Kobo Aura H2O vs Paperwhite (New) vs Voyage(Renewed)

[Mau5]

Hey guys,

I´m thinking of buying a ereader, as a present for myself.

I´ve stuck with 3 choices:

1. Paperwhite - 139 EUR (new)

2. Voyage - 169 EUR (renewed) / 189 EUR (new)

3. Kobo Aura H20 - 159 (new)

I don´t know which to choose.

I will read books downloaded from internet but also will buy them from Amazon, and other online stores.

I really do not know if the difference in price between Paperwhite and Voyage make sense.

My Budget is max 170 EUR.

I will read books in English, Spanish, Russian so I will need a good dictionary. I want to buy some good ereader that will last longer and has a quality build.

Can´t decide, please help

[ZodWallop]

There's not really enough info in your post to answer your questions. Here are some questions/thoughts for you.

Do you plan on checking out books from a library? If so, Amazon is better in the US, but Kobo is better elsewhere. You mentioned Euros, so Kobo would be better for you.

Do you know how to use Calibre? If you don't and you are planning on buying the bulk of your books from Amazon, buy a Kindle.

The Voyage to me is a nicer reader than the Paperwhite due to the flush screen, metal body and pseudo-page turn buttons. Do any of those features matter to you? If not, go for the Paperwhite.

The H20 has a bigger screen than either of the Kindles. Do you want a larger screen?

It is also waterproof. Do you read in the tub, at the pool or beach?

If the H20 is first gen (you didn't specify), it has an expandable SD card slot, so it can hold many more books.

If the H20 is second gen, you lose the SD card slot, but the reading light has a blue light filter. Do you read a lot at night?

[Mau5]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

There's not really enough info in your post to answer your questions. Here are some questions/thoughts for you.

Do you plan on checking out books from a library? If so, Amazon is better in the US, but Kobo is better elsewhere. You mentioned Euros, so Kobo would be better for you.

Do you know how to use Calibre? If you don't and you are planning on buying the bulk of your books from Amazon, buy a Kindle.

The Voyage to me is a nicer reader than the Paperwhite due to the flush screen, metal body and pseudo-page turn buttons. Do any of those features matter to you? If not, go for the Paperwhite.

The H20 has a bigger screen than either of the Kindles. Do you want a larger screen?

It is also waterproof. Do you read in the tub, at the pool or beach?

If the H20 is first gen (you didn't specify), it has an expandable SD card slot, so it can hold many more books.

If the H20 is second gen, you lose the SD card slot, but the reading light has a blue light filter. Do you read a lot at night?

Do you plan on checking out books from a library? - our public libraries don´t have a good selection of books for now, so I think no.

Do you know how to use Calibre? If you don't and you are planning on buying the bulk of your books from Amazon, buy a Kindle. - I don´t, but I´m a fast learner )))

Do any of those features matter to you? If not, go for the Paperwhite. - I was thinking more from the pov of reading experience, do this features improve it or it´s more an upgrade to the experience from Paperwhite?

If the H20 is second gen, you lose the SD card slot, but the reading light has a blue light filter. Do you read a lot at night? - It´s the second edition, as I can buy it through an offer now. No I don´t read a lot at night, nor I real a lot at the pool/beach, as I go to the pool/beach only in summer, so mostly no. The bigger screen does look good, I would enjoy a bigger screen.

How about the dictionaries on both Amazon vs Kobo? How about the notes? Could I take notes on Kobo? Cause I saw that on Amazon I can make notes, and sync them to the cloud.

[Cinisajoy]

Dictionaries are much better on the kindle.

[barryem]

I have an older Kobo, the original Aura, not the H2O. I did help one of my neighbors set up and learn to use his H2O. I also have a Voyage and Paperwhite.

I think if I could only keep one of them it would be hard to choose between the Aura and the Paperwhite. I doubt I'd choose the Kobo although if that was the one I had to keep I'd be okay with that. It wouldn't be my first choice though.

For a long time I liked the Voyage a lot more than the Paperwhite but little by little I began to realize that the flush bezel was causing me to accidentally turn pages a lot and was distracting. These days I read more on the Paperwhite than the Voyage for that reason. That said, the light weight and small size of the Voyage feel nicer in my hand.

If I didn't have any of them and had to buy one now it would be a Paperwhite. It's my preferred ereader now. The Aura is nice but not enough to be worth the extra cost.

That said, they're all nice devices and none of them would be a bad choice.

Barry

[John F]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

There's not really enough info in your post to answer your questions. Here are some questions/thoughts for you.

Do you plan on checking out books from a library? If so, Amazon is better in the US, but Kobo is better elsewhere. You mentioned Euros, so Kobo would be better for you.

...

Just to expand on this (for the U.S.). Amazon may make it easier (integrated on all of their hardware). Kobo/EPub is probably supported at more libraries (cloudLibrary, rbdigital, ...).

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by barryem

That said, they're all nice devices and none of them would be a bad choice.

Barry

There doesn't seem to be many bad choices out there right now, terms of hardware. You might want to consider the supporting infrastructure in your country. That is the quality of the eBook stores, etc.

