What just happened? Kobo has introduced a premium alternative to the Kindle Scribe that's just a hair more affordable than Amazon's offering. The company's monthly subscription service is also now available in more regions including the US.
The new Kobo Elipsa 2E is described as a best-in-class reading and writing product. It features a 10.3-inch E Ink touchscreen display (1,404 x 1,872 resolution, 227 PPI) with a glare-free coating and integrated tech to reduce eye strain from blue light. The slate is powered by an unspecified processor clocked at 2 GHz alongside 32 GB of local storage and is said to be good for weeks of battery life (your mileage will vary, of course, depending on usage).
Kobo's latest comes with 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth baked in, measures 193 mm x 227 mm x 7.5 mm, and weighs 390 grams. It natively supports 15 file formats, and is just as much about creating as it is consuming. The included Kobo Stylus 2 allows users to write directly on eBooks and PDFs or take notes at their leisure. If you make a mistake, simply flip over the stylus and use the eraser to go back in time.
It is also worth mentioning that Kobo Plus, the company's all-you-can-eat subscription service, is now available in the US and the UK.
Priced at $9.99 per month, Kobo Plus Read and Listen grants access to more than 1.3 million eBooks and north of 100,000 audiobooks. Optionally, you can get one or the other (eBooks or audiobooks) for only $7.99 a month. The service can be accessed directly on Kobo readers or via the dedicated mobile app for Android or iOS.
The Kobo Elipsa 2E is available to pre-order for $399.99. At that price, it will compete with similar offerings already on the market including the Amazon Scribe and the Onyx Boox Nova Air C. For a limited time, shoppers can score a $25 Kobo eGift card with their pre-order. Look for it to ship on April 19.