On this page:

• How much does an e-reader cost?
• How much do ebooks cost?
• Price comparison
• Ebook subscriptions
• Can you borrow ebooks from the library?
• Can you share ebooks?

There are a number of factors at play that will affect how much you spend on either ebooks or paper books, including what you read, how much you read and how you access your reading material.

You’re going to spend vastly different amounts if you buy multiple new paper books each month from bricks-and-mortar bookshops, compared with using your local public library, street library and swapping books with friends.Ìý

Similarly, if you’re an e-reader user, you can keep costs down by paying for a subscription, buying cheap ebooks, sharing ebooks among family and friends, and ‘borrowing’ ebooks from a library, or you can spend a lot by regularly buying new releases and bestsellers at full price.

We’ll explain the basic costs, options for access, environmental impacts and ways to save.Ìý

There’s something particularly special about a brand-new book, from the smell and the crisp paper to the perfectly flat cover and spine. Cracking open the pages for the first time adds a deeper satisfaction to that contented feeling of curling up with a good book.Ìý

But is it worth giving up those sensory pleasures in favour of going digital? 

Some die-hard book lovers say they’ll never give up their paper books, while other bookworms have happily made the switch, enjoying the freedom of being able to access a (figurative) stack of books anywhere, any time without being weighed down by actual books.Ìý

If you have a serious book habit, which option will save you the most money? (Any savings made will, obviously, be spent on acquiring more books!)

How much does an e-reader cost?

As with most products, there’s a big range in prices depending on what you want. The cheapest e-reader we’ve tested, the Kobo Nia, costs $160 and the most expensive is the Remarkable ReMarkable 2 at $749.Ìý

The Remarkable is a tablet, so for that price you’re getting more than just a regular e-reader. Before you start your search for the perfect e-reader, ask yourself which features you want and how much extra you’re prepared to pay.Ìý

If you want an e-reader to simply read ebooks, look for a model with a display of seven inches or smaller – any larger and you’ll have issues when reading in bed, taking all your gear down to the beach or travelling.

If you decide to splash out on a tablet, you can defray some of the costs by borrowing ebooks from your public library – which is something you may not be able to do with an e-reader. In Australia, you can’t use your Kindle to borrow books from a library.Ìý

Borrowing instead of buying will obviously bring the overall costs down, so depending on how much you read you could save in the long run by using ‘free’ borrowed books on your tablet.Ìý

Just bear in mind that reading on a tablet is quite a different experience to reading on an e-reader.Ìý 

How much do ebooks cost?

Ebooks are generally cheaper than their paper equivalents but obviously you need to buy a device on which to read them, so you’ll need to factor that into the overall cost when comparing ebooks with paper books.Ìý

“Thankfully, you should expect your e-reader to be delivering good service for several years, unlike a mobile phone or other smart device where the turn over seems to be much sooner,” says ÌÇÐÄVlog tech expert Denis Gallagher.Ìý

Price comparison

While comparing the price of a physical book with an ebook isn’t quite comparing apples with apples, it does help to give you an idea of the price difference.Ìý

We compared some prices of physical books and their digital counterparts on Amazon and Kobo to see how they stack up price-wise. (All prices current at time of publishing.)

Atomic Habits by James Clear

• Hard copy RRP: $35
• Amazon paperback price: $21.95
• Amazon Kindle price: $18.99
• Kobo ebook price: $18.99

It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

• Hard copy RRP: $32.99
• Amazon paperback price: $16.00
• Amazon Kindle price: $16.99
• Kobo ebook price: $16.99

Spare by the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry

• Hard copy RRP: $59.99
• Amazon hardcover price: $35.00
• Amazon Kindle price: $24.99
• Kobo ebook price: $24.99

Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes

• Hard copy RRP: $32.99
• Amazon paperback price: $16.00
• Amazon Kindle price: $14.99
• Kobo ebook price: $14.99

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Hard copy RRP: $22.99
• Amazon paperback price: $12.00
• Amazon Kindle price: $16.99
• Kobo ebook price: $16.99

