Realities about Aura One Complaints?

[Uschiekid]

Originally Posted by hap124

I am aware of the diffrence between front and backlighting. It's LEDs themselves that bother me, in any application.

Have you tried a front light with the ability to change the LED "warmth"? That makes a big difference for me. Blue-tinted LEDs strain my eyes, but give it a yellowish tone, and it's magically like reading with an old-fashioned lamp (better, actually).

Also I would say that the KA1 has a matte finish on the top glass layer (though the surface itself feels smooth, not like the Kobo Glo which had a rough feel to the touch, which some people dislike). All such surfaces have some glare, but if I compare it with a tablet or phone, it has almost no glare by comparison. I just tested this with the front light off and a non-LED lamp.

As for delay in touch response. My previous (and still owned) original Glo definitely suffers from this. My dad's Aura HD also, to some extent. My mom's original H2O is much better and I would say my KA1 is the best. It never lags on page turns and responds to every page turning I attempt. The general opening of books, navigating, etc is also smooth, opening a book is immediate, instead of a 30 second plus delay on my Glo (that sometimes would happen when I wasn't trying to open said book, which was most annoying).

The highlighting. Hm. This is better on my KA1, but I think doesn't work quite as well for me as it does for others because I have very dry fingertips and capacitive (sp?) screens don't always work very well for me. However, it works well, IF I touch with the tip where I want, and then roll onto the ball of my fingertip (so slightly downwards)...it's as if that movement makes it realise my finger is there. And it nearly always picks the right word. And it certainly works much better than on my Glo, despite the Glo being IR which should work better for me, but just all touch response is slow.

I would hesitate to out and out recommend the KA1 because everyone is different, but I have tried out in person every Kobo from the Touch to KA1 (not Clara HD yet) and liked the KA1 enough to get it while my Glo still technically works, which normally I wouldn't do. Caveat: I had saved a lot of Chapters (canadian store) gift cards, so technically only bought it for 75cents

[lensmann]

Originally Posted by hap124

About glass...I just need to know how much difference the glass front makes when using a reading lamp with the frontlight off. I prefer 100% reflected light rather than playing games trying to balance frontlighting or backlighting with ambient/lamp light and generally get strain with LED lighting of any type, and I worry the added gloss of the glass cover can make it uncomfortable with reflections/glare.

It depends on the type of bulb you've got in your lamp and the type of lamp. Ambient light doesn't create a problem, but if you've got a bulb shining directly onto the Aura One, you do sometimes see a reflection at certain angles. I've run into this issue in hotels. Shifting my position a bit fixes the issue, so it isn't a major problem for me. But you may have a different threshold of tolerance.

On responsiveness: page turns aren't really an issue on the Aura One if you're reading epubs. Pages turn quickly on the Aura One, and it also wakes up from sleep very quickly. PDFs can be a lot slower, however, so if you'll be reading PDFs that's something to keep in mind. The Aura One is also less responsive when it comes to highlighting words and phrases in texts. Highlighting does work, but you'll need a finer touch when dragging the highlighting bars. I see this as a relatively minor annoyance which is outweighed by the better typography and layout on a Kobo, but again you may see things differently.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by hap124

Oh also does anyone know if the Aura One has a visible digitizer layer? Meaning you can see lines in a diamond or square grid pattern if you look very close like some lower end touch displays? Apparently the H202 has this.

Just took a look at my KA1 and no digitizer layer visible. The only Kobo where I remember noticing that was the original Kobo Aura. There is no digitizer layer visible on the Tolino epos (basically, the same screen and touch sensitive layer in both as assembled by eInk).

[Braid]

Originally Posted by hap124

About glass...I just need to know how much difference the glass front makes when using a reading lamp with the frontlight off. I prefer 100% reflected light rather than playing games trying to balance frontlighting or backlighting with ambient/lamp light and generally get strain with LED lighting of any type, and I worry the added gloss of the glass cover can make it uncomfortable with reflections/glare.

