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Kobo’s new Aura H20 is a smaller, cheaper version of its best e-reader

Kobo’s new Aura H20 is a smaller, cheaper version of its best e-reader

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Photo: Kobo

Canadian company Kobo has announced a new version of the Aura H20 e-reader, the first water-resistant e-reader, which was originally released in 2014. But while the new $179 Aura H20 borrows the name from its predecessor, it has much more in common with the Aura One that was released last year — and that’s a good thing.

The new Aura H20 is rated IPX8 water resistant, meaning you can submerge it in two meters of water for up to an hour. It shares the same overall design as the Aura One, including the wonderfully grippy rubber back plate. It also gained the Aura One’s ability to change the color temperature of the screen. And, of course, it has built-in Pocket integration.

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The Aura H20’s 6.8-inch, 265 ppi E Ink screen is slightly smaller in size and resolution than the Aura One’s. But the new e-reader is 20 grams lighter, and it’s cheaper — the Aura H20 will cost about $50 less than the Aura One when it goes on sale May 22nd.

Kobo’s e-book library sits at about 5 million titles, which is good, but not as deep as Amazon’s. But if you’re looking for an e-reader that’s not made by the retail giant, Kobo is basically the only decent option around. Any pressure on Amazon is a good thing for the e-reader market, so it’s encouraging to see that Kobo is still making water-resistant e-readers while also making them more affordable.