It's been almost two years since the original Kobo Elipsa was released, beating Amazon's Kindle Scribe to the E Ink tablet chase by some 18 months. Now its major rival has its stake in the game though, and with the introduction of the Remarkable 2 to boot, the company has decided it's time for an upgrade on its biggest ereader, to ensure its staying competitive.

This time round, it offers a more eco-friendly design, a faster processer, new upgraded note-taking experience and a much-improved stylus. But does it hold its own in this growing marketplace? Here's our full review.

Design

• 193 x 227 x 7.5mm, 390g
• 10.3-inch E Ink touch screen
• Made from 85 per cent recycled materials

The Kobo Elipsa 2E doesn't look hugely different to its original model, and in fact, its dimensions are almost identical. Its weight is too, give or take a couple of grams, but there is still plenty to talk about here.

Similar to its Clara 2E ereader, Kobo has made this second generation of Elipsa all about eco-conscious materials and sustainability. The result is an exterior is made from 85 per cent recycled materials, including 10 per cent ocean-bound plastic.

Of course that's fantastic, but there's no getting away from the fact the Elipsa 2E's plastic body lacks the premium feel of the Kindle Scribe's aluminium exterior - which is also recycled. Still, the upside is that it's lighter, at 390g compared with the Scribe's 433g.

Like the original Elipsa, and its Amazon competition, there is a thicker edge on one side of the display, so you can hold it without blocking the screen - and this can sit on either side to suit both right- and left-handed people. This section is also now magnetic too, so you can store the stylus here while you read, or alternatively in the designated slot in the hinge of the protective Sleep Cover.

That Sleep Cover came bundled with the last Elipsa, but it is now an added extra, available for $69.99/£69.99/€69.99. It's available in black only and is made from the same recycled plastic as the Elipsa itself - and 95 per cent of it too.

It snaps firmly to the side of the Elipsa 2E and folds across the screen to keep it protected when not in use. It will also automatically put the Elipsa 2E into a sleep mode when closed, and then wake it up again when the cover is peeled back.

It would be nice if it doubled as a stand when folded back, but it doesn't - it just sits flush. Still, we'd recommend setting the budget aside to buy it, or the stylus could find itself going walkabouts fairly quickly.

From a navigation perspective, this is a fully touchscreen device, with no buttons on the display for helping you navigate or turn pages. You can decide whether taps or swipes will turn the page - or both. There's just one textured button on the bottom right hand side for locking, unlocking and power.

Display

• 10.3-inch display
• 1404 x 1872, 227ppi
• ComfortLight Pro for adjustable brightness and temperature control

The Elipsa 2E has a 10.3-inch E Ink screen with 227ppi. That means it's ever so slightly bigger, but less crisp than the Kindle Scribe at 300ppi. We certainly don't feel like the Elipsa 2E is dragging its feet on that front though - text is perfectly crisp and clear, with no complaints from us.

The ComfortLight adjustable backlight from the original Elipsa has had an upgrade to Kobo's ComfortLight Pro this time round, and can now adjust its temperature automatically, depending on the time of day. You are also able to set a bedtime, so the display will eke out as much blue light from the display well in advance, and then switch to full orange candlelight once you get there.

There's also a dark mode, which you can have turn on automatically or manually.

From a reading perspective, there is pinch to zoom on text size (or you can set manually) and a choice of 12 reading fonts to choose from, plus all the usual options to decide about screen controls, page-turning mechanics, reading orientation and refresh rate.

Note-taking experience and new stylus

• 25 per cent lighter
• Rechargeable via USB-C
• Improved writing feel

A large part of why someone will want to buy this e-reader over others is its note-taking capabilities, so we figured it's only right we take a whole section to let you know what that experience is like.

Firstly, the new and improved Kobo Stylus 2 comes in the box with the Elipsa 2E, and is now rechargeable via USB-C - a big improvement on the physical AAA battery requirements of last generation. You can keep an eye on its charge status via the battery menu on the Kobo and it lasts for quite a while - though it's a shame it can't charge wirelessly like the Kindle Scribe's stylus can.

This lack of physical battery helps it to be 25 per cent lighter than last generation, with a more ergonomic shape, and you get two replacement tips for the stylus in the box.

Certainly, it feels really comfortable in the hand, and making notes with it has a pretty authentic writing feel that's been improved since the last generation too - we particularly like the eraser on the top of the stylus, which you can use to rub things out quickly and easily. We've seen this on Amazon's premium stylus and it's a welcome addition here.

It's still perhaps a fraction behind the speed of the Kindle Scribe, so it doesn't feel quite immediate enough to forget you're writing on E ink. There's a tiny bit more friction here too, so it can be quite tiring to write for any great spaces of time - you need to put just that little bit more pressure on than you would with a real pen and paper to ensure all the finer strokes of your writing are captured.

Overall though, it's a solid writing experience and that's improved further by the extra features around it - and features that the Kindle Scribe is still falling behind on. That includes things like a wide selection of notebook templates (about 20) and pen types you can choose from, the addition of subfolders for more accurately storing your notes and Dropbox integration for exporting them for use outside of the Elipsa 2E. Kobo says Google Drive support is coming soon too.

There are two different notebook types to choose from too - Basic or Advanced. In Advanced, you can access even more tools, like handwriting recognition, the ability to insert a free-form drawing into your notes or even digitise a diagram from your scribbles. You can even insert a maths equation and have the Elipsa 2E work it out for you.

The handwriting recognition, in particular, is fantastic. Even from our most rushed scribble, the Elipsa managed to make sense of it and with one double tap, converted it all to text with incredible accuracy.

