Kobo Elipsa 2E: The new travel gadget I won't leave home without

There’s a new travel gadget I won’t leave home without. It’s part book, part notepad and part genius. It’s an e-reader, with a difference.

I’m a big fan of making notes when I read. That’s because I like reading self development books that get my brain whirring. Up until now, I’d use my Kindle e-reader and a notepad to jot down a few ideas.

The trouble came at night. I favour an e-reader because of its backlit display, which means I don’t need to use a light and keep my partner up at night. But you can’t write notes in the dark. That is, until now.

The Kobo Elipsa 2E is an e-reader that lets you write notes directly on a book and highlight text. But it’s also much more than that. You can import a huge variety of files (like PDFs) and write notes on these too. Or, you can even use it as a plain notebook – similar to the Remarkable 2, which is a digital notepad.

To make this happen, it comes with a handy stylus, which feels pretty close to writing on paper – the holy grail of tablets.

With such versatility, it’s my new travel essential.

I am a huge fan of the Kindle platform, but Amazon’s direct competitor to the Elipsa (the Kindle Scribe) doesn’t have a wide variety of books you can write on – which is my favourite part. Instead, the Scribe allows you to make “Sticky Notes” which aren’t as versatile. It has a limited number of books you can write on, mainly puzzles.

On the Elipsa, when you want to read your notes or highlights, just hit “annotations” and it’s all grouped in one place as a summary.

I bought the largest iPad Pro in the hope I could write on books and take notes. But it doesn't feel the same. That’s a glass tablet. Whereas this feels much more book-like.

The 2E is the updated version of the original Elipsa, and now features adjustable colour temperatures – which makes it better for reading in different conditions. Its exterior is also made of 85% recycled materials, including ocean plastic.

One of the other great features about Kobo is it supports Libby (formerly known as OverDrive) – which is a book-borrowing platform linked to your local library. When you’re all set up, just hit “borrow” and the book is yours for a certain period of time.

This tablet is now my reader and notepad all in one. It’s a relatively expensive piece of tech, so is only really suitable if the features excite you. If they do, it could just be your new essential travel gadget.

Kobo Elipsa 2E is $699. See: