Hands On with the Kobo Aura H2O, the World’s First Waterproof e-Reader
The Kobo Aura H2O: the best e-reader for bathtubs. (Marc Saltzman/Yahoo Tech)
A powerful, colorful tablet is an awesome gadget to carry around. But what if you don’t have $400 to $500 for an Apple iPad or a Galaxy Tab? What if you want a device that runs for months on a charge, instead of just hours? And what if you like to read in the bath, by a pool, or on the beach?
You might want an e-reader — in particular, the Kobo Aura H2O, the world’s first waterproof ebook reader. It’s $179 and works for up to two months on a single battery charge.
We took it for a spin, and while it’s not without a couple of minor issues, the Aura H2O proves to be a stellar companion for book lovers.
Eyes on
Available in plain black or white, this new Kobo is thinner and lighter than the company’s Aura HD e-reader (which The Wall Street Journal said was “The Best E-Reader”). But at 8.21 ounces, the 7.04 × 5.08 × 0.38-inch Aura H2O is larger and heavier than the Kindle Paperwhite.
The Aura H2O has a great 6.8-inch HD touchscreen. This e-ink “ClarityScreen+” display really looks like ink on paper. The pixel density is high (265 dots per inch), so text looks very crisp. Books show up in one of 10 fonts baked into the machine, and you can change the text size, too.
Unlike tablets, the Aura’s anti-glare display is ideal for reading in direct sunlight, such as when lounging around a pool or ocean while on vacation. It’s also dustproof, so reading on the beach is OK, too. If you get sand on it, just wash it off.
Our Kobo Aura got dirty, so we washed it. (Marc Saltzman/Yahoo Tech)
This Kobo is the first e-reader that’s IP67-certified, which is nerd for “fully waterproof for up to 30 minutes in up to 3 feet of water.” As long as the charging port cover is closed, similar to a Samsung Galaxy S5, your e-reader will be just fine. I submerged the Aura for about four minutes. I found that you can’t actually use the touchscreen under water, but the device kept working. A drying cloth is included in the box, too. Cute.
Just as the Aura H2O is great in bright sunlight, it’s also good for late-night reading, thanks to a small built-in light. (On a related note, ebook readers are better to bring to bed than tablets; you can read why here.)
Get reading
The Aura H2O has 4 gigabytes of internal memory, enough to hold a few thousand ebooks (3,000, Kobo says). But if you somehow need to carry even more content with you, there’s a microSD card slot, too.
There’s quite a lot of content to choose from at the Kobo eBookstore — 4 million titles in fact, between the ebooks, comics, and other material. You can shop from the device with its built-in WiFi or download content onto a computer first and then transfer it over.
Kobo book prices vary, but they seem to be more expensive than the same ebooks on Amazon for Kindle owners. For example, You Can’t Make This Stuff Up by Theresa Caputo was $10.99 for Kindle but $14.99 at the Kobo eBookstore. That’s a big difference. Similarly, Burn by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge costs $13.60 for Kindle, yet it’s $14.99 for Kobo.
This isn’t always the case, though. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, for example, was the same at both stores, $9.99.
Like other e-readers, the Kobo looks great in full sun. (Kobo)
An underdog of e-readers
Like other e-readers, Kobo Aura H2O also it easy to discover new titles. There are recommendations based on your reading preferences. You can also sync your books with the free Kobo app for other phones, tablets, and computers. With Kobo, you can also borrow ebooks from your local library.
You can take notes, highlight text, make bookmarks, and track stats to learn more about your own reading habits. You can even share favorite passages on Facebook.
We don’t think you can go wrong with an Amazon Kindle e-reader, but we also really like the Kobo Aura H2O. Book lovers who don’t want to think twice about where they can bring their device will find this waterproof and long-lasting e-reader — with a dynamite HD touchscreen — a very good companion.
Marc Saltzman is a technology journalist, broadcaster, and speaker who has been covering gadgets and games since 1996.
