Kobo Elipsa 2E review

With most tech, there’s a wealth of choice and plenty of top picks. For others, with eReaders being the case in point here, one or two companies dominate.

Kobo’s Elipsa 2E is a note-taking eReader that has its sights set on the Kindle Scribe. Amazon’s device wasn’t released until after the original Elipsa went on sale, but the 2E and Scribe have plenty in common – including their prices. 

The Scribe received mixed reviews, so is the upgraded Elipsa 2E the go-to eReader with stylus support? The short answer is a resounding yes, although it doesn’t get everything right. 

Design

• Lightweight, premium build
• No water-resistance
• Stylus included. Sleep cover sold separately

The Elipsa 2E is the biggest eReader Kobo makes by far, but the extra display area is necessary for notetaking. A 10.3in screen rules out any possibility of one-handed use, but that’s not what this device is intended for. 

It retains the same design language as other Kobos, with a plastic exterior surrounding the E Ink display. The back of the Elipsa 2E has a unique textured coating, which adds plenty of grip and looks good to boot. But like most eReaders, there’s only one colour – black – and it’d be nice to see alternative options. 

Kobo also has its eye on the environment with the Elipsa 2E. It claims 85% of the exterior plastic has been recycled, including 10% that would’ve otherwise ended up in the oceans. This is great to see, and hopefully the company can continue to progress in this area in the future. 

Deciding against aluminium or glass also helps keep the Elipsa 2E relatively thin and light. At 7.5mm and 390g, it’s easy to take almost anywhere with you, although you won’t want to get it wet. Unlike some other Kobos, there’s no water-resistance here and it’s a real shame. 

I was concerned about a lightweight plastic build feeling cheap, but Kobo has managed to avoid that. The Elipsa 2E feels slick and premium, and should last for many years of use. 

That durability can be improved by pairing the device with Kobo’s own SleepCover (an extra $69.99/£69.99). As the name suggests, it automatically puts the Elipsa 2E to sleep when closed, providing all-important protection for the display. 

Attaching the device to the cover is a bit fiddly, but works well once you get used to it. There’s a dedicated slot for the Kobo Stylus 2 (more on that later), but it doesn’t double as a stand for hands-free use. You’ll also have to make do without any protection for the back of the device, so it’s far from an essential purchase. 

The Elipsa 2E feels slick and premium, and should last for many years of use

The USB-C charging port is located on the bottom-right side, just below the textured power button. But aside from the Kobo logo on the front and back, the Elipsa 2E has a very minimalist design.

Display

• Impressive 10.3in E Ink display
• Great visibility thanks to matte coating
• Adjustable warm light

The Elipsa 2E experience is centred around that 10.3in display. It’s one of the largest E Ink devices you can buy, along with similar size offerings from Amazon, ReMarkable and Huawei. 

Specifically, it’s an E Ink Carta 1200 panel, with a resolution of 1404×1872 pixels. That’s identical to the original Elipsa, although its 227 pixels per inch (ppi) is lower than the Kindle Scribe’s 300ppi. 

But does that mean the quality of the display here isn’t up to scratch? Absolutely not. Everything still looks extremely clear and crisp, with a dynamic contrast between light and dark colours. It might not be best in class, but the Elipsa 2E has an excellent E Ink display that will serve you well. 

The matte finish has two clear benefits. Firstly, it limits the build-up of fingerprint smudges and other marks. Despite a large side bezel for holding the device, there are no physical page turn buttons, so you’ll need to tap the screen often. 

It also means the Elipsa 2E is easy to use in bright environments. Even in direct sunlight, you’ll still be able to comfortably read what’s on the screen. An auto-brightness feature makes it possible, although its primary purpose is for reading in the dark. 

It might not be best in class, but the Elipsa 2E has an excellent E Ink display that will serve you well

E Ink displays are already easier on the eyes than LCD or OLED panels, but you also get an adjustable warm light here. This shifts from white light to warmer orange and yellow tones to minimise sleep disruption, and you can also set a bedtime for it to turn on automatically. The feature works very well. 

Reading experience

• Great in most situations
• Not ideal for use while travelling
• Works well in portrait or landscape mode

If you’ve ever read anything on a Kobo before, you’ll be familiar with the interface on the Elipsa 2E. It’s simply a larger version of the company’s other eReaders, which itself is very similar to the Kindle. 

The bigger screen doesn’t make it a great choice if you like to read while lying down in bed or travelling, but it’s great in most other scenarios. That includes if you simply prefer to be able to see more content on the screen or want to increase the text size without constantly turning the page. 

