The eBook Reader Market: An Analysis of Kobo's Latest Release

The world of e-readers has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years, with sales declining significantly since 2014. Despite this, the market for e-readers is not dead yet, and companies like Kobo continue to innovate and improve their devices. One such device is the Kobo AA H2O, a refreshed edition of last year's model that boasts several key improvements.

One of the standout features of the Kobo AA H2O is its design. It has a distinct angular shape that sets it apart from other e-readers on the market. The device is also comfortable to hold and use, with exceptionally light bezels that provide ample room for resting your thumbs. However, it's worth noting that the bezels could be trimmed back slightly to make the device feel even more premium.

In terms of functionality, the Kobo AA H2O has remained largely unchanged from last year's model. It still features a waterproof design with patented HZO protection, which provides up to 30 minutes of protection at a depth of 3 feet. However, it's not recommended to use the device underwater, as the screen becomes unresponsive and has trouble registering touches until it's completely dry.

The Kobo AA H2O's display is also noteworthy, with a resolution of 265 PPI that provides crisp and sharp text for most books. The device also features Comfort light technology, which produces an even bright tonal consistency across the entire screen. Additionally, there is a natural light feature that adjusts the screen's cue to minimize glare and improve readability.

One new feature that sets the Kobo AA H2O apart from other e-readers is its Bedtime feature. This feature automatically switches the scene to warmer non-blue hues at a specified time, making it easier to read before bed without straining your eyes. The device also features the same processor as last year's model, but with double the memory.

Despite these improvements, the Kobo AA H2O still struggles with performance issues. In our testing, the device took longer than Amazon's entry-level Kindle to load books, and it sometimes stuttered in menu screens. However, this is not necessarily a deal-breaker for potential buyers.

One major improvement of the Kobo AA H2O is its internal storage capacity. The device can store up to 8 GB of memory, twice that of last year's model. This means that users will have more room to store their e-books and other content without having to worry about running out of space.

Another benefit of the Kobo AA H2O is its fantastic battery life. We tested the device for about a week, using it for 30 minutes to an hour each evening with the brightness set to about 50%. The battery life had dipped to around 56% by day five, which is a good sign that the device will last longer than expected.

The Kobo AA H2O also boasts a large library of e-books available through its Wi-Fi connectivity. With over 5 million titles at your fingertips, users will never be short on reading material. Additionally, the device supports third-party e-book formats, making it easy to transfer books from other devices or PCs via micro SD card.

One of the standout features of the Kobo AA H2O is its software. The interface is intuitive and user-friendly, with features like offline downloads, saved annotations, and a built-in dictionary for book titles, authors, series, and ISBN numbers. Additionally, there is an activity feature that gamifies your reading, allowing you to track your progress and see stats like how many minutes you spent reading each day of the week.

Despite its many improvements, the Kobo AA H2O still falls short in some areas. While it has a higher resolution screen than Amazon's comparable Kindle, it is also significantly more expensive. Furthermore, the device struggles with performance issues, which may be a turn-off for some potential buyers.