Basically, you have two major formats to choose from. Kindle and ePub. Generally speaking any given eReader device can read one format but not the other. Very few books get published in one format but not the other. But geo restrictions can play havoc on the dedicated eReading person.

For the most part, buying a Kindle means buying books from Amazon, though some 3rd party book stores offer the kindle formats for their books, loading them to a Kindle device is rarely as straightforward as from Amazon itself. (not difficult, just different).

ePub has more bookstores available for it and different book stores seem to be dominant in different countries.

My personal belief, as a person residing in the USA, and who has had both epub and kindle readers, is that the Kindle/Amazon experience is superior to that of the ePub experience. But in the USA, the Kindle infrastructure is strong and vibrant; and Amazon tends to try out the new ideas in the USA before they release them to the rest of the world.

If Amazon has a strong presence in your country, Kindle is a strong choice. If not, then ePub is the way to go.

then again, a reliable Android tablet will allow you to read both types of eBooks!

[Mau5]

Hey guys, thank you for your messages, in the end, I think I will buy a kindle. I really like their dictionary option, making a vocabulary list, and take notes. The books I will buy from Amazon and other libraries. I have a good portion of epubs .... and have to look up information about Calibre.

So now the final question will be, to buy a new Paperwhite(without ads) 139 EUR, or a refurbished Voyage 169 EUR.

Tablet option I do have in my mind, but it will be later, and more as a multimedia device than a reading device.

Later Edit: The Amazon infrastructure is kinda good here in Spain, so maybe will not be a bad idea.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Mau5

So now the final question will be, to buy a new Paperwhite(without ads) 139 EUR, or a refurbished Voyage 169 EUR.

Tablet option I do have in my mind, but it will be later, and more as a multimedia device than a reading device.

I have an older Paperwhite with ads, and I don't find the ads at all difficult. the ads only appear on the unlock screen (so far!) and don't interfere with reading at all. Plus, all the ads I've seen are related to ebooks in some way.

I personally don't see much difference between the PW and the Voyage. Both now have a 6 inch 300 ppi screen, but the Voyage has a page touch option and what sounds like a slightly better screen lighting mechanism. The Voyage is slightly smaller and a tiny bit lighter. Though my PW is not at all a burden to carry.

I think that in terms of the best value, the Paperwhite is superior. It has all of the important features of the Voyage, to me, at least.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Mau5

So now the final question will be, to buy a new Paperwhite(without ads) 139 EUR, or a refurbished Voyage 169 EUR.

Since you are indifferent, I would go with the Paperwhite. You are not gaining a lot with a Voyage other than maxing your budget out. The money you save can go towards extra books (can never have too many).

[JSWolf]

I have the most experience with the H2O and some experience with the Paperwhite and I've read a lot about the Voyage. Given my experience with the H2O and the Paperwhite, I would go for the H2O. I would also go for the H2O vs the Voyage as well.

Larger screen, better font controls, ePub, comfort light pro (you can turn down the blue light), and waterproof. All of those are very nice features.

[Mau5]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have the most experience with the H2O and some experience with the Paperwhite and I've read a lot about the Voyage. Given my experience with the H2O and the Paperwhite, I would go for the H2O. I would also go for the H2O vs the Voyage as well.

Larger screen, better font controls, ePub, comfort light pro (you can turn down the blue light), and waterproof. All of those are very nice features.

And how about the dictionary and making notes? Because this is important to me, as Spanish and English aren´t my mother languages. I´m constantly trying to improve them, so the vocabulary list and possibility to reread, check the definitions of the words and maybe reread the notes are important features to me.

As I see, H2O is a good choice vs PW, but the question is, does it have the options mentioned?

P.S Thank you all for your help, really appreciate it.

[Pajamaman]

Just to complicate things, consider the new Nook glowlight 3. It has buttons and a comfortlight and no ads for the same price as the PW with ads.

[Pajamaman]

Wow. At $200 the Voyage is absurdly priced. If you want buttons get the new Nook. I have and like the PW but the navigation options are poor. It would be much better if it had buttons like the Voyage. But $200? Yikes. Is Amazon tripping? Nope, they just lack competition in the USA market. Nook have slotted a very nice reader into the truck-sized hole Amazon have left in the market, and they've even undercut the PW price and included better hardware (buttons and red night light). Wow. The only reason I can see for getting a Kindle right nowis the ease of purchase. B&N have given Amazon a massive boot up the deriere. I hope the new Nook impacts the market the way it deserves to. It outshines Amazon and Kobo.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Mau5

And how about the dictionary and making notes? Because this is important to me, as Spanish and English aren´t my mother languages. I´m constantly trying to improve them, so the vocabulary list and possibility to reread, check the definitions of the words and maybe reread the notes are important features to me.

As I see, H2O is a good choice vs PW, but the question is, does it have the options mentioned?

P.S Thank you all for your help, really appreciate it.

You do have more choices for dictionaries on a Kindle. You can buy add-on dictionaries for Kindles. With Kindles and Kobos, you can highlight and take notes.