The Kindle Scribe higher be careful – there’s a brand new premium note-taking ereader in the marketplace.
Out there for preorder at this time – Wednesday, April 5 – the Kobo Elipsa 2E is the successor to the ten.3-inch Kobo Elipsa, the corporate’s first foray right into a note-taking ereader. Whereas there’s numerous similarities between the 2 Kobo fashions, the Elipsa 2E comes with some notable and welcome upgrades from its predecessor.
For starters, the Elipsa 2E continues Kobo’s eco-friendly mission that kicked off with the 6-inch Kobo Clara 2E final August. Similar to its smaller sibling, the Elipsa 2E is made with 85% recycled plastic, together with 10% that was certain for the ocean. This environment-conscious twist helps the Kobo Elipsa 2E standout from its direct competitor, the 2022 Kindle Scribe, which as a substitute has a full metallic chassis.
The comparisons don’t finish there – identical to the Kindle Scribe, the Kobo Elipsa 2E received’t arrive alone. Bundled with a totally redesigned Kobo Stylus 2, you’ll have the ability to use the Elipsa 2E to jot down up notes in margins of ebooks and PDF paperwork, spotlight attention-grabbing elements of a guide, and write or doodle to your coronary heart’s content material throughout 20 totally different web page settings. This new stylus has additionally improved on its predecessor, now with a chargeable battery by way of a USB-C port, an up to date design that features a white ‘eraser’ on the high of the in any other case black pen and a magnetic strip to assist safe it on the highest of the Elipsa 2E (versus the aspect in different related gadgets).
There’s additionally a sleepcase that you may buy individually, and this too has been redesigned for the Elipsa 2E. In contrast to the outdated foldable cowl that was bundled with the earlier Elipsa and opened in portrait mode, the brand new fake leather-based case opens like a guide cowl and is manufactured from 97% recycled materials. This cowl, which primarily solely encases one aspect and the highest of the machine, merely clips onto the longer slim bezel of the Elipsa 2E magnetically and likewise gives a way more safe spot to retailer the Stylus 2 by providing a nook for the brand new pen.
As for inbuilt options, there’s 32GB of storage, Bluetooth connectivity so you’ll be able to take heed to all of your favourite audiobooks, and a glare-free E Ink touchscreen that, in contrast to its predecessor, now has amber LEDs to assist change each brightness and lightweight hue.
Kobo additionally has continued to supply OverDrive with the Elipsa 2E and this can stay on the gadgets regardless of the app being retired into the Libby service on cellular, permitting customers to borrow books from a library that additionally has OverDrive help. Additionally on board is baked-in Pocket and Dropbox integration, so it can save you longform internet articles to learn later (in case you have a Pocket account arrange in your internet browser) and switch information (even notes) straight from the cloud by way of a linked Dropbox account.
Just like the older Elipsa, the Pocket book options proceed to be intensive, with handwriting recognition additionally accessible in the event you’d prefer to convert your notes to textual content.
Preorders open from April 5 within the US, Canada, the UK and Australia for an official launch on April 19 in all accessible areas. You’ll be parting with $399.99 / £349.99 / AU$629.95 to choose one up – and this worth consists of the Kobo Stylus 2 – with a further $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$89.95 for the sleepcase. Preorders within the US, UK and Australia additionally include a bonus $25 / £25 / AU$25 Kobo eGift card to spend on ebooks and audiobooks on your new machine.
The Kobo Elipsa 2E is a little more costly than the beginning worth of the Kindle Scribe ($339.99 / £339.99 / AU$549.99), nevertheless the Elipsa 2E does include twice the storage than the bottom mannequin of the Scribe, which additionally ships with simply the Fundamental Pen. That stated, the 32GB Kindle Scribe that ships with the Premium Pen prices $389.99 / £379.99 / AU$629, so the Elipsa 2E is priced very competitively, particularly within the UK.
Is that this sufficient for the Kobo’s latest notetaker to surpass the Kindle Scribe on our greatest ereaders record? The decision continues to be out whereas we end our Kobo Elipsa 2E assessment, but it surely’s wanting prefer it may very well be a severe contender, particularly because the Kindle Scribe seems to have a smaller set of writing instruments than the Elipsa 2E.
However wait, you’ll want to preserve studying…
Moreover, Kobo has expanded its book subscription service to 2 main areas. Lastly launching at this time (April 5) in each the US and the UK, Kobo Plus was initially solely accessible in six areas together with Canada, Australia and New Zealand with a month-to-month price of CA$9.99 / AU$13.99 / NZ$14.99.
Kobo Plus is the Japanese-Canadian ereader maker’s reply to Kindle Limitless, granting subscribers entry to a library of over 1.3 million ebooks and over 100,000 audiobooks. Following the mannequin arrange in Canada, each the UK and the US could have three totally different subscription tiers to select from, with the selection to subscribe to solely Kobo Plus Learn for ebooks solely, Kobo Plus Pay attention for simply audiobooks, or each for a reduced worth.
Pricing for each the US and the UK involves $7.99 / £8.99 per thirty days for both Learn or Pay attention, or $9.99 / £11.99 for the full-fat Kobo Plus possibility that will get you each ebooks and audiobooks. There’s additionally a 30-day free trial on provide in each the UK and the US, identical to the opposite areas, so you’ll be able to check out your chosen plan earlier than totally committing.
Whereas Kobo Plus presents a considerable library, Kindle Limitless at present has a bigger catalog, however limits you to ‘borrowing’ as much as 10 titles directly on mortgage. Kobo Plus doesn’t have that limitation, so you’ll be able to add to your library as a lot as you need. Neither service allows you to personal what you borrow although, so when you cancel your subscription, you lose entry to these books.
Kindle Limitless ($9.99 / £7.99 / AU$13.99 per thirty days) additionally offers you entry to some audiobooks which have corresponding book titles within the catalog, however Kobo Pay attention works like Audible, the place you get credit to ‘buy’ audiobooks.
Whereas Kobo Plus Pay attention has been accessible for a while in Canada (CA$9.99p/m by itself or a month-to-month price of CA$12.99 when bundled with Learn), subscribers in Australia and New Zealand have a separate audiobook subscription service that’s not branded as Kobo Pay attention (AU$12.99 / NZ$13.99 per thirty days). For now it stays unclear if these two areas may even change over to Kobo Plus Pay attention and get the three totally different plans.