I’m a longtime person of pen and paper, truthful E Ink tablets person been intriguing to maine ever since they started becoming much wide available. After having hundreds of half-filled notebooks complete nan years, I, astatine immoderate point, turned to integer devices alternatively because it was conscionable easier to shop everything connected my telephone aliases laptop truthful I ever had my astir important accusation astatine my fingertips.
E-Ink tablets look to supply nan champion of some worlds: nan tactile restitution of regular notebooks pinch galore of nan conveniences recovered successful integer tools, positive easy-on-the-eyes E-Ink screens. These devices person travel a agelong measurement successful caller years — now you tin find them successful aggregate sizes, immoderate person colour E Ink screens and others double arsenic full-blow ereaders pinch entree to ebook stores and your section library’s offerings. I’ve tested retired adjacent to a twelve E Ink tablets complete nan past fewer years to spot really good they work, really convenient they really are and which are nan champion tablets utilizing E Ink screens disposable today.
Table of contents
Best E Ink tablets for 2025
Screen size: 10.3-inch | Battery life: Two weeks | Network connectivity: Wi-Fi | Capacity: 8GB | Included stylus: No, other costs | Supported record types: PDF, EPUB
The latest reMarkable tablet isn’t topping our database because it’s nan astir full-featured aliases moreover astir absorbing penning tablet we tested. Rather, it provides nan champion operation of features group will find useful successful an e-paper instrumentality for illustration this.
We’ll get into them all, but first, it’s worthy mentioning build quality. The reMarkable 2 weighs little than 1 lb and is 1 of nan sleekest E Ink tablets we tried. It has a 10.3-inch monochrome integer insubstantial show that’s surrounded by beige-colored bezels, pinch nan chunkiest information astatine nan bottommost separator wherever you’d people grip it. There’s a slim metallic bezel connected nan near side, which attaches to accessories for illustration nan folio lawsuit and nan new Type Folio keyboard. Hats disconnected to reMarkable for making an E Ink tablet that feels correct astatine location pinch each of your different fancy gadgets.
Let’s commencement pinch nan penning and reference experiences connected nan reMarkable 2, some of which are great. From nan get go, scribbling, doodling and penning was a breeze. I tested retired nan Marker Plus, which has a built-in eraser, but some it and nan modular Marker are tilt- and unit delicate pens, and require nary batteries aliases charging. I observed fundamentally nary lag betwixt my pressing down onto nan reMarkable 2’s surface and lines showing up. The latency was truthful debased that it felt nan closest to existent pen-and-paper. But I will opportunity that this is not unsocial among our apical picks successful this guideline – almost each of nan E Ink tablets I tested sewage this very important characteristic right.
When it comes to reading, nan reMarkable 2 supports PDFs and ePUBs, and you tin adhd files to nan instrumentality by logging into your reMarkable relationship connected desktop aliases via nan companion mobile app connected your phone. You tin besides brace your Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive aliases Dropbox relationship pinch your reMarkable relationship and entree files that measurement arsenic well. That should beryllium bully capable for anyone who, say, sounds a batch of world papers aliases reviews galore documents for work. It’ll beryllium harder for group who acquisition their ebooks from online marketplaces for illustration nan Kindle aliases Kobo stores, but location are different options for those.
Another nosy measurement to get documents onto nan reMarkable 2 is via the Read pinch reMarkable extension for Google Chrome. After installing it and pairing your reMarkable account, you’ll beryllium capable to nonstop articles you find online straight to your reMarkable 2 truthful you tin cheque them retired later. You tin moreover customize these files to beryllium sent arsenic matter only, which will fto you alteration their format straight connected your reMarkable, aliases arsenic a PDF file. Regardless of which you choose, you’ll beryllium capable to people up these articles arsenic you would immoderate different record connected nan E Ink tablet.
I utilized this hold a batch and I enjoyed reference longform articles connected nan reMarkable 2 much than connected my iPhone. Being capable to underline, item and different people up those stories was much of a prize than a necessity for me, but for others who glean sources from online materials will beryllium amended disconnected for it.
Overall, it’s beautiful easy to get files onto nan reMarkable 2 and it is imaginable to entree them elsewhere erstwhile you whitethorn not beryllium capable to whip retired nan E Ink tablet. Those pinch a reMarkable Connect subscription will person nan champion experience, and it’s a bully perk that you get a one-year rank erstwhile you bargain one. The $3-per-month (or $30-per-year) subscription provides nan expertise to edit existing notes and return caller ones from anyplace utilizing nan desktop and mobile apps, positive unlimited unreality retention and syncing.
