Review: Kobo Aura from an Avid Reader

       

General Overview

The Kobo Aura is the newest eink, dedicated reader that Kobo has released. As an avid reader who likes to read outside and inside, night or day, I really enjoy eink. The Kobo Aura has the glo feature which really adds to the reader. Personally, I leave the light on all the time because it gives the screen a black on white feel that I really enjoy. Previously, I was using the Kobo Glo which I loved and didn’t think I would see a big difference between the readers but I really did. The light has improved and most importantly the device has as well. It responds much faster, and memory storage is much larger with 4G of on-board memory.

The Screen

The Aura has a nice crisp screen, for those who are looking for a bigger screen the Kobo Aura HD is also available. Kobo offers a variety of options to increase your text size, font and margins. There is also an option to change the darkness and weight of your text which is something that I really like. The only issue that I have with the Aura is ghosting.  Compared to my Kobo Glo, the Aura has ghosting of the book cover when I initially wake it up from sleep mode. I reset the page refresh and after a few pages turned- the cover disappears. This is the only thing I would like to see improved.

Housing

The housing of the Aura really impressed me. First, the screen and bezel have no gaps. It has the feel of a tablet- one continuous screen. If you’re like me, and you are constantly wiping your screen to get rid of dirt and fingerprints, this is great!  I no longer have cracks to try and get debris out of. Also, the material used for the housing feels really nice, and doesn’t have a plastic feel. The back of the Aura has a non-slip feel with slight edges which helps to hold the reader.

Battery

My experience with the battery has been great.  Kobo states that the battery can last over 2 months based on 30 minutes of reading with the comfort light turned on or off and Wi-Fi turned off. I never turn my Wi-Fi off, the light remains on and I read for several hours at a time. I usually end up charging it once a week. I also don’t like to see the batter depleted too much, because I’m worried that I won’t have it during my commute to work. The battery has impressed me so far. I have no complaints.

Kobo Reading Life

Kobo Reading Life is designed to give readers an enriched reading experience, keeping track of your stats and rewards. I love the stats feature within Kobo and I’ve used it for years. My one complaint is that I’ve gathered all the rewards I can, and it’s been a LONG time since I won a new award. It doesn’t really change the reading experience but I really loved the awards popping up on my screen from time to time.

PDF’s

As a blogger who has access to galleys, I come across many pdf’s. Viewing a pdf is easy. Side-loading the books are easy, but I still prefer not to read PDF’s on eink screens. I find the text too small, and the font too light. Kobo allows you to zoom in but I find this hinders the reading experience because I would constantly be adjusting the pages.

Kobo and Independent Book Stores

Kobo has partnered with independent book stores and many readers have seen this as a huge selling point. They love buying from their local indie and supporting independent book stores.

Kobo has a new line up of  tablets to be released soon, and I can't wait to take a look at them. Kobo has really come a long way. Remember when I use to complain, and complain about my Kobo Vox? They've been able to regain my trust and confidence in their products.