Review of Kobo Elipsa 2E

Review of Kobo Elipsa 2E. With most types of technology, there are a tonne of options and top picks. Some industries, like eReaders, are dominated by one or two companies. Review of Kobo Elipsa.

The Elipsa 2E from Kobo is a note-taking eReader that competes with the Kindle Scribe.

Review of Kobo Elipsa 2E:

The 2E and Scribe from Amazon share many similarities, including their costs, despite the fact that the 2E wasn’t released until after the original Elipsa went on sale.

Is the updated Elipsa 2E the go-to eReader with stylus support given the mixed reviews for the Scribe? The simple answer is emphatically yes, even though it doesn’t cover all the bases.

Design:

Lightweight, premium build
No water-resistance
Stylus included. Sleep cover sold separately

The Elipsa 2E is by far Kobo’s largest eReader, but the additional display space is essential for taking notes. One-handed use is impossible with a 10.3-inch screen, but that’s not what this gadget is meant for.

The E Ink display is surrounded by a plastic casing, maintaining the design aesthetic of other Kobo devices. The Elipsa 2E’s back has a distinctive textured finish that offers a tonne of grip and also looks nice. However, like the majority of eReaders, there is only one color available: black. It would be nice to have more color choices.

With the Elipsa 2E, Kobo also has the environment in mind. According to the report, 10% of the external plastic—which would have otherwise ended up in the oceans—was recycled. It’s encouraging to see this, and maybe the business can advance more in this direction in the future.

The Elipsa 2E is kept relatively small and light thanks to the decision not to use metal or glass. Although you won’t want to get it wet, it’s lightweight at 390g and 7.5mm, making it convenient to carry almost anywhere. It’s a shame that this Kobo lacks water resistance, unlike several other Kobos.

A lightweight plastic construction worried me since it would feel cheap, yet Kobo has managed to prevent that. The kobo elipsa 2E is smooth and high-quality feeling, and it should last for many years.

A lightweight plastic construction worried me since it would feel cheap, yet Kobo has managed to prevent that. The Elipsa 2E has a sleek, high-end feel, and it should be durable for many years of use. Review of Kobo Elipsa.

By using the device in conjunction with Kobo’s proprietary SleepCover (which costs an additional $69.99/£69.99), that durability can be increased. As suggested by its name, it automatically puts the Elipsa 2E to sleep when closed, offering crucial display protection.

It takes a little practice to attach the device to the cover, but it works great once you do. Although there is a specific slot for the Kobo Stylus 2 (more on that later), it is not a stand for hands-free operation. Additionally, you’ll have to do without any sort of device back protection.

Just below the textured power button on the bottom-right side is where you’ll find the USB-C charging port. But the Elipsa 2E has a very simple design, save for the Kobo logo on the front and back. Review of Kobo Elipsa.

Display:

Impressive 10.3in E Ink display
Great visibility thanks to the matte coating
Adjustable warm light

The Elipsa 2E experience is centered around that 10.3in the display. It’s one of the largest E-Ink devices you can buy, along with similar-size offerings from Amazon, ReMarkable, and Huawei.

Review of Kobo Elipsa

It is an E Ink Carta 1200 panel, namely, with a 1404 x 1872 pixel resolution. This is the same as the original Elipsa, despite the Kindle Scribe’s 300ppi and the Elipsa’s 227ppi.

But does that imply that this display’s quality is subpar? Without a doubt. Still having a striking contrast between light and dark colors, everything appears to be very clear and crisp. The Elipsa 2E has a great E Ink display that will serve you well even though it may not be the finest in its class.

Two advantages of the matte finish are obvious. First of all, it prevents the accumulation of marks such as fingerprint smudges. There are no physical page turn buttons on this gadget, therefore you’ll need to use the huge side bezel for holding the device.

Additionally, it implies that the Elipsa 2E is simple to use in well-lit areas. You’ll be able to comfortably read what’s on the screen even in bright sunshine. It is made possible by an auto-brightness feature, even though reading in the dark is its main use.

E Ink displays already have better eye comfort than LCD or OLED screens, but this one also has a programmable warm glow. You can specify a bedtime for it to switch on automatically. This minimizes sleep interruption by changing from white light to warmer orange and yellow tones. The function performs admirably.