In conclusion, the Kobo AA H2O is an impressive e-reader that offers several key improvements over its predecessor. With its comfortable design, improved display, and fantastic battery life, this device is sure to please even the most discerning readers. However, its high price point and performance issues may make it less accessible to some buyers. Ultimately, whether or not the Kobo AA H2O is worth the investment depends on your individual needs and preferences as a reader.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe eBook reader Market has changed a whole lot over the past couple of years but some people would argue that there's still no device better for shrinking down the big pile of books in your library so if you can take them to the beach or on a plane or on a train and it's certainly true that ebook readers look just as good and direct sunlight as they do and dim bedrooms thanks to Innovative backlighting this is the Kobo AA H2O one of the new most ebook readers out there it's a refresh of last year's model but with a couple of key improvements at almost $200 though it's just short of the cost of the new Apple iPad and at that price is it really worth it it's 2017 and the market for ebook readers isn't what it once was in 2014 Just 3.8 million ebook readers ship worldwide compared to the nearly 10 million iPads Apple shipped last year but the market for e-readers isn't dead yet and kobo's leading the pack its New Aura H2O a refreshed edition of last year's model packs appreciable improvements we took it for a spin to see if the changes were enough to Warrant the $180 asking price the Cobo H2O Ora won't be mistaken for a Kindle anytime soon it has a distinct angular design that's a little more aggressive it's comfortable in the Palm though and exceptionally light the bezels provide ample room to rest your thumbs but we would have liked to see Cobo trim them a bit otherwise the aura hasn't changed that much it has the same waterproof design the same backlit screen the same processor and even a lot of the same software but that's not a bad thing just like last year's Aura kobo's new eBook reader is completely waterproof it chips with the company's patented hzo protection which theoretically provides up to 30 minutes of protection at a depth of 3 ft that said we wouldn't recommend trying to use the aura H2O underwater the screen becomes unresponsive and has trouble registering touches until it's completely dry we're pleased to report that the aura H2O screen is just as crisp and sharp as last year's model the resolution and pixel density is unchanged you're looking at a 265 PPI here and more than sharp enough for most books the Cobo features the same Comfort light technology as the previous generation which produces an even bright tonally consistent light across the AA h2o's entire screen it also boasts a natural light feature which adjusts the screen's cue to minimize ice strain we found the Bedtime feature which automatically switches this scen to warmer non-blue Hues at a specified time to be a nice touch driving the aura H2O display is the same processor as last year's model and double the memory but despite the upgrades the aura H2O perform worse than we expected in our testing it took longer than Amazon's entry-level Kindle to load books and the aura sometimes stuttered in menu screens one major improvement though is the internal storage the New Aura H2O can store twice as many books as last year's model thanks to 8 GB of memory up from four Kobo said it can store up to 6,000 ebooks one of the most appealing things about ebook readers is their fantastic battery life and the New Aura H2O doesn't disappoint we tested the Ora H2O for about a week using it for 30 minutes to an hour each evening with the brightness set to about 50% and Wi-Fi enabled by day five the battery life had dipped to about 56% which is a good sign the easiest way to load books onto the AA H2O over Wi-Fi via Cobo store it boasts about 5 million titles the company says the aura H2O also supports thirdparty ebook formats if you connected to a PC via micro SD chord you can transfer books in a variety of formats from your computer's hard drive the aura H2O software is intuitive for the most part we especially like the universal search feature which trolls through the aura h2o's online store offline downloads saved annotations and built-in dictionary for book titles authors series and ISBN numbers the aura h2o's activity feature gamifies your reading you can see stats like how many minutes you spent reading each day of the week how many pages you average a minute and how much progress you've made in your current ebook the aura H2O is every bit as good as last year's model but that's not good enough it may have a higher resolution screen than Amazon's comparable Kindle but it's also much more expensive and the performance issues we encountered make it even tougher to recommend that's not to say that ebook readers don't have their place but for the reasons we mentioned it's tough for us to recommend the Kobo Ora H2Othe eBook reader Market has changed a whole lot over the past couple of years but some people would argue that there's still no device better for shrinking down the big pile of books in your library so if you can take them to the beach or on a plane or on a train and it's certainly true that ebook readers look just as good and direct sunlight as they do and dim bedrooms thanks to Innovative backlighting this is the Kobo AA H2O one of the new most ebook readers out there it's a refresh of last year's model but with a couple of key improvements at almost $200 though it's just short of the cost of the new Apple iPad and at that price is it really worth it it's 2017 and the market for ebook readers isn't what it once was in 2014 Just 3.8 million ebook readers ship worldwide compared to the nearly 10 million iPads Apple shipped last year but the market for e-readers isn't dead yet and kobo's leading the pack its New Aura H2O a refreshed edition of last year's model packs appreciable improvements we took it for a spin to see if the changes were enough to Warrant the $180 asking price the Cobo H2O Ora won't be mistaken for a Kindle anytime soon it has a distinct angular design that's a little more aggressive it's comfortable in the Palm though and exceptionally light the bezels provide ample room to rest your thumbs but we would have liked to see Cobo trim them a bit otherwise the aura hasn't changed that much it has the same waterproof design the same backlit screen the same processor and even a lot of the same software but that's not a bad thing just like last year's Aura kobo's new eBook reader is completely waterproof it chips with the company's patented hzo protection which theoretically provides up to 30 minutes of protection at a depth of 3 ft that said we wouldn't recommend trying to use the aura H2O underwater the screen becomes unresponsive and has trouble registering touches until it's completely dry we're pleased to report that the aura H2O screen is just as crisp and sharp as last year's model the resolution and pixel density is unchanged you're looking at a 265 PPI here and more than sharp enough for most books the Cobo features the same Comfort light technology as the previous generation which produces an even bright tonally consistent light across the AA h2o's entire screen it also boasts a natural light feature which adjusts the screen's cue to minimize ice strain we found the Bedtime feature which automatically switches this scen to warmer non-blue Hues at a specified time to be a nice touch driving the aura H2O display is the same processor as last year's model and double the memory but despite the upgrades the aura H2O perform worse than we expected in our testing it took longer than Amazon's entry-level Kindle to load books and the aura sometimes stuttered in menu screens one major improvement though is the internal storage the New Aura H2O can store twice as many books as last year's model thanks to 8 GB of memory up from four Kobo said it can store up to 6,000 ebooks one of the most appealing things about ebook readers is their fantastic battery life and the New Aura H2O doesn't disappoint we tested the Ora H2O for about a week using it for 30 minutes to an hour each evening with the brightness set to about 50% and Wi-Fi enabled by day five the battery life had dipped to about 56% which is a good sign the easiest way to load books onto the AA H2O over Wi-Fi via Cobo store it boasts about 5 million titles the company says the aura H2O also supports thirdparty ebook formats if you connected to a PC via micro SD chord you can transfer books in a variety of formats from your computer's hard drive the aura H2O software is intuitive for the most part we especially like the universal search feature which trolls through the aura h2o's online store offline downloads saved annotations and built-in dictionary for book titles authors series and ISBN numbers the aura h2o's activity feature gamifies your reading you can see stats like how many minutes you spent reading each day of the week how many pages you average a minute and how much progress you've made in your current ebook the aura H2O is every bit as good as last year's model but that's not good enough it may have a higher resolution screen than Amazon's comparable Kindle but it's also much more expensive and the performance issues we encountered make it even tougher to recommend that's not to say that ebook readers don't have their place but for the reasons we mentioned it's tough for us to recommend the Kobo Ora H2O\n"