The Kobo Elipsa is one of those proposals that arrive and surprise. And not only because it has a 10.3-inch screen, but because of its digital pen. Thanks to it, you will have the opportunity to read books in digital format and make annotations in the margins, underline or draw on their pages as if it were a real book and not an eBook. Without a doubt, a tough and interesting rival for the Amazon Kindle.
Kobo Elipsa: the fusion between Kindle and reMarkable 2
Kobo is a company that has been developing electronic book readers or eReaders for some time. However, despite having good alternatives to the Amazon Kindle, it must be admitted that competing against the online giant is very difficult.
However, with this new proposal called Kobo Elipsa, they may have found a product that could attract many eyes and snatch a group of users (students) very interested in this type of device that allows hundreds of books to be carried in digital format.
The Kobo Elipsa as an eBook reader offers with a 10.3-inch screen . A generous size, that is true, that just puts back those who are looking for something much more portable and easy to store. But having that size has a clear explanation that we will detail later. Meanwhile, the electronic ink screen offers a resolution of 1404 x 1872 pixels (227 ppi).
Of course, it is not the size, nor the resolution, nor other characteristics such as the anti-glare treatment or adjustable brightness level thanks to ComfortLight that really matters. What is striking here is that it offers support for the use of a digital pen with which you can take all kinds of annotations, underline, make drawings or any scribble on its pages.
That is, it is as if you merged a classic Kindle with the recent reMarkable 2 that offers the same thing, a paper notebook in digital format. This is how this particular electronic book reader is best defined, which is certainly positioned as a very interesting option for, mainly, reading technical texts on which you would like to take some kind of note and scribble for future reference.
Price and availability
As you can see, the Kobo Elipsa is an interesting proposal that completely changes the idea of a digital book reader. Because although this is something that can be done with other devices such as Apple iPads, the truth is that having an electronic ink screen is always more rewarding for long periods of reading compared to an LED.
In addition, this reader offers the same capabilities when loading new books as any other model. On the one hand, you have your own Kobo store, also an option to opt for loans through OverDrive support and local synchronization. Of course, two small and quick notes.
The first is that books in PDF format and with DRM cannot be scribbled . That is, you could not make use of the writing functions. Something a bit strange, because a book that you buy on paper you could paint it as you want, but hey, it is something that for some reason will be like that.
And the second is that the books you obtain via OverDrive loans can be painted with annotations, drawings, underlines or any other graphic element that you can do with the Stylus. The only thing is, these will disappear once you return it to the library.
For the rest, the price of the Kobo Elipsa will be 399 euros . It may seem a bit high, but it is in the line of similar products in terms of technologies. So, if when you saw the reMarkable 2 you thought that I wish there was something like that merged with an Amazon Kindle, well here you have it. And from the hand of a manufacturer like Kobo, who knows very well what is done with this type of device.