As a stationery lover, I took the Kobo Elipsa 2E out for a whirl and it completely modified my writing recreation.
I prefer to name myself a recovered stationery hoarder. For anybody who’s seen my bookshelf, it’s stuffed to the brim with empty notebooks, paints, and pens that I’ve collected through the years. Some I’ve hoarded since I used to be 16! Fortunately, I’ve developed some self-control now and solely purchase what’s needed for me. I’m nonetheless a fan of handwritten notes – that’s one thing I haven’t fairly grown out of. However I run into the conundrum of getting my notes in a large number, housed in numerous half-filled journals. Fortunate for me, I had the prospect to present Rakuten Kobo’s new eReader Kobo Elipsa 2E a attempt to get myself organised.
Introducing the Kobo Elipsa 2E: An e-reader, pocket book, and audiobook rolled into one

Rakuten Kobo brings the most recent in digital studying and writing experiences with its new and improved e-reader. It boasts a ten.3-inch glare-free e-ink touchscreen and diminished blue gentle which eases pressure on the eyes whenever you’re studying for lengthy intervals of time. I’ll be trustworthy, the principle cause I fell in love with the Kobo Elipsa 2E is for its stylus and note-taking capabilities. I’ve wished a digital notepad and stylus for the longest time to switch my paper notebooks. However I couldn’t decide or dedication to a selected model whereas I used to be on my seek for a digital pocket book.
Together with the Kobo Elipsa 2E and stylus ($629.90), I additionally acquired the Kobo Elipsa 2E SleepCover ($99.90). It’s made out of 97% recycled plastic that may have in any other case develop into landfill and ocean waste. It’s an adjunct that saves your e-reader’s battery life by placing it to sleep whenever you shut it. However moreover its operate, I really like the sensation of the fake leather-based materials and the best way it protects my Kobo Elipsa 2E’s display screen. Plus, it retains my stylus tucked snugly within the magnetic crevice of the duvet so I don’t have to fret about it falling out.
A devoted journey companion

My new toy couldn’t have come at a greater time. I used to be taking just a few journeys and couldn’t discover a technique to match bodily books into my restricted baggage house. To curb that drawback, I proceeded to obtain books into my Kobo Elipsa 2E to maintain myself occupied. It got here hand-in-hand with my laptop computer in my carry-on. And regardless of the troubles I had digging two gadgets out from my already hefty bag, the e-reader accompanied me via the lengthy rides I had on the airplane and practice journey to London.
Its giant show allowed me to comfortably modify the textual content to a measurement that’s comfy for studying. And fortunately, it has a again gentle outfitted in it. That meant having the ability to learn with out the assistance of exterior gentle sources so I didn’t disturb any of my seatmates on a airplane. Whereas I’m not the largest fan of audiobooks, I made a decision to present it a shot throughout my flight. All I can say is that I used to be fairly rapidly lulled to sleep due to the soothing narration.

An e-notebook that’s write on the cash

As I discussed earlier, my preliminary draw to the e-reader is the note-taking operate, and I started utilizing it immediately. I used to be enamoured. The machine comes with a variety of templates that mimic your favorite pocket book paper model. It isn’t restricted to typical lined or dotted doc layouts. There are preset templates for calligraphy apply, month-to-month planning, storyboarding, and even planning music scores. It’s a flexible dream as I deliberate my day, common to-do record, and video ideas in a single house.
My e-reader made appearances throughout conferences, press conferences, and media tastings at eating places. I whipped it out and began furiously scribbling down my ideas on nearly something. It spent a handful of late nights with me as I journaled via my down days. And it sat with my espresso as I spent a morning in Seoul journaling within the quaintest cafe. It even saved me firm on the airplane journey again residence from Heathrow as I drafted this evaluate. Having every little thing on one machine saved my notes tremendous tidy, which I adored. Aside from my issues about spilling drinks on it, the machine was a dream to make use of.
A glitch within the system

With any piece of tech, particularly with one thing as multi-functional as this, there’s all the time room for enchancment. Whereas I really like the e-notebook, I encountered a few points that interfered with my expertise.
The stylus grew to become each a pleasure and a ache level after just a few weeks of use. It magnetically snaps into the little nook inside the case, but it surely’s finicky and must be positioned in a selected orientation to make sure it doesn’t fall out. I additionally want there was an indicator of the stylus’ battery life as a result of I had moments the place I couldn’t take down notes since I had no thought it was flat.
The button on the stylus that permits you to rapidly change to the highlighter setting was additionally inconvenient. I’d unintentionally hit it and awkwardly must erase the spotlight with out interfering with my notes. It took some time to regulate. I believed I may keep away from the button by holding the stylus in a selected means, however that led to the nib warping and turning into misaligned. This explicit situation is basically beauty in nature however irked me since I didn’t assume I put a lot stress on the stylus to trigger this.
I had a few issues with the display screen too. The palm rejection wasn’t nice, and creates new pages whereas I’m nonetheless writing. I additionally bumped into minor glitches the place the display screen didn’t recognise the stylus and ended up freezing or creating random ink strains. I don’t annotate my books typically, however I attempted highlighting a few strains to present it a attempt. Cue my wrestle to take away unintentional highlights that weren’t intuitive to erase. Not enjoyable.
Is it changing my outdated notebooks? Most likely not.

That is my first ever e-notebook, so I don’t have a foundation for comparability. However regardless of a number of the quirks that I encountered, I loved my expertise with it. I’m huge on the note-taking capabilities and had loads of enjoyable utilizing them. However I can’t think about this changing conventional writing for me. It’s useful for planning, and I’m not going to lie, it does make me really feel very official after I’m at work or in conferences. However figuring out that these pages are saved on a cloud means a scarcity of privateness, so I most likely received’t be journaling in it once more.
The Kobo Elipsa 2E’s measurement is certainly not for everybody, particularly for individuals who want one thing extra compact and handy. Personally, I fairly take pleasure in it as an e-reader. The big display screen signifies that even when I amplify the textual content, the visible house makes it comfy to learn. For the audiobook, I discover it fairly unlucky that I can’t change over to the pocket book operate whereas nonetheless having the e-book taking part in in my earbuds. I additionally want there was a speaker, though I do know this may compromise the modern design.
In the event you’re somebody who reads rather a lot and also you’re in search of a devoted e-reader, this received’t be my first advice. There are smaller e-readers in Kobo Rakuten’s assortment that most likely higher fit your wants at a fraction of the value. However if you would like a multi-functional software that permits you to take notes and pore over literature in each written and audible types, it’s fairly useful. As for me, I’ll be utilizing mine for a protracted whereas.