I used to be excited when the Kobo Elipsa was introduced two years in the past, because it was the primary e-note pill from an organization recognized for wonderful e-readers and a large e-book retailer accessible proper from the system. I, sadly, was left disappointed with the original Elipsa, however the recently announced Elipsa 2E looks like a do-over for Kobo, delivering a a lot improved e-note system that additionally doubles as a superb, super-sized e-reader.
Each the Elipsa and the Elipsa 2E share a really comparable design, making them exhausting to tell apart simply by them. Most of the enhancements are beneath the hood or must do with the stylus. So as an alternative of reviewing the Elipsa 2E from scratch (I encourage you to read my review of the original Kobo Elipsa first), I’m going to delve into its welcomed upgrades, but additionally tackle the place I feel there’s nonetheless room for enchancment.
Two Small Elipsa Design Adjustments That Make a Huge Distinction
For those who’re utilizing a tool with a folio model case that robotically wakes it whenever you open the lid, its energy/sleep/wake button is kind of irrelevant till you wish to utterly flip it off. More often than not, I choose to make use of e-readers and e-notes with out the added bulk of a case, which implies I’m usually reaching for that button, and on the unique Kobo Elipsa, it sat flush on the sting of the system and was usually exhausting to seek out by really feel alone.
On the Kobo Elipsa 2E, the facility/sleep/wake has been merely upgraded with 4 bumps, making it extremely straightforward to seek out by simply sliding your finger alongside its aspect edge.
The opposite welcome improve, extra helpful to those that additionally plan to make use of the Elipsa 2E as an e-reader held in a single hand, is the pill’s again panel. The unique Elipsa featured a rubberized floor, however with a clean floor that restricted grip, and picked up greasy fingerprints. The again panel on the Elipsa 2E feels prefer it’s made out of the identical rubbery materials, however is now completed with a textured sample that’s simpler to carry on to, whereas additionally making serving to to cover fingerprints.
One factor nonetheless lacking from the Elipsa 2E, nonetheless, are bodily web page flip buttons. I don’t suppose units like reMarkable 2, which is at first a note-taking system, want them, however the Elipsa 2E additionally doubles as a superb e-reader, and I personally discover bodily buttons a greater different to tapping the display to show pages.
The Elipsa 2E’s Screen Can Do Warm Light
Probably the most compelling causes to decide on the original Kobo Elipsa over different e-notes out there on the time, together with the reMarkable 2, was that it got here with direct entry to Kobo’s on-line e-book retailer, which is stocked with over 1.3 million titles out there for buy. It labored properly as each an e-note system and a big display e-reader, however lacked Kobo’s ComfortLight PRO expertise for making coloration temperature changes on the display’s lighting.
The jury continues to be out on whether or not screens with cooler, blue-ish toned glowing screens will really hinder your skill to go to sleep when you want to, however many customers do discover hotter tones simpler on the eyes when utilizing digital units after darkish, and the flexibility to regulate the heat of the Elipsa 2E’s display is definitely its greatest promoting level.
Sadly, two years after the unique Elipsa debuted, the Kobo Elipsa 2E arrives to some stiffer competitors, particularly from Amazon, whose Kindle Scribe encompasses a 10.2-inch, 300 PPI E Ink display that’s nonetheless unique to its units.
So, the Kobo Elipsa 2E arrives with the identical 10.3-inch, 227 PPI E Ink Carta 1200 digital paper display as the unique did, two years in the past. It’s beginning to really feel a bit of dated subsequent to the Kindle Scribe’s 300 PPI display, and the 300 PPI screens on Kobo’s personal e-readers just like the Forma. I don’t suppose it’s essentially a deal breaker as a result of the dimensions of the display means you possibly can increase the font measurement of textual content and make jagged edges much less apparent, however they’re positively there if you happen to look shut sufficient.
However the distinction between the Kindle Scribe’s 300 PPI display and the Elipsa 2E’s 227 PPI display is just not just like the distinction between video games working on the Nintendo Swap versus 8-bit titles on the unique NES. Even small textual content, like that featured in graphic novels, continues to be very legible and crisp on the Elipsa 2E’s display, so I don’t suppose it’s a purpose to not contemplate Kobo’s upgraded pill.