I never use the backlight on my Aura One or Oasis 2- I only ever use ambient light. I do this to maximize battery life and to minimize eye-strain and to have the most 'natural' (i.e. similar to paper) reading experience as possible. I miss the raised bezel designs of old readers, but it has nothing to do with glare issues for me - I've never had issues with glare. I mean yeah, I probably have to re-position the reader to avoid glare more than I used to with my Nook Simple Touch, Kobo H2O (1st ed), and Kindle Keyboard. But I don't think it significantly impacts my reading experience. I really like the expanded screen size, higher pixel count, and waterproofing of the current readers, and for that, it is worth putting up with the (imo inferior) flush bezel designs that are currently in vogue.

But I do miss the raised bezels of older e-readers. I found them more ergonomic than the flush bezel - my thumb felt more comfortable and secure along a raised bezel. I also felt more confident about the reader, due to the extra protection - with a raised bezel, I can drop the reader on a concrete floor and it can slide across, and the screen may not be harmed, only the bezel would be scratched. With a flush screen, such an accident would likely ruin the display. So I think for these reasons (and the small increase in glare) the flush bezel design choice puts fashionableness over function somewhat.

Originally Posted by hap124

Oh also does anyone know if the Aura One has a visible digitizer layer? Meaning you can see lines in a diamond or square grid pattern if you look very close like some lower end touch displays? Apparently the H202 has this.

I can't see anything like that on my Aura One!

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by hap124

It's slow. Relative to Kindles that is.

I don't think that I agree with you because the Oasis 2 is so slow to wake up and frequently doesn't register page turn presses that in comparison the Aura One feels somewhat better.

Originally Posted by hap124

How is the glare compared to the bare matte plastic screens?

Glass ereaders tend to have slightly better handling of glare than the matte finish ones due to the micro-etching of the glass display. In fact the worst glare I've seen on modern ereaders belongs to the basic Kindle.

I would rank it as

Tablets < glossy paper < matte finish ereaders < glass ereaders < paper

Anything else to consider?

Why? It's not like you have to find faults to balance against the excitement of buying this device. You seem to have no enthusiasm and in fact seem more disdainful than enthusiastic. Nobody is forcing you to buy it. If you don't want it buy something else or nothing at all.

[FlyHero]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

Why? It's not like you have to find faults to balance against the excitement of buying this device. You seem to have no enthusiasm and in fact seem more disdainful than enthusiastic. Nobody is forcing you to buy it. If you don't want it buy something else or nothing at all.

This is a bizarrely hostile response to cap off an otherwise helpful post from you. I always find "If you dont like it nobody is forcing you to buy" comments terribly defensive and weird. The "why" is because I would like to know. if you dont like the question for some odd reason, better to ignore it than pop off with the judgemental snip.

[FlyHero]

Originally Posted by Braid

But I do miss the raised bezels of older e-readers. I found them more ergonomic than the flush bezel - my thumb felt more comfortable and secure along a raised bezel. I also felt more confident about the reader, due to the extra protection

I feel the same and am a bit conflicted since I'd like a larger screen...but the larger ones are all flush glass as far as I can tell. H202 seems to have raised bezel but is an inch smaller and has it's own set of complaints to worry about.

[JIPG-reader]

Originally Posted by hap124

I feel the same and am a bit conflicted since I'd like a larger screen...but the larger ones are all flush glass as far as I can tell. H202 seems to have raised bezel but is an inch smaller and has it's own set of complaints to worry about.

What set of complains?. I have one and I very happy with it: .
It is no so big and no so small, so the perfect size.

[deleted2]

I had a Kindle Paper White years ago. I liked it. But the features of the Kobo made me switch. Kindle has features that can please you more. It's all up to your personal preferences.

Mine were :

- ePub, not being caught in only one ecosystem, and that's the format my library use.
- I jumped on the Aura One because of the size of the screen and lightweight.
- Being able to tone down the blue light at night.
- The good price for a top of the line ebook reader.


Things I don't like but are not that important :

- I don't read PDF. The Kobo is not good at that.
- The touchscreen is not super responsive, a hit and miss sometimes. Not always. Not enough to make me angry and want to throw it away.
- Underlining is not fun, but I'm not doing it often. So, I don't mind it that much. I can take the time.
- Yes, the screen under a light can be a bit shiny, depending on the angle you're holding the Kobo. But I mostly read at night with no lights on, so it's not affecting me. Reading outdoor is a very good experience.

