Kobo’s Elipsa is the newest within the Amazon rival’s e-reading line, and it’s an enormous one. The ten.3-inch e-paper show brings it as much as iPad dimensions and places it in direct competitors with the reMarkable and Boox’s e-reader tablets. It excels on studying expertise, will get by on be aware taking and drawing, however falls a bit brief on versatility.
Kobo has been creeping upmarket for just a few years now, and although the cheaper Clara HD remains to be the decide of the litter for my part, the Forma and Libra H2O are worthy rivals to the Kindle strains. The $400 Elipsa represents an enormous step up in dimension, perform and value, and it does justify itself — although there are just a few necessary caveats.
The system is nicely designed however lacks any thrives. The tilted “aspect chin” of the Forma and Libra is flattened out right into a easy extensive bezel on the precise aspect. The lopsided look doesn’t trouble me a lot, and far of the competitors has it as nicely. (Although my favourite is Boox’s ultracompact, flush-fronted Poke 3)
The ten.3″ display screen has a decision of 1404 x 1872, giving it 227 pixels per inch. That’s nicely beneath the 300 PPI of the Clara and Forma, and the typography suffers from noticeably extra aliasing for those who look intently. In fact, you received’t be trying that intently, since as a bigger system you’ll in all probability be giving the Elipsa a bit extra distance and maybe utilizing a bigger sort dimension. I discovered it completely snug to learn on — 227 PPI isn’t unhealthy, simply not one of the best.
There’s a entrance gentle, which is well adjustable by sliding your finger up and down the left aspect of the display screen, however not like different Kobo units there isn’t any technique to change the colour temperature. I’ve been spoiled by different units and now the default cool gray I lived with for years doesn’t really feel proper, particularly with a hotter gentle shining in your environment. The necessary half is that it’s constant throughout the total show and adjustable right down to a faint glow, one thing my eyes have thanked me for a lot of instances.
It’s exhausting to contemplate the Elipsa unbiased from the equipment it’s bundled with, and actually there’s no manner to purchase one proper now with out the “sleep cowl” and stylus. The reality is that they actually full the bundle, although they do add significantly to its weight and bulk. What when bare is lighter and feels smaller than a typical iPad is heavier and bigger as soon as you set its case on and stash the surprisingly weighty stylus on the high.
The duvet is properly designed, if a bit stiff, and will certainly defend your system from hurt. The duvet, secured by magnets on the backside, flips off like a sheet on a authorized pad and folds flat behind the system, attaching itself with the identical magnets from the opposite course. A pair folds in it additionally stiffen up with additional magnetic association into a pleasant, sturdy little stand. The skin is a grippy fake leather-based and the within is comfortable microfiber.
You possibly can wake and switch off the system by opening and shutting the duvet, however the entire thing comes with a small catch: you need to have the facility button, charging port and large bezel on the precise. When out of its case the Elipsa can, just like the others of its lopsided sort, be inverted and your content material immediately flips. However as soon as you set it within the case, you’re locked in to a semi-right-handed mode. This may occasionally or could not trouble folks but it surely’s price mentioning.
The studying expertise is in any other case similar to that on Kobo’s different units. A comparatively clear interface that surfaces your most just lately accessed content material and a not overwhelming however nonetheless unwelcome quantity of promotional stuff (“Discover your subsequent nice learn”). E-books free and paid for show nicely, although it’s by no means been my choice to learn on a big display screen like this. I really want one in all these giant e-readers would make a panorama mode with dealing with pages. Isn’t that extra booklike?
Articles from the net, synced by way of Pocket, look nice and are a pleasure to learn on this format. It feels extra like {a magazine} web page, which is nice while you’re studying an internet model of 1. It’s easy, foolproof and nicely built-in.
Kobo’s new note-taking prowess
What’s new on the underside row, although, is “Notebooks,” the place unsurprisingly you may create notebooks for scribbling down lists, doodles, notes after all, and customarily use the stylus.
The writing expertise is enough. Right here I’m spoiled by the reMarkable 2, which boasts extraordinarily low lag and excessive accuracy, in addition to rather more expression within the line. Kobo doesn’t strategy that, and the writing expertise is pretty fundamental, with a noticeable quantity of lag, however admirable accuracy.
There are 5 pen suggestions, 5 line widths and 5 line shades, they usually’re all positive. The stylus has a pleasant heft to it, although I’d like a grippier materials. Two buttons on it allow you to rapidly change from the present pen type to a highlighter or eraser, the place you’ve got stroke-deleting or brush modes. The conventional notebooks have the same old gridded, dotted, lined and clean kinds, and limitless pages, however you may’t zoom in or out (not so good for artists).
Then there are the “superior” notebooks, which you will need to use if you need handwriting recognition and different options. These have indelible strains on which you’ll be able to write, and a double faucet captures your phrases into sort in a short time. You can even put in drawings and equations in their very own sections.
The handwriting recognition is quick and adequate for tough notes, however don’t count on to ship these on to your staff with none modifying. Likewise the diagram software that turns gestural sketches of shapes and labels into finalized flowcharts and the like — higher than the unique wobbly artwork however nonetheless a tough draft. There are just a few intelligent shortcuts and gestures so as to add or subtract areas and different widespread duties, one thing you’ll in all probability get used to pretty fast for those who use the Elipsa usually.
The pocket book interface is snappy sufficient going from web page to web page or up and down on the “sensible” notebooks however nothing just like the fluidity of a design program or an art-focused one on an iPad. However it’s additionally unobtrusive, has good palm blocking, and feels good in motion. The lag on the road is certainly a con, however one thing you may get used to for those who don’t thoughts the ensuing product being slightly sloppy.
You can even mark up e-books, which is good for highlights however finally not that significantly better than merely deciding on the textual content. And there’s no manner you’re writing within the margins with the constraints of this stylus.
Exporting notepads will be completed by way of a linked Dropbox account or over USB connection. Once more the reMarkable has a leg up right here, for even when its app is a bit restrictive, the dwell syncing means you don’t ever have to fret about what model of what’s the place, so long as it’s within the system. On the Kobo it’s extra conventional.
In comparison with the reMarkable, the Kobo is de facto simply a better platform for on a regular basis studying, so for those who’re on the lookout for a tool that focuses on that and has the choice of doodling or be aware taking over the aspect, it’s a significantly better deal. Then again, these simply on the lookout for an enchancment to that stylus-focused pill ought to look elsewhere — writing and sketching nonetheless feels manner higher on a reMarkable than virtually something available on the market. In contrast with one thing like a Boox pill, the Elipsa is extra easy and targeted, however doesn’t permit the chance of including Android apps and video games.
At $400 — although this features a case and stylus — the Elipsa is a substantial funding and comparably priced to an iPad, which is actually a extra versatile system. However I don’t notably take pleasure in studying articles or books on my iPad, and the simplicity of an e-reader normally helps me focus once I’m making notes on a paper or one thing. It’s a special system for a special goal, however not for everybody.
It’s nevertheless in all probability one of the best ways proper now to step into the shallow finish of the “large e-reader” pool, with extra advanced or costly choices obtainable do you have to want them.