While designed to be used in portrait orientation (like a real book), the Elipsa 2E is surprisingly good in landscape mode. There are no formatting issues and it’s still comfortable to hold for long periods. If you often read comics or PDFs, it’s a great option to have. 

And there are plenty of ways to tweak the text you see on screen. Choose from a range of primary and supplementary fonts, then fine-tune the size, line spacing, margins and justification to your liking. The default is fine for most people, but it’s worth experimenting with this to find a setting you like best. 

Writing experience

• Kobo Stylus 2 in the box
• Create notebooks or annotate directly onto books
• Can be exported via cable or Dropbox

But the Elipsa 2E’s killer feature is its pen support. The Kobo Stylus 2 is included in the box, and it feels great for writing or annotating. You may notice some occasional delays before the screen registers input, but in general, latency is minimal. 

The design of the Stylus 2 is in keeping with many other digital pens, so it’s comfortable to hold and feels natural to use. Don’t expect a pen-on-paper-like experience, though – the lack of pressure sensitivity makes it very obvious that this is a digital screen. Instead, there are five different shades to choose from, to simulate that pressure, but you have to select those manually. 

Charging is via USB-C, but battery life isn’t a concern at all. Despite not charging when magnetically attached to the device, you’re looking at several months before needing to plug in the stylus. Pairing with the Elipsa 2E is also totally seamless, as it doesn’t rely on Bluetooth. 

Holding down the physical button on the side of the stylus activates highlighter mode, allowing you to quickly select text or sections of a document. It’s also great to see that the top of the stylus now doubles as an eraser. 

There are two main types of notebooks you can create: a basic one free of any restrictions, or an advanced version which includes extra features such as converting handwriting into text. The latter works well most of the time, and makes it easy to search through your notes for something specific. 

Notes must be exported manually (as a PDF, PNG or JPEG), either by physically connecting a USB cable or – more conveniently – by connecting your Dropbox account. Being able to instantly access them across all your devices is a great feature, especially with 2GB of storage on Dropbox’s free plan. 

These get saved to a specific folder within Dropbox, meaning you can edit or add any files to that folder and they’ll automatically appear on the Elipsa 2E. But you can still create folders and organise them direct from the device itself. 

Being able to scribble notes on anything is the big reason to buy the Elipsa 2E over any other eReader out there

Unlike the Kindle Scribe’s sticky note approach, Kobo also lets you annotate directly onto any book or document. This feels so much more natural, especially when combined with the highlighter and eraser features.  

Impressively, this extends to rented library eBooks, where notes will still be there if you borrow again in the future or decide to buy it. Being able to scribble notes on anything is the big reason to buy the Elipsa 2E over any other eReader out there. 

Specs & performance

• 2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM
• Performance surprisingly excellent
• No cellular option

Performance is the aspect of the Elipsa 2E that’s surprised me the most. I wasn’t expecting much from a 2GHz processor and just 1GB of RAM, but as it turns out, that’s plenty for an eReader. 

Great performance on eReaders is by no means guaranteed, but the Kobo Elipsa 2E is fast and responsive by eReader standards, whether you’re navigating the store, playing audiobooks or simply turning pages in a book. The nature of E Ink displays means there’ll always be some hesitation while the screen refreshes, but it never takes more than a couple of seconds. 

Provided you have a solid internet connection, all content will display and download quickly. But there’s no option for cellular connectivity (such as 3G or 4G), so you’ll need Wi-Fi.  

Great performance on eReaders is by no means guaranteed, but but the Kobo Elipsa 2E is fast and responsive

The only model of the Elipsa 2E features 32GB of non-expandable storage. This will be plenty for most people, and you’ll only run close to capacity if you download lots of long audiobooks.  

Software & features

• Huge range of books available
• Kobo Plus now available in US and UK
• Excellent OverDrive and Pocket integration

The Elipsa 2E runs the same software you’ll find on all Kobo eReaders. It translates well to the larger display here, and remains the main reason to buy one over a Kindle. 

Let’s start with the most obvious feature: reading books. Kobo has its own eBook file format, but it natively supports almost all major file types: EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, and CBR. 

CBZ and CBR are comic book formats, both of which work very well on this larger display. But if you have any of the file types listed above, just transfer them from a computer using the USB cable in the box – or sync them using Dropbox.  

In fact, the only main file type you won’t be able to use is Amazon’s own. If you’ve bought lots of Kindle books previously, there’s no way to read them on the Elipsa 2E. It’s a way of Amazon keeping people loyal to Kindles and not switching to Kobo. 