That said, I kept astir of my testing section connected nan reMarkable 2 itself and was impressed by its expertise to beryllium a integer notebook without a steep learning curve. You tin create different notebooks and “quick sheets” to shape your handwritten notes, and folders to make consciousness of imported files. You’ll find 8 different brushwood types pinch which to people up documents and return notes, on pinch customizable statement thicknesses and “colors” (which conscionable show up arsenic shades connected nan tablet itself). You tin moreover type wherever you want successful a doc, and nan reMarkable 2 tin construe handwritten notes into machine-readable matter pinch astonishing accuracy.
It was nary daze that nan reMarkable 2 ended up having nan champion operation of features, on pinch a comparatively debased learning curve. The institution was 1 of nan first connected nan segment pinch a genuinely viable E Ink tablet backmost successful 2017, and they’ve been refining nan acquisition ever since. But that comes astatine a costs – nan reMarkable 2 isn’t nan astir costly E Ink tablet we tested, but it’s not inexpensive either. The tablet will group you backmost $399 pinch nan modular Marker, aliases $449 for a bundle pinch nan Marker Plus. You could get a 10th-gen iPad and the USB-C Apple Pencil for astir nan aforesaid value and you’d person a much elastic duo, purely based connected nan capabilities of iOS.
But you’re astir apt not considering an iPad for a circumstantial reason, whether that’s your emotion for E Ink aliases nan emotion of pen-to-paper writing, aliases you simply want a much distraction-free experience. If you’re looking for an E Ink tablet that will not return ages to get utilized to, offers a stellar penning acquisition and makes it comparatively elemental to entree notes elsewhere, nan reMarkable 2 is your champion bet.
Pros
- Great reference and penning experience
- Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox support
- Easy to use
Cons
- Marker costs extra
- Expensive
- Unlimited unreality retention comes pinch a subscription cost
$399 astatine reMarkable
Read our afloat reMarkable Paper Pro review
Screen size: 11.8-inch | Battery life: Two weeks | Network connectivity: Wi-Fi | Capacity: 64GB | Included stylus: No, other costs | Supported record types: PDF, EPUB
ReMarkable upped nan ante successful fundamentally each measurement pinch the Paper Pro, without sacrificing thing we loved astir nan reMarkable 2. Both my workfellow Dan Cooper and I tested retired nan caller instrumentality and you tin publication his full reMarkable Paper Pro review here, which goes in-depth into nan Paper Pro’s achievements and shortcomings. In my testing, I was astir impressed by nan refined design, faster consequence times and mini joys that came from having a caller colour display.
The $629 Paper Pro has an 11.8-inch display, which is somewhat larger and taller than that of nan reMarkable 2. It’s not cumbersome, though, and pinch its 5.1mm thickness, it gets really adjacent to nan legal-pad notebook size I personally love. It feels rather premium connected its own, particularly pinch nan caller fluted edges, and moreover pinch its Folio protector, it stays rather svelte. The reMarkable 2 surely isn’t an ogre by comparison, but nan “pro” successful nan Paper Pro’s sanction is well-deserved.
Inside nan reMarkable Paper Pro is simply a 1.8GHz quad-core Cortex A53 processor, 2GB of RAM and 64GB of retention — each of which are specs that person been bumped up from nan reMarkable 2. It genuinely makes a quality successful nan capacity of nan caller model. The Pro feels zippier than nan reMarkable 2: page refreshes are quicker, actions and transitions are much soft and pen latency is only 12ms (almost undetectable successful my experience).
Where you spot nan gears moving astir often is successful nan usage of color. The Paper Pro’s surface uses a modified type of E Ink’s Gallery 3 exertion called Canvas Color, which is tin of producing 20,000 colors that tin furniture connected apical of each different (think erstwhile you item a statement much than erstwhile utilizing 2 different colors complete 1 another). You tin really spot nan pixels turning from a modular achromatic colour to nan colour of your choosing erstwhile you’re scribbling successful a note, which isn’t a bad point because nan surface doesn’t lag aliases frost because of this — constitute astatine your ain velocity and nan instrumentality will up and nutrient nan correct colors arsenic you spell along.
As for software, you’re getting nan aforesaid acquisition arsenic you would pinch nan reMarkable 2, which is to enactment a beautiful streamlined interface that makes it easy to shape each of your documents, notes and different reference and penning material. The reMarkable 2 offered 1 of nan astir approachable package experiences successful an E Ink tablet, and that continues present connected nan Paper Pro. These devices prioritize a distraction-free situation — aliases astatine nan very least, a lower-distraction area — and I admit really reMarkable has kept its devices’ interface elemental and straightforward.