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

• Hard copy RRP: $22.99
• Amazon paperback price: $18.16
• Amazon Kindle price: $14.99
• Kobo ebook price: $14.99

Ebook subscriptions

Just as Netflix and Spotify have changed the way we consume TV shows and movies, ebook subscriptions are changing the way people read ebooks.Ìý

If you tend to blow your book budget regularly, an ebook subscription could be a way to rein in the expense: you pay a monthly fee and can access a range of ebooks.Ìý

Kindle Unlimited costs $13.99 a month and reportedly gives you access to “millions” of books and “thousands” of books with audio narration. You can use the Kindle app to download up to 20 books at a time.

If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you’ll automatically have access to Prime Reading, which gives you access to “a rotating selection of over a thousand e-books, comics, short works and more”.

Kobo readers can access a similar subscription model for $13.99 a month and the offer of a 30-day free trial gives you a chance to see if all the ebooks on offer will satisfy your particular taste.Ìý

While they claim that hundreds of thousands of titles are available, this is no good if the hundred or so titles you are interested in are not on the list.Ìý

“One thing to remember with any of these ‘free trials’ is to set yourself a calendar task a day or two before the trial ends to decide whether you want to keep the subscription,” says Denis.

Just as you can’t access every movie ever made on Netflix, these subscriptions will limit you just to what’s available on each platform, so that is worth considering before you sign up. And you might find that you end up paying for specific ebooks that you want to read, so you could spend more than just the subscription price each month.Ìý

But if you’re happy to work your way through the available titles, it’s one way to keep the cost down without running out of books to read.Ìý

Can you borrow ebooks from the library?

Instead of buying ebooks, you can often borrow them from your public library – this is a good way to bring down the overall cost of buying an e-reader.Ìý

“If you own a Kobo ereader, borrowing from your local library using the embedded Overdrive app is a big plus: all you need is your library card number and you are good to go. Readers with tablet devices can also use the Overdrive app,” Denis says.Ìý

“Kindle users are unfortunately out of luck, as the ability to borrow ebooks from a local library has been removed for Australian users.”

Time is money

One area in which ebooks have the edge is instant gratification: once you hit the purchase button on an ebook, it’s in your hot little hands straight away.Ìý

If you’re buying a paper book, you either need to go in person to a bricks-and-mortar bookstore, or order online and wait for it to arrive in the post.Ìý

If you want to devour the latest best-seller stat, then nothing beats an ebook for sheer convenience and speed.Ìý

But for some, reading is a leisurely pursuit that’s meant to be carried out in a relaxed manner, so delaying the gratification for a few days or weeks is well worth the wait.Ìý

Of course, you’ll probably need to pay for postage for a physical book, which does bump up the cost, but that’s the price we pay for being able to shop in our pyjamas, no?

Can you share ebooks?

If you’ve just finished a cracking novel and want to share it with your partner or bestie, you can just pop a paper book in the post or drop it off in person – it’s one of the best ways to find something new to read as it’s already been reviewed by someone whose taste you share! And inviting a loved one to immerse themselves in a book you love is a beautiful thing.Ìý

“Sharing an ebook isn’t quite so easy, unfortunately. Most ebooks are copyright-protected, which means they’re difficult to share on another e-reader,” Denis says.

If you’re with Amazon or Kobo, they both have a family and friends sharing function, which allows you to nominate a number of other users with whom you can share ebooks from your library.Ìý

Environmental considerations

There’s no getting around it: any electronic device does add to e-waste. But for each book you buy for your e-reader, that’s a big chunk of paper (and all the associated environmental impacts of printing and shipping) saved.Ìý

Since your e-reader should last you several years at least, that adds up to quite a lot of carbon emissions over the years.Ìý

But buying secondhand books and using public libraries, street libraries and book swaps with friends has a pretty minimal environmental footprint too – and doesn’t result in e-waste.Ìý

Ways to save on paper books

If you just can’t bear the thought of going paperless, there are a few ways to cut your book-buying budget:

• Use street libraries to pick up free books and pass on books you’ve already read
• Swap books with friends
• Go to your local public library
• Buy from secondhand bookshops
• Look for books in op shops and at markets.