You are then able to go through to edit and format this text in a really satisfying way - by simply scribbling words out, underlining them to bold them up and circling them to highlight them. It's very intuitive, and it all adds to the authenticity of the writing experience. It shows real attention to detail by Kobo that you may not find everywhere else.

Away from notebooks, you are able to annotate books as you read and highlight sections by holding down the stylus' button, then find all of these annotations in one place.

Reading and content

• Kobo eBookstore
• Audiobooks via Bluetooth
• OverDrive library books
• Kobo Plus - from £8.99 per month for unlimited books/audiobooks

The reading experience on the Elipsa is as good as any other - text is crisp and clear and page turns are about as fast as we've experienced.

The UI is also straightforward and easy to work around, with sections for "My Books", "My Notebooks" and "Discover" - where you'll browse for new content. A "More" tab gives you access to settings, your wishlist and beta features, plus the ability to sync up your Dropbox and Pocket accounts, for reading articles from across the web.

Kobo's eBookstore is built into the Elipsa 2E as usual, and while it sometimes offers a more US lean in the content it surfaces for recommendations, a spot check of titles meant we found similar titles to those on Amazon. No matter where in the world you're reading from, we can't imagine you'll come up short - though we'd argue Amazon has the edge on discovery.

What the Kobo continues to have over Kindle, though, is its extensive file support, with over 15 formats supported. You can even sideload EPUB titles if you have an existing ebook collection - something that remains a no go on Kindle.

Only audiobooks from Kobo can be listened to on the Elipsa 2E though, and there is Bluetooth built in for playback - there's no physical headphones jack. That's not going to be a problem for the majority of people, and the Bluetooth connection works well. There's not the same choice here that you'll find on a service like Audible though, but it's great to have the option to buy individual audiobooks without needing a subscription.

Kobo does offer a subscription service service, if you wish, called Kobo Plus - currently available in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal.

This gives you access to over 1.3 million ebooks and 100,000 audiobooks from as little as £8.99/$7.99 a month. You get a choice to either listen or read for that, or you can pay £11.99/$9.99 to get unlimited access to all the Kobo Plus content.

This goes head-to-head with Amazon Kindle Unlimited, which sits in the middle of these two pricing options at a cost of £9.49/$9.99 a month. For that, you don't get audiobook access but you do get free rein on up to two million books - so a fair few more.

Similarly to Kindle Unlimited, you aren't going to get the big-name reads in here - most of the books you can read as part of your subscription could be bought for 99p or £1.99 - however, you aren't limited on how many you can borrow like you are with Amazon's offering. And do remember, you are borrowing these - if you stop paying for Kobo Plus you will lose access to your titles.

The only issue is that the discovery of Kobo Plus titles feels a little limited - you have five discovery rails in the Kobo Plus section, including "New and Hot" in both reading and audio, a selection of popular Crime, Mystery and Thrillers and a pretty vague "Page Turners".

If you know a title you want to look for you can use the main Kobo search and filter by Kobo Plus but it would be great to have a greater selection of browsing and discovery options within Kobo Plus itself.

Finally, OverDrive integration remains active here - despite the fact the mobile app has been retired. This allows you to borrow ebooks remotely from your public library for free. You just need an active library card to log in and you can then choose to borrow or buy.

This works really well, and the UI is great for discovery, though you are presented with buying options front and centre, rather than borrowing - you'll need to click the three dots to see the borrow option. You can borrow titles for three weeks, or put a hold on titles that are already booked out by someone else.

Hardware and battery life

• Dual 2GHz CPU
• 2,400mAh battery life
• 32GB storage

The Kobo Elipsa 2E has a new dual 2GHz CPU, meaning page turns are a touch faster here than its predecessor, though you'd probably be pushed to notice. There is also faster pan and zoom for images, comics and PDFs.

For storage, there's 32GB on board, with no options to go bigger or smaller, or the ability to expand via microSD. The reality is, it should be plenty for most people, but anyone with a particularly big ebook library may be better considering the 64GB offering from Amazon.

Battery life has been extended here from the first generation, with a 2,400mAh battery this time round. Kobo hasn't stated exactly how long that should last but has said it should be good for "weeks" on a single charge. We managed around an hour a day for around a month before it needed a recharge, so even the heaviest of readers should get a few weeks before they need to hook it up to power.

This will also be changeable depending on what you're doing on it - only reading will last longer, but once you start writing or listening to audiobooks, you can expect it to drain a bit quicker. We'd say it was about on par with our experience with the Kindle Scribe, even though that has a slightly bigger 3,000mAh battery.

Verdict

There's a lot to love about the Kobo Elipsa 2E, thanks to a number of updated features that make it a compelling proposition in a growing market. At £349.99/$399.99, it's competitively priced against the Kindle Scribe considering the better stylus that's included - though it's a shame the Sleep Cover is no longer included to make it a complete package.

The writing experience on the Elipsa 2E is not quite as natural as the competition, but the functionality it offers makes up for that. A larger selection of notebook templates, Dropbox integration and fantastic handwriting recognition all give the Kobo some real plus points for those that - as you'd expect - really want to use this for note taking, as well as reading.

The design doesn't grab us in the same way the more premium Scribe does, and the Amazon discovery experience and ecosystem is arguably more polished - but the wider file support for sideloading an existing ebook library will be really useful to the bookiest of bookworms.

If you're not already reliant on the Amazon ecosystem for your ereading needs, and will make plenty of use of the handwriting functionality, the Kobo Elipsa 2E might offer - on balance - one of the best overall experiences for this type of hybrid device, and is very much worth a look.