The perfect E Ink tablets for 2025

Display screen measurement: 10.3-inch | Battery life: Two weeks | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi | Capability: 8GB | Included stylus: No, additional value | Supported file sorts: PDF, EPUB

The latest reMarkable tablet isn’t topping our listing as a result of it’s essentially the most full-featured and even most fascinating writing pill we examined. Quite, it offers the most effective mixture of options folks will discover helpful in an e-paper system like this.

We’ll get into all of them, however first, it’s value mentioning construct high quality. The reMarkable 2 weighs lower than one pound and is among the sleekest E Ink tablets we tried. It has a ten.3-inch monochrome digital paper show that’s surrounded by beige-colored bezels, with the chunkiest portion on the backside edge the place you’d naturally grip it. There’s a slim silver bezel on the left facet, which attaches to equipment just like the folio case and the brand new Type Folio keyboard. Hats off to reMarkable for making an E Ink pill that feels proper at residence with all your different fancy devices.

Let’s begin with the writing and studying experiences on the reMarkable 2, each of that are nice. From the get go, scribbling, doodling and writing was a breeze. I examined out the Marker Plus, which has a built-in eraser, however each it and the usual Marker are tilt- and strain delicate pens, and require no batteries or charging. I noticed principally no lag between my urgent down onto the reMarkable 2’s display screen and features exhibiting up. The latency was so low that it felt the closest to precise pen-and-paper. However I’ll say that this isn’t distinctive amongst our high picks on this information – virtually the entire E Ink tablets I examined received this very essential function proper.

In relation to studying, the reMarkable 2 helps PDFs and ePUBs, and you may add recordsdata to the system by logging into your reMarkable account on desktop or by way of the companion cellular app in your cellphone. You too can pair your Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox account along with your reMarkable account and entry recordsdata that manner as effectively. That must be adequate for anybody who, say, reads numerous educational papers or opinions many paperwork for work. It’ll be tougher for individuals who buy their ebooks from on-line marketplaces just like the Kindle or Kobo shops, however there are different choices for these.

One other enjoyable approach to get paperwork onto the reMarkable 2 is by way of the Read with reMarkable extension for Google Chrome. After putting in it and pairing your reMarkable account, you’ll have the ability to ship articles you discover on-line on to your reMarkable 2 so you possibly can verify them out later. You may even customise these recordsdata to be despatched as textual content solely, which is able to allow you to change their format immediately in your reMarkable, or as a PDF file. No matter which you select, you’ll have the ability to mark up these articles as you’d some other file on the E Ink pill.

I used this extension rather a lot and I loved studying longform articles on the reMarkable 2 greater than on my iPhone. Having the ability to underline, spotlight and in any other case mark up these tales was extra of a bonus than a necessity for me, however for others who glean sources from on-line supplies shall be higher off for it.

General, it’s fairly simple to get recordsdata onto the reMarkable 2 and it’s doable to entry them elsewhere when it’s possible you’ll not have the ability to whip out the E Ink pill. These with a reMarkable Join subscription could have the most effective expertise, and it’s a pleasant perk that you just get a one-year membership while you purchase one. The $3-per-month (or $30-per-year) subscription offers the power to edit present notes and take new ones from anyplace utilizing the desktop and cellular apps, plus limitless cloud storage and syncing.

That stated, I saved most of my testing native on the reMarkable 2 itself and was impressed by its capability to be a digital pocket book and not using a steep studying curve. You may create totally different notebooks and “fast sheets” to arrange your handwritten notes, and folders to make sense of imported recordsdata. You’ll discover eight totally different brush sorts with which to mark up paperwork and take notes, together with customizable line thicknesses and “colours” (which simply present up as shades on the pill itself). You may even sort wherever you need in a doc, and the reMarkable 2 can translate handwritten notes into machine-readable textual content with stunning accuracy.

It was no shock that the reMarkable 2 ended up having the most effective mixture of options, together with a comparatively low studying curve. The corporate was one of many first on the scene with a very viable E Ink pill again in 2017, and so they’ve been refining the expertise ever since. However that comes at a price – the reMarkable 2 isn’t the most costly E Ink pill we examined, but it surely’s not low cost both. The pill will set you again $399 with the usual Marker, or $449 for a bundle with the Marker Plus. You would get a 10th-gen iPad and the USB-C Apple Pencil for across the similar value and also you’d have a extra versatile duo, purely based mostly on the capabilities of iOS.

However you’re most likely not contemplating an iPad for a selected purpose, whether or not that’s your love for E Ink or the sensation of pen-to-paper writing, otherwise you merely need a extra distraction-free expertise. For those who’re in search of an E Ink pill that won’t take ages to get used to, gives a stellar writing expertise and makes it comparatively easy to entry notes elsewhere, the reMarkable 2 is your finest wager.

Learn our full reMarkable Paper Pro review

Display screen measurement: 11.8-inch | Battery life: Two weeks | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi | Capability: 64GB | Included stylus: No, additional value | Supported file sorts: PDF, EPUB

ReMarkable upped the ante in principally each manner with the Paper Pro, with out sacrificing something we liked concerning the reMarkable 2. Each my colleague Dan Cooper and I examined out the brand new system and you may learn his full reMarkable Paper Pro review right here, which works in-depth into the Paper Professional’s achievements and shortcomings. In my testing, I used to be most impressed by the refined design, quicker response instances and small joys that got here from having a brand new colour show.

The $629 Paper Professional has an 11.8-inch show, which is barely bigger and taller than that of the reMarkable 2. It’s not cumbersome, although, and with its 5.1mm thickness, it will get actually near the legal-pad pocket book measurement I personally love. It feels fairly premium by itself, particularly with the brand new grooved edges, and even with its Folio protector, it stays fairly svelte. The reMarkable 2 actually isn’t an ogre by comparability, however the “professional” within the Paper Professional’s title is well-deserved.

Contained in the reMarkable Paper Professional is a 1.8GHz quad-core Cortex A53 processor, 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage — all of that are specs which were bumped up from the reMarkable 2. It actually makes a distinction within the efficiency of the brand new mannequin. The Professional feels zippier than the reMarkable 2: web page refreshes are faster, actions and transitions are extra clean and pen latency is just 12ms (virtually undetectable in my expertise).

The place you see the gears working most frequently is in the usage of colour. The Paper Professional’s display screen makes use of a modified model of E Ink’s Gallery 3 expertise referred to as Canvas Shade, which is able to producing 20,000 colours that may layer on high of one another (assume while you spotlight a line greater than as soon as utilizing two totally different colours over each other). You may really see the pixels turning from a regular black colour to the colour of your selecting while you’re scribbling in a be aware, which isn’t a foul factor as a result of the display screen doesn’t lag or freeze due to this — write at your individual velocity and the system will up and produce the precise colours as you go alongside.

As for software program, you’re getting the identical expertise as you’d with the reMarkable 2, which is to remain a fairly streamlined interface that makes it simple to arrange all your paperwork, notes and different studying and writing materials. The reMarkable 2 provided one of the crucial approachable software program experiences in an E Ink pill, and that continues right here on the Paper Professional. These gadgets prioritize a distraction-free setting — or on the very least, a lower-distraction zone — and I recognize how reMarkable has saved its gadgets’ interface easy and simple.

Arguably the most important caveat to any reMarkable pill stays the month-to-month Connection subscription — an non-obligatory $3 month-to-month or $30 yearly service that gives limitless cloud storage, system syncing and the power to create and edit notes in reMarkable cellular apps. Energy customers will possible discover it worthwhile to pay for Join, however the Paper Professional’s 64GB of inside storage could be sufficient for others who wish to hold it easy (and hold all of their exercise to the Paper Professional itself). New system house owners get a 100-day free trial, so it’s simple sufficient to offer Join a shot after which cancel if you happen to don’t end up utilizing all of its perks.

An important factor to recollect if you happen to’re contemplating a reMarkable pill is that, based mostly on our testing, each the reMarkable 2 and reMarkable Paper Professional are strong gadgets. The Paper Professional actually earned its “professional” moniker because of noticeable enhancements the corporate made, however these don’t negate how good of a tool the reMarkable 2 nonetheless is. However if you happen to’ve received the money and wish to put money into a luxurious E Ink pill expertise, the Paper Professional is the best way to go.

Display screen measurement: 10.2-inch | Battery life: Months | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capability: As much as 64GB | Included stylus: Sure | Supported file sorts: AZW3, AZW, TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively and more

You actually have two choices on this house: the Amazon Kindle Scribe and the Kobo Elipsa 2E. The Scribe edged out the Elipsa 2E purely due to its low-latency pen-and-screen mixture. The Elipsa has its deserves, which we’ll get into in a bit, but it surely simply couldn’t compete with the Scribe when it got here to a seamless and clean handwriting expertise.

We already gave the Kindle Scribe the full review treatment and tested out the latest Kindle Scribe, which contains extra AI options. As talked about, there’s little to no latency when writing on the Scribe with its companion pen. Due to the latest software update, you even have extra brush sorts to select from now, together with fountain pen, marker and pencil, which add to the appeal. Like different E Ink tablets, the Scribe makes it simple to create a number of notebooks, and you may add pages to them and alter up their templates if you want.

As an e-reader, the Scribe shines not solely because of its 10.2-inch touchscreen with auto-adjusting entrance lights, but in addition as a result of you could have Amazon’s whole book retailer at your fingertips. For those who get most of your studying materials from Amazon or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you’ll have the ability to leap proper into all your titles immediately on the Scribe simply as you’d on a tool just like the Kindle Paperwhite. As well as, the Scribe can connect with Audible by way of Bluetooth for audiobook listening. It’s additionally simple to get ebooks out of your native library and skim them on a Kindle. This shall be essential not just for voracious readers, however particularly for college students who purchase or lease digital textbooks and people who devour books often for analysis functions.

I thought of college students rather a lot when utilizing the Scribe. I began faculty in 2009, two years after the primary Kindle was launched and one 12 months earlier than the primary iPad got here out. Getting textbooks digitally actually wasn’t an possibility for me – however I can perceive the attraction a note-taking system just like the Kindle Scribe would have for college students. It’s arguably even higher than a regular Kindle due to its greater display screen measurement, which is able to make it much less tiring to stare at for lengthy durations of time. Including the power to take handwritten notes when you’re learning is icing on the cake.

Nonetheless, Amazon’s execution of e-book notes just isn’t my favourite. You can’t make annotations within the margins of Kindle ebooks. As a substitute you press and maintain the pen’s tip on the display screen to focus on textual content or add a be aware to a selected phrase or phrase. For those who do the latter, a window pops up on the underside half of the display screen the place you possibly can both take a handwritten be aware or sort a textual content be aware utilizing the Scribe’s mildly irritating and sluggish on-screen keyboard.

Amazon rectified this a bit with a software update that enables for direct on-page writing in sure Kindle books. The Kindle Retailer now has a piece that showcases “Write-on Books,” which is at the moment largely made up of journals and recreation books that function puzzles like crosswords and sudoku. That is actually a step in the precise path, but it surely means you continue to will not have the ability to mark up your favourite fiction and non-fiction books till they assist the brand new function.

That is the place I give a nod to the Kobo Elipsa 2E, the place you can write notes within the margins, underline, circle and in any other case mark up your studying materials. It’s a extra pure (and enjoyable) expertise because it mimics what you’d do if you happen to have been studying a bodily e-book. It’s a disgrace that the latency on the Elipsa was only a hair extra noticeable than that of the Scribe. If it weren’t for that, it may need crushed Amazon’s system right here.

What that additional little bit of latency interprets to in observe is handwriting that may come out only a bit messier, and that will increase precipitously the quicker you write. However that additionally implies that you’ll discover this essentially the most when taking notes longhand on the Elipsa; if you happen to’re primarily utilizing an E Ink pill to mark up paperwork, it received’t have an effect on you as a lot.

Regardless of that, I did like the best way Kobo executed notebooks on the Elipsa. You may have a regular pocket book the place you possibly can write and scribble away, or an “superior” pocket book that helps handwriting-to-text conversion and inserting issues like diagrams and formulation. Textual content conversion is definitely fairly correct, too, even when coping with a few of my ugliest handwriting. Kobo additionally has a fairly sizable book market, so it’s actually an honest possibility if you wish to keep away from the Amazon ecosystem.

Display screen measurement: 7.8-inch | Battery life: Weeks | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capability: 32GB, expandable as much as 2TB with microSD card | Included stylus: No, additional value | Supported file sorts: PDF, EPUB, Phrase, Textual content (.txt), PNG, JPG, Comedian e-book archive (.cbz), FictionBook2 (.fb2) and OpenXPS (.xps)

Supernote impressed me with its X pill once I first examined it and now the corporate is on the X2 model. The A6 X2 model has a 7.8-inch display screen, and the just lately launched Manta A5 X2 has a ten.7-inch show. I’ve tried each out at this level and the primary distinction, as one would possibly anticipate, is display screen measurement.

However earlier than we get right into a comparison of the 2 Supernote gadgets, let’s speak concerning the upgrades the corporate made to each just lately. With the Nomad X2, the design has been tweaked in refined methods from the unique Supernote I examined. You get the up to date FeelWrite 2 display screen protector expertise, which is a smoother, much less scratchy one than different E Ink tablets, and a plastic physique that’s fairly light-weight. There are twin sidebars, sections on each lengthy edges of the pill that, when swiped, deliver up a menu, making this model simpler for right- and left-handed customers alike. The software program auto-rotates while you flip the display screen, too. On high of that, each the Nomad and Manta X2 gadgets are user-repairable now with replaceable batteries and a microSD card slot, each of which you’ll be able to see on the bottom of the pill because of its clear panel (there’s an opaque, white possibility too that’s additionally simply as upgradeable however nowhere close to as futuristic trying).

Unsurprisingly, that is nonetheless essentially the most enjoyable I had utilizing any E Ink pill. Due to its assist of a spread of file codecs (PDF, ePUB, Phrase, PNG, JPG, and so on), you possibly can put loads of materials onto the X2 and do what you want with it. In my earlier experiments, I needed to see if I may deal with it virtually like a digital bullet journal, and that wasn’t laborious to do. There are built-in web page templates, however I used to be capable of obtain day by day, weekly and month-to-month planner templates on-line, resize them and transfer them onto the X2 utilizing Android File Switch. The system has a devoted “MyStyle” folder the place it can save you recordsdata you wish to use as templates. Probably the most tough half was ensuring I had the size proper whereas resizing the paperwork. As soon as saved in the precise folder, I may make a complete pocket book out of the templates I had gotten from the web totally free.

However you don’t should get that deep if you happen to don’t wish to; Supernote’s software program comes with a variety of built-in be aware templates which are greater than appropriate for a spread of conditions and eventualities. The system nonetheless has its personal app retailer, but it surely’s fairly sparse, save for the Kindle app (though, the very last thing I needed to do on the Supernote was learn) and the new Atelier painting app. The latter is described by the corporate as “skilled portray software program” that has a variety of totally different brush choices, marker and spray instruments, 16 ranges of grayscale colour and the choice to export your creations as PSD recordsdata so you possibly can take them to the subsequent degree in Photoshop. It’s a enjoyable tackle a extra creative pocket book of kinds, and people who discover themselves eager to separate their creative creations from their mostly-words notes will recognize the inclusion.

This system actually shines as an E Ink pocket book and the corporate clearly put numerous thought into “constructing a greater mousetrap,” so to talk. You may translate handwritten phrases into typed textual content, however you don’t have to do this to ensure that the software program to acknowledge your handwriting. There’s a key phrases function that allows you to principally bookmark necessary phrases for fast entry later. All it’s worthwhile to do is lasso the phrase, press the key phrase button and the pill’s software program will translate your writing into typed textual content. Then you possibly can add it as a key phrase and rapidly leap again to it from the left-side pill of contents menu. Equally, you possibly can bookmark titles and add stars to pages which are necessary, all of