Kobo Elipsa is the best e-reader for students, thanks to support for e-textbooks and a stylus for note-taking

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• The Kobo Elipsa ($400) is an e-reader by Rakuten with features that make it ideal for students.
• It comes with a stylus that allows you to take notes directly on the pages of books and documents.
• Dropbox as well as library access are supported, covering much of students’ learning material load.

For most college students, a huge part of those four years includes reading. Textbooks, PDFs, and articles can quickly pile up and, once a semester ends, you’re stuck with stacks of paper you’ll likely never need again. Compiling your reading materials digitally would cut down on the amount of pages you’d have to print out and carry around.

As a recent college graduate, I wish I’d had this kind of device when I was in my particularly reading-heavy classes, because I’m the kind of reader and student who likes to annotate everything with my own notes and understanding of the piece. I was also a theater student, so I read a lot of plays; whenever I was assigned a play or a reading, I would either print out the 40-70 page document, skim through it so as not to write inside a copy I didn’t own, or rewriting entire pages into a notebook so I could mark it up.

I have also tested all of the latest e-reader models from Amazon, Rakuten (Kobo), and Barnes & Noble (Nook). So, I have an intimate understanding of the e-reader market in 2022.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to mark up their readings, the Kobo Elipsa e-reader tablet is a fine alternative to printing out all of your readings over a semester and then throwing out hundreds of pieces of paper every semester. 

Kobo’s online store sells e-versions of textbooks and other reading materials that may be required for classes, making this device an ideal all-in-one option. 

The Kobo Elipsa is sold in a pack with a magnetic cover and the Kobo Stylus for $400.

This is the only e-reader in Kobo’s line of devices that is exclusively sold in a bundle. The cover and stylus are essential for using the Kobo Elipsa to its full potential. The cover rests at an angle that makes it easy to write on, and it includes a slot to keep the stylus in.

This e-reader was meant to be written on. The screen is matte, like other e-readers, but unlike other offerings in Kobo’s line, this screen has a more distinct, paper-like feel.

The Kobo Stylus allows you to write directly on the pages of the book you’re reading.

The Kobo store also sells ebook versions of textbooks, and if you’re in a program with a lot of non-academic reading, you may even be able to borrow your required readings with a library card.

Having all — or even most — of your required readings on one 7.5 x 9-inch device cuts down on the amount of textbooks you’ll have to keep on hand. 

You can also side-load your own EPUB files using Adobe Digital Editions. 

Elipsa supports Dropbox, too: upload PDFs to your personal Dropbox and access them on the Elipsa, with full Kobo Stylus support. 

Once you’ve marked a document up, those notes stay on the document within the Dropbox app on another mobile device or computer. 

This e-reader has two types of digital notebooks as well: basic and advanced. 

Basic notebooks are best suited for note-takers who prefer to have more freedom on the page. You can choose between lined, dotted, grid, or blank pages. 

Advanced notebooks can convert handwriting into text, and from there you can export the notebook as a text file onto Dropbox. You can also create diagrams, equations, and more on an advanced notebook. 

Of course, you can also use Kobo Elipsa as a regular e-reader.

You can buy books from the Kobo store or download them as library loans via Overdrive. This includes graphic novels and comic books, as well, though they’ll of course appear in colorless ebook format. 

The bottom line

For students looking to cut down on physical textbooks, notebooks, and the amount of items they carry to class and around campus, the Kobo Elipsa is the best e-reader option. It brings a lot of tablet functions — like note-taking, textbook access, and PDF support —  to a screen that’s much easier on the eyes than the average tablet.