Gadgetory

readers have you ever tried them to be honest I haven't but now that I'm spending way too much time staring at a computer screen writing scripts editing videos and doing my research um I thought it was about time to maybe take some time off and start reading dot tag domains have recently crossed 100,000 registrations used by all types of brands startups and YouTube influencers and now you can get your own dog tag domain at just 399 for the first year with our discount code canucks on get dog tag fortunately Kobo sent us out their newly announced or r1 which due to a price of two hundred and thirty dollars can really be considered a premium device when compared against more basic offerings like the Kindle paperwhite and Kobo zone touch 2.0 let's step back for a moment and approach this device from a person who likes to read a lot perspective since spending that much on a new reader may actually be beneficial for them now before I move on I need to put this device into the proper context because many of you will start comparing this directly to less expensive alternatives from my perspective the aura one is not meant for anyone who's just slowly starting to shift away from physical books because it's just too expensive and it doesn't fit well for beginners it's just like a high-end car cobos flagship isn't meant for first-time users but rather someone was looking to upgrade their current eReader that's why when creating it Kobo consulted some of their longtime users externally the aura one is a pretty good-looking reader it sports a seven-point eight inch card at eating touchscreen display with a resolution of 1872 by 1404 or roughly 300 dpi that's quite a high resolution in the e-reader market but the one also happens to be quite large as well think of it as a size of a hardcover book rather than a paperback size of something like the Kindle paperwhite it doesn't come with a glossy finish rather it's coated in a reflection cutting matte finish which also is less prone towards attracting fingerprints the super slim body weighs a little north of 200 grams but most importantly I love the with texture at the back they should eliminate accidental slips plus it helps with ergonomic s-- holding it in one hand wasn't any trouble at all due to its low weight it should be easy to manipulate for just about anyone the build quality is also very good and it doesn't feel flimsy at all and it's not made out of aluminum rather it's crafted in a hard plastic material that feels rigid I did drop it a few times and I didn't notice any scratches or cracks which is nice and that means it should survive being packed into a suitcase or a beach bag if you're afraid of damage Kobo will happily sell you a fifty dollar cover for it though one of the main selling features of this reader is its ipx8 certification which theoretically means it's waterproof for up to 60 minutes in two meters of water and from my testing it survived the number of seams is also kept to a minimum so dust and other particles won't make their way into the chassis this could be a perfect reader for beach vacation on top of that Kobo has equipped the aura one with their Comfort pro light technology which essentially adjusts the color temperature of the display according to the ambient lighting I'll go over that in a moment around back there is a blue power button and once you've turned on the device you're greeted with the home screen that's fairly simple and easy to use you can monitor your current progress on a book and weirdly enough it also displays how much more time there is left to complete it based on your reading habits there are different categories that you can browse through and buy to along with a review section which is helpful when you're making the decision you can also access quick settings at the top right hand corner but what's really interesting was that I was able to try out a web browser under the beta features it's a cool addition to the device because you can check and respond to emails or view online newspapers but you can't watch videos which makes total sense because the order one doesn't support flash with this edition it does feel like Kobo may be trying to slot this device between other ear eaders and low-cost tablets I haven't used an e-reader with physical buttons to navigate around the book but the touchscreen on the ORA one is quick to response flipping to the next page can be done by sliding your finger to the left and vice versa it takes a second to load up the next page because you have to consider it does take some time for the pixels to shift on an e-ink display Kobo has equipped this unit with a power full and power efficient processor to mitigate some of the lag these devices typically exhibit but it can only do so much Kobo also partnered up with overdrive to offer a borrowing strategy for local libraries you do need to set up an account and add your local library card number but after that it's pretty straightforward to borrow books it's just like checking out a physical book from your library and returning it within a certain time just remember that this service will vary by region the unit comes with 8 gigabytes of internal storage which according to Kobo can store up to six thousand ebooks it doesn't take too long for books to download but I would have preferred a network adapter that supports 5 gigahertz bands so oh now the process from finding the right book to buying was a non tedious process but you can technically do the same thing on a smartphone so why spend two hundred and thirty dollars on an e-reader I spend some time reading the same book both on my Nexus 6p and the aura one and I can wholeheartedly say it was a day and night difference but that is to be expected given the fact that Kobo is tailor-made for reading books while the smartphone is more of a device that can do many things but does very few of them well you see the 6p has a 5.7 inch AMOLED display and while I appreciate the deep blacks and the sharpness of the screen feels like there's so much information packed into a compact size the aura feels like reading an actual book the lack of a micro SD card slot for expandable storage is not a deal-breaker to me since you can transfer documents via the included micro USB cable and the six thousand book capacity should be more than enough for anyone speaking of that micro USB cable it also happens to be the only way to charge the e-reader but Kobo didn't include a wall plug while it is nice to have a standard charging interface and Kobo claims that up to a month of battery life I would have liked to see a wall plug included with such an expensive reader the aura one does support a variety of secondary books formats including PDF RTF cbz and CBR some of which even the $400 Kindle Oasis doesn't support the inclusion of native support for CBC and CBR formats could be a game changer for comic readers - speaking of comics the high resolution display is perfect for that as you can see the texts are clear to read but the eating display could be limiting for images Cobos comfort like pro technology comes into play here in a big way - and it really helps make the reading experience more pleasant since the aura utilizes a Carta eating display the pixels are extremely energy efficient which in turn prolongs battery life on top of that the sensors in the device adapts to the ambient lighting of your environment and automatically reduces the blue light exposure which helps reading before bed a much more pleasant experience this is a game changer for ear eaters because exposing yourself to blue light right before bedtime has been proven to cause some health problems to be precise blue light reduces our body's melatonin a lot quicker than other wavelengths which in turn affects sleeping habits which can ultimately impose health issues this despite technology ensures the aura one is never too bright or too dark to read to my eyes they're just a perfect exposure and it's so comforting after switching back to my phone I had a hard time adjusting my eyes to the compact colored and overly bright display plus I'll be honest the extra real estate and the high-definition display on the e-reader made reading a book feel more natural some mention needs to be made of the eco system - if you purchased ebooks on Amazon sadly they cannot be accessed on the Kobo reader and vice versa unless if you find a custom ROM but be aware that's against copyright rules it's also hard to make the switch from one platform to another because you've already invested money into these books pricing through both Amazon and Kobo's own online store is similar for the most part I caught a few books priced cheaper on the Kobo store at least here in Canada but once again it's a few bucks here and there and that's not a big deal I did download a few free to read titles but compared to the Kindle Store and Amazon the collections are much more limited which is disappointing but I hope Kobo expands on that in the future and so my concluding thoughts on the Kobo ro1 is that for the premium price you are paying premium features like ipx8 waterproofing a solid build great screen and low weight the Comfort light pro technology works just as it should and it works great I'll guarantee you you have a fantastic experience reading at night the white support for different file formats is always a welcome feature to especially if you love reading comics is the Kobo ro1 right for newcomers to the online book market I don't think so since it's quite an expensive investment for first-time users imagine you can buy about 25 regular softcover books for the price of a single or a one but if you are someone looking to upgrade their old Kobo e-reader and want to remain in the same ecosystem this thing may be a great fit if you like reading and you're looking for an e-reader would you consider the Kobo or a one or would you still continue reading from your phone's keyboard warriors start the race and I'm looking forward to your responses I'm eager with hurricane axe thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one