The post Is using an e-reader cheaper than buying paper books? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• How we choose what we test
• How we test e-readers
• How we score e-readers

This means less strain on the eyes after prolonged viewing and good readability even in direct sunlight. E-readers can last weeks on a single charge, and most can hold thousands of ebooks usually on the device or sometimes on a removable storage card.Ìý

Our expert testers

Our hands-on testing of e-readers focuses on design and ease of use, which includes an ease of use assessment by our expert testers as well as an assessment of the online purchasing environment, with scores based on how easy it is to buy, transfer and share ebooks.

How we choose what we test

Every test will include a range of Amazon Kindle e-readers and Kobo e-readers at various price points. After several years assessing a wide variety of models, these two brands have come out on top. Our tests have also included Android and Apple tablets, so people can see how they compare with a dedicated e-ink based e-reading device. At times we’ll also include the most affordable iPad as a point of comparison.Ìý

If we haven’t tested the latest iPad, you can check the ‘Discontinued’ box in the ‘Related products’ filter on our e-reader reviews to see how it performed.

How we test e-readers

Online purchasing and lending

Our tester first looks at whether or not you can buy an ebook through an online store app embedded in the e-reader. A couple of specialist e-ink devices do not have this ability and are penalised as a result. Our tester then looks at how easy it is to share an ebook title without having to share an account sign-in.

User interface

Our tester looks at how easy it is to turn on the e-reader and access a title as well as the overall ergonomics of the e-reader compared to a paper-based book. Other aspects our tester looks at include page turning and general navigation within an ebook, and finally ease of holding the e-reader while reading a book.

This has become an issue in recent years with the release of larger e-readers which offer more reading area but could be an issue in general usability or when reading in bed.

Readability score

Our readability score is based on an assessment of the feel of each newly tested model when reading an ebook, compared with reading a paper-based novel.ÌýOur tester spends time during the day and at night with each ebook reader so it can be used under three different types of lighting: normal indoor lighting, normal outdoor lighting, and normal bedroom night-time lighting.

How we score e-readers

The ÌÇÐÄVlog Expert Rating (or overall score) is made up of:

• online purchasing and lending (25%)
• user interface (20%)
• readability – indoor lighting/outdoor lighting/bedroom night lighting (50%)
• ease of holding (5%).

All of the available models we’ve tested have Wi-Fi support and a touchscreen. E-readers are now arriving with Bluetooth support, which means you can listen to audiobooks via wireless headphones or a wireless Bluetooth speaker. Where the company has removed this feature (even though it may be available in other countries) we’ll note this in the ‘Bad points’ section of our review.Ìý

Ebook readers by default ship with an electronic version of the manual available on the device, and are marked down in the ‘Bad points’ section if one isn’t included.

The post How we test e-readers appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• Reading and (some) writing
• Display quality and controls
• Documents and templates
• Reading in bed
• Kindle Scribe specs

Amazon first introduced the Kindle back in 2007 and to this day its 6-inch display remains the most common screen size for e-readers. You can comfortably hold the device in one hand and read one of thousands of titles in the park, on the train, at the beach – just about anywhere.

The latest and most expensive e-reader from Amazon, the Kindle Scribe, has a large 10.2-inch screen and stylus that deliver some of the functionality of a tablet through the ability to import Microsoft Word and PDF documents and mark up basic notes and highlights.

Reading and (some) writing

The obvious comparison to the Kindle Scribe is the ReMarkable 2 and while the two devices look very similar, they provide completely different reading and writing experiences. The ReMarkable 2 is a productivity tool that happens to allow you to read documents in an e-reader format. The Kindle Scribe, on the other hand, is first and foremost a (very large) e-reader with the ability to write notes and perform some limited mark-ups and highlights.

A more accurate name for this device would be the Kindle ‘Scribble’ – it’s handy for making notes and reminders or sticky notes about passages in an ebook, but don’t expect it to replace your tablet or laptop when it comes to any meaningful creative or collaborative work.

