Hi there @Kitt Betts, I find your reviews very fair and extremely neutral. Thank you for this style of review, in a world of "influencers" who are driving the audience towards a given option, you are exemplifying fairness and appreciation of what's before you. Thank you, it's always a pleasure to watch your reviews 😉
I just got mine the other day and wow - the handwriting recognition is amazing. I am a sloppy writer - and that is being extremely generous - and it has an almost perfect translation rate.
love the detailed review. hoping to pick one up this next fall semester as a note taker. plus i just found my passion in reading so i want to be able to read and not have to over fill my phone with extra stuff.
Glad to hear out. Reading is the most effective way to self improvement! For me, the thing about reading is you also have the built in time for did reflection, watching videos, listening to podcasts etc, doesn't quite have that because your attention is totally absorbed! Lee me know how you get on with it!
Love watching you videos - unbiased and professional. I do like the look of the Kobo Elipsa (particularly price and the fact that you can get it easily in the UK - just wish Supernote would make their products available through UK shop) but notice that some reviewers comment on the latency problem and the fact that software does not appear to be updated that often. Since using it have you received any updates?
No, unfortunately it hasn't improved on that score yet! Lots of things to like about it though, but the wacom devices are streets ahead in terms of latency and accuracy with the pens.
Awesome! I don't think you'll be disappointed! I'd love to hear what you think of it once you've used it for a bit though, so please do check back in! Thanks again!
@@KitBetts-Masters Ultimately my main purposes are reading ebooks, pdfs, and online articles with the need to jot down my thoughts and ideas as they occur to me as well as take some notes. Other than that I am not too picky and a bit technologically challenged, so I think this will be perfect! I will definitely check back in a few weeks :)
Thanks for the detailed review, I am thinking of gifting an e-ink note taking reader to my Niece, watching your videos helped to gain lot of knowledge in this space. I am finally ended with SuperNote A5x vs Kobo Elipsa. I am seeing a long wait in shipment for SuperNote but I like the features and the extensibility. Would you recommend a kobo elipsa for a student or SuperNote A5x?
I think you'll enjoy the notes organisation in the supernote. But the browser might be useful in the Elipsa! Difficult choices. Perhaps check out boox as well because you'll be able to get your online course materials more readily on that. And the reader is very good for academic reading!
Thanks so much See. Great to have you as a viewer! Can I ask what your particular use case is? And what you feel is most important for an eink tablet to have?
@@KitBetts-Masters I am thinking to get 1 for work as well as study and have a few criteria in mind: 1. Price 2. Warranty 3. Note-taking/thoughts scratchpad 4. Reading (Kindle ecosystem) 5. Device Ecosystems 6. Weight (include case + pen) So far, Elipsa is the cheapest among my choice between Boox NA2 and Supernote A5X, and it does have warranty locally, but it loses out in terms of Note-taking and reading. Likely I will go into Boox ecosystem, so is either Note Air 2 or Nova Air (cheaper). The only worry is that I will regret getting Nova Air because of the size as I usually write on A5 size journal/diary/notebook instead of A6 size notebook. PS: I love "GetPocket" too :D
Thank you very much for your review. I have Nebo for Android installed on my phone, tablet & Acer Chromebook Spin 512 12" Wacom EMR and use Dropbox to manually sync them. I'm wondering whether I could copy the ".nebo" files created by Kobo in Dropbox/Apps/Rakuten Kobo over into my Dropbox/Apps/MyScript Nebo for further processing using the full Nebo features? If you have Nebo installed on your iPad or other tablet would you mind testing that when you get a chance?
I know its unrelated to this video but I was wondering if you are doing livestreams the night before the a level physics exams like you did in 2019 ? The physics paper 1 is next Thursday (edexell) Thanks!
Hiya, I've been doing a lot of reflection on this, and I'm really sorry to say that Physics love streams aren't likely to happen this year. And if the do, they'll probably be less detailed than in 2019! So sorry, as I love doing them, it's just about the limited time that I have and there is a lot of demand for my other content. Luckily there are a great many more physics teacher tubers than there were three years ago, and so you should be able to find some similar content! Thanks so much for your views, and comments, it means a lot!
