to come in the mail and I basically just convincing myself, as I type this post, that made the right choice.

I'm guessing you'll like it. I like going the other direction -- smaller screens -- but I'm a bit weird.

[rashkae]

Between the Oasis and A1, I wouldn't say one is better than the other. However, if your purpose is reading prose, the A1 is definitely the better value for price.

However, there are a few assertions you made based on reading merketing specs that do not reflect real life.

Whatever awkwardness is created by Kindle's weird lopsided design, it is *nothing* compared to the awkwardness of Kobo A1 inaccurate touch screen when it comes to text highlighting and word selection.

If you're going to be reading pdf documents, the Kindle handles those much better. Especially pdf's with graphic/image content. The extra .8' does the Kobo no good in this regard.

The kindles tend to 'just work' whereas the Kobos have a history of glitches and new bugs introduced by software updates. For the technical minded users, the Kobo can be a superior experience, (no jailbreaking required, more customization.). For the 'grandma' user, the Kindle will be far less frustrating, and more importantly, doesn't come back requiring support.

[issybird]

Obviously, I have a brand preference
<=
and my initial reaction to a 7" Kindle was, "How 2011 of them," 2011 being the year I got the Sony PRS-950 and I do raise my eyebrow a bit when Kindlers wax lyrical at the large size. I'm glad for them, though, and the reality is that generally all the ereaders being sold today are just fine; it's a question of parsing the details.

That said, I'll make just two critical comments on the KOA2: I would find it awkward to have to flip the reader to change hands (but would get used to it) and Audible integration is a boondoggle, since it doesn't allow for Immersion Reading and the KOA2 is a lousy audiobook player on its own merits. I disagree strongly with your "functional illiterates" comment which is both inaccurate and rude and reflects on you, not audiobook listeners.

I'll let the rest go.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

KOA2

When did Amazon release a Kindle Oasis Aura 2? I thought it was a KO2 (Kindle Oasis 2).

Originally Posted by bagpiper1

This , among another reason, I will come to, makes me think the Kindle Oasis 2 is for low level barely literate elementary readers.

As for the illiterate commonest, I find that rather rude. Many people listen to audiobooks for different reasons. And I would find most of them not to be because someone is illiterate. I sometimes listen to an audiobook and I am in no way illiterate.

Also, I cannot see anyone who might be illiterate buying a KO2 as it's more expensive than an audio player that's compatible with Audible. Plus, it's very rude and insulting.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When did Amazon release a Kindle Oasis Aura 2? I thought it was a KO2 (Kindle Oasis 2).

It's a courtesy I like to extend to the Kindle devs here who do such a fantastic job, by using the nomenclature they prefer.

[Braid]

Clicking on footnotes, citations, and other links is much smoother and more reliable on Kindle devices than on Kobo devices, in my experience. That is one of the reasons I favour Kindle devices over Kobo ones when it comes to reading academic texts.

Another reason is the Kindle's superior PDF reading experience. On my Kobo H20 (1st edition), I found Koreader to be about as good as a Kindle at displaying PDF. Except you have to either switch to using Koreader full-time, thereby missing out on Kobo's elegant default user interface, or, you have to have your ebook collection segregated over two operating systems by file format, which is not ideal.

Yet another reason I prefer Kindle devices over Kobo devices when reading academic or difficult texts, is the superior default English dictionary. Kindles have OED, while Kobos use Merriam Webster. Unless you think looking up words in the dictionary is a sign of illiteracy? Heh. The Kindle OED is much larger than the Kobo dictionary, and it also uses my preferred phonetic alphabet convention. I tried installing the full OED on my Kobo once, but it wasn't as good as the Kindle one and it had to be reinstalled everytime I updated my firmware. Easier just to stick with fiction and lighter non-fiction on my KA1.

Page turn buttons come in useful when reading any kinds of texts, but especially more challenging stuff. They allow you to quickly flick forward or back 5, 10, or however many pages you want, without waiting for each page to load. You just tap the button however many times you want.

I love my Kobo Aura One, and my Kindle Oasis 2. I would be happy to have either of them as my only ereader.

[gilster]

Originally Posted by rashkae

Whatever awkwardness is created by Kindle's weird lopsided design, it is *nothing* compared to the awkwardness of Kobo A1 inaccurate touch screen when it comes to text highlighting and word selection.

Boy is that the truth. On this score, my Oasis 2 is the clear winner, with highlighting that 'snaps' in place and highlighting from one page into the next without difficulty. Kobo needs to fix highlighting in future software releases, or perhaps it will take the next generation of touchscreen at this size.

