Its water-resistance is the biggest reason to buy this e-reader. Kobo says the Aura H2O will happily survive a dunk in 2m of water for up to 30 minutes, and having dropped it in the bath on a few occasions, I’m pleased to say that it hasn’t suffered any detrimental effects. This is a feature I’ve been calling for Amazon to add to its Kindles for some time now, and one that seems an obvious choice for a device that’s likely to be used in the bath or around the pool on a holiday. Still, it’s light enough (210g) to not add much weight to a bag and comfy enough to hold for extended periods.Īs the name suggests, the Aura H2O is water-resistant. It also isn’t of a size that will slip into your back pocket – something I do actually find myself doing with the Kindle Voyage. I can comfortably hold a Kindle Paperwhite in one hand, but the width of the Aura H2O makes this difficult. I like the fact that you actually have to press the button quite hard for it to respond, meaning it won’t accidentally burst into life in your rucksack.Īt 6.8 inches, the Kobo Aura H2O has a larger screen than any Kindle model currently on the market, and the generous screen size does make for a device that’s bigger, thicker and wider overall. Kobo’s logo is stencilled into the rear of the device, while there’s a blue power button in its top corner. The black plastic body is strong and well built, while the dimpled rear is grippy if a little basic. Kobo’s industrial design edges on being more durable than stylish – which, for a device that’s likely to spend much of its time being thrown into a bag alongside other items, isn’t the worst thing. But if you’re after a water-resistant model then the Aura H2O offers a decent alternative to the overall superior Kindle Paperwhite. It’s a shame, then, that the new Aura H2O falls a little short, notably with its strange battery life and sluggish performance. I was a huge fan of the Kobo Aura One and the older Aura H2O, and the new Kobo Aura H2O (2017) adopts many of the features that made those previous models so good. Aside from Kobo, that is, which has been churning out some rather decent e-readers of late. Amazon seems to have settled on its Kindle lineup and there isn’t much in the way of competition. You might find this more comfortable if you intend to hold it in two hands.Like tablets, e-readers have seen minimal innovation in the past few years. You can also turn the Kobo on its side, with buttons at the bottom, and the screen automatically rotates so you can hold it in landscape mode. Aesthetically it doesn't help shake that clunky feel and you'd think all this would be better off hidden away on the bottom edge of the device. Surprisingly, Kobo places the microUSB port and unsightly fine print along this bulging side edge of the reader for all the world to see. A slight bulge makes it easier to grip, putting forward and back buttons comfortably under your thumb, or you can tap or swipe the screen to turn the page. While it's not as slick as the Kindle Oasis, the latest Kobo is certainly light and comfortable to hold in either hand. You might choose to leave Natural Light set to 20 per cent all the time, to help the screen look more like a paperback page than clinical sheets of printer paper, but don't push it too far past 50 per cent or the page turns an unnatural shade of orange.
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