E-ink tablets for note-taking
I like to write notes for work and sketch/draw in my spare time. I'm about to finish another paper notebook, and I noticed a few ads for the ReMarkable & decided to check it out. A few YouTube videos later, I'm now quite interested in getting an e-ink tablet to replace the notebooks I've been going through.
Thing is, with this type of technology I'm always a bit worried that I won't use it enough to justify the price. If anyone has one of those - have they managed to replace the classic paper/pen combo for you? Do you regret your purchase or are you happy with it?
If anyone is curious, I was specifically looking at the ReMarkable 2 and the Supernote Nomad. The ReMarkable seems to be the most popular choice, but I really like how the Supernote emphasizes repairability (notably, the battery is replaceable). I'm also very much open to other suggestions if you have any!
I have a Supernote, not that one, but the A6X, and I'm a huge fan. It's really made it so much easier to take notes - it's small enough to take everywhere, but I can organise things so much more easily than with a single notebook. More than that, it's so convenient to just edit, rearrange, delete, etc text - I have a to-do list where I can just drag items into different columns, delete them when they're finished, etc.
I had expected to use more of the extra features like the calendar and the screen mirroring, for work. In the end I use that stuff fairly rarely, it's just not quite practical enough to make sense a lot of the time. Slightly more useful would be the ability to use the device as a generic Wacom tablet, but maybe that will come later. On the other hand, it's pretty much completely replaced my Kindle, which I didn't expect. The A6X is a really good size for that - only slightly larger than the Kindle - and can deal with ebooks natively, or there's a Kindle app (at least on the version I'm using).
In terms of Remarkable vs Supernote, I went for the Supernote because of the size, but also because I felt like it had more of the features I was interested in. As I said, I've not used those features as much as I thought, but they're useful to have nonetheless, and the size is absolutely perfect for me (although I've always preferred A5 note paper/notebooks). I'm really impressed by how quickly the Supernote people are adding new features as well - originally I held off because I couldn't find anything that I could use for screen sharing, but it was in the roadmap, and when I checked a couple of months later they'd added it. The new model looks very impressive, although I understand there'll be some differences in terms of the different OS, and I've not looked into the details there yet.
Genuinely, for me, it's one of the best purchases I've made in the last few years. The new Supernote looks even better, at least hardware-wise. I definitely recommend it.
As someone looking at the Nomad (A6X2) this is awesome to hear!
I have a Kindle Scribe, and while it’s good at reading, it sucks at note taking. The Nomad seems like an awesome balance between portability and function. Hopefully I’ll have the budget to get a full set (device, case, and pen) soon. It seems perfect to keep a small journal and work notes (as a developer).
That's pretty much my exact use-case! I like to write down my thoughts before writing code because it helps organize things in my head. Plus, sketching is a great way for me to clear my head.
I also have the supernote! It's a great writing tablet and doesn't require a subscription service. It's really nice to write on, responsive, and the devs/company are active with the community. It is very smooth and focused in its capabilities. Couldn't recommend it more.
Replying to myself: in terms of accessories, I'm not a huge fan of the case or the pen. The non-premium case is a bit flimsy. I suspect the premium case is a lot nicer, but I didn't want to pay too much extra, and it was leather, so I went for the cheap option. That said, I'm still using it, and I've not found a better option, so it's definitely not bad.
The pen works very well, but is a bit cheap and plasticy, and I think I dropped it or bashed it around one too many times, because it ended up behaving a bit oddly at times (always very easy to fix, but still irritating). I've ended up getting the Lamy digital pen as a replacement, which feels a lot nicer, but any pen that works for a Wacom tablet should work for the Supernote. That said, the original pen wasn't a bad starter pen.
I have a ReMarkable 2 and while it's a solid option, it feels very arbitrarily limited and they very openly nickle-and-dime you. The stylus costs extra, the cover costs extra (which you really need!), and more than a year after launching they introduced a keyboard that plugs into the pogo pins on the side - which wouldn't be a bad thing except for that it doesn't by default allow you to plug in a generic USB keyboard.