A Higher E-Word Stylus and Writing Expertise
I are likely to advocate e-note units that depend on Wacom’s stylus’ expertise as a result of it means there are many appropriate third-party choices to select from if the included stylus doesn’t meet your wants. Each the Elipsa and the Elipsa 2E use a proprietary stylus, and it was one of many causes I walked away upset with the unique.
I appreciated the high-quality tip of the primary Elipsa’s stylus, however I felt it had an excessive amount of give as it will retract into the stylus beneath stress to imitate the sensation of a writing instrument like a ballpoint pen. The Kindle Scribe’s stylus makes use of an analogous strategy, however affords a greater really feel and writing expertise. For the Elipsa 2E, Kobo has gone a very completely different route and included a stylus with a chunkier tip much like the Apple Pencil’s design. I positively prefer it higher than the unique Elipsa’s stylus, and the swap to a chargeable battery inside makes the Elipsa 2E’s stylus really feel sleeker and lighter.
Switching to the spotlight textual content mode with the Elipsa 2E’s stylus continues to be executed by urgent a shortcut button close to the tip, however the second shortcut button discovered on the Elipsa’s stylus, which was used to change to eraser mode, is now gone and changed with a devoted eraser button on the top of the 2E’s stylus that truly appears like a pencil eraser. It appears and feels a lot better than the eraser on the top of the Kindle Scribe’s stylus, even when there’s a small a part of me nervous it’s going to put on away over time like an actual eraser—it received’t.
The make or break characteristic for any e-note system is how the simulated pen on paper expertise feels. Is it responsive sufficient in order that the strokes you make with the stylus instantly seem on display, or is there noticeable lag that makes the pill really feel prefer it’s struggling to maintain up together with your handwriting? Laggy stylus response was my greatest grievance with the unique Elipsa, and whereas software program updates improved the efficiency, the Elipsa 2E, due to a quicker processor beneath the hood, feels actually good to put in writing with. I don’t suppose the writing expertise is pretty much as good as what the reMarkable 2 or the Kindle Scribe provide, but it surely’s very shut, and improved sufficient to make the Elipsa 2E an e-note I positively advocate.
Kindle and Kobo Nonetheless Have Room For Enchancment
One space the place most e-note units might be improved is getting paperwork, significantly your self-written notebooks, off the pill. The Elipsa 2E might be related on to a PC with a USB-C cable to perform that, or notes might be emailed, however I discover each to be clunky options. Its built-in Dropbox assist might be the easiest way to go, guaranteeing paperwork are synced to whichever of your units has the Dropbox app put in. But as somebody who not too long ago mentioned goodbye to Dropbox, I’m as an alternative patiently ready for Kobo’s promised Google Drive assist to reach.
I’d wish to see Kobo and Amazon, two firms already depending on the cloud, introduce extra strong methods to entry content material created on their e-notes on different units. Annotations made to ebooks on the Elipsa 2E are synced to Kobo’s cloud and accessible by means of the corporate’s web site, however from my testing, solely with ebooks downloaded from the corporate’s on-line ebook retailer. By comparability, proper out of the field, reMarkable makes notebooks created on its E Ink pill simply accessible on different units by means of cell and desktop apps by means of its personal cloud providers (and makes it very straightforward to add different paperwork and e-book recordsdata this fashion), and I feel Kobo and Amazon have to observe swimsuit. As is stands now, it looks like you want to soar by means of pointless hoops except you need all of your notes trapped on their respective e-notes.
Regardless of these complaints, I feel Kobo has delivered a a lot improved e-note system, and the Elipsa 2E is actually what we should always have gotten again in 2021. The pen on paper expertise is lastly superb, and the pill affords superior options like handwriting to textual content conversion, a stylus with stress sensitivity, and, as with Kobo’s higher-end e-readers, audiobook assist with connectivity to Bluetooth headphones. It’s at the moment a display improve away from being top-of-the-line e-notes available on the market, however if you happen to’re already a Kobo person with an enormous library of bought books, that is positively the e-note to decide on.
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