Arguably nan biggest caveat to immoderate reMarkable tablet remains nan monthly Connection subscription — an optional $3 monthly aliases $30 annually work that provides unlimited unreality storage, instrumentality syncing and nan expertise to create and edit notes successful reMarkable mobile apps. Power users will apt find it worthwhile to salary for Connect, but nan Paper Pro’s 64GB of soul retention mightiness beryllium capable for others who want to support it elemental (and support each of their activity to nan Paper Pro itself). New instrumentality owners get a 100-day free trial, truthful it’s easy capable to springiness Connect a changeable and past cancel if you don’t find yourself utilizing each of its perks.
The astir important point to retrieve if you’re considering a reMarkable tablet is that, based connected our testing, some nan reMarkable 2 and reMarkable Paper Pro are coagulated devices. The Paper Pro surely earned its “pro” moniker acknowledgment to noticeable improvements nan institution made, but those do not negate really bully of a instrumentality nan reMarkable 2 still is. But if you’ve sewage nan rate and want to put successful a luxury E Ink tablet experience, nan Paper Pro is nan measurement to go.
Pros
- Color is simply a invited and useful addition
- Backlight lets you activity successful acheronian environments
- Vastly improved performance
$629 astatine reMarkable
Screen size: 10.2-inch | Battery life: Months | Network connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capacity: Up to 64GB | Included stylus: Yes | Supported record types: AZW3, AZW, TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively and more
You really person 2 options successful this space: the Amazon Kindle Scribe and the Kobo Elipsa 2E. The Scribe edged retired nan Elipsa 2E purely because of its low-latency pen-and-screen combination. The Elipsa has its merits, which we’ll get into successful a bit, but it conscionable couldn’t compete pinch nan Scribe erstwhile it came to a seamless and soft handwriting experience.
We already gave nan Kindle Scribe the afloat reappraisal treatment and tested retired nan latest Kindle Scribe, which incorporates much AI features. As mentioned, there’s small to nary latency erstwhile penning connected nan Scribe pinch its companion pen. Thanks to the latest package update, you besides person much brushwood types to take from now, including fountain pen, marker and pencil, which adhd to nan charm. Like different E Ink tablets, nan Scribe makes it easy to create aggregate notebooks, and you tin adhd pages to them and alteration up their templates if you wish.
As an e-reader, nan Scribe shines not only acknowledgment to its 10.2-inch touchscreen pinch auto-adjusting beforehand lights, but besides because you person Amazon’s full ebook shop astatine your fingertips. If you get astir of your reference worldly from Amazon aliases subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you’ll beryllium capable to jump correct into each of your titles instantly connected nan Scribe conscionable arsenic you would connected a instrumentality for illustration nan Kindle Paperwhite. In addition, nan Scribe tin link to Audible via Bluetooth for audiobook listening. It’s besides easy to get ebooks from your section room and publication them connected a Kindle. This will beryllium important not only for voracious readers, but particularly for students who bargain aliases rent integer textbooks and those who devour books regularly for investigation purposes.
I thought astir students a batch erstwhile utilizing nan Scribe. I started assemblage successful 2009, 2 years aft nan first Kindle was released and 1 twelvemonth earlier nan first iPad came out. Getting textbooks digitally really wasn’t an action for maine – but I tin understand nan entreaty a note-taking instrumentality for illustration nan Kindle Scribe would person for students. It’s arguably moreover amended than a modular Kindle because of its bigger surface size, which will make it little tiring to look astatine for agelong periods of time. Adding nan expertise to return handwritten notes while you’re studying is icing connected nan cake.
However, Amazon’s execution of book notes is not my favorite. You cannot make annotations successful nan margins of Kindle ebooks. Instead you property and clasp nan pen’s extremity connected nan surface to item matter aliases adhd a statement to a peculiar connection aliases phrase. If you do nan latter, a model pops up connected nan bottommost half of nan surface wherever you tin either return a handwritten statement aliases type a matter statement utilizing nan Scribe’s mildly frustrating and sluggish on-screen keyboard.
Amazon rectified this a spot pinch a package update that allows for nonstop on-page penning successful definite Kindle books. The Kindle Store now has a conception that showcases "Write-on Books," which is presently mostly made up of journals and crippled books that characteristic puzzles for illustration crosswords and sudoku. This is surely a measurement successful nan correct direction, but it intends you still won't beryllium capable to people up your favourite fabrication and non-fiction books until they support nan caller feature.
This is wherever I springiness a motion to the Kobo Elipsa 2E, wherever you can constitute notes successful nan margins, underline, circle and different people up your reference material. It’s a much earthy (and fun) acquisition since it mimics what you’d do if you were reference a beingness book. It’s a shame that nan latency connected the Elipsa was conscionable a hairsbreadth much noticeable than that of nan Scribe. If it weren’t for that, it mightiness person beaten Amazon’s instrumentality here.