They also have their own cloud service which you will need to pay in order to sync your documents with any degree of reliability. They have a "free version" but if you don't update your documents every so-and-so number of days it will no longer keep them in sync. Oh, and if you want to synchronize with another service like dropbox you have to pay for their subscription service as well.
The main reason why I don't use it is simply because I don't handwrite notes anymore. You can read PDFs with it, but it's kind of a pain to deal with and the controls for doing so aren't terribly well implemented. But the hardware is pretty good; it does a good job of delivering on it's promises. I wouldn't say it matches the actual experience of pen and paper - it's pencil and paper at best - but it's good enough in that respect.
I also have a Remarkable 2, but with a totally different experience.
I have to preface with saying that I got the Remarkable very early (so quite cheap), and because of that I also have a free lifetime subscription for the plugins like Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.
I use it exclusively for work. I prefer taking written notes during meetings. I used to have a traditional notebook for that, but I have a lot of meetings for a lot of different projects. Keeping things organized in a simple notebook was not possible. On my remarkable i have folders for each project and I store my notes there, which makes it very easy to look up previous notes. I have to say I honestly would not want to not have a Remarkable (or similar) anymore. I review papers, theses, phd dissertations, and take notes directly in the pdf. I use it to sign digital forms. I use it daily. (I also have a script that allows me to use it as a graphic tablet, so i could write notes on slides when teaching online)
For me, it does what it needs to do. Note taking is natural, and I don't need too much bells and whistles. I don't actually use the syncing features, I use the usb port to move files, although perhaps I should for a more secure and regular backup.
That being said, if my remarkable starts to fail, I don't know if I would buy another. There are lots of options and indeed, the 'nickle-and-diming' at remarkable is obvious and annoying. I would definitely buy something (it's become part of my working process), but I'll have to check alternatives as well (apart from Supernote, Onyx looks interesting as well)
Thanks for sharing your experience! I was also looking at Remarkable but I really don't want to pay for a subscription just to be able to sync my docs with Dropbox, I feel like the ability to sync w/ a third-party service of my choosing shouldn't be paywalled.
My lecturer in university has one. Upon asking if it was worth it this was his conclusion:
Too expensive for its use. He only got it for a study and would not pay for it from his pocket. It is very slow and its only redeeming quality is the long battery life, which is useful for conducting studies.
I have a Kindle Scribe, (which while not one of the ones you mentioned, still seems to attempt to fill the defined niche,) and have a few thoughts:
First I would not recommend the Kindle Scribe if your primary focus is note taking. While the writing experience is fantastic, the note organization and note taking tools are abysmal. It simply has a “notes” section that collects all of your notebooks. Each notebook can only be a single type of page. If you want to have one page be lined and one be dotted or blank, then you’re out of luck. You can use PDF templates, but in my personal use it has been a pain to set up and even worse to use in practice.
On the other hand, as a Kindle, it is amazing. The bigger screen, fast refresh rate (for an eink display) and amazingly consistent backlight make it the best kindle I’ve ever owned.
Now for actual e-ink note taking suggestions: I’ve had my eye on the Supernote line of devices, specifically the Supernote Nomad (aka the Supernote A6X2). It’s nice and compact, and the note taking tools look fantastic. On top of the the parent company makes some really nice and compelling styluses that feel as closed to paper that you can get. The downside is that the devices are fairly thick, and if you’re looking at getting a full bundle (Nomad + folio case + stylus) you’re looking at north of $500 USD.
The remarkable 2 has also been on my radar, since it takes the experience of writing on paper and tries to improve on that instead of simply throw an e-ink display on an android device. My only concerns there have been the price (roughly $500 USD for a similar bundle to above). Remarkable 2 does have some improvements over the Nomad though, firstly: larger display, thinner device, and subjectively better writing feel. The cons seem to be that it’s on the older side (in terms of tablets/electronics) and some users are unsure how far away we are from a faster Remarkable 3.
Boox makes similar devices to the Supernote and Remarkable that run android. I personally own a Palma by them (their palm sized kindle). While I like the ability to use android apps, there is no writing functionality, so I can’t comment there, but their bigger devices (like their color e-ink display ones) do. The issues with them are usually worse battery life (because they use android and have their slightly more advanced display and refresh rate). The issue with their android implementation is that they’re usually behind multiple versions of Android which can pose many security risks.