@@LvUhcX Yeah that's a neat idea! I went with a Kobo Sage since it has the natural light feature and can dial down the blue light as I like to read at bedtime.
I posted a comment on another video, I am looking at purchasing the elipsa or the sage. As a student the elipsa looks more functional for use however, it doesn't have the tint feature I would like it to have for reading before going to bed. Moreover the sage has Bluetooth and waterproof rating so that looks appetising as well. What would your advice be from using the elipsa? Also, am I looking for the right device?
I cannot recommend this product for a student’s workflow. There’s no way to backup/review markups on an epub (so you have to have the device in front of you to review your notes). PDF markups are vectors, so they are not recognizing by most PDF readers as highlights or notes (such as in MacOS’s Preview). It’s not like on an iPad or Adobe on PC when you highlight something. They are just vector lines you can drag around (which is annoying because you cannot select text with a mouse that is covered by the vector). And if you manipulative a vector on a PDF with many notes, your Kobo takes hours to days days to re-catalog them on the device. This effectively breaks the Kobo’s notes overview during that time.
@@liketheduck what would you recommend for a similar price point. Looking to take notes and do questions on it but also use it as a reader that's what I liked about the elipsa. Also what did you mean about the markups i wonder if there was a way I could trial it for a period of time.
@@abhaynambiar7044 if you want to markup academic PDFs then the fujitsu quaderno 2nd gen is similarly priced when imported from Japan. But it has its own downsides. Maybe you can make the sage work for you if price is important. You could flatten the vectors in a PDF (but it wouldn’t help you track your annotations).
I was actually considering getting this device. But then..... I saw this video and realized that the fact that it does not have any inbuild calendar, or templates for weekly plans and journals is a huge no go for me. I like it especially as you can draw figures and upload it, but I NEED something to journal in. What would you recommend for a software developer that needs a device, to - take meeting notes, and organize these very structured - study notes of new material - create system flowcharts - write pseudo code - upload the data to the cloud or some other storage to access via the PC. AND for personal use: - Have a gratitude journal - A weekly and daily planner - Import custom PDF planners, etc - Read e-books downloaded from the internet, and write notes. Would appreciate any thought
@@KitBetts-Masters I'm also a software developer, but I'm definitely more interested in the supernote. Just because we CAN grasp and handle the complexity of the Boox, doesnt mean its better. I trully appreciate the simpler interface of the supernote and its focused on excellent note taking, instead of the boox's approach to being a general eink android tablet. No distractions while I'm writing please :D
I've had an Elipsa for about a year now (bought it July 2022) but there is a major issue reading PDFs, which is why I have recently exchanged it for Boox Lumi. I read quite a few scanned PDFs, and often the Elipsa will grey these out for some reason. Infuriatingly, it will show proper black letters for a millisecond after refreshing, only to turn to a much less contrast-rich version immediately afterward.
I appreciate you making the review, but you really put on the kids gloves for this one. I’m glad you gave Kobo useful feedback. Hopefully they take it. I’ve owned this device since the beginning (when it was $399). You come off as biased in this review, as if you don’t want to jeopardize getting sample units. If you want to be a UA-cam in this space, then don’t sacrifice your integrity. This device is in Beta; they just don’t say so. Laggy and buggy. The epub markup feature fails 1/5 of the time. Development has been slow and they don’t appear to have the infrastructure to do great things. Please Kobo, fix this mess and implement his suggestions!