Reading experience:

Great in most situations
Not ideal for use while traveling
Works well in portrait or landscape mode

The Elipsa 2E’s interface will look and feel familiar if you’ve ever read anything on a Kobo. It’s just the company’s other eReaders in a bigger size, which are also extremely comparable to the Kindle.

Because of the larger screen, it’s not the best option if you want to read in bed or when traveling, but it works well in most other situations. This applies even if you just like to have more content visible on the screen or wish to make the text larger without changing the page frequently.

The Elipsa 2E is remarkably effective in landscape position despite being intended to be used in portrait orientation (like a real book). It still feels comfortable to handle for extended amounts of time and there are no formatting difficulties. It’s an excellent option to have if you frequently read comic books or PDFs.

And there are many options for modifying the text that appears on the screen. Pick a primary and supplemental font from a selection, then adjust the size, line spacing, margins, and justification to your preference. Most people are OK with the default, but it’s worth exploring to find the setting you like best.

Writing experience:

Kobo Stylus 2 in the box
Create notebooks or annotate directly onto books
Can be exported via cable or Dropbox

The Elipsa 2E’s pen support, however, is its standout feature. Included in the bundle is the Kobo Stylus 2, which feels excellent for writing or annotating. The screen may occasionally take a little longer to register input, but overall latency is very low.

The Stylus 2’s design is consistent with that of many other digital pens, making it easy to handle and operate. Though the lack of pressure sensitivity makes it very clear that this is a digital screen, don’t anticipate a pen-on-paper-like experience. To replicate that pressure, you can choose from five different colors, but you must do so manually.

Review of Kobo Elipsa

Battery life isn’t an issue, although charging is done via USB-C. You have several months before the stylus needs to be plugged in, despite the fact that it doesn’t charge when magnetically linked to the device. Since the Elipsa 2E doesn’t rely on Bluetooth, pairing is also completely seamless.

You can easily choose words or portions of a document by activating the highlighter mode by holding down the physical button on the stylus’ side. It’s also fantastic to notice that the stylus’s top now functions as an eraser.

You can make one of two different kinds of notebooks: one that is basic and unrestricted, or one that is advanced and has extra capabilities like the ability to turn handwriting into text. The latter is preferable because it makes it simple to look through your notes for a particular idea.

Manual export of notes (as a PDF, PNG, or JPEG) is required. You can do this by physically attaching a USB cord or, for convenience, by linking your Dropbox account. Instant access to them on all of your devices is a fantastic feature, especially with Dropbox’s free plan’s 2GB of storage.

In contrast to the Kindle Scribe, which uses sticky notes, Kobo also enables you to immediately annotate any book or document. Particularly when coupled with the highlighter and rubber characteristics, this feels so much more organic.

Impressively, this also applies to eBooks borrowed from the library; the notes will still be there if you decide to buy the book or decide to borrow it again in the future. The main benefit of choosing the Elipsa 2E above other eReaders is the ability to make notes on anything.

Specs & performance:

2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM
Performance surprisingly excellent
No cellular option

The feature of the Elipsa 2E that has most amazed me is its performance. A 2GHz processor and only 1GB of RAM surprised me because I didn’t think they would be enough for an eReader.

The Kobo Elipsa 2E is quick and responsive by eReader standards, whether you’re browsing the store, listening to audiobooks, or just turning pages in a book. However, great performance on eReaders is by no means assured. Because of the nature of E Ink displays, there will always be some lag while the screen updates, however, this never lasts longer than a few seconds.

All information will load and download rapidly as long as you have a reliable internet connection. You must use Wi-Fi because there is no choice for cellular connectivity (3G or 4G).

32GB of fixed storage capacity is available on the Elipsa 2E’s single variant. Most individuals will have plenty of space, and you won’t even come close to running out unless you download a lot of lengthy audiobooks.

software & features:

Huge range of books available
Kobo Plus now available in US and UK
Excellent OverDrive and Pocket integration

The same software that powers all Kobo eReaders also powers the Elipsa 2E. It still works well on this larger display and is the primary benefit of purchasing one over a Kindle.