What that other spot of latency translates to successful believe is handwriting that tin travel retired conscionable a spot messier, and that increases precipitously nan faster you write. But that besides intends that you’ll announcement this nan astir erstwhile taking notes longhand connected nan Elipsa; if you’re chiefly utilizing an E Ink tablet to people up documents, it won’t impact you arsenic much.
Despite that, I did for illustration nan measurement Kobo executed notebooks connected nan Elipsa. You tin person a modular notebook wherever you tin constitute and scribble away, aliases an “advanced” notebook that supports handwriting-to-text conversion and inserting things for illustration diagrams and formulas. Text conversion is really beautiful accurate, too, moreover erstwhile dealing pinch immoderate of my ugliest handwriting. Kobo besides has a beautiful sizable ebook marketplace, truthful it’s surely a decent action if you want to enactment clear of nan Amazon ecosystem.
Pros
- Basic pen included successful cost
- Seamlessly integrates pinch Kindle books
- Low-latency penning experience
Cons
- Writing successful margins constricted to definite books
- Inelegant notebook experience
$400 astatine Amazon
Screen size: 7.8-inch | Battery life: Weeks | Network connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capacity: 32GB, expandable up to 2TB pinch microSD paper | Included stylus: No, other costs | Supported record types: PDF, EPUB, Word, Text (.txt), PNG, JPG, Comic book archive (.cbz), FictionBook2 (.fb2) and OpenXPS (.xps)
Supernote impressed maine pinch its X tablet erstwhile I first tested it and now nan institution is connected nan X2 version. The A6 X2 model has a 7.8-inch screen, and nan precocious released Manta A5 X2 has a 10.7-inch display. I’ve tried some retired astatine this constituent and nan main difference, arsenic 1 mightiness expect, is surface size.
But earlier we get into a comparison of nan 2 Supernote devices, let’s talk astir nan upgrades nan institution made to some recently. With nan Nomad X2, nan creation has been tweaked successful subtle ways from nan original Supernote I tested. You get nan updated FeelWrite 2 surface protector experience, which is simply a smoother, little scratchy 1 than different E Ink tablets, and a integrative assemblage that’s beautiful lightweight. There are dual sidebars, sections connected some agelong edges of nan tablet that, erstwhile swiped, bring up a menu, making this type easier for right- and left-handed users alike. The package auto-rotates erstwhile you flip nan screen, too. On apical of that, some nan Nomad and Manta X2 devices are user-repairable now pinch replaceable batteries and a microSD paper slot, some of which you tin spot connected nan backside of nan tablet acknowledgment to its clear sheet (there’s an opaque, achromatic action excessively that’s besides conscionable arsenic upgradeable but obscurity adjacent arsenic futuristic looking).
Unsurprisingly, this is still nan astir nosy I had utilizing immoderate E Ink tablet. Thanks to its support of a scope of record formats (PDF, ePUB, Word, PNG, JPG, etc), you tin put plentifulness of worldly onto nan X2 and do what you for illustration pinch it. In my erstwhile experiments, I wanted to spot if I could dainty it almost for illustration a integer slug journal, and that wasn’t difficult to do. There are built-in page templates, but I was capable to download daily, play and monthly planner templates online, resize them and move them onto nan X2 utilizing Android File Transfer. The instrumentality has a dedicated “MyStyle” files wherever you tin prevention files you want to usage arsenic templates. The astir difficult portion was making judge I had nan dimensions correct while resizing nan documents. Once saved successful nan correct folder, I could make an full notebook retired of nan templates I had gotten from nan net for free.
But you don’t person to get that heavy if you don’t want to; Supernote’s package comes pinch a number of built-in statement templates that are much than suitable for a scope of situations and scenarios. The instrumentality still has its ain app store, but it’s beautiful sparse, prevention for nan Kindle app (although, nan past point I wanted to do connected nan Supernote was read) and the caller Atelier coating app. The second is described by nan institution arsenic “professional coating software” that has a number of different brushwood options, marker and spray tools, 16 levels of grayscale colour and nan action to export your creations arsenic PSD files truthful you tin return them to nan adjacent level successful Photoshop. It’s a nosy return connected a much creator notebook of sorts, and those who find themselves wanting to abstracted their creator creations from their mostly-words notes will admit nan inclusion.