Thanks so much for your honest feedback. There are certainly things they could improve here, I think they need to look at how supernote and quirklogic have responded to consumer feedback with iterative updates! Fingers crossed they will work on a few things. In fact I have been reflecting on how positive to be about devices. I'm naturally a very positive person, I see the good side in everything. But I do always write in any negative points I find when I am using the devices. I'm a big fan of these e-ink devices, and I want them to succeed to the point where the screens can be made at such a volume they are as cheap as LCD screens! I think that's a factor in my reviews! The kobo has its flaws, but it's still the right choice for some people. The advance notebook is good, and Dropbox and pocket is a good integration. Also it's the largest kobo there is and for folks in the kobo world already it's the choice. Interestingly it's been the only of these devices I've felt inclined to read fiction on, the others have been very work orientated for me. Thanks again for the comment! 🦍😀
Thanks, that’s really helpful. Have been umming and Ahhing about which device to go for for a while now and after watching endless reviews I believe the supernote would best suit my needs. Being a writer who handwrites all his first drafts and then types them up, I feel that these eink tablets will save me a hell of a lot of work with their handwriting conversion abilities. But the supernote shipping is still delayed (the last time I checked it was preorder for the end of May, and now it’s preorder for the end of June - just feel it’s never going to be available). So I went for the Kobo through Amazon as they have 30 days return. Had it two days and already I have issues… lag when writing, my palm resting on the screen makes the scroll bar move, the stylus doesn’t always register, and it’s easy to accidentally click the buttons while holding it, and some letters vanish in the middle of a word once they have been written out. It also often freezes for a moment every now and again as if it’s contemplating whether to crash or not! And am finding it increasingly frustrating. Seriously thinking of returning it already.
I really love your reviews. I'm looking to get into the eink tablet space, and your reviews are making a big impact on my decision. Thank you!
Awesome, I wish I could say it was an easy decision! And... watch this space because lots more videos coming soon!
Hi there @Kitt Betts, I find your reviews very fair and extremely neutral. Thank you for this style of review, in a world of "influencers" who are driving the audience towards a given option, you are exemplifying fairness and appreciation of what's before you. Thank you, it's always a pleasure to watch your reviews 😉
Thanks so much! This comment has made my day. I'll keep it in mind going forward!
I just got mine the other day and wow - the handwriting recognition is amazing. I am a sloppy writer - and that is being extremely generous - and it has an almost perfect translation rate.
Yeah, I concur, I was amazing art how scruffy I could write and it got me! It's also pretty easy to correct the few errors it does make.
@@KitBetts-Masters Is it possible to export notes made on an epub to a desktop computer ?
love the detailed review. hoping to pick one up this next fall semester as a note taker.
plus i just found my passion in reading so i want to be able to read and not have to over fill my phone with extra stuff.
Glad to hear out. Reading is the most effective way to self improvement! For me, the thing about reading is you also have the built in time for did reflection, watching videos, listening to podcasts etc, doesn't quite have that because your attention is totally absorbed! Lee me know how you get on with it!
Love watching you videos - unbiased and professional. I do like the look of the Kobo Elipsa (particularly price and the fact that you can get it easily in the UK - just wish Supernote would make their products available through UK shop) but notice that some reviewers comment on the latency problem and the fact that software does not appear to be updated that often. Since using it have you received any updates?
No, unfortunately it hasn't improved on that score yet! Lots of things to like about it though, but the wacom devices are streets ahead in terms of latency and accuracy with the pens.
After watching many of your videos, I think this is the one. I'm gonna give it a shot!
Awesome! I don't think you'll be disappointed! I'd love to hear what you think of it once you've used it for a bit though, so please do check back in! Thanks again!
@@KitBetts-Masters Ultimately my main purposes are reading ebooks, pdfs, and online articles with the need to jot down my thoughts and ideas as they occur to me as well as take some notes. Other than that I am not too picky and a bit technologically challenged, so I think this will be perfect! I will definitely check back in a few weeks :)
Thanks for the detailed review, I am thinking of gifting an e-ink note taking reader to my Niece, watching your videos helped to gain lot of knowledge in this space. I am finally ended with SuperNote A5x vs Kobo Elipsa. I am seeing a long wait in shipment for SuperNote but I like the features and the extensibility. Would you recommend a kobo elipsa for a student or SuperNote A5x?
I think you'll enjoy the notes organisation in the supernote. But the browser might be useful in the Elipsa! Difficult choices. Perhaps check out boox as well because you'll be able to get your online course materials more readily on that. And the reader is very good for academic reading!
I'd love a handwriting recognition comparison after seeing this one.
Awesome, it's definitely something I'm planning! 😀🦍
Thanks @GorillaPhysics! Another awesome and informative hands-on review on the eink tablet!
Thanks so much See. Great to have you as a viewer! Can I ask what your particular use case is? And what you feel is most important for an eink tablet to have?