[FlyHero]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

I had a Kindle Paper White years ago. I liked it. But the features of the Kobo made me switch. Kindle has features that can please you more. It's all up to your personal preferences.

I can't quite find the device that hits all my wishes. I want:

1. 7.8" or so
2. Very good contrast (old kindles were a lottery and I finally got an amazing one-it's whiter with blacker/clearer text than any modern example I have seen in a store, even the Oasis- and its a 7yo K4 model-at one point I tried ordering a paperwhite but 3 in a row were terrible in comparison)
3. Fast with no lags and misses as a regular thing
4. Ability to disable frontlight entirely or no frontlight.
5. Epub (now I convert everything to Mobi but main library for storage is Epub)
6. Reliable hardware and software and not needing constant attention with updates etc just to function or sort out bugs that shouldn't be there from the factory. (My K4 has never been online and never updated...I just read on it)

*I don't care about integration, wifi, mods, browsers and whatever. I just want a solid reader that I can plug into calibre and transfer books to...then read.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by hap124

I can't quite find the device that hits all my wishes. I want:

1. 7.8" or so
2. Very good contrast (old kindles were a lottery and I finally got an amazing one-it's whiter with blacker/clearer text than any modern example I have seen in a store, even the Oasis- and its a 7yo K4 model-at one point I tried ordering a paperwhite but 3 in a row were terrible in comparison)
3. Fast with no lags and misses as a regular thing
4. Ability to disable frontlight entirely or no frontlight.
5. Epub (now I convert everything to Mobi but main library for storage is Epub)
6. Reliable hardware and software and not needing constant attention with updates etc just to function or sort out bugs that shouldn't be there from the factory. (My K4 has never been online and never updated...I just read on it)

*I don't care about integration, wifi, mods, browsers and whatever. I just want a solid reader that I can plug into calibre and transfer books to...then read.

To me the Aura One fits all those criteria. Maybe try to order one from a store where you could return it with no problem if you ever don’t like it.

[dordale]

I agree with Claude_C--I have an Aura One and feel it fits all of the criteria you've listed.

[reader4good]

I got an Aura One as my very first eReader. Main reasons for getting it: Overdrive integration, big HD screen and the flexibility (and ease) of customising the FW with updates and patches. The touchscreen can be sluggish sometimes (I was too used to ebooks on iPads so I have to manage my expectations here). Overall I’m happy with it so far.

But...
How I wish Kobo made it a little more affordable so I can buy another one!
Which I did, but it was a more affordable Kobo Aura for my kids.

[Readirect]

Originally Posted by hap124

When researching the Aura One I see two complaints that jump out at me:

1. It's slow. Relative to Kindles that is. I occasionally see someone say theirs isn't slow but the majority of comments seem to note speed. Has this ever been compared in a controlled way? Any other input?

2. The glare. I have never had a glass front E-Reader and always read with a lamp fairly directly lighting my device to really bring out the contrast. (LED lighting bothers me so no plan to use frontlight) How is the glare compared to the bare matte plastic screens?

Anything else to consider?

I have an Aura One, an Oasis 2, a Voyage and a dead PW3 that I used for years. Personally, I've never seen a difference in speed or glare between any of them.

What I *do* see is a major difference in handling sideloaded books, especially in indexing them. With the Aura One, I can easily set up collections in Calibre and those collections get automatically transferred to the Kobo. With my Kindles, I can't do that. I *used* to be able to do that -- years ago -- then Amazon took that ability away.

Indexing is the biggest thing, though, and Amazon still hasn't fixed the bugs which have existed since the beginning. Kindle *frequently* chokes on indexing and many books never do get indexed; wasting battery life and causing havoc. The only fix for this is to turn off that feature through an unintuitive hack.

Indexing in Kobo has never been a problem for me.

[Braid]

Originally Posted by Readirect

Kindle *frequently* chokes on indexing and many books never do get indexed; wasting battery life and causing havoc. The only fix for this is to turn off that feature through an unintuitive hack.

I've never had any problems with indexing on my Kindle Keyboard, Voyage, or Oasis 2. My Voyage has 600 books on it, the Oasis has over 1,800, all a mixture of azw3, mobi, and pdf files.

Having said that, I'm not denying that I've seen people reporting problems with their Kindles indexing. That must be really annoying.