Stylus performance

The stylus included in the standard package is easy to use and the accuracy and overall feel of the nib when scribbling and drawing is both comfortable and balanced. To create sticky notes and comments within an existing ebook, simply tap the pen on the document and a note will be collected and marked up for later reference. You can also export the notes if need be. A premium pen is available, adding an eraser and a macro button, but the basic pen provides all you need to work with this device.

The stylus has a magnetic strip on one side so you can fix it to the side of the display when not in use, but this can be irritating when you’re using it as an e-reader so make sure you have a safe place to put the stylus when you’re not using it or keep it secure in the saddle in the optional protective cover ($99).ÌýThe cover provides a level of protection for your display as well as a fold-out stand option in either landscape or portrait mode.

Display quality and controls

The resolution is sharp, the page processing is smooth and fast, and there’s no denying the attraction of being able to see an A4-sized display of text, allowing you to bump up the font size if required. Access to the menu to select ebooks or alter the screen layout is quick and intuitive, with a finger tap on the top of the screen bringing up the appropriate menu controls.Ìý

While the device looks similar to the Kindle Oasis with a wide border on one side to aid single-handed holding, it feels precarious to hold the Scribe in anything other than two sturdy hands. Also, unlike the Oasis, there’s no physical page turning button on the edge of the screen so if you prefer button presses to swiping left or right, you might need a little time to adjust.

The online dictionary is useful and the ability to ‘Send to Kindle’ is a very handy feature when you’re working on documents created on a laptop or downloaded to your phone and want to finish reading them on the Scribe.ÌýWhile you don’t have online library support like you do with a Kobo e-reader, anyone with an Amazon account will be familiar with the store’s simple and efficient book previewing and purchasing process.Ìý

Documents and templates

While you should think of the Kindle Scribe as an e-reader with some additional productivity features (rather than a tablet loaded with bells and whistles), there are several documents and templates available to take advantage of the stylus, such as lined paper, blank paper, to-do lists and even music sheets.ÌýOnce you’ve marked up the selected template, you can export the document as a PDF.Ìý

You can share documents on your Apple iOS or Android device fairly easily, and the ability to send Microsoft Word documents to the Kindle Scribe directly from Word has been promised in the next software update.

Reading in bed

Ease of use, display quality and office collaboration are all important factors when choosing an e-reader, but so is finding out what it’s like to use in bed.

The hefty screen size and almost half-kilo weight of the Scribe may be an issue when attempting single-handed reading, but this isn’t really a problem when lying in bed as most people tend to use two hands and doing this is quite comfortable over a reasonable period of time.

But with this added weight, it’s worth keeping in mind that if you tend to nod off while reading, the inevitable drop onto your face may lead to more than a startled awareness that it’s time to turn off the light (ouch!).

Kindle Scribe specs

• Screen: 10.2 inch Paperwhite display.
• Resolution:Ìý300±è±è¾±.
• Dimensions: 196 x 230 x 5.8mm.
  
• Weight: 433 grams (stylus weight is an additional 14 grams).Ìý
• Storage: 16GB (32GB and 64GB options available).
• Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 ac/b/g/n supports 2.4 GHz and 5.0GHz. Security support for WEP, WPA, WPA2 and 3 using password authentication. Does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or Peer to Peer) Wi-Fi Networks. USB-C.
• Button: Power on/off.
• Type: 12 fonts and 50 font sizes.
• Processor: 1GHz MediaTek MT8113
• Battery performance: Up to 12 weeks’ reading on a single charge, with a full charge taking approximately seven hours when connected to a laptop and less than three hours when connected to a 9W USB-C power adapter.
• Supported file formats: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.
• Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, Japanese, Traditional Chinese.
• Content: Instant, 24/7 access to Amazon’s eBookstore with millions of titles.
• Warranty: One-year limited warranty and guaranteed software security updates until at least four years after the device is last available for purchase.Ìý