@@KitBetts-Masters I am thinking to get 1 for work as well as study and have a few criteria in mind:
1. Price
2. Warranty
3. Note-taking/thoughts scratchpad
4. Reading (Kindle ecosystem)
5. Device Ecosystems
6. Weight (include case + pen)
So far, Elipsa is the cheapest among my choice between Boox NA2 and Supernote A5X, and it does have warranty locally, but it loses out in terms of Note-taking and reading. Likely I will go into Boox ecosystem, so is either Note Air 2 or Nova Air (cheaper). The only worry is that I will regret getting Nova Air because of the size as I usually write on A5 size journal/diary/notebook instead of A6 size notebook.
PS: I love "GetPocket" too :D
For writing books is this a good choice? I’m writing in a loose leaf on real paper and pencil.
Thank you very much for your review. I have Nebo for Android installed on my phone, tablet & Acer Chromebook Spin 512 12" Wacom EMR and use Dropbox to manually sync them. I'm wondering whether I could copy the ".nebo" files created by Kobo in Dropbox/Apps/Rakuten Kobo over into my Dropbox/Apps/MyScript Nebo for further processing using the full Nebo features? If you have Nebo installed on your iPad or other tablet would you mind testing that when you get a chance?
I know its unrelated to this video but I was wondering if you are doing livestreams the night before the a level physics exams like you did in 2019 ? The physics paper 1 is next Thursday (edexell)
Thanks!
Hiya, I've been doing a lot of reflection on this, and I'm really sorry to say that Physics love streams aren't likely to happen this year. And if the do, they'll probably be less detailed than in 2019! So sorry, as I love doing them, it's just about the limited time that I have and there is a lot of demand for my other content. Luckily there are a great many more physics teacher tubers than there were three years ago, and so you should be able to find some similar content! Thanks so much for your views, and comments, it means a lot!
Did you try the sage? It has the warm backlight, but apparently comes with other issues :)
I'm looking to get a hold of one for comparison, actually I'd be keen to look at the whole range of kobos! Any interest in that video?
@@KitBetts-Masters I'm interested in eink devices for note taking. As far as kobo goes, thats only elipsa and sage.
Any option/solution for nighttime reading since it doesn't have the blue light blocking option?
are you interested in blue light screen protector? I am thinking of purchasing one
@@LvUhcX Yeah that's a neat idea! I went with a Kobo Sage since it has the natural light feature and can dial down the blue light as I like to read at bedtime.
Would you mind testing the Huawei Matepad Paper for us? It would be quite interesting to compare it to the other "big" E-Ink players. :-)
Thanks, I would love to. But unfortunately I can't get hold of the right people at Hauwei to send me one!
fyi 2e just announced. looks like a contender.
I posted a comment on another video, I am looking at purchasing the elipsa or the sage. As a student the elipsa looks more functional for use however, it doesn't have the tint feature I would like it to have for reading before going to bed. Moreover the sage has Bluetooth and waterproof rating so that looks appetising as well. What would your advice be from using the elipsa? Also, am I looking for the right device?
Hiya, I really like the Elipsa. I'll hope to make a comparison of more of the kobo range in the future which would help out more, sorry about that.
I cannot recommend this product for a student’s workflow. There’s no way to backup/review markups on an epub (so you have to have the device in front of you to review your notes). PDF markups are vectors, so they are not recognizing by most PDF readers as highlights or notes (such as in MacOS’s Preview). It’s not like on an iPad or Adobe on PC when you highlight something. They are just vector lines you can drag around (which is annoying because you cannot select text with a mouse that is covered by the vector). And if you manipulative a vector on a PDF with many notes, your Kobo takes hours to days days to re-catalog them on the device. This effectively breaks the Kobo’s notes overview during that time.
@@liketheduck what would you recommend for a similar price point. Looking to take notes and do questions on it but also use it as a reader that's what I liked about the elipsa. Also what did you mean about the markups i wonder if there was a way I could trial it for a period of time.
@@abhaynambiar7044 if you want to markup academic PDFs then the fujitsu quaderno 2nd gen is similarly priced when imported from Japan. But it has its own downsides.
Maybe you can make the sage work for you if price is important. You could flatten the vectors in a PDF (but it wouldn’t help you track your annotations).
I was actually considering getting this device.
But then.....
I saw this video and realized that the fact that it does not have any inbuild calendar, or templates for weekly plans and journals is a huge no go for me.
