Product ReviewsKobo Aura eBook Reader - Black

Awesome E-reader, but comes preloaded with 3rd party branding

The Kobo Aura is great, and the price is right, but this is not what might be considered a stock/factory Kobo Aura.

It appears to be a retailer branded model. When the device is in sleep or power-off, it displays the logo for bol dotcom which, after some googling, turns out to be a dutch e-book retailer. Unfortunately I cannot display any photos of the screen with the bol dotcom branding, due to ebay rules, but when no book is currently being read, the screen does not say "sleep" or "powered off" like normal kobo auras, but instead says bol dotcom: de winkel van ons allemaal." When there is a book being read, it shows the cover, with "bol dotcom" stamped above it.

EDIT: After posting to mobile read forum, I found a solution. If your device has vendor branding that you would like to remove, you may be able to remove it with the method I used.
- connect your kobo device to your computer (I used windows)
- open affiliate config file in your dotkobo folder with a text editor like notepad++
- change the affiliate value to 'Kobo' (mine originally stated affiliate=bol)
- save and close affiliate config file, eject your device

your device should no longer have vendor branding. Credit to davidfor on mobile read forumRead full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: maplewag

Small and Limited but Effective

I didn't realize that it would only be slightly bigger than my cell phone or that I would only be able to use the link services, but even so, it has good battery and a way better screan for reading than my cell phone. I'm overall happy with it, though eventually I will upgrade to something with a bit more flexibility.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: maplewag

best of it's kind left

Chose this model because:

1. E-Ink readers are fazing out and this model is the last with SD card slots...some newer units of this model already no longer have them.... A sad loss as they were already in production design
2. Fastest cpu while still possessing above feature
3. great for emergencies where power is unavailable and still have access to stored first aid books, etc.
4. it's compact pocket size for carry anywhere
5. and especially it's 2 month battery life

Cons: Kobo's OS is lame!Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: bettystiletto

Kobo Aura H20 nice ereader with a few nifty features and a few gotchas

The main thing I don't like is you can't flip it sideways for reading like I could on my PRS-650.

I ordered it from japan and it arrived here in the USA just fine and was able to select english as the default language on startup super simple.

The wifi setup was a bit odd as well as getting my kobo account setup correctly... but it did work after I had created an acutal kobo account password (and not just logging in with my facebook account).

I haven't tested the water proofness and don't intend to but it's nice to have... I've seen other reviewer test it. Note that if you slap you hand against the kobo it may thing there is water on the screen and display the wipe screen notice. So, yeah it doesn't work underwater dispite being waterproof.

The font management is super nice. Much better than amazon devices.

I like that most of the kobo books are DRM free! So I don't have to worry about loosing them someday when I switch to a new device.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: yosh-set

Perfect e-reader

This is our first e-reader so we didn't have a chance to compare but it's definitely better than the iPad for reading. One hurdle to jump through is slower responsiveness of the screen which is to be expected and takes a little bit of time to get used to. It's good size. Controls like making text bigger are very easy. Battery life is very long. We bought some books from Kobo and side-loaded others, everything worked as expected. We didn't dare yet to test water-proof features but that day will come :-).Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: Wejysw_SRSS@Del...

Good reader if you have the budget

I've had my kobo aura for a year now and absolutely love it. Rest of the family have kindles and are kicking themselves for not buying this instead. The battery life is incredible, the store is easy to use, with lots of free books and the fact that you can read any format on it, eg: epub and pdf, is personally enough reason to choose it over the kindle which only uses amazon's own. I'm thinking the other reviewer probably works for amazon... Don't let it put you off, kobo all the way, i will honestly never buy any other make and i promise I don't work for kobo. Hope this helps someone.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: yosh-set

lightweight with great features

it will read many formats. nice clear screen and light to hold.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: phista_38

How could I go without Kobo till now?

By far my first ebook reader. By far so good. The crucial feature for choosing Kobo Aura was the front-light as usually late hours are spared for reading which might bother my roomie. Till now have got no complaints about sleeping distress from neighbor so the function works perfectly. Found the front-light very useful and eye-friendly also in darker corners and transports during daylight.
At the beginning little challenge appeared when tried to download free ebooks from other sites. But when to get used to software, got no problems ever since.
Like to have brain games included to relax from long reading.Read full review...

Kobo E reader

Bought for my 9 year old son as my old Kobo had become obsolete and could no longer be updated. Product was as described, excellent condition.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: monkeytote

Great product for reading ebooks and pdf even in 2021

It may not have all the functions modern ereaders have, but it gives you quality reading for a fair price. Downloading calibre in your pc helps a lot managing the library