Let’s start with the aspect that is the most obvious: reading books. Despite having its own eBook file format, Kobo natively supports almost all of the most common file types, including EPUB, EPUB3, FLEPub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, and CBR.

The comic book formats CBZ and CBR perform admirably on this larger display. However, if you have any of the aforementioned file types, you can simply sync them with Dropbox or transfer them from a computer using the included USB cable.

In actuality, Amazon’s own file format is the only major one you won’t be able to utilize. There is no way to read any of your already purchased Kindle books on the Elipsa 2E. It’s a tactic used by Amazon to prevent Kindle owners from switching to Kobo. Here’s Review of Kobo Elipsa.

However, the Kobo Store’s selection of eBooks is very comparable to Kindle’s. I could find everything I looked for around the same price on both smartphones. Around the same time, new releases are made available.

However, purchasing eBooks is not required. With the Elipsa 2E’s interface with OverDrive, you can borrow books just like you would for the actual physical editions by connecting a free local library card.

The selection of books that are available utilizing this method is impressive, even though not every book is. Even while the wait times for popular books (which are often 4-6 weeks) aren’t too bad, my local library isn’t particularly large.

You can check out books from most libraries for 7, 14, or 21 days. You can renew the book and continue reading if no one else has already done so. However, you will need to reapply to the waitlist if a hold has been put in place.

Being able to borrow library books so easily is a very fantastic function, despite certain restrictions. This is an excellent substitute for eBooks because they may get expensive.

The pricey Kobo Plus subscription ($9.99/£11.99 per month) includes both eBooks and audiobooks, but the less expensive plan ($7.99/£8.99) just lets you pick between them. Six years after the service’s initial introduction, it is now accessible in the US and the UK, and there is a selection of more than 1.3 million eBooks and 100,000 audiobooks.

You can read or listen to as many of them as you want; it’s essentially Kobo’s counterpart to Kindle Unlimited. Although the selection is frequently updated, you won’t initially find many of the most well-known books. Therefore, it’s ideal for voracious readers, especially those who are eager to try new authors or genres.

Integration with Pocket, the well-known “read it later” software accessible on all your devices, is another helpful feature. Any items you’ve saved there will automatically be accessible to read on the Elipsa 2E after you’ve connected your free account. It’s a terrific way to read them unless the content heavily relies on images or videos, especially since they permit annotations.

Although it’s not always the case, the software experience generally feels slick and intuitive. During testing, I encountered a few bugs, one of which was a recurring Wi-Fi connection drop. However, updates can resolve these problems, and all other features operate as intended.

Battery life:

2400mAh battery
Around two weeks of battery life
Slow charging, no adapter in the box

As expected, the battery life on the Elipsa 2E is excellent.

According to eReader standards, the 2400mAh cell is substantial, therefore Kobo’s promises of “weeks of battery life on a single charge” are technically true. But you can only really do that if you disable Wi-Fi, keep the brightness low, and only take brief notes.

You won’t want to do any of those things if you want to get the most out of the Elipsa 2E. Therefore, two weeks between full charges is a more reasonable estimate. You won’t have to worry about battery life with the Elipsa 2E, which is still pretty amazing.

The Elipsa 2E charges via USB-C, but only the cable is included in the box. Charging is relatively slow but gets the job done if you’re not in a rush.

Price & availability:

The only model available at launch is the Kobo Elipsa 2E, which costs $399.99/£349.99 for 32GB of storage. In the US and the UK, you may get it on the Kobo website.

Although it seems expensive, the cheapest Kindle Scribe ($339.99/£329.99) is only marginally more expensive. You’ll pay $389.99/£379.99 for Amazon’s eReader’s identical 32GB model.

The Kobo Stylus 2 is included with the Elipsa 2E in the package, but the company’s SleepCover costs an additional $69.99/£69.99.

The ReMarkable 2 (starting at $279/£279) and Huawei MatePad Paper (starting at €499, or roughly $530/£420) are two further options that are worth taking into account.

Specs:

10.3in, 1404×1872 (227ppi) e-ink display
2GHz processor
USB-C charging
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
32GB storage
2400mAh battery
Kobo Store
7.5mm thick
390g