u/Top-Print8081

As it's the only way to receive any support at all.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I came to the Manta from a Kobo... something. Aura? Whatever, it's now a decade old and, thanks to a dead battery, is e-waste. I went with the Manta, because its defining promise modular, repairable, built to last is what sold me before I ever touched one.

The hardware has me feeling mixed. The large screen is great for reading, and the pen is excellent. I got an alloy one. The Ninja? Feel nice. The folio feels premium. The body, though, is plastic in a way that doesn't feel commensurate with a $700+ price tag. Something in the material or weighting makes it feel like a wish for metal rather than a choice of plastic. The general aesthetic I like; the tactile impression I don't.

Screen responsiveness is... adequate. My old Kobo and the Manta are roughly comparable in display reactivity, which is a backhanded compliment. The Manta also has a consistent touch registration problem near the center of the screen. Multi-touch gestures that work nine times out of ten in the corners drop to less than half that in the middle. On a brand-new device at this price, that's hard to wave away. What I will say is the Manta is less finnicky than the Kobo was day-to-day, fewer inexplicable failures, better overall stability. I do miss the Kobo's tap-for-definition feature while reading, though.

Where the Manta earns its cost is in note-taking. The ability to drop a quick thought on almost any screen, or pull up a running journal file in seconds, is pretty useful and well-implemented. The software clearly prioritizes capture speed. Even doodling and I am not someone who should be doodling, is an unexpectedly pleasant distraction.

The Manta goes with me whenever I might have a few minutes: waiting rooms, coffee, travel. It's the kind of device you carry without thinking about it.

But here's what I keep coming back to: my Kobo is a brick. When its battery died, that was it, straight to the landfill. The Manta is built so that doesn't have to happen. Replaceable parts, user-repairable, designed for longevity. For a device in a category that typically treats obsolescence as a feature, that's not a small thing. I hope they stay firm to that commitment.

In the meantime I am contacting support about the screen sensitivity issues.