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Kobo Aura H2O to Go Up for Pre-Order 1 September, Will Ship 1 October

feature2_device_dayKobo has yet to officially admit that they have a new ebook reader on the way, but that’s no longer important now that just about all of the interesting details have leaked.

Update: The product page for the Kobo Aura H2O is now live, and it confirms the leaks.

Thanks to a newly revealed leak, I can now report that the Kobo Aura H2O has an expected ship date of 1 October. Assuming all of these leaks are correct, the Aura H2O will have a retail price of $179, and sport a waterproof 6.8″ Carta E-ink screen.

The Aura H2O is an updated version of the Kobo Aura HD, and it was launched in part because the Aura HD showed Kobo that there was a market for a premium device. The Aura HD  was expected to add up to only 5% of Kobo’s hardware sales, but it actually accounts for a quarter of their device sales.

The Aura H2O has a similar screen size to the older model, but with a slightly lower screen resolution (1430 × 1080) and a newer generation Carta E-ink screen. It’s also certified to meet the IP67 standard, which means thee device is dust proof and waterproof to one meter for up to 30 minutes.

The Aura H2O is expected to launch next week. According to the leaked spec sheet , which was subsequently confirmed by the product listing, it will ship with a 1GHz CPU, 4GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot. It will of course also have Wifi, a frontlight, and an infrared touchscreen.

Based on the product images below, I would say that my previous suppositions that the Aura H2O would run Kobo’s proprietary software were correct.

AlleseBook.de

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Comments


michael August 26, 2014 um 7:05 pm

Hey Nate, some conflicting rumors and stuff on this report, but if you want to see how a real journalist waits for the perfect story. – http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/full-review-of-the-kobo-aura-h20

Nate Hoffelder August 26, 2014 um 8:22 pm

Hey Michael,

I’m glad to see that you wrote a review; I was not planning to do one and it is definitely something that the public needed. So thank you for stepping up!

As for your "perfect story", you got the embargoed review unit while I got the early leaks, 99% of which turned out to be true. Given that I wasn’t going to write a review, I’m quite happy how things turned out.

Best of luck to you!

Johannes August 27, 2014 um 7:00 am

You mean "real journalist" like those who mention their sources in their articles?

TheGreatFilter August 27, 2014 um 8:09 am

You should add a smiley after your "good journalist" comment, as otherwise you come over as a bit childish.

Nate Hoffelder August 27, 2014 um 8:48 am

See, this is why my response went through 6 or 7 drafts before I posted. The first ones weren’t that nice.

baochan August 27, 2014 um 8:59 am

He beat you to the story despite not having it handed to him by the manufacturer. I for one am grateful for the work Nate did in seeking out and making sense of the rumors.


Jonah August 26, 2014 um 8:20 pm

Kobo really excels on product design, font customization, and having the option to expand storage with an SD Card. I have loved my Aura HD. I probably won’t be getting this because it’s basically the reader I have now, but water proof.

Nate Hoffelder August 26, 2014 um 8:26 pm

I don’t think Kobo excels on product design; I liked the older Ideo-designed Kobo cases. They had smooth curves rather than the sharp corners on the Kobo Aura and Aura HD. The curved shells are more pleasant to hold, IMO.


Chris Meadows August 27, 2014 um 6:56 am

Can I just say that it seems as though the point of a waterproof e-reader should be that there should be no "leaks"? 🙂


Anne August 27, 2014 um 6:59 am

I’d rather see a post of rumors and leaks than an article with a number of errors from a "real journalist."

TheGreatFilter August 27, 2014 um 8:10 am

To be fair, judging by the number of grammatical errors in his article, I presume English cannot be his first language.


FCC Teardown Reveals the Kobo Aura H2O has an Internal Card Slot, Other Goodies | The Digital Reader August 10, 2016 um 12:03 pm

[…] and Alyssum, I happened across an old filing for the Kobo Aura H2O. Kobo launched this ereader last September, and even though it shipped in October we still haven't taken the time to look […]


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