I know that this isn’t necessarily helpful for what you’re asking, since I haven’t used these devices myself, but I figured this might be a helpful summary of the devices since I have been wondering the same thing as you: what device, if any, should I get for note taking. I am personally leaning toward the Supernote Nomad for two reasons: it is more recently released and because it is smaller. The size of personal preference, and the release date of the device could probably be ignored if you prefer a larger writing area.
I was considering this road a long time ago, and while I never got myself fully into the habit of notetaking like I wanted, I settled for a refurbished iPad, the oldest that supported the apple pencil. Bought a knockoff stylus/pencil for it (didn't need pressure sensitivity). And bought a screen protector with a "paperlike" feel.
I ended up preferring the advanced functionality and even just the ability to use color.
This is true, this was one of the options I looked at instead of getting the Supernote, and I was very tempted by it, partly because, as you say, you can do so much more - my partner and I thought it would be useful to take on holidays for watching TV on long journeys and things, which you obviously can't do with an e-ink display.
Personally, I'm glad I didn't go down that route because a tablet would have been heavier and more delicate, and therefore not as transportable, but I do occasionally miss, for example, the ability to use colour. So I do think this is a very viable option, and probably cheaper because you can find all the components second hand.
I have a Boox Nova which I think are also worth mentioning. To me, their main benefit is that they’re running a modified version of Android, which if you wish means you can install apps from the Google Play store.
They’re worth checking out as they have a bunch of sizes and also have some ‘colour’ options.
Also I can’t not talk about e-ink devices without plugging this YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@MyDeepGuide
This guy has hands-down the most in depth reviews of many devices. I’d highly recommend checking if he has a video on any device you’re interested in as he’ll highlight most of the downsides that might be a deal breaker for you.
I was also looking into getting one, but… I use OneNote for all my notes (it’s a combination of notes written on my laptop and recently handwritten notes with my work iPad). Instead of buying a personal iPad, I was hoping there was an e-ink reader that had solid OneNote support… is this far-fetched? Anyone have any luck with that?
I had a ReMarkable 2, which I purchased before they started charging for their cloud syncing service. I sold it. My review here will therefore be a little old, as I sold it in early 2022. Perhaps something has changed.
The hardware experience was nice: it felt good in your hands, it was thin and light, and their "writing on paper" feel was a pleasure to use. The device's responsiveness to your writing was also good, in that I didn't think there was a significant delay between a stroke and seeing it on the screen.
Their software was why I sold it. I found the user interface clunky, slow, and not intuitive. It was sort of challenging to get documents on and off the device (maybe that's why they went to the cloud service), and the organization was a little difficult to manage. IMO the interface reminded you that you were using an e-ink display, since the refresh rates of the UI were pretty slow. Kindle e-reader slow, again a contrast from the actual writing part which felt pretty snappy. Maybe that's better these days.
If you are dead-set on an e-ink display (for battery life, that tactile writing feel, or something else), I'd recommend perhaps waiting for a ReMarkable 3 and considering whether you want to deal with their nickel-and-diming (which I agree with the above reviews that describe that feeling), or considering something else. If not, consider a second-hand or refurbushed iPad with a stylus/pencil. If you want the "write on paper" feel, get a screen protector that replicates it. Uninstall apps you don't think you'd need, and turn it into a notetaking machine. The use of color, the variety of documents supported, the ease of syncing with it, the performance of either a first- or third-party stylus/pencil with the display... it's worth thinking about, IMO.
Just to add some anecdotal experience to your last paragraph, I used Goodnotes on a refurbished ipad pro to get through my last year of gradschool and it was a fantastic notetaking experience. Being able to color code, tag, and directly paste charts into my notes was incredibly helpful for me. Paired it with zotero so I could access and mark up my source docs and had an honest "welcome to the future" moment lol. I did end up getting a paper texture screen protector to make writing feel nicer
Are you my officemate? :-P
One day we were talking about e-ink tablets and notetaking, and he showed me what he does - and it's what you've described here, Goodnotes, Zotero, the whole nine yards. This approach is pretty efficient and he said it really made him feel like notetaking on a digital device was finally and truly useful, in a "more than the sum of its parts" way.
