Kindle Scibe vs Elipsa 2E

[tschucha]

Time for an Elipsa 2e review:

I was very unhappy when Kobo announced the Elipsa 2E for one reason and one reason only - the lack of a 300 DPI screen. The 300DPI screens on recent Kobos like the Forma and Sage are just a wonderful improvement over older readers. I really did not want to go back to anything less than 300DPI.

I'm a big hater of the user interface of Amazon Kindles. I've had a few over the years and never liked the user interface. The hardware was fine. In many ways the hardware was better than the Kobos they competed with. But Kobo eventually caught up with the build quality. Kindle software seemed to go out of it's way to make sure that you don't have many options. The way they handle margins and line spaces and font sizes is incredibly limited. But given the 300DPI 10.2" screen of their Scribe...... well I had to bite the bullet and get one.

So what did I find? The screen - simply gorgeous. I was blown away with how nice it looks. The device itself. No complaints about the speed or screen refreshes at all. The feel of the device - The body of the Scribe is made of smooth metal (aluminum?). Looks great but it feels very delicate when holding it. I was always scared I would set it down and put a dent in it. Speaking of the feel - it was awkward. Holding it for reading it just seems unbalanced. The weight is 433 grams. I've been reading a Kobo Sage in a cover with a combined weight of 390 grams. The added weight of the Scribe didn't seem too bad but the thing does feel unbalanced in your hand for whatever reason. Overall - I could have live with this. But.....

The Scribe interface is even worse than I remembered. I side load books and if you do this directly there does not appear to be a way to get the book covers to show - how hard could this possibly be - the damn covers are in the books? This problem can apparently be solved by sending the books through Amazon to the device. I'm just not going to do that. Why does Amazon need to know anything about what I have on MY hardware? And then customizing the settings. Ridiculously limiting. IIRC there were something like 3 margin and line height settings, no way to set the sleep timeout. All in all it was terrible. I played around with it for a couple of days and just couldn't live with it. Too bad. I sent it back.

After moping a while I re-read some of the Elipsa 2E reviews and saw that many people people didn't find that 227DPI vs 300DPI screen resolution that big of a deal. Then I found out that I could order a Elipsa 2E through Walmart and return it to the store if I didn't like it so I ordered one. I figured I'd give it a try. It arrived in less than a week.

Here's what I've found so far after two days usage. The most important thing on my list was the screen quality. To be honest the Kindle Scribe looked slightly better. But the operative word here is slightly. There isn't much difference at all. The Elipsa 2E screen is certainly good enough. Good enough may be an understatement, it is a nice screen. My belief is that the warmlight for night time reading on the Elipsa 2E is better than that of the Kindle Scribe. It certainly is more customizable. I may have been lucky but I have never had a problem with the light banding on any of my lighted eReaders. I didn't see any at all on either the Scribe or the Elipsa 2E. The Elipsa 2E has a body made of plastic which sounds cheaper but actually it has a much better feel. Maybe the weight distribution is more hand friendly or maybe the fact that the Elipsa is only 390 grams compared to 433 for the Scribe or maybe it's the plastic with texture on the back of the device but whatever it makes the Elipsa 2E a lot easier to hold and read. As always the Kobo user interface is far, far more customizable. It took nearly no time at all to copy my books onto the device and get it set up to my liking. I struggled and struggled with the Kindle Scribe and just couldn't get the device feeling the way I wanted it to feel. I am far happier with the Elipsa 2E.

You'll notice that I haven't written a word about the note taking abilities of either device. That's because I use the them as an eReader exclusively. If you use these things as note taking devices I'm not a good one to make recommendations.

Final thoughts. I've been looking for the perfect eReader since the days of the first Kindle. It doesn't exist yet. What I think I've learned from the Scribe and Elipsa 2E is that the perfect eReader is going to be bigger than the Sage (8") and a bit smaller than the Ellipsa (10.3"). Funny thing is that it may very well be that Amazon actually got it pretty close to right regarding screen size years ago with the Kindle DX with a 9.7" screen. It had an abysmal 150DPI screen and no lighting which was not bad for it's day but I suspect that somewhere between 9 and 9.7 inches would probably be the ideal screen size for an eReader at least for me. I'm liking that 10.3" Elipsa 2E screen very much though and it may be that 10.3" will end up being the perfect size. It just takes a little time to get used to all of that extra screen space.

