Unfiltered, Bold, and Unapologetic: Breaking Down the Kobo Elipsa
Impressions and Analysis of the Kobo Elipsa: A Comprehensive Take on the Premium eReader Tablet
If you're in the market for a device that can cater to both your bookworm and note-taking hunting needs, look no further. The Kobo Elipsa has got you covered, baby! This bad boy is not your run-of-the-mill e-reader; it's a powerhouse able to tackle everything from manga to math equations.
Kobo, the global number two in the e-reader industry, has knocked it out of the park yet again with the Elipsa. Expanding internationally and hitting retail stores has enabled customers to get their hands on this badass device before making the purchase—something that Amazon can't seem to crack, especially outside of the US with its small footprint of bookstores.
Ever since Kobo dipped its toes into e-reader development back in 2010, it has released 16 different E INK devices, each catering to various demographics and price points, whether you're a budget-conscious newbie or a seasoned ebook reader.
The Elipsa offers an intriguing convergence of e-reader and digital note-taking device, primarily geared towards professionals, students, and designers. Let's dive deeper into that, shall we?
Hardware
The Elipsa boasts a 10.3-inch E INK Carta 1200 display, which offers a 20% faster response time and a contrast ratio improvement of 15% over Carta 1000. This cutting-edge screen technology was developed with e-notes in mind, reducing pen writing latency and improving the user interface's responsiveness.
Despite the giant screen, the resolution is still quite respectable, sitting at 1404 by 1872 with 227 PPI. The front-lit display uses white LED lights for low-light environments, with a brightness adjuster for those late-night reading sessions or for those who prefer dimming down with the Dark Mode for white text on black.
Kobo opted not to employ a WACOM screen for the Elipsa; instead, they went with a capacitive stylus that features pressure sensitivity. While it does not have 4,096 different levels like other digital note-taking devices, it is similar to the screen technology found in the Boyue Likebook P10. The stylus is crafted from aluminum and comes with two buttons on the side, doing different things depending on whether you're reading an ebook or drawing.
Powering the Elipsa is a Quad Core 1.8 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. It's the first Kobo product to sport a USB-C port, which can be used for data transfer and charging. With a 2,400 mAh battery, you can expect a couple of weeks of usage before needing to recharge.
The SleepCover case is also available for the Elipsa, securing a place for the stylus when not in use. The lid can attach to either end of the tablet, reducing the risk of the stylus going missing like on iPad and reMarkable 2, both of which use a stylus that magnetically attaches to the side and can be easily knocked off.
Aesthetically, the Kobo Elipsa sports a black color scheme with an asymmetrical design. It's thick on one side and tapers down on the other, with the back of the device also black and featuring rubber feet to protect it from desk scratches. The home button is notably absent from the front, but it's located on the side, where the e-note is thickest, housing the USB-C port, status indicator, and power button.
Software and Drawing
The Elipsa, like all Kobo consumer e-readers, runs on Linux as its operating system. The home screen provides a peek at your current reads, along with some recommendations based on your purchase history. The UI offers shortcuts to control brightness levels, Bluetooth settings, Airplane Mode, and more.
One of the primary reasons to grab the Elipsa is the amazing drawing experience it provides. Equipped with the accompanying stylus, you can draw on ebooks you've purchased or sideloaded. Highlighting a specific word or body of text allows you to make notes on the highlight and view definitions through a built-in dictionary or access links to Wikipedia.
Viewing and editing PDF files is another flagship functionality, with the ability to draw anywhere on the document, though traditional highlighting isn't as straightforward—you'll need to paint the highlight as if you were just scribbling. You can save DRM-free PDF files to the device's internal storage, send to Dropbox, or export them to your PC/Mac.
If you're the type who loves to freehand draw, the Elipsa offers two types of notebooks: Basic and Advanced. The Basic notebook allows for unencumbered writing anywhere on the page, while the Advanced notebook requires you to write within the lines for text conversion. The Advanced notebook also boasts additional features like the ability to draw shapes and free transform them or make them bigger or smaller.
On every notebook, you can adjust the background, set orientation to portrait or landscape, choose pens, and modify the pen's thickness and shades. You can even undo and redo edits as needed. The El lipsa also includes a handwriting to text conversion engine.
Reading
Kobo excels at crafting e-readers that appeal to both casual and devoted bookworms. The Elipsa is no exception, providing a vast array of advanced features that other brands can't match, such as the ability to load custom fonts. You can load in stuff like Bookerly or Ember, designed specifically for e-readers.
The Elipsa supports various electronic book formats, including PDF, EPUB, and comics, making it an excellent device for downloading or purchasing manga, graphic novels, and comic books.
When you're diving into a book, you have numerous options at your fingertips, such as changing the font and customizing margins and line spacing. You can long-press on a word to get an instant definition or translate it into Japanese, Italian, German, Dutch, and many more languages.
The Elipsa introduced a rapid page turn system, first seen on the Kobo Aura One Limited Edition, which has gradually made its way onto other devices. To rapidly turn pages forward, simply drag your finger from the right-hand side of the screen to the center and hold. There's a two-second delay before the rapid system kicks in, at which point the text is 100% clear. To go backward, repeat the process by dragging your finger from the left-hand side.
Wrap Up
The Elipsa is just getting started, with Kobo continuously issuing firmware updates and improving features. Kobo's long-term commitment to its devices is evident, ensuring that support for this model will persist for years to come.
However, there are a few areas for improvement, like increasing the number of background options and introducing layers, which have become standard on many e-note brands for creating designs and environmental art.
Additionally, Kobo could benefit from offering cloud storage for edited ebooks, especially for those who use the device extensively or have issues with firmware updates erasing their progress. Despite these minor drawbacks, the Elipsa stands as a formidable choice for ebook enthusiasts and note-takers alike.
The Kobo Elipsa is set to hit stores on June 28, 2021, starting in North America before expanding to other markets later this year. It retails for $499 in Canada and $399 in the US, with pre-orders available in other markets at a surcharge.
For more Elipsa details, check out Kobo's blog post!
About the Author
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at our platform, writing about audiobooks and e-readers since 2006. His articles have been featured in the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post, and the New York Times. Michael hails from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- The Kobo Elipsa, equipped with a cutting-edge E Ink Carta 1200 display and a capacitive stylus, is not only a powerful e-reader but also a digital note-taking device, catering to professionals, students, and designers.
- As technology advances, Kobo continuously issues firmware updates to improve the Elipsa's features, ensuring long-term support for this device.
- If you're in the market for a multifunctional gadget that combines reading apps, e-note taking, and digital rights management, the Kobo Elipsa, with its e-book compatibility and note-taking capabilities, is a gadget you might want to consider.