I have the remarkable2 since half a year and I absolutely love it. It is probably one of my coolest pieces of tech that I own and I can't imagine not having it anymore. I use it for several things such as journaling, week planning (pretty cool etsy templates available) and goal setting - especially this always felt like such a drag to have to turn on the computer for that and writing on paper has a privacy aspect that feels too insecure for me, having just an "open" notebook. I also absolutely love reading on it as it is so soft to the eyes and gets you away from the screen. Also the fact that it feels much less of a commitment to have ebooks instead of physical books and that I can just slap twenty new ones on it any time and read whatever I feel like is amazing.
I also have workbooks on it for language learning - great if you can just fill them right away! Plus handwriting exercises although it does take a bit of getting used to in terms of writing. And much more stuff, you get the idea.
In terms of likeliness to actual paper, there is a miniscule lag between putting down the stylus and seeing the line on the tablet that sometimes throws me off mid-writing. Hard to explain but feels like every now and then my brain just can't cope with the delay. Other than that, feels really organic I would say.
A few other aspects: Build quality is top notch. I despise their software/ internet dependency and have come up with my own ways. First of all, this device is really nicely hackable. Check github for remarkable2 and you find tons of cool hacks. I can't even blame them for making it the way they did because I guess that is just what consumers want these days, connected at all times, synced to everything, etc. I am really grateful though they respect the open source license of their software (linux based) and let you SSH into it. That is remarkable!!! Also I am a privacy freak and for me having this thing connected to the internet was my worst nightmare. That's exactly what i am trying to get away from when using it. There is a really cool project which is this one:
http://www.davisr.me/projects/rcu/
I use this utility for all my data transfers. Just locally, no network connection, that's how I like it. Upload is super simple and takes seconds, custom folder structures, custom splashcreens, etc.
The drawback for being able to use this is that I have to stay quite a few firmware updates behind the latest version which does suck a bit as some cool and new useful features get added over time but for me, the compromise is worth making.
(Edit: Seems like there was a major update, now compatible up to 3.8! Awesome!)
Lastly, because the tablet only offers a 4 digit pin as protection (what a joke lol), I encrypt all my sensitive PDFs preupload with a strong PW that I have to type on the tablet before opening a file... Again small usability compromise I am willing to make for the piece of mind that if the device ever gets lost, no one will get to my private data.
One last comment: the battery life is ridiculous. Lasts literally forever. It would be cool to have a very gentle backlight... That is about the only thing I do miss when reading in dimmer conditions. Otherwise, its near perfect for me.
Hope this helps!
PS: Do not get ripped off by buying their specific stylus and cover. Jesus, what a money grab. I tested many different pens and found the amazon kindle scribe premium pen to be the best since I love the general feel and the included backside eraser. Just such a cool feel to flip the pen and erase that way. Works out of the box. Also bought a custom cover on etsy for way less money than theirs... Just some ideas!
I've been thinking about buying one of these two for a while as well, so I am also interested in responses here. I'd be very curious to hear from people who have had the chance to use both, as I am curious what the comparison in terms of latency when writing is. I briefly used a remarkable in store once and while it was very impressive, I was surprised that the latency when writing was ever so slightly perceptible.
Not exactly what you asked for, but an option that I think more people should consider in this area is a Rocketbook reusable notebook. You write in it like a regular paper notebook, but then you scan the pages with their phone app and then wipe the pages clean with a wet cloth. The app sends your scans (with optional OCR) to email or your favorite cloud storage, so you get the "store my notes forever and let me access them on any device" benefits of an e-ink notebook, but you also get the feeling of writing on paper. Plus it's much cheaper, so you save money up front and you don't worry about losing it because it's "just" a notebook.
I like the Remarkable so another vote there. I’ll throw into the ring a smart pen - I’ve seen a lot of people love these https://shop.neosmartpen.com