The post Amazon Kindle Scribe e-reader review appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• Revisiting the ReMarkable 2
• A device designed for creatives
• Screensharing great for remote working
• Web browsing

Revisiting the ReMarkable 2

We first tested the ReMarkable 2 in 2020 as a large-screen e-reader. Though the extremely clear 10-inch display performed very well in direct sunlight, it wasn’t so hot in other aspects like file sharing and support for Microsoft Office documents. But the ReMarkable 2 has always been so much more than an e-reader – as a digital notepad and collaborative creative device, it performed very well.Ìý

Recent updates deliver additional and valuable functionality, particularly with the ability to save and open different file formats. They also overcome some of the initial issues with collaboration and sharing, as you can now access documents in popular cloud storage apps directly from your tablet, including Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive. But these updates don’t fix the device’s shortcomings as an e-reader.

A device designed for creatives

Though the ReMarkable 2 does support ebooks, we found that buying, sharing or borrowing isn’t as smooth as some other Kindle or Kobo models we’ve tested. For example, while it supports Epub and PDF format, it doesn’t allow ebooks with digital rights management (DRM), a form of copyright protection.

This means you can’t read many of the more popular and latest release ebook titles available in online stores or from your local library. It’s a frustrating situation, one that hasn’t changed with the latest update so the performance of the ReMarkable 2 as a standard e-reader remains the same.Ìý

However, mixed media ebooks with large illustrations and artwork display much better than on a traditional 6-inch display e-reader and truly show this device to be a tool for creativity and collaboration, rather than e-reading alone.

Its syncing technology is still best suited to sharing documents that you or others have created for collaborative work. Adding the ability to access documents stored in the cloud on Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive with the latest update has significantly improved the collaborative performance of the ReMarkable 2. It’s now a more useful tool in the office environment, not just the creative studio.

Navigation within an ebook is not as intuitive compared to other e-readers in our test and, although you can choose to open up a document at the last point of a book, there are no bookmarks. You can move to specific pages, but everything takes that extra click or menu selection compared to a Kobo or Kindle e-reader.

Screensharing great for remote working

Collaborative work has never been more relevant with the hybrid working model now the standard model for many offices and studios. The ability to screen share any subbing, comments or changes to your document live on screen is a new feature that existing ReMarkable 2 users may find extremely useful. By casting the document to another screen and then sharing the session, you can create a digital remote whiteboard.Ìý    

Web browsing

While there’s no web browser on the ReMarkable 2, it can use linked apps and web extensions (Chrome only) to save pages in a readable format. This is a good solution as web browsers are virtually unusable on all e-ink devices regardless of the brand. So in this respect, the ReMarkable 2 actually has a leg up on the competition.

The other advantage is it doesn’t try to be a web browser. It simply delivers anything you’ve been looking at in Google Chrome to your ReMarkable 2 in an appropriate format. You can keep all your files or web pages saved to the cloud and read them either online or download them to the device for offline reading.

Getting around

Keyboard performance is impressive for an e-ink device, with fast response times, although not quite as quick as a smart device like a tablet or laptop. The language options are good but there is no non-Latin alphabet so you won’t find support for Asian script or characters.Ìý

While there’s no backlighting, it works perfectly well in office and home environments and is very easy to read in full sunlight, something you could never say about a regular tablet.

But what really makes the ReMarkable 2 so… well, remarkable, is the stylus. It allows you to scribble notes, mark up pages and make comments, with instant updates on shared documents.

The stylus we used for our test was the basic option, but still very pleasant to use, with a true draft pencil feel – tilting the pen delivers broader lines and pressure can thicken the stroke, just like a real pencil. The nibs do actually wear down over time but you can buy replacements.

Designers will be familiar with the layered approach to marking up a page, with the ability to build up multiple sketches and comments and turn various layers on or off. But one feature that is lacking is a comments tool within PDF documents, which would be very handy and ideal for collaborative design.

So while the ReMarkable 2 still doesn’t really cut it as a stand alone e-reader, it does so much more in other creative and collaborative areas and would be a great addition to the design or artistic worker’s toolkit.

