If You Want a Brighter Screen
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Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
What if you could have 80 percent of what’s great about an E Ink screen and still watch videos and use your tablet like, well, a tablet? That’s the premise behind TCL’s Note A1 Nxtpaper, which wants to be the best of both worlds. The screen is not E Ink, and the writing experience is correspondingly not E Ink-good here, but it’s good enough for many, and the fact that when I’m done taking notes I can go stream a video makes the Note A1 more versatile than most tablets on this page. The Note A1 includes a very nice reversible pen (you can erase with the top) and a keyboard. The unnecessarily complex keyboard case requires a deep understanding of origami to use properly, but it protects the device and the keyboard is nice to type on (and it’s included in the price).
The custom user interface that TCL has built makes this device decidedly note-focused. The home screen consists of a small to-do list, a clipboard shelf, and then a list of all your notes. Click on a note with the pen, and it will open in edit mode with a configuration toolbar shown across the top. Here you can set up pen type, color, line thickness, and all the other tools you’d want to use to write or draw. I found the editing interface just about perfect in the sense that it balances keeping it simple but still gives you access to the controls you actually need. There are, however, some quirks here. For example, you can’t easily switch from reading a note to editing. For the most part, though, the UI works well for the intended purpose (primarily, taking notes). There are some nice AI-driven features here to help with note-taking, including automated meeting summaries, audio-to-text transcription, and handwriting-to-text conversion (also, equations can be converted from handwritten to typed). Underneath its custom UI, this is an Android tablet with the Google Play Store at your disposal, so you can run all the usual apps. —Scott Gilbertson
Comparing Our Favorite Digital Notebooks
Our Favorite Smart Pens
Neo Smartpen M1+ for $129: If you don’t want an entire tablet to write your digitized notes on, you can get a smart pen to use on regular paper that will log your notes into its companion app. The Neo Smartpen M1+ was the thinnest and lightest smart pen former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordiano tried, and she easily used it with notebooks and planners alike. You’ll pair it with the Neo Studio app, which has a notebook system that’s easy to navigate and organize your notes.
Moleskine Smart Writing Set for $225: Moleskine is already known for its notebooks, and the brand has a smart version now, too. Our team previously tested a version in 2018 that only cost $149, but the current version that’s $224 is next on my list to test. The set comes with a notebook and pen that will pair with the Moleskine Notes app to show you your notes.
Honorable Mentions
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The 3rd Gen Kindle Scribe (left) and the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Kindle Scribe Colorsoft ($630) and Kindle Scribe (3rd Gen) ($500) and Kindle Scribe Without Front Light ($430): The new versions of the Kindle Scribe are still solid all-around devices that have a good mix of e-reader and digital notebook features, but I still prefer the older model’s price point. While the new Scribe Colorsoft is a nice option if you want color, I think both are too expensive for what they are. The price comes from all the AI features packed into the device, plus connectivity to services like Google and Microsoft, but it still isn’t as powerful as a ReMarkable or Supernote if you want better tools. My picks above are a better price for similar features, though the Scribe does have the most impressive battery life of any digital notebook device I’ve tried (and that’s still true for the older model that I recommend above, too, so you don’t need the newest model for the best battery life).
Boox Note Air4 C for $470: If you’re looking for something a little more powerful than just taking notes and annotating, but still want the E Ink screen experience, then a Boox device is what you need. The Boox Note Air4 C has an e-paper screen and is primarily described as an “e-paper notebook,” but runs on Android 13 and has access to the Google Play Store, giving it more of a tablet feel that happens to have a colorful e-paper screen instead of your usual brightly lit iPad or Android tablet. You’re able to easily access the web (called NeoBrowser) right from the Boox homepage, which usually takes several steps and is incredibly slow on a true digital notebook. You’ll also access apps that look like a tablet, including an image gallery, calendar, music player, and tools like a clock, recorder, and calculator. It was a pick in this guide, but it’s now out of stock for US warehouses (you can still order from the Hong Kong warehouse, but you might have to pay extra tariffs and fees), and there’s a new version out, the Note Air5 ($530).
Montblanc Digital Paper for $935: Yes, that Montblanc, the one with the famous pens, now has a digital notebook of its own. It’s no surprise that I’d call its digital pen one of the best. It’s got a super-lightweight feel while sporting three different buttons, two of which you can customize. (There’s no eraser, but I’ll give it up for that end of the pen to instead be a home button). I really like this device overall, but it’s pricey for what you get—aside from the customizable pen buttons, there’s not much to differentiate it from my top picks.