This instrumentality really shines arsenic an E Ink notebook and nan institution intelligibly put a batch of thought into “building a amended mousetrap,” truthful to speak. You tin construe handwritten words into typed text, but you don’t person to do that successful bid for nan package to admit your handwriting. There’s a keywords characteristic that lets you fundamentally bookmark important phrases for speedy entree later. All you request to do is lasso nan word, property nan keyword fastener and nan tablet’s package will construe your penning into typed text. Then you tin adhd it arsenic a keyword and quickly jump backmost to it from nan left-side tablet of contents menu. Similarly, you tin bookmark titles and adhd stars to pages that are important, each of which thief you jump betwixt important bits.
That said, a Supernote instrumentality is akin to 1 from Onyx Boox successful that it’s not going to clasp your hand. You person to beryllium fresh to play around, messiness pinch settings and mostly tinker pinch it correct erstwhile you unfastened nan box, and immoderate will be conscionable good doing that (like our ain play editor Cheyenne MacDonald). The package isn’t arsenic polished arsenic that connected devices made by Amazon aliases Kobo, which leads to an unavoidable learning curve. But notebook nerds for illustration myself will beryllium thrilled pinch each that nan Supernote Nomad has to offer.
That said, this isn’t nan astir costly E Ink tablet connected our list, but it will group you backmost $329 aliases more: $329 for nan Nomad A6 X2 aliases $505 for nan Manta X2, and $89 (or more) for an accompanying pen. Which size you take will yet dangle connected individual preference. The Nomad, arsenic its sanction suggests, is nan much portable of nan 2 and feels much for illustration interacting pinch a paperback book (albeit a very bladed one), whereas nan Manta gives you noticeably much surface existent estate. If you cognize you’ll do a batch of penning connected this device, see your handwriting sizer — those who default to cursive aliases big, loopy people whitethorn find a much freely companion successful nan Manta.
Pros
- Excellent penning experience
- Tons of notebook customization options
- Good handwriting recognition
Cons
- Pen comes astatine an added cost
- No backlight
$329 astatine Supernote
Screen size: 10.3-inch | Battery life: Weeks | Network connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capacity: 64GB | Included stylus: Yes | Supported record types: PDF, PPT, EPUB, TXT, DJVU, HTML, RTF, FB2, DOC, MOBI, CHM, PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP
Onxy continues to iterate connected its lineup of E Ink tablets pinch the Note Air4 C, a tablet that looks and feels almost identical to nan Air3 C, but now it’s somewhat little weighty (literally 10g lighter than its predecessor), includes 2 other gigabytes of RAM and runs Android 13.
I knowledgeable small to nary latency erstwhile penning connected nan Boox Note Air and I was happy pinch nan number of brushwood options it has successful nan Notebook app. Thanks to nan colour E Ink display, now you tin moreover adhd and prevention a fewer different brushes pinch colored ink, statement thickness and different specifics and quickly move betwixt them. This is peculiarly useful connected a colour E Ink tablet for illustration this because you tin save, say, black, reddish and bluish brushes to usage to differentiate different types of notes and switching among them is ace quick. You tin besides now adhd different shapes to notes and capable them successful pinch color; I made thing that resembled a sticky statement utilizing a elemental quadrate filled successful pinch yellow. The astir ocular learners among america will find features for illustration this very helpful.
Like nan Supernote A6 X2, this tablet comes pinch a bunch of page templates you tin usage for note-taking (including immoderate colour options now arsenic well), aliases you tin bring successful your ain PDFs and different documents to usage arsenic templates. There’s an “AI recognition” characteristic that translates a full page’s handwriting into typed text, and it’s really beautiful accurate. (Though, it did consistently confuse my “&” for a superior A). I besides appreciated that you tin adhd different kinds of worldly to your notes, including web pages and sound recordings, and stock notes arsenic PDFs aliases PNGs via email, Google Drive and different services. Features for illustration those guarantee that, pinch this partially analog device, you don’t miss retired connected immoderate of nan conveniences that a existent integer notebook strategy would have.
The truth remains that Boox’s full Note bid is what you’d get if you removed immoderate of nan notebook-specific features from nan Supernote A6 X2 and added successful a much complete type of Android. Boox makes a number of absorbing E Ink devices and nan Boox Note Air is nan 1 that champion compares to nan others connected our database acknowledgment to its 10.3-inch display. They are E Ink Android tablets, truthful that intends you tin really download Android apps from nan Google Play Store for illustration Kindle, Kobo and others. There’s moreover a web browser, and yes, you tin watch videos connected this thing, too.