I like it especially as you can draw figures and upload it, but I NEED something to journal in.
What would you recommend for a software developer that needs a device, to
- take meeting notes, and organize these very structured
- study notes of new material
- create system flowcharts
- write pseudo code
- upload the data to the cloud or some other storage to access via the PC.
AND
for personal use:
- Have a gratitude journal
- A weekly and daily planner
- Import custom PDF planners, etc
- Read e-books downloaded from the internet, and write notes.
Would appreciate any thought
Software developer 100% the Boox: ua-cam.com/video/BLNY8umHzVE/v-deo.html
@@KitBetts-Masters I'm also a software developer, but I'm definitely more interested in the supernote. Just because we CAN grasp and handle the complexity of the Boox, doesnt mean its better. I trully appreciate the simpler interface of the supernote and its focused on excellent note taking, instead of the boox's approach to being a general eink android tablet. No distractions while I'm writing please :D
can you make a kobo and supernote comparison?
Yes, yes I can. Might be a little while but I think that'd be an interesting choice for many!
also, can you write on documents using the kobo, or can you only write on notes and books?
@@joshuachan7822 yep, you can write on pdfs!
I've had an Elipsa for about a year now (bought it July 2022) but there is a major issue reading PDFs, which is why I have recently exchanged it for Boox Lumi. I read quite a few scanned PDFs, and often the Elipsa will grey these out for some reason. Infuriatingly, it will show proper black letters for a millisecond after refreshing, only to turn to a much less contrast-rich version immediately afterward.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Anyone else have that problem?
And have you let them know? What was their response?
@@KitBetts-Masters Yeah, I did. No response sofar, alas.
@@bomcabedal unfortunately the software devs are not very responsive to user feedback. Nothing like the SuperNote team.
👍👍
Thanks!
The blue light is a killer for me :/
Yeah, I have no idea why they didn't put bi colour lights on.
I appreciate you making the review, but you really put on the kids gloves for this one. I’m glad you gave Kobo useful feedback. Hopefully they take it.
I’ve owned this device since the beginning (when it was $399). You come off as biased in this review, as if you don’t want to jeopardize getting sample units. If you want to be a UA-cam in this space, then don’t sacrifice your integrity.
This device is in Beta; they just don’t say so. Laggy and buggy. The epub markup feature fails 1/5 of the time. Development has been slow and they don’t appear to have the infrastructure to do great things.
Please Kobo, fix this mess and implement his suggestions!
Thanks so much for your honest feedback. There are certainly things they could improve here, I think they need to look at how supernote and quirklogic have responded to consumer feedback with iterative updates! Fingers crossed they will work on a few things.
In fact I have been reflecting on how positive to be about devices. I'm naturally a very positive person, I see the good side in everything. But I do always write in any negative points I find when I am using the devices.
I'm a big fan of these e-ink devices, and I want them to succeed to the point where the screens can be made at such a volume they are as cheap as LCD screens! I think that's a factor in my reviews!
The kobo has its flaws, but it's still the right choice for some people. The advance notebook is good, and Dropbox and pocket is a good integration. Also it's the largest kobo there is and for folks in the kobo world already it's the choice. Interestingly it's been the only of these devices I've felt inclined to read fiction on, the others have been very work orientated for me.
Thanks again for the comment! 🦍😀
Thanks, that’s really helpful. Have been umming and Ahhing about which device to go for for a while now and after watching endless reviews I believe the supernote would best suit my needs. Being a writer who handwrites all his first drafts and then types them up, I feel that these eink tablets will save me a hell of a lot of work with their handwriting conversion abilities. But the supernote shipping is still delayed (the last time I checked it was preorder for the end of May, and now it’s preorder for the end of June - just feel it’s never going to be available). So I went for the Kobo through Amazon as they have 30 days return. Had it two days and already I have issues… lag when writing, my palm resting on the screen makes the scroll bar move, the stylus doesn’t always register, and it’s easy to accidentally click the buttons while holding it, and some letters vanish in the middle of a word once they have been written out. It also often freezes for a moment every now and again as if it’s contemplating whether to crash or not! And am finding it increasingly frustrating. Seriously thinking of returning it already.