The Kobo Arc has plenty of potential,
offering a good selection of books to download and some unique features, but it
currently suffers from a few too many issues
ON first impression, Kobo’s first major
multimedia tablet is not terribly inspiring. Let’s be blunt, in a world of iPad
minis and Nexus 7s, the Arc is not much of a looker.
Design
The sunken screen and grandma’s mattress
effect on the rear give it an old-fashioned air, although the back panel can be
removed and replaced. However, other elements of the design are well
thought-out. The two speakers on the front point towards the user’s head to
deliver a powerful SRS sound, and Kobo has also realized that we watch video in
landscape, so has put the headphone socket on the right-hand side.
The
Kobo Arc
Inside, Kobo has opted to keep the
operating system as familiar as possible. As such, the few elements it has
added are useful flourishes to the stock Ice Cream Sandwich. The best and most
obvious example of this is the Arc’s tapestries feature, which collates apps,
files, and links and presents them on the home screen in a way reminiscent of
Pinterest. Each tapestry can act as a folder, or you can pin favorite webpages
direct to the desktop. It’s a neat and genuinely useful way of keeping things
tidy.
The seven-inch IPS 1280 x 800 display
matches the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD for sharpness and outstrips the iPad
mini’s 1024 x 768, although is slightly less crisp than the Nook HD (see page
27). The excellent screen also has fantastic viewing angles.
The 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of
RAM means the Arc handles demanding games with ease. In fact, everything is
swift and fuss-free until it comes to video playback. We came across a number
of instances where the image was jerky, or simply refused to play. The BBC
iPlayer app, for example, will not work. Kobo is aware of this problem and is
working to remedy it. However, Netflix suffers the same issue, as do some video
files.
Another quirk is the keyboard, which lags
and has an unusual layout. The bottom row - normally home to the full stop and
comma - houses the apostrophe and hyphen keys. The return/enter button is two
rows above where it should be - in its place is a key for voice input. It's a
weird decision, but thankfully can be remedied by trialing different keyboards
from the Google Play store.
Like an increasing number of seven-inch
tabs, the Arc’s memory is not expandable, but the 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of built-in
storage should be sufficient for most users.
Like
an increasing number of seven-inch tabs, the Arc’s memory is not expandable,
but the 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage should be sufficient for most
users
Discover the store
The Arc’s shop window is called Discover.
Running across the bottom of the home screen, it is unobtrusive and actually
quite useful. The more you pin on the tapestries, the more it learns about your
likes.
While the Arc can play music, movies and
games, it hasn’t forgotten its roots, and is still most concerned with books.
The presentation of its bookstore isn’t quite as intuitive as the Kindle’s, but
it’s still very good, and we particularly liked the useful collections (best
sellers, horror, non-fiction, etc...) It offers useful data (estimated time
remaining in each book), and reading is massively customizable with plenty of
font, size and brightness options. Page turns are also very smooth.
As LCD screens go, the Arc’s is very
comfortable and the light not too oppressive. Build quality is solid, but be
careful about sticking it in a bag when out and about, as after just two days,
we found the black finish rubbing off and leaving unattractive shiny patches on
the body.
With
a firmware update this can be a contender, but at the moment there are too many
issues to recommend the Kobo Arc over its rivals
The verdict
With a firmware update this can be a
contender, but at the moment there are too many issues to recommend the Kobo
Arc over its rivals. Underneath that drab exterior there’s a star waiting to
come out, but it needs to polish its performance before it's ready for the big
stage.
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The Kobo Arc
specs
·
Web: www.kobo.com
·
Price: $256
·
Size: 120x11.5x189mm
·
Weight: 364g
·
Display: 7 inches IPS LCD
·
Resolution: 720x1280 pixels
·
Camera: 1.3 megapixels
·
Front camera: N/A
·
Video: Yes
·
Processor: 1.5GHz dual-core
·
RAM: 1GB
·
Storage: 8GB/16GB
·
Internet: Wi-Fi
·
GPS: No
·
Browser: Android
·
Email: Yes
·
Music player: Yes
·
Video player: Yes
·
Continuous use: 300 minutes streaming Wi-Fi
video
·
Standby: 336 hours
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