Neo Smartpen Dimo for $59: This is the cheapest smart pen option and uses replaceable batteries. It isn’t compatible with Google Calendar, iCal, or Outlook like our other picks.
ReMarkable 2 for $419 (Refurbished): This is the older ReMarkable digital notebook from 2020, and it’s still a great device with a great range of accessories—while they’re still available, that is. This device is only available refurbished or secondhand after getting essentially replaced earlier this year with the ReMarkable Paper Pure.
Rocketbook Fusion Plus for $30: If you really prefer the paper experience and don’t want something you need to charge, then Rocketbook is for you. Rocketbook makes several reusable notebooks, planners, and accessories like index cards and sticky notes. I like the Rocketbook Fusion Plus since it comes with a ton of different template styles, from your classic monthly and weekly pages to project management layouts and meeting notes, making it feel closer to the variety a digital notebook can offer you. Take notes with an erasable Pilot Frixion Pen (one comes with whichever item you buy), scan photos of the pages into the Rocketbook app, and erase the whole thing with the damp microfiber cloth (also included). The app is designed to keep everything organized and easily send things off to Google Drive, Slack, Trello, OneNote, and a handful of other options.
Supernote A6 X2 Nomad for $394 (with Standard Pen): This is a smaller version of the Supernote A5 X2 Manta, measuring almost 6 inches on one side and 7.5 inches on the other. Supernote designed it with travel in mind, but I find it to be a great size for a daily digital to-do list or writing down quick notes from a meeting. It’s too small for anything major, but if you’re looking for something compact, this is a good option with Supernote’s software (and with the same fantastic pens!). Like the Manta above, this model rose in price due to the tariffs, though it only went up $30.
FAQs
Do You Need a Digital Note-Taking Device?
The short answer is no. These devices are expensive, usually costing several hundred dollars when a simple notebook and pen costs a few bucks. But if you like the physical act of writing but need to have digital copies, they’re worth considering.
Pros:
- Digital notebooks are thin and light but hold hundreds of notes.
- You can transcribe your notes into text files, making them easier to read and manipulate.
- Depending on the device, you can export files as PDFs, Google Docs, Evernote files, and more.
- Instantly digitizes your art, too.
Cons:
- Expensive.
- Need to be charged.
- Have a learning curve.
- Most smart pens need to be paired with an accompanying notebook. The upcoming Nuwa Pen promises smart notes on any paper.
E Ink notebooks are easier on the eyes and feel closer to paper than a glass-screened tablet. But in some cases, you might spend less getting an iPad and an Apple Pencil (and a keyboard if you also want to type sometimes). You can also do more on them thanks to the thousands of apps in the App Store. An iPad is pretty intuitive if you’re familiar with the Apple ecosystem (though both ReMarkable and Supernote’s ecosystems are also very intuitive). Former WIRED reviewer Jaina Grey recommended using her 11-inch iPad Pro with the GoodNotes and Notability apps for her writing, but there are other models that should work fine, including our top pick, the 2025 iPad. Check out our guide to the Best iPads for more advice on which to buy.
I also have an iPad, and I’ll say the upside of a digital notebook is that the battery tends to last longer, especially if you’re the type to use it for a day or two and then forget about it for a few days. My trusty Kindle Scribe usually manages to have plenty of battery available for whenever I feel the note-taking itch, even if it’s been a week or two since I last touched it.
Why Are Digital Notebooks so Expensive?
Just because these devices look like paper doesn’t mean they’re as cheap to make as a sheet of paper. Like any tablet or smartphone, these devices are packed with features, a special ecosystem, and the E Ink technology is no small feat to perfect, along with a sensation similar to writing on paper. It’s an impressive piece of technology.
Prices haven’t gotten cheaper for this category in the wake of tariffs’ causing technology prices to rise. ReMarkable recently raised the price of our top pick, the ReMarkable Paper Pro. Another favorite of ours from Supernote has gone up a little less than $50, and Kobo also slightly raised its prices, though the $10 increase is pretty minor compared to other increases we’ve seen. We’ll continue to monitor prices and flag if more price changes are to come.
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