The post ReMarkable 2 e-ink tablet review appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

Part e-reader, part tablet

The Onyx Boox Nova Air C isn’t a top-of-the-line tablet with all the bells and whistles, nor is it your standard black-and-white e-reader. It’s got the e-paper look that’s become standard for Kobos and Kindles, but it’s also in colour.

The colour e-ink 7.8-inch touch display on the Onyx Boox Nova Air C serves up a decidedly more subdued experience compared to a tablet with a glossy screen, which is good when reading graphic novels and comics, and great when reading outside in direct sunlight.

The e-reader uses Google’s Android 11 OS and operates in a similar manner to an Android tablet, only slower and with a screen that doesn’t show photos and video nearly as well. If you want to look at video and photos, you’d be better off considering an Android tablet or Apple iPad.

Accessing apps and ebooks

If you already own a Kobo or Kindle, download the appropriate app to the Nova Air C through the Google Play app store and enjoy the ebooks you already own. You can also use , a clever app that lets you ‘borrow’ ebooks from your local library using your library card. While OverDrive’s performance has been known to be flaky for some Kobo users, the performance on the Nova Air C is as good as you’d expect when working on a laptop or smartphone.ÌýThe OTG support through USB also means it’s simple to drag and drop ebooks from a USB flash drive into a folder.

Connectivity using Wi-Fi over your home network as well as Bluetooth support lets you use wireless headphones if you want to listen to an audio book, or you can plug in headphones using the USB-C connection or any 3.5mm headphones using a USB-C adapter. Audio quality from the embedded speakers is surprisingly good and delivers a crisp, clear sound.

The screen is flush with the bezel and there’s also a Wacom overlay which lets you mark up a page for note-taking or draw and doodle using the supplied stylus.ÌýThe ability to mark up and collaborate on documents in addition to reading colour illustrations and comics makes for a unique e-reading experience.

The USB-C connection is handy to charge the device, and while the battery life isn’t as good as a Kindle or Kobo mono e-reader, it’s still considerable, and you get a much longer in-use time than a traditional tablet. We also found that apps on the Nova Air C perform better overall than a traditional e-reader as the device is made for them.

Document support includes PDF (reflowable), PPT, EPUB, TXT, DJVU, HTML, RTF, FB2, DOC, MOBI and CHM, while image format support includes PNG, JPG, TIFF and BMP. The audio support is fairly limited but you can play WAV and MP3 files. Importantly, you also get support for DRM files so you can buy protected ebooks from whatever sites support PDF, EPUB or Amazon’s MOBI file format.

We highly recommend the protective cover as an additional purchase (it costs around $80) as it not only keeps the screen free from scratches, but you also get two page-turning buttons, which are handy when navigating a document. The cover also comes with an additional stylus.

Onyx Boox Nova Air C e-reader specs

• Screen: 7.7 inch (19.5cm) e-ink Kaleido Plus.
• Resolution: 1404 x 1872 (300 ppi).
• µþ²¹³Ù³Ù±ð°ù²â:Ìý2000mAh.
• Dimensions: 194 x 137 x 6.3mm.
• Weight: 235 grams (not including cover).
• Storage: 32GB (3GB RAM).
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/b/g/n USB-C (OTG support).
• Speaker: Yes.
• Mic: Yes.
• Earphone jack: USB-C.
• Button: Power on/off.
• Type: 12 fonts and 50 font sizes.
• Processor: 8 Core @ 2GHz.
• Battery life: Up to four weeks in standby mode.
• Supported file formats: eBooks – EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, FlePub and MOBI.ÌýImages – JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF.ÌýText – TXT, HTML and RTF.ÌýComic Books – CBZ and CBR.
• Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, Japanese, and Traditional Chinese.
• Content: Instant 24/7 access to Kobo’s eBookstore with over 6 million titles. Library access via built-in OverDrive access in select regions. Dropbox file sharing.