Of course, conscionable because you tin do each of that doesn’t mean you should. E Ink screens are genuinely champion for reference and writing, truthful I didn’t walk overmuch clip binge watching YouTube connected Boox’s instrumentality – but I was happy that I had nan state to do so. Really, nan inferior of Android comes successful pinch nan app shop and I expect that astir group will usage it to download each of their favourite reference and penning apps. Much for illustration a modular tablet, this will beryllium a awesome action for anyone that gets their reference worldly from a bunch of different places — and since you tin manually transportation documents from your machine to nan device, too, it’s far-and-away nan astir versatile action connected our list.
And, importantly, Boox tablets successful wide connection an absorbing worth proposition. A Boox Note Air4 C bundle pinch nan tablet, a modular pen and a folio lawsuit comes successful astatine $529, putting it connected nan higher extremity of nan value spectrum among nan devices we tested. But considering it’s a afloat Android tablet, that doesn’t look absurd. Those who want to debar distractions astir of nan clip while still having entree to email and a web browser mightiness gravitate towards a instrumentality for illustration this.
Pros
- Color E Ink display
- Runs Android 13 pinch entree to Google Play Store
- Supports galore ways to adhd files to nan device
- Stylus included successful nan box
Cons
- E Ink surface hinders it from being a bully video-consumption device
- Not arsenic user-friendly arsenic others
- On nan costly side
$529 astatine Boox
Screen size: 13.3-inch | Battery life: Weeks | Network connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capacity: 128GB | Included stylus: Yes | Supported record types: PDF, PPT, EPUB, TXT, DJVU, HTML, RTF, FB2, DOC, MOBI, CHM, PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP
Most E Ink tablets disposable now max retired astatine 10 aliases 11 inches successful surface size. But nan latest exemplary from Boox, the Note Max, has a gloriously ample 13.3-inch Carta 1300 display. It’s not nan only E Ink tablet from Boox to get this large — the Tab X has nan aforesaid size screen, albeit pinch a little dpi (207 vs nan Note Max’s 300) — but it is 1 of nan fewer e-paper tablets pinch specified a ample show made by an established shaper successful this space.
Aside from nan luxurious display, nan Note Max feels and useful for illustration immoderate different tablet successful nan Note bid truthful get fresh to tinker pinch it if this is your first specified Android-based device. But I recovered nan note-taking and doodling acquisition to beryllium singular connected specified a ample e-paper display. I’m personification who prefers ample notebooks (B5-sized and larger, A4 aliases legal-pad sized preferred) truthful it’s not astonishing that I was drawn to nan Note Max.
One of nan autochthonal Boox apps I peculiarly loved utilizing successful this large-format instrumentality was Calendar Memo, which gives you a month-view almanac that you tin pat into individual days and return notes that correspond to that day. So for example, you tin return activity notes, journal, constitute down to-do lists and much and return to those writings moreover aft nan time has passed conscionable by tapping connected a circumstantial time successful nan calendar. And if you usage Boox’s autochthonal ereading app, nan books and documents you publication connected each time will besides show up pinch your notes, providing a useful log of your progress. Not only did I find it useful to person each of that accusation successful 1 viewport acknowledgment to nan immense display, but I could besides spot myself utilizing nan Calendar Memo app regularly to log each of nan astir important things I want to retrieve semipermanent for each day.
That said, nan Note Max doesn’t travel cheap: it’s $689 for nan tablet, positive nan included screen and stylus. While it’s awesome that Boox doesn’t make you salary other for those much-needed accessories, it’s still apt excessively cost-prohibitive for astir people.
Pros
- Sharp E Ink Carta 1300 display
- Luxe 13.3-inch surface size
- Runs Android 13 pinch entree to nan Google Play Store
- Comes pinch an included stylus and cover
Cons
- No beforehand light
- Not arsenic user-friendly arsenic different options
- Expensive
$689 astatine Boox
Screen size: 7-inch | Battery life: Up to 40 days | Network connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capacity: 32GB | Included stylus: No | Supported record types: EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR, Kobo audiobooks
The Kobo Libra Colour, 1 of nan company’s newest ereaders, not only adds colour to its surface but besides stylus support. That intends you tin item text, constitute successful nan margins of e-books and create notebooks. The low-latency, feature-rich stylus, positive integration pinch Dropbox and Google Drive, make nan Libra Colour a amazingly effective E Ink tablet. Ultimately, we still deliberation nan Kindle Scribe is your champion stake for a tablet-and-ereader combo, acknowledgment to nan much expansive Kindle room and nan larger, ten-inch surface — but Kobo’s latest deserves a mention.
The Libra Colour is our existent prime for a exemplary pinch buttons in our ereader guide. It has a premium build, plentifulness of matter customizations for comfortable reference and a crisp, warm-light, seven-inch display. The summation of colour adds liking to book covers and lets you item matter successful 4 different hues. Kobo besides stuck a faster processor successful nan device, which makes waking from sleep, turning pages, navigating nan paper and changing predisposition zippy fast.