[Richwood]

I agree with the comments about the inaccuracy of the Aura One touch screen. It made registering it a PITA. The Kindle Oasis 2 touch screen is much less frustrating in comparison. I have both units including both early 8 GB and new 32 GB Aura One versions and touch screen accuracy is lousy on both. No noticeable improvement.

When reading a novel or text that does not require dictionary lookup (I have a very large reading vocabulary) I love the Kindle Oasis 2 ability to disable the touch screen so inadvertent screen touching does not cause reading interruptions. I wish Amazon would add it to the Kindle Voyage features set too. Readers need page turn buttons or dedicated sensors in order to allow this function to be introduced. No current Kobo units have such buttons or sensors.

The Aura One overall size does limit it's portability compared to 6" readers, a consideration for some. I have readers from the 5" Kobo Mini and Sony PRS-350 to the 9.7" Kindle DX and all sizes in between including the old 7" Sony PRS-950.

[Stevex]

Regarding selection / hghlighting, my KA1 got much more accurate in the latest firmware releases. It’s still not perfect, but it’s 10x better than it was a year ago. Hopefully that’s a trend that will continue.
The footnotes are a function of the epub spec, if you convert to kepub there is a much better system. This is definitely necessary to do for books where footnotes are important.
In all other respects I agree completely the OP’s points.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by Braid

I love my Kobo Aura One, and my Kindle Oasis 2. I would be happy to have either of them as my only ereader.

I have both (and love both), and this pretty much sums it up! To the OP, I don't agree with all of your reasoning. Sometimes I prefer the Oasis 2 for complex reading with its more efficient note-taking and lookup tools. However you have clearly analyzed with much thought about what are the important characteristics for you. Therefore you should be excited to receive that shipping package! I am sure you will love it! We all know how exciting it can be to wait to open that box with a new gadget inside.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

It's a courtesy I like to extend to the Kindle devs here who do such a fantastic job, by using the nomenclature they prefer.

To me, the abbreviation KOA2 doesn't actually make any since. The A has no meaning. KO2 has meaning. I read Kindle Oasis 2. I don't read Kindle Oasis 2 with KOA2. All I read is a typo.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To me, the abbreviation KOA2 doesn't actually make any since. The A has no meaning. KO2 has meaning. I read Kindle Oasis 2. I don't read Kindle Oasis 2 with KOA2. All I read is a typo.

It makes me think of Kampgrounds of America. KOA

There are hundreds of them in the States.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

It makes me think of Kampgrounds of America. KOA

There are hundreds of them in the States.

And when I see the word Kampgrounds, I think of Germany (aka WWII).

[gilster]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I have both (and love both), and this pretty much sums it up! To the OP, I don't agree with all of your reasoning. Sometimes I prefer the Oasis 2 for complex reading with its more efficient note-taking and lookup tools. However you have clearly analyzed with much thought about what are the important characteristics for you. Therefore you should be excited to receive that shipping package! I am sure you will love it! We all know how exciting it can be to wait to open that box with a new gadget inside.

I couldn't agree more. And I count myself lucky to have an Aura One as well as the latest generation of Oasis. Both have a few things I'd like to see get better, and the point is, the technology is steadily improving, so I'm very bullish on e-readers in general.

Here's a thought on one thing I'd like the Aura One to improve on. I read some fairly esoteric stuff at times, and know that some of the terms won't necessarily turn up in the Kindle dictionary, much less the dreadful Kobo one. On my Oasis, I've learned that if I switch on WiFi, the jump to Wikipedia is seamless. I click on a word, and if the dictionary can't find it, the Oasis switches to Wikipedia.

And here's the difference: Whereas I can search Wikipedia with my Kobo, the Oasis pulls my search word and doesn't simply present me with a fairly unmanageable Web page. It snips the first paragraph from the Wikipedia article -- very fast -- and presents it in the same little inset box as it does dictionary lookup definitions.

Very cool. I use this all the time. I've tried the same search on the Kobo and I do get the Wikipedia web page for whatever topic it is, but without the seamless experience of the Oasis. So on this count, I give the Oasis the win. On many others, especially customization, I lean toward the Aura One, and all the rich font choices.

Re dictionaries: I do switch dictionaries at times -- the Aura One is great for this -- except that every time I sync the Aura One, it downloads the old dictionary. Very annoying! I have to sync a lot because I also use the Overdrive integration to download lots of library books. So I hope they fix this.