The post Onyx Boox Nova Air C e-reader review appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

Comparisons between the Kobo Elipsa and the ReMarkable 2 e-reader are inevitable (they’re both 10.3-inch e-ink tablets with a stylus) and to a large extent, pointless. The main purpose of the Kobo Elipsa is to be an e-reader with some note-taking capabilities, while the ReMarkable 2 is a creative, collaborative tablet device that happens to support ePub files.Ìý

Unfortunately, like the ReMarkable 2, the Kobo Elipsa falls short in a couple of areas as a large display e-reader with note-taking support.

Kobo Elipsa look and feel

The 10.3-inch e-ink screen is clear and sharp, with hours of fatigue-free reading (unlike a tablet). You can control the brightness using the front lit ComfortLight, but you can’t alter the contrast, which is a shame because some ebooks may have lighter text that you’ll want to darken up.Ìý

Unlike some other premium e-readers, you can’t alter the warmth of the light either, but you do get a Dark Mode which puts white text on black. This is handy for reading at night in bed without disturbing anyone else in the room.

The Elipsa’s large display can be viewed in landscape or portrait mode, with the choice of automatic orientation or you can easily lock the display in either orientation. A larger bezel on one side of the device allows easy left- or right-handed use and at 383 grams, it’s significantly lighter than the 10.3-inch iPad which is 490 grams.Ìý

However, most e-readers offering a 6-inch display weigh under 200 grams, so e-reader owners will notice the difference when holding the Elipsa after a few hours of reading.

Page turning is as simple as swiping left or right or tapping to move to the next page. You can also tap at the top or bottom of the screen to bring up a table of contents or use a bar to scroll through the pages with your finger or the stylus.

Notable features

The Elipsa stylus, included in the package, allows you to mark up pages on your ebooks, PDFs and also create your own work. It works well and recognises the pressure you apply when you want to adjust your writing stroke.

You can draw on graph paper, a bullet journal background, lines, or a blank page, and individual pages can be organised in larger ‘notebooks’, Plus, you can create your own hand-written graphs, equations and notes, and have the content converted to text, illustrations and equations to export as a PDF.Ìý

We found the graph feature was very effective when simply drawing horizontal or vertical lines and writing numbers or letters on either axis, but the text conversion success was variable. You probably won’t get 100% accuracy if you simply scribble all over the page.

The Elipsa also offers good PDF support for hyperlinks, table of contents and bookmarks, but all of the markups and notes can only be saved to the e-reader until you export a finished document. This inability to export a work in progress document with any of the annotations or comments limits the effectiveness of the Elipsa as a collaborative tool. Think of the Elipsa as a large e-reader with the ability to share finished documents rather than a collaboration tool.

Dropbox sharing is easy to set up and you can use your existing account or sign up on the spot. Dropbox is a good way to sync PDFs in one common virtual folder.

Protective SleepCover

The largely pointless SleepCover, which is included in the package, adds bulk and price. While it does offer some protection for the screen, it adds needless weight to the Elipsa, which is much easier to hold and use without it. The SleepCover weighs in at 345 grams, which is a significant additional weight making the package over 720 grams to hold.

E-ink displays are much more durable than other tablet devices with glass screens, so a simple and light neoprene sleeve should provide all the protection you’d need.

Kobo Elipsa specs

• Screen: 10.3-inch E ink Carta 1200 touchscreen display.
• Resolution: 1404 x 1872 (227ppi).
• Battery: 2400mAh.
• Dimensions: 193 x 228 x 8mm.
• Weight: 383 grams (SleepCover weight is an additional 345 grams).
• Storage: 32GB (1GB RAM).
• Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 ac/b/g/n USB-C.
• Button: Power on/off.
• Type: 12 fonts and 50 font sizes.
• Processor: Quad Core @ 1.8GHz.
• Supported file formats: eBooks – EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, FlePub and MOBI.ÌýImages – JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF.ÌýText – TXT, HTML and RTF.ÌýComic Books – CBZ and CBR.
• Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, Japanese, Traditional Chinese.
• Content: Instant, 24/7 access to Kobo’s eBookstore with over 6 million titles. Library access via built-in OverDrive access in select regions. Dropbox file sharing.

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