But the selection of eBooks available on the Kobo Store is very similar to Kindle. Everything I searched for was available on both devices for a similar price. New releases arrive at roughly the same time. 

However, you don’t necessarily have to buy eBooks. The Elipsa 2E has integration with OverDrive, meaning you can connect a free local library card and borrow books – just like you would for the physical versions. 

Not every book is available using this method, but I’m impressed with the selection that are. My local library isn’t particularly big, although even the wait times for popular books (usually 4-6 weeks) aren’t bad at all. 

Most libraries let you borrow books for 7, 14 or 21 days. If no one else has requested the book, you can renew it and keep reading. But if a hold has been placed, you’ll have to go back on the waitlist. 

Even with some limitations, being able to borrow library books so seamlessly is a truly excellent feature. The cost of eBooks can mount up, so this is a great alternative. 

Sadly, OverDrive doesn’t include audiobooks. The selection of these isn’t as good on the Kobo Store as Audible, and you’re less likely to have the author narrate the book than on Amazon’s service. However, there is the option to import your own audiobook files (up to 200Mb per book) in MP3 or M4A formats, which is handy.

Both eBooks and audiobooks are included in the expensive Kobo Plus subscription ($9.99/£11.99 per month), but you’ll need to choose one or the other on the cheaper plan ($7.99/£8.99). The service is now available in the US and UK six years after first launching, and there are more than 1.3 million eBooks and 100,000 audiobooks to choose from. 

It’s essentially Kobo’s answer to Kindle Unlimited, meaning you can read or listen to as many of these as you’d like. The selection available is regularly updated, but you won’t find many of the most popular titles – at least initially. As a result, it’s best for avid readers, especially those who are willing to try new authors or genres. 

Being able to borrow library books so seamlessly is a truly excellent feature

Another useful feature is integration with Pocket, the popular “read it later” app available on all your devices. After connecting your free account, any articles you’ve saved there will automatically be available to read on the Elipsa 2E. Unless the article relies on photos or videos, it’s a great way to read them – especially as they support annotations.

In general, the software experience feels slick and intuitive, but that’s not always the case. I ran into a couple of bugs during testing, including a one where the Wi-Fi connection kept dropping. But issues like these can be fixed with updates, and all other features work as intended. 

Battery life

• 2400mAh battery
• Around two weeks of battery life
• Slow charging, no adapter in box

As expected, battery life on the Elipsa 2E is excellent.  

The 2400mAh cell is large by eReader standards, and means it can technically live up to Kobo’s claims of “weeks of battery life on a single charge”. However, that’s only really possible if you turn off Wi-Fi, keep brightness low and limit notetaking. 

To get the most out of the Elipsa 2E, you won’t want to do any of those things. Therefore, a more realistic figure is around two weeks between full charges. That’s still very impressive, though – battery life is something you won’t need to worry about on the Elipsa 2E.  

The Elipsa 2E charges via USB-C, but only the cable is included in the box. Charging is relatively slow, but gets the job done if you’re not in a rush. 

Price & availability

At launch, the Kobo Elipsa 2E costs $399.99/£349.99 for 32GB of storage – the only model available. You can buy it from the Kobo website in the US and UK. 

That sounds like a lot, but it’s only slightly more expensive than the cheapest Kindle Scribe ($339.99/£329.99). The equivalent 32GB version of Amazon’s eReader will set you back $389.99/£379.99. 

The Elipsa 2E includes the Kobo Stylus 2 in the box, but the company’s SleepCover will set you back an extra $69.99/£69.99. 

You can’t really compare it to most traditional eReaders, but the ReMarkable 2 (from $279/£279) and Huawei MatePad Paper (€499, approx. $530/£420) are also worth considering. 

Verdict

The Kobo Elipsa 2E is an excellent eReader that’s great for both reading and note-taking. 

A crisp 10.3in E Ink display is among the highlights, and it combines with great performance for an excellent user experience. 

But it’s the software that elevates the Elipsa 2E above its rivals. You can annotate directly onto any book via the included stylus, catch up on web articles saved to Pocket or even borrow eBooks from your local library.  

However, the audiobook selection isn’t quite as impressive, and there are some software bugs. You’ll also have to make do without any waterproofing. 

Still, unless you’re deep in the Kindle ecosystem, this is the note-taking eReader to buy. 

Specs

• 10.3in, 1404×1872 (227ppi) e-ink display 
• 2GHz processor 
• USB-C charging 
• Wi-Fi 
• Bluetooth 
• 32GB storage 
• 2400mAh battery 
• Kobo Store 
• 7.5mm thick 
• 390g