Ad-free. Influence-free. Powered by consumers.

Your membership has expired

The payment for your account couldn't be processed or you've canceled your account with us.

Re-activate
Favorites

Save products you love, products you own and much more!

Become a Member Upgrade

Other Membership Benefits:

Become a Member Upgrade

Suggested Searches

All Products A-Z
Cars Home & Garden Appliances Electronics News Deals Gift Guide Babies & Kids Money Travel Health & Wellness All Products A-Z
 
Sign In
Become a Member
    outside the labs

    Best Digital Notebooks

    We put four popular e-ink tablets from Amazon, Boox, ReMarkable, and Supernote through the paces, scribbling and sketching on them over the course of two months. Here’s what we learned.

    four digital notebooks on a blue background
    Digital notebooks can do more than standard e-readers thanks to their styluses. From left: ReMarkable 2, Boox Note Air2, Supernote, and Kindle Scribe.
    Photo: Melanie Pinola/Consumer Reports, Kindle, Graphic: Alisa O'Connor/Consumer Reports

    I’ve been writing on screens for almost as long as I’ve owned electronic devices, starting back in the days of the PalmPilot (remember those?), then moving on to Windows laptops such as the Microsoft Surface Book and smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Note. I write faster, think better, and seem to remember more when I use a pen instead of a keyboard. It’s just satisfying to doodle during meetings, too.

    But I had never used a digital notebook, also known as an e-ink tablet, until very recently. These devices are still relatively new—the first ReMarkable tablet launched in a crowdfunding campaign in late 2016—and feature the easy-on-the-eyes black-and-white screens found on popular e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle. They cost a bit more but can also do more than a traditional e-reader.

    More on Tablets
    CR's Tablet Ratings & Buying Guide
    Best Tablets of the Year
    Best E-Book Readers
    What's the Best iPad for You?

    When paired with a stylus, they can replace a paper notebook for almost all your writing, note-taking, drawing, and doodling needs, in addition to being a pleasing, lightweight way to read e-books.

    Traditional tablets like the iPad and Amazon Fire can be more versatile because of their color screens and myriad app options, but they’re designed more for a touch experience than for writing. Even the iPad with its Pencil still feels a little too slick for me, more like writing on glass than paper. The best digital notebooks, by contrast, mimic that visceral, satisfying scritchy-scratchy effect of putting pen or pencil to pad.

    Better yet, they provide a distraction-free environment. Just you and the page. No email notifications, text alerts, pop-up ads, or other intrusions.

    And like e-book readers, they generally measure battery life in weeks, not hours.

    So when I saw an opportunity to review the devices for CR, I jumped at the chance.

    Here’s what I learned about the digital notebooks currently on the market, including one that I added to my holiday wish list.

    How I Evaluated the Digital Notebooks

    I started out by reading reviews of the 10 most popular models. In the end, I chose to buy four for a hands-on trial (CR purchases all products we review at retail) based on user reviews and the feature selection for writing, reading, and drawing. I looked closely at the writing experience; the ability to convert handwriting to text—also known as OCR (optical character recognition); and the compatibility with other apps and devices for syncing and exporting notes and drawings.

    To allow for apples-to-apples comparisons, I ordered the Boox Note Air2, ReMarkable 2, and Supernote, all in the 10.3-inch size. The Kindle Scribe, the first e-reader from Amazon that you can write on, measures 10.2 inches. Over the course of two months, I used each option for note-taking, sketching, jotting down ideas, and yes, composing articles. In fact, I wrote parts of this one on each of the devices and completed the first draft on the model that’s now our Editor’s Choice.

    I also compared the interfaces and pen tools, annotated PDFs, synced notes to the cloud, and contacted the manufacturers several times via email to check out the customer service. My husband and teenage daughter (who constantly fills up drawing pads with anime sketches) also helped me put the devices to the test. 

    After all that, I found that the four digital notebooks all have something to offer. They simply stand out for different reasons.

    Become a member to read the full article and get access to digital ratings.

    We investigate, research, and test so you can choose with confidence.

    Become a Member
    You Might Also Like...