The Kobo Elipsa first generation and the Kobo Elipsa 2e are the only large-screen e-notes in Kobos’s portfolio. The Kobo Elipsa came out in late 2019, and the Kobo ELipsa 2e just came out last week. Some might wonder if it is worth the upgrade if you own the original model. There is a dramatic increase in specs with the new model and some essential software features. The pen has been redesigned on the 2E. It no longer takes batteries. Instead, it is powered via USB-C; it has a dedicated eraser on the top and is 25% lighter, making it easier to hold. The front-lit display has been upgraded from a Comrtfortlight to Comfortlight Pro, providing better illumination for warm and cool colours.
Kobo has continued with the trend of using environmentally friendly hardware and retail packaging. The Elipsa 2E uses 85% recycled ocean plastics, like those found on water bottles, old CDs, and DVDs. Kobo wanted to increase the percentage of ocean plastics, but using more than they are employing is a fire hazard due to the lithium-ion battery generating heat. The retail packaging uses 100% recycled cardboard, and the ink on the box and user manuals is made of 100% vegan ink. Kobo uses around 80% recycled magnesium alloy inside the hardware, similar to the new Kindle Scribe. The recent case covers designed for the Elipsa 2 are made of 100% ocean plastics and come in many colours. The Kobo Elipsa 1 does not have any of this.
Kobo introduced several new software enhancements, such as Google Drive, which joins Dropbox as two cloud storage providers that users can access to store their digital collections. All your notebooks are now synced and stored automatically in the Kobo Cloud, notes can be viewed on the Kobo website, and notebooks can be shared via email or downloaded to a PC or MAC. The only new software change is a lasso tool, making moving images and other art assets easy. Elipsa 1 does not have Google Drive access or compatibility with the third-party service Readwise and allows you to sync your annotations to tools like Notion, Roam, Evernote and more*.
Night and day differences exist between the 1st generation Elipsa and the second-generation model. Most new enhancements are hardware-based, but the software experience is similar, besides a few key upgrades. Users can continue to access Overdrive for ebook lending and Pocket for web articles sent directly to your Kobo. Of course, it makes a deadly ebook reader with an expansive ten-inch display. Love audiobooks? Bluetooth lets you connect wireless headphones or earbuds and listen to your heart’s content.
Elipsa 1 and 2 have the same e-paper display technology. They feature a 10.3-inch E INK Carta 1200 e-paper display panel with a resolution of 1404×1872 with 227 PPI. The screen is flush with the bezel and protected by a layer of glass. The Elipsa 2e employs a dual-core 2GHZ Mediatek RM53. The single-core count is 45% faster than the single-core 1GHZ All-Winner they utilized on the first-generation Elipsa. Kobo had to make several architecture changes to its Linux operating system to use the new processor. This has resulted in more compute power, reduced latency when using the stylus and better power consumption, preserving battery life. They both have 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. They also have WIFI to access the Kobo bookstore and cloud storage providers, such as Dropbox.
On the software side of things, they are the same. The main home screen, UI, menus and shopping experience have no changes on both model. The writing experience is also the same, minus the new lasso tool that Kobo will eventually port to the Elipsa 1. Viewing and editing PDF files is slightly quicker on the Elipsa 2, due to the dual-core processor, so pages flip slightly faster. Digital books, manga and comics are the same, since they are all EPUB files. The audiobook player is the same, ditto with the listening experience.
Wrap up
If you have the Elipsa 1, should you upgrade to the second generation model? I don’t think enough has changed on the software side of things to really pull the trigger and spend $399.99 on a new piece of hardware. There is a slight bump in the specs, which is nice, but not enough.
What if you are buying an e-note for the first time and are looking for something to replace paper, take notes, annotate PDF files and do some light drawing? I think the Kobo Elipsa 2e and Kindle Scribe are the best choices. They both have ten-inch screens, although the Scribe has 300 PPI, which does make a big difference. You can buy ebooks and other digital content on both, making them a great screen size just to consume content, or to use purely as an e-note.
There are other competitors out there, such as the Remarkable 2, but it is billed as a distraction-free device. There is no bookstore to buy books or anything else, you can just take notes, and read sideloaded EPUB ebooks without DRM. If you want to spend double the money, there is a world of Google Play enabled E INK writing tablets, with a ton of other things you can do, since apps installation is a very real thing, but this only appeals to a small subset of users.
The benefit of the Kobo Elipsa is their vast distribution system. They are available in most countries in North America, Europe, Australia and the Asian Pacific region. Since they are in tons of retail stores, you can often try, before you buy. This is pretty important, since Kobo is one of the only brands with any sort of retail presence.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