The Libra Colour doesn’t travel pinch nan Kobo stylus — different constituent successful nan Scribe’s favour — but if you adhd nan $70 accessory, you’ll beryllium capable to item matter and scribble notes successful nan margins of immoderate book. You’ll besides unlock entree to Kobo’s 2 styles of notebooks: Basic, which lets you draw, scribble and constitute freehand, and Advanced, which tin person handwriting to typed matter and lets you adhd diagrams and sections.
The stylus offers 3 pen styles, positive a brushwood and highlighter, and switching betwixt them is speedy pinch an unobtrusive menu. Thanks to nan colour technology, you tin constitute and tie successful 10 colors and item successful four. One of nan fewer issues I ran into was pinch nan highlighter fastener — it’s successful a awesome spot for spotlighting matter connected nan fly, but that location is besides correct wherever I remainder my pointer finger, truthful I often deed it while writing. But nan inferior of nan built-in eraser balances retired that irritation.
I noticed a hardly perceptible latency and bully unit sensitivity, which is astir evident utilizing nan fountain pen. The tap-to-convert characteristic almost ever correctly turned my weird printing-and-cursive-hybrid handwriting into type, and uploading notebooks to Dropbox aliases Google Drive took specified seconds. (You tin besides do hardwired, USB-C transfers to a computer.)
With nan added costs of nan stylus, you’ll salary $300 for Kobo’s set, which is still $100 cheaper than nan guidelines exemplary of nan latest Kindle Scribe. If you don’t request a larger surface aliases entree to nan hundreds of Kindle titles you whitethorn person already purchased, nan Libra Colour makes for an appealing ereader/E Ink tablet alternative. — Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter
Pros
- Color display
- Low-latency stylus performance
- Can constitute successful nan margins of immoderate ebook
Cons
- Smaller screen
- Stylus costs extra
$229 astatine Kobo
Are E Ink tablets worthy it?
An E Ink tablet will beryllium a worthwhile acquisition to a very prime group of people. If you for illustration nan look and consciousness of an e insubstantial show to LCD panels recovered connected accepted tablets, it makes a batch of sense. They’re besides bully options for those who want a much paper-like penning acquisition (although you tin get that benignant of functionality connected a regular tablet pinch nan correct surface protector) aliases a much distraction-free instrumentality overall.
The last statement is cardinal here. Many E Ink tablets don’t tally connected nan aforesaid operating systems arsenic regular tablets, truthful you’re automatically going to beryllium constricted successful what you tin do. And moreover pinch those that do let you to download accepted apps for illustration Chrome, Instagram and Facebook, E Ink tablets are not designed to springiness you nan champion casual-browsing experience. This is mostly owed to nan quality of E Ink displays, which person noticeable refreshes, a deficiency of vibrant colors and little image value than nan panels you’ll find connected moreover nan cheapest iPad.
Arguably nan biggest logic why you wouldn’t want to spell pinch an iPad (all models of which support stylus input, a plethora of reference apps, etc) is because it’s overmuch easier to get distracted by email, societal media and different Internet-related temptations.
What to look for successful an E Ink tablet
Writing and latency
Arguably nan astir important point to see erstwhile looking for an E Ink tablet is nan penning experience. How bully it is will dangle a batch connected nan display’s refresh complaint (does it refresh aft each clip you put pen to “paper,” aliases astatine a different regular interval) and nan stylus’ latency. Most of nan tablets I’ve tested person small to nary latency, but immoderate are surely amended than others. Finally, you should double cheque earlier buying that your preferred E Ink tablet comes pinch a stylus, aliases if you request to acquisition 1 separately.
Reading
How overmuch will you beryllium reference books, documents and different things connected this tablet? E Ink tablets travel successful galore sizes, but astir of them thin to beryllium larger than your modular e-reader because it makes penning overmuch easier. Having a larger show isn’t a bad thing, but it mightiness make holding it for agelong periods somewhat much uncomfortable. (Most e-readers are astir nan size of a paperback book, giving you a akin emotion to analog reading).
The supported record types for e-books tin besides make a large difference. It’s difficult to make a broad connection present because this varies truthful overmuch among E Ink tablets. The TL;DR is that you’ll person a overmuch amended reference acquisition if you spell pinch 1 made by a institution that already has a history successful e-book income (i.e. Amazon aliases Kobo). All of nan titles you bought via the Kindle aliases Kobo shop should automatically beryllium disposable to you connected your Kindle aliases Kobo E Ink tablet.
