Kobo Elipsa 2E fingers on: A note-worthy successor?

It has been nearly two years because the unique Kobo Elipsa was launched, beating Amazon’s Kindle Scribe to the E Ink tablet chase by some 18 months. Now its main rival has its stake within the sport although, the corporate has determined it is time for an improve on its largest ereader, to make sure its staying aggressive.

This time spherical, it gives a extra eco-friendly design, a quicker processer, new upgraded note-taking expertise and a much-improved stylus. We have taken a primary have a look at it forward of our full assessment, to see the way it shapes up towards the competitors.

Design

• 193 x 227 x 7.5mm, 390g
• 10.3-inch E Ink contact display
• Produced from 85 per cent recycled supplies

The Kobo Elipsa 2E does not look massively completely different to its unique mannequin, and in reality, its dimensions are nearly similar. Its weight is simply too, give or take a few grams, however there’s nonetheless a lot to speak about right here.

Just like its Clara 2E ereader, Kobo has made this second technology of Elipsa all about eco-conscious supplies and sustainability. The result’s an exterior is constituted of 85 per cent recycled supplies, together with 10 per cent ocean-bound plastic.

Its plastic physique may not really feel fairly as premium because the Kindle Scribe’s aluminium exterior, however no less than you are doing all of your bit for the surroundings – plus it is lighter too, at 390g in contrast with the Scribe’s 433g.

It has a newly textured again panel for a straightforward and extra comfy grip and a thicker edge on one aspect of the show, so you’ll be able to maintain it with out blocking the display. This part can be now magnetic too, so you’ll be able to retailer the stylus right here whilst you learn, or alternatively within the designated slot within the Sleep Cowl (obtainable individually for $69.99/£69.99/€69.99).

That Sleep Cowl is available in black, and can be constituted of the identical recycled plastic because the Elipsa itself. With a magnetic snap closure, it is going to mechanically put the Elipsa 2E right into a sleep mode when the quilt is pulled over then high, after which wake it up once more when the quilt is peeled again.

There are not any buttons on the show for serving to you navigate or flip pages – it is a absolutely touchscreen system, with only one textured button on the underside proper hand aspect for locking, unlocking and energy.

Show

• 10.3-inch show
• 1404 x 1872, 227ppi
• ComfortLight Professional for adjustable brightness and temperature management

The Elipsa 2E has a ten.3-inch E Ink display with 227ppi. Which means it is ever so barely larger, however much less crisp than the Kindle Scribe (300ppi). We definitely do not feel just like the Elipsa 2E is dragging its toes on that entrance although – textual content is completely crisp and clear, with no complaints from us in our transient time with it to date.

The ComfortLight adjustable backlight has had an improve to Kobo’s ComfortLight Professional this time spherical, and may now regulate its temperature mechanically, relying on the time of day. You might be additionally capable of set a bedtime, so the show will eke out as a lot blue gentle from the show effectively prematurely, after which swap to full orange candlelight when you get there.

From a studying perspective, there’s pinch to zoom on textual content dimension and a alternative of 12 studying fonts to select from, plus all the same old choices to determine how you want to show a web page, plus opt-ins for darkish mode and auto orientation.

Kobo Stylus 2

• 25 per cent lighter
• Rechargeable through USB-C
• Improved writing really feel

The brand new and improved Kobo Stylus 2 comes within the field with the Elipsa 2E, and is now rechargeable through USB-C – a giant enchancment on the bodily AAA battery necessities of final technology. It is also 25 per cent lighter, with a extra ergonomic form, and also you get two substitute suggestions for the stylus within the field.

Actually, it feels actually comfy within the hand, and making notes with it has a reasonably genuine writing really feel that is been improved because the final technology too.

You’ll be able to annotate books as you learn, spotlight sections by holding down the stylus’ button, after which delete something you have carried out by turning the stylus the other way up to make use of the “eraser” on the stylus’ different finish.

There may be additionally a note-taking part the place you can begin a Primary pocket book for easy scribbles or an Superior pocket book that converts your handwriting into kind, and helps the addition of issues like diagrams and free-form sections.

We have to spend extra time with this to judge simply how effectively it performs right here, however first impressions are optimistic. The suggestions you get from writing on the matte show may be very satisfying, although it is truthful to say it really works greatest, and your writing will look neatest, with some stress behind it – in all probability greater than you’d have a tendency to make use of with an everyday pen. For those who write evenly and rapidly, your writing has one thing of a ‘GP-writing-a-prescription’ about it.

Nonetheless – even with our less-decipherable scribbles, the Superior pocket book picked them up simply advantageous and adjusted it to the proper textual content with out challenge.

It is nice to see Dropbox assist right here, so you’ll be able to export your notes and notebooks on to your Dropbox account, and Kobo say Google Drive assist is coming quickly too.

{Hardware} and battery life

• Twin 2GHz CPU
• 2,400mAh battery life
• 32GB storage

The Kobo Elipsa 2E has a brand new twin 2GHz CPU, that means web page turns must be quicker right here, in addition to quicker pan and zoom for photographs, comics and PDFs.

For storage, there’s 32GB on board, with no choices to go larger or smaller, or the power to develop through microSD. The fact is, it must be a lot for most individuals, however anybody with a very huge book library could also be higher contemplating the 64GB providing from Amazon.

Battery life has been prolonged right here from the primary technology, with a 2,400mAh battery this time spherical. Kobo hasn’t said precisely how lengthy that ought to final however has stated it must be good for “weeks” on a single cost. We’ll should see the way it fares in our full assessment.

Content material

• Kobo eBookstore
• Audiobooks through Bluetooth
• OverDrive library books
• Kobo Plus – from £8.99 monthly for limitless books/audiobooks

Kobo’s eBookstore is constructed into the Elipsa 2E as typical, and whereas it generally gives a extra US lean within the content material it surfaces for suggestions, we managed to seek out some very UK-focused titles within the library with out challenge. Irrespective of the place on the earth you are studying from, we will not think about you will come up quick.

The Elipsa 2E has Bluetooth inbuilt for listening to audiobooks by way of a pair of Bluetooth headphones, whereas OverDrive integration lets you borrow eBooks remotely out of your public library without spending a dime. You simply want an lively library card to log in and you’ll then select to borrow or purchase.

Lastly, Kobo is launching a brand new service, referred to as Kobo Plus. This offers you entry to over 1.3 million eBooks and 100,000 audiobooks from as little as £8.99 a month. You get a option to both hear or learn for that, or you’ll be able to pay £11.99 to get limitless entry to all of the Kobo Plus content material.

This kind of goes head-to-head with Amazon Kindle Unlimited, which sits in the course of these two pricing choices at a price of £9.49/$9.99 a month. For that, you aren’t getting audiobook entry however you do get free rein on as much as two million books – so a good few extra.

The service hadn’t launched after we had been getting these first impressions, so we’re trying ahead to attempting it out for our full assessment and letting you recognize if it is well worth the funding.

First impressions

There’s lots to like in regards to the Kobo Elipsa 2E, due to plenty of up to date options that make it a compelling proposition in a rising market. At $399.99/£349.99/€399.99, it is cheaper than the Kindle Scribe, however whether or not the content material aspect of issues can compete with the Amazon expertise could be the factor that swings it for individuals. We’ll convey you our full assessment on this very quickly.