$400 Kobo Elipsa 2E enters fight for ‘large pen e-readers’

Rakuten is updating its pen-compatible Elipsa e-reader to make it more competitive with notebook-turning e-readers like the reMarkable 2 and Kindle Scribe. The new Kobo Elipsa 2E is a 10.3-inch e-reader with a pen that you can use to take notes, annotate documents, and take notes on the books you read. The device can be pre-ordered now, with shipments starting April 19.

The Elipsa 2E shares several similarities with Amazon’s Kindle Scribe hardware, including a large asymmetrical side bezel, warm screen backlighting that can reduce eye strain in the evenings, Bluetooth support for listening to audiobooks, and a USB-C port. Its 227dpi screen isn’t as sharp as the Scribe’s 300dpi screen, but it’s the same density as the screen included with the reMarkable 2. The Elipsa also weighs a little less than the Scribe (0.88 pounds compared to 0.96), though they’re close enough to hold the two tablets equally.

The Elipsa’s $400 price tag is pretty much what you’re getting. Scribe starts at $340, but you get a less powerful base pen and just 16GB of storage; the upgrade to the 32GB Scribe and Premium Pen brings the price up to $390, which is much closer to the Elipsa. Kobo does not offer any other storage capacity or alternative pens, although they will sell you a case for an additional $70. However, Elipsa has features that Scribe doesn’t, including a “lasso”tool for quickly grabbing and moving things you’ve written or drawn, and integration with Dropbox and (“coming soon”) Google Drive.

If you’re looking to avoid the Amazon ecosystem, the Rakuten Kobo line is probably the closest thing you’ll get to replicating the variety and utility of Amazon hardware. The Elipsa 2E will compete with Scribe, but it also has Kindle Oasis competitors in Sage and Libra 2; Clara 2E competes with Paperwhite; and the Kobo Nia goes up against the basic $100 Kindle. As with the Elipsa and Scribe, Amazon usually offers one or two more features than similar Kobo devices and lowers the Kobo’s price a bit. Kobo has also introduced an $8/month Kobo Plus unlimited book subscription (or $10/month for both audiobooks and texts) that will compete with Amazon’s $10/month Kindle Unlimited service.

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