Also pinch Kindle titles, specifically, since they are protected by DRM, it’s not needfully nan champion thought to effort to bring those titles complete to a third-party device. Unless nan tablet runs an operating strategy for illustration Android that supports downloads for apps for illustration Kindle and Kobo, you’ll beryllium constricted to supported record types, for illustration ePUB, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, PNG and others.
Search functionality
Most E Ink tablets person immoderate on-device hunt features, but they tin alteration wide betwixt models. You’ll want to see really important it is to you to beryllium capable to hunt done each your handwritten notes and markups. I noticed successful my testing that Amazon’s and Kobo’s E Ink tablets made it easy to mention backmost to notes made successful books and files because they automatically prevention to nan circumstantial pages connected which you took notes, made highlights and more.
Searching is little standardized connected E Ink tablets that person different supported record types, but their features tin beryllium rather powerful successful their ain right. For example, a fewer devices I tested supported matter hunt successful handwritten notes on pinch handwriting recognition, nan second of which allows you to construe your scribbles into typed text.
Sharing and connectivity
While we established that E Ink tablets tin beryllium awesome distraction-free devices, astir manufacturers understand that your notes and doodles aren’t created successful a vacuum. You whitethorn want to entree them elsewhere, and that requires immoderate shape of connectivity. All of nan E Ink tablets I tried person Wi-Fi support, and immoderate support unreality syncing, companion mobile apps and nan expertise to export notes via email truthful you tin entree them elsewhere.
None of them, however, merge straight pinch a integer statement taking strategy for illustration Evernote aliases OneNote, truthful these devices will ever beryllium somewhat supplementary if you usage apps for illustration that, too. I’d reason that, if you already thin heavy connected apps for illustration OneNote, a modular tablet pinch a stylus and surface protector mightiness beryllium nan champion measurement to go. Ultimately, you should deliberation astir what you will want to do pinch nan documents you’ll interact pinch connected your E Ink tablet after nan tablet information is done.
Price
E Ink tablets aren’t known for being cheap. They mostly autumn into nan $300-$800 value range, which is what you tin expect to salary for a coagulated regular tablet, too. A cardinal facet successful value is size: cheaper devices pinch E Ink displays are apt to person smaller screens, and stylus support isn’t arsenic overmuch of a given. Also, those types of devices are mostly considered e-readers because of their size and whitethorn not beryllium nan champion for note-taking, doodling and nan like.
E Ink tablets person gone up successful value recently. Supernote and Onyx Boox accrued prices, arsenic did reMarkable. The erstwhile said it was owed to "increased costs,” and a reMarkable typical confirmed this to Engadget and provided nan pursuing statement: "We regularly reappraisal our pricing based connected marketplace conditions and operational costs. We've communicated an upcoming accommodation for nan US marketplace effective successful May to supply transparency to our customers. Multiple factors power our pricing decisions, including proviso concatenation dynamics and wide operational costs successful circumstantial markets.”
As a result, nan reMarkable Paper Pro jumped from $579 to $629 (that's for nan bundle pinch nan modular Marker and nary Folio). This isn't great, considering nan Paper Pro was already connected nan costly broadside of nan spectrum for E Ink tablets. It's besides worthy noting that Supernote and Onyx Boox person raised prices successful nan past fewer months arsenic well.
Other E Ink tablets we've tested
Lenovo Smart Paper
Lenovo made a coagulated E Ink tablet successful nan Smart Paper, but it's excessively pricey and excessively joined to nan company's companion unreality work to warrant a spot connected our apical picks list. The hardware is great, but nan package isn't arsenic elastic arsenic those of competitors for illustration nan reMarkable 2. It has bully Google Drive integration, but you must brace it pinch Lenovo's unreality work to really get nan astir usage retired of it — and successful nan UK, nan work costs £9 per period for 3 months, which is rather expensive.
Onyx Boox Tab Ultra
The Boox Tab Ultra has a batch of nan aforesaid features we for illustration successful nan Note Air 2 Plus, but it’s designed to beryllium a true, all-purpose tablet pinch an E Ink screen. Running Android 11 and compatible pinch a magnetic keyboard case, you tin usage it for illustration a modular 2-in-1 laptop, albeit a low-powered one. You tin browse nan web, cheque email and moreover watch YouTube videos connected this point — but that doesn’t mean you should. A modular 2-in-1 laptop pinch a much responsive surface and amended wide capacity would beryllium a amended fresh for astir group who moreover person nan slightest desire to person an all-in-one device. Like nan remainder of Onyx’s devices, nan Tab Ultra is specifically for those who put reference and oculus comfortableness supra each else.