As glorious because the reMarkable’s writing expertise is, the system is massive, pricy, lacks an e book retailer, and doesn’t have an illuminated display screen. With its new $260 Sage, Kobo is introducing a smaller and cheaper e-note that’s nonetheless a wonderful e-reader with entry to the expansive Kobo e book retailer and the added plus of with the ability to get pleasure from audiobooks with wi-fi headphones.

Earlier this 12 months, Kobo launched its 10.3-inch Elipsa, the corporate’s first e-note pill. It was basically a bigger model of the Kobo Libra with the addition of stylus assist, however with out the smaller e-reader’s very helpful web page flip buttons, and a primary illuminated display screen that lacked colour temperature changes. Although priced the identical because the reMarkable 2 at $400, the Elipsa didn’t provide as strong a writing expertise, which made it a tricky promote.

The new Kobo Sage is a extra attention-grabbing different to each the Elipsa and the reMarkable. Priced at $260, plus one other $40 for the Kobo Stylus that’s not included, the Sage will provide the identical expertise because the Elipsa does—note-taking, drawing, in addition to the flexibility to markup ebooks and digital recordsdata like PDFs—however on a smaller and lighter system with an 8-inch E Ink show. Unlike most e-note units at present out there, the Sage seems to be like it is going to additionally double as an excellent e-reader, with a pair of web page flip buttons on the aspect subsequent to a slight lip on the sting that ought to make the system simpler to carry one-handed.

Its 8-inch E Ink Carta 1200 show boasts a decision of 1440 x 1920 at 300 ppi which ought to be simple on the eyes (much less jaggies and aliasing) and it consists of Kobo’s “ComfortLight Pro” characteristic, which is what the corporate calls the entrance lighting’s capacity to regulate between cool and heat colour temperatures, relying on what time of day you’re utilizing the system. You can’t broaden the Kobo Sage’s 32GB of onboard storage with a microSD card, which is unlucky, but it surely does characteristic a USB-C port for charging and syncing, and the pill carries over the Kobo Libra’s IPX8 waterproofing, letting it survive as much as an hour in two meters of water.

Also new for Kobo’s units usually is the addition of Bluetooth, permitting audiobooks downloaded from the Kobo e-book retailer to be loved utilizing a pair of wi-fi headphones.

An non-obligatory $50 folio-style SleepCover case can be out there in gentle inexperienced and black, however should you go for the Kobo Stylus, an $80 PowerCover feels like a extra helpful different. It features much like the SleepCover, defending the display screen and mechanically waking/sleeping the Sage when the lid is opened/closed, but in addition features a place to retailer the stylus, and a further battery on the again that can lengthen how lengthy the Sage’s 1,200 mAh inner battery can go between costs.

Alongside the Sage, as we speak Kobo can also be introducing a brand new model of its waterproof e-reader, the Libra 2. Kobo is promising sooner efficiency from the e-reader’s 7-inch E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen, however the decision stays the identical at 1,264 x 1,680, as does the ComfortLight Pro colour temperature changes. The Kobo Libra 2 nonetheless boasts an IPX8 waterproof ranking, the identical because the Sage, in addition to 32GB of non-expandable onboard storage, however with a barely bigger 1,500 mAh battery.

An non-obligatory $40 SleepCover case can be out there in barely completely different colours than have been out there for the unique Libra, however the largest causes to improve to the brand new model are charging and syncing by way of USB-C as an alternative of microUSB, in addition to Bluetooth assist in order that, like with the brand new Sage, audiobooks downloaded from the Kobo e-book retailer may be listened to by way of a pair of wi-fi headphones. It’s not essentially essential improve for present Libra customers who follow ebooks, however for these in search of their first e-reader, the $180 Kobo Libra 2 feels like a higher different to all the brand new Kindles that have been lately introduced.