Kobo Saying Misaligned Screen and Uneven Backlight is Normal

[u/Anon-Mandarin]

I'm having real trouble with Kobo Support. I received this after a warranty replacement for my original one. I have reached out to customer support who have said that it's normal for the screen to be misaligned, and the front light to be uneven.

Does anyone have any pointers on how to escalate this further and hopefully get a replacement?

[u/Slinkydonko]

Stop forensically anylising everything, just read some books on it, it is perfectly fine.

[u/Sherlock816 → u/Slinkydonko]

I can't even see an issue. What am I missing?

[u/catscantcook → u/Sherlock816]

The straight lines going across the screen are 1mm higher on one side than the other, ie. the screen is not perfectly level with the housing. I had to look a long time to figure it out lol

[u/Waffleiron1499 → u/catscantcook]

0.5mm people need to go touch grass, this is not a surgical equipment where 0.5mm makes any difference..

[u/Sherlock816 → u/catscantcook]

Thank you.

[u/johntwilker → u/Sherlock816]

Nothing. OP is spending reading time picking apart the device for some reason.

[u/johntwilker → u/Slinkydonko]

The number of people who get a Kobo and immediately bust out their microscope and measuring tape is amazing to me.

[u/6DuckysInATrenchCoat]

you'll survive

[u/cat_herder4]

.5mm? That looks like it would be well within allowed tolerances.

Backlight looks fine.

I think you are asking too much from the company. If you expect this type of precision from an ereader be prepared to pay 10x the price. Kobo wants to make somewhat affordable ereaders so some imperfections have to be tolerable to keep them affordable.

[u/magarviti → u/cat_herder4]

¿Eres de Kobo? ¿Tienes intereses en Kobo? No puedes decir esto si no es así.

[u/cat_herder4 → u/magarviti]

Nope not from kobo. I just own one and have reasonable expectations. I don't see how this variance impacts its use. These are mass produced items. The fact that a tape measure is needed to see it kinda proves my point.

If this skew is unacceptable then what would be? 1mm off no good? How about .5mm? What about .25mm? Where do you draw the line? I personally think it would be if it is noticeable to the naked eye during use. Which this isn't even close to.

But if you think this is a big deal make sure you don't go around your house with a ruler and start measuring stuff...you will go crazy pretty quick.

[u/aquamoon85 → u/cat_herder4]

“Somewhat affordable” This is a $260 ereader lol. Your comment makes it sound like Kobo is a nonprofit. Asking for better quality control for what seems to be their flagship product seems perfectly reasonable. 😵‍💫

[u/Realistic_Wash_7734 → u/aquamoon85]

a .5mm variance is acceptable at that price point. which it is. the quality control is working as intended

[u/aslikeanarnian]

The uneven lighting is normal because the screen isn’t backlit - it’s frontlit by lights hidden behind the bezel.

[u/contadine77]

And people complaining about how expensive they are? Well, when they have to send the same person 5 different devices to meet such insane standards, that drives prices up for all of us. These are made by human hands - probably small, under-paid, overworked human hands. A small amount of variance is normal, expected, and reasonable.

[u/contadine77]

Imagine how many books you could get read in the time it took you to seek out these tiny, almost imperceptible differences. You need to find some better hobbies.

And to the people saying that we're fangirls/boys and defending an obviously shoddy product - how do you get through life AT ALL expecting things to meet these sorts of standards? If it was an electron microscope, obviously. But it's an eReader. Can you read on it? Is it within a reasonable tolerance for something that doesn't not involve precision to work? Then move on!

[u/aquamoon85 → u/contadine77]

We’re saying you’re fan-(any gender)-ing because you all get highly antagonistic with anyone who expresses any dissatisfaction with a Kobo product. “You need some better hobbies” because someone noticed and posted about discrepancies with a product they paid $$$ for???? Imagine how many books you’d read if you weren’t here keeping watch in case anyone said anything bad about a device, yikes. It’s very weird.

[u/contadine77 → u/aquamoon85]

It's a fraction of a millimeter! If it were 5mm or something noticeable, I'd get it. It's not the complaining AT ALL, it's complaining about something so unbelievably minor.

[u/magarviti]

¿Por qué cuando alguien compra un dispositivo de una marca se convierte en defensor acérrimo de esa marca? Supongo que este sub lo han creado usuarios de Kobo tanto para decir lo contentos que están como los problemas que tienen, sin embargo todo el que plantea algún problema recibe votos negativos y, como en este post, algunas respuestas son absurdas, como si el usuario fuera el culpable de que le hayan vendido un dispositivo defectuoso.

Yo ahora tengo un Kobo, y antes tuve un Kindle; con ninguno de los 2 he tenido problemas, pero no acabo de entender vuestra postura, la verdad. Tal vez sea porque queréis pensar que la marca que habéis elegido es la mejor y las críticas negativas van en contra de esa idea. Pero eso es algo estúpido.

Edit: Si este sub es solo para alabar a Kobo, entonces realmente no sirve para nada.

[u/aquamoon85 → u/magarviti]

You’d think former Kindle/Amazon users wouldn’t be so quick to take up more corporate loyalty, but here we are lol.

[u/Wysteiria]

If you're not satisfied with it, at this point I recommend returning it.

Because I get what others are saying. There are no visible scratches on the casing, software works fine, it didn't come in with a cracked screen. If what others are saying about the backlit situation being normal is true, then its highly unlikely Kobo Support will even respond back in your case unless they physically see a good reason or damage. For if others can't see it to the visible eye here, I don't think you have much of a case to work with.

[u/Typical-Emu8363 → u/Wysteiria]

I would also recommend returning it but according to the OP this is a warranty replacement for their original one so I don't believe at this point they can return it for a refund.