One of Amazon's only competitors, Kobo, plays daring by offering a reader who has everything from a tablet.10.3 -inch screen, 32 GB storage, use of a stylus, faster processor, remarkable autonomy: it has everything to seduce.But is that really what readers' fans want?

WE love

A reader with an E Ink screen of 10.3 ", as Kobo offers with its Elipsa, it is a rarity.So here we are with, in our hands, a much more efficient reader, strong of its 1.8 GHz processor with 1 GB of RAM.To compare, the most recent high -end model of Kobo, La Forma, had 1 GHz and 512 MB of RAM.The difference is quickly noticeable, whether to change the page, return to the main menu or do a search in your library.

The storage capacity has also been widely increased, to 32 GB, which would allow you roughly to add 16,000 pounds to it.Let's say that you will not be taken without reading with this device on hand.

But as it is an E Ink touch screen, which looks like paper and consumes less energy than electroluminescent diodes, reading is much more pleasant, even outside.It is obviously backlit, as is the norm with readers for years.The claimed autonomy is in the order of "several weeks", according to your reading habits.We barely started half of the battery in three weeks of testing.

As this is Kobo's distinctive mark, Elipsa is compatible with 15 file formats, including popular EPUB, PDF and text formats.

Its other advantage compared to the Amazon Kindle is that it accepts the books borrowed from the public library, which are generally in EPUB with locking.

Kobo also offers a virtual bookstore of some 5 million pounds, including an honest choice of titles in French.With the Overdrive service, you can borrow directly from the public library from the reader.The choice in French here, on the other hand, is poor, almost nonexistent, even if Quebec libraries are displayed.

You can also send your books directly to the reader thanks to Dropbox.

The big novelty is that the Elipsa is sold with Kobo's house stylus.This accessory makes it possible to select passages from a book, to add handwritten notes or to write documents in the notebook available in the reader.

When you then select your handwritten notes, they are converted into a digital text which can be copied and glued.And it works surprisingly well, even in French, as long as we apply to trace the letters.

WE love moins

The biggest defect in Elipsa is its weight.The whole with the case and the stylus is 752 g, where the standard is around 300 g.Holding the Elipsa with one hand to read is to make sure of a good wrist pain.

For an inexplicable reason, we have not added to the Elipsa the amber light color, so relaxing and less aggressive.

The handwriting is slow and the conversion to digital text takes a lot of time, if you have several sentences to have treated.

It may be noted that Elipsa has more power than other readers, we are still very far from a tablet.The screen does not have the same sensitivity, you have to be satisfied with text and black and white images and beta functions like web navigation are rather painful.

One buys ?

It has been more than seven years since we have been completely converted to readers, whose qualities and faults have made it the ideal device for simple reading.There is no question here to scatter between emails, websites and other courieries: we read, that's all.And Kobo probably offers the best devices on this market that has restricted over the years, especially because they are compatible with more formats.

But the Elipsa leaves us puzzled.Yes, it is a beautiful, well-designed device, a super aisle that can serve as a notebook and even, temporarily, a tablet, but was it necessary?In our case, after this test, we found with relief our good older older reader, but lighter.Maybe other readers will find their happiness.Who knows ?

Elipsa

Manufacturer: Koboprix: $ 499.99 (case and stylus included) Note: 4 out of 5