[talaivan]

I have both the Scribe and Elipsa 2e, which I've been using for 4 days. In my opinion, the screen on the Elipsa is better than that on the Scribe -- text is easier to read, especially in dark mode. For some reason, the Scribe (like the Oasis) makes text look washed out in dark mode. And even in daylight mode, text is easier to read on the Elipsa. As Tschucha says, the Elipsa is easier to hold, the software works well, you don't have to give Amazon or other company access to your documents (like pdf's). The 2e is a wonderful improvement over the older Ellipse, which I also have. I'm very pleased with it.

[tschucha]

Originally Posted by talaivan

I have both the Scribe and Elipsa 2e, which I've been using for 4 days. In my opinion, the screen on the Elipsa is better than that on the Scribe -- text is easier to read, especially in dark mode. For some reason, the Scribe (like the Oasis) makes text look washed out in dark mode. And even in daylight mode, text is easier to read on the Elipsa. As Techucha says, the Elipsa is easier to hold, the software works well, you don't have to give Amazon or other company access to your documents (like pdf's). The 2e is a wonderful improvement over the older Ellipse, which I also have. I'm very pleased with it.

I haven't even worked with the dark mode. I just used both devices as I would ordinarily use my regular eReader. The ONLY things that I find better on the Scribe were: 1) the price, 2) I found the screen a small amount sharper and 3) the Scribe allows a clock on the top of the reading screen. This cannot be done on a Kobo without using non-Kobo modifications to the device. I use stock firmware.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by tschucha

Here's what I've found so far after two days usage. The most important thing on my list was the screen quality. To be honest the Kindle Scribe looked slightly better. But the operative word here is slightly. There isn't much difference at all. The Elipsa 2E screen is certainly good enough. Good enough may be an understatement, it is a nice screen. My belief is that the warmlight for night time reading on the Elipsa 2E is better than that of the Kindle Scribe. It certainly is more customizable. I may have been lucky but I have never had a problem with the light banding on any of my lighted eReaders. I didn't see any at all on either the Scribe or the Elipsa 2E. The Elipsa 2E has a body made of plastic which sounds cheaper but actually it has a much better feel. Maybe the weight distribution is more hand friendly or maybe the fact that the Elipsa is only 390 grams compared to 433 for the Scribe or maybe it's the plastic with texture on the back of the device but whatever it makes the Elipsa 2E a lot easier to hold and read. As always the Kobo user interface is far, far more customizable. It took nearly no time at all to copy my books onto the device and get it set up to my liking. I struggled and struggled with the Kindle Scribe and just couldn't get the device feeling the way I wanted it to feel. I am far happier with the Elipsa 2E.

You'll notice that I haven't written a word about the note taking abilities of either device. That's because I use the them as an eReader exclusively. If you use these things as note taking devices I'm not a good one to make recommendations.

Final thoughts. I've been looking for the perfect eReader since the days of the first Kindle. It doesn't exist yet. What I think I've learned from the Scribe and Elipsa 2E is that the perfect eReader is going to be bigger than the Sage (8") and a bit smaller than the Ellipsa (10.3"). Funny thing is that it may very well be that Amazon actually got it pretty close to right regarding screen size years ago with the Kindle DX with a 9.7" screen. It had an abysmal 150DPI screen and no lighting which was not bad for it's day but I suspect that somewhere between 9 and 9.7 inches would probably be the ideal screen size for an eReader at least for me. I'm liking that 10.3" Elipsa 2E screen very much though and it may be that 10.3" will end up being the perfect size. It just takes a little time to get used to all of that extra screen space.

Originally Posted by talaivan

I have both the Scribe and Elipsa 2e, which I've been using for 4 days. In my opinion, the screen on the Elipsa is better than that on the Scribe -- text is easier to read, especially in dark mode. For some reason, the Scribe (like the Oasis) makes text look washed out in dark mode. And even in daylight mode, text is easier to read on the Elipsa. As Tschucha says, the Elipsa is easier to hold, the software works well, you don't have to give Amazon or other company access to your documents (like pdf's). The 2e is a wonderful improvement over the older Ellipse, which I also have. I'm very pleased with it.

Excellent reviews. Thanks for sharing. I use Kindles, too, so the Scribe has been tempting. However, as you pointed out, tschucha, the Kindle Ui is atrocious. I love love LOVE my Kobos.

From what I see, I prefer how the Elipsa displays annotations, but as I posted in another thread, they can’t be exported for technical reasons. How is exporting of notes on the Kindle Scribe?

[tschucha]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Excellent reviews. Thanks for sharing. I use Kindles, too, so the Scribe has been tempting. However, as you pointed out, tschucha, the Kindle Ui is atrocious. I love love LOVE my Kobos.

From what I see, I prefer how the Elipsa displays annotations, but as I posted in another thread, they can’t be exported for technical reasons. How is exporting of notes on the Kindle Scribe?

I only used the device as an eBook reader so I don't have any idea. I've now had the Elipsa 2E for a few days now and I really love it. At first the screen size (10.3") seemed just a bit too big but after a couple of days it feels fine. I read a lot and live fairly frugally but eReaders I'm willing to slurge on. The thing was pricey but it is really nice. Highly recommended if you can get over the sticker shock.

[Aleron Ives]

What do you use the large screen size for? Are you reading manga or books with images, or do you just want to fit more words per screen when using a large font size?

[HLS]

I own both the Sage and the first gen Elipsa for some reason I find I like the Sage better. My hand wants to flip pages when it touches the screen as I write on the Elipsa but I don't have that issue on the sage. The handwriting does transfer over as long as the settings are exact on each device. i need a better case tho for the Elipsa. its just way too bulky

[tschucha]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

What do you use the large screen size for? Are you reading manga or books with images, or do you just want to fit more words per screen when using a large font size?

I just use it for reading. More words on the page is better. I always preferred reading hardbacks to paperbacks because of the book size and this continues with eReaders. As to the font size.... I am probably using just a slightly larger font now than I would have if these things were around 25 years ago but not like you'd find in one of those large print books. I do love the fact with all eReaders that you can increase the font size if your eyes are tired but you still want to read. I'm also a very big fan of font selections. I use Charis SIL ModifiedLarger most of the time. Note both Kindle and Kobo allow side-loaded fonts which I heartily recommend.

[Aleron Ives]

Out of curiosity, how many words can you fit on a full page (i.e. no paragraph breaks for dialogue and such) with your regular font settings?

[tschucha]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Out of curiosity, how many words can you fit on a full page (i.e. no paragraph breaks for dialogue and such) with your regular font settings?

I never counted but just took a picture. It's pretty representative of the way I read most of the time.

https://ibb.co/bBSTSyR

[edit] With the Elipsa 2E I am now setting the left and right margins to a small amount. With all other earlier Kobos I had them set to zero to maximize words on the screen.

[Aleron Ives]

Thanks, that was helpful. I see why you wanted the larger screen. You're fitting around 200 words maximum per screen, which is what I'm getting on my Libra 2's 7" screen with my current font settings. If I needed the font to be as large as you do, I'd want a 10" screen, too (and I expect I'll also need the font to be that big, sooner or later).

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Out of curiosity, how many words can you fit on a full page (i.e. no paragraph breaks for dialogue and such) with your regular font settings?

With my font, narrow margins & no spaces between paragraphs = 350.

[tschucha]

Originally Posted by tschucha

I haven't even worked with the dark mode. I just used both devices as I would ordinarily use my regular eReader. The ONLY things that I find better on the Scribe were: 1) the price, 2) I found the screen a small amount sharper and 3) the Scribe allows a clock on the top of the reading screen. This cannot be done on a Kobo without using non-Kobo modifications to the device. I use stock firmware.

Well part 3) is no longer a problem.

I just downloaded and started using NickelClock this morning. With headers enabled (which is not much of a sacrifice on a 10 inch screen) you can get a clock on your reading screen. Installation is no harder than installing a manual firmware update. Easy peasy.

https://github.com/shermp/NickelClock

[Cosmos]

How does the screen of the Elipsa 2E compare to the sage? Thanks. I'm interested in contrast when the frontlight is off.

[tschucha]

Originally Posted by Cosmos

How does the screen of the Elipsa 2E compare to the sage? Thanks. I'm interested in contrast when the frontlight is off.

The contrast on the Sage is better. No doubt about it. The Sage is 300 DPI and the Elipsa 2E is only 227 DPI. How much is because of the DPI difference and how much is due to other screen differences I don't know. But you really can see the difference side by side.

In a perfect world the Elipsa would be 300 DPI like a Kindle Scribe but for me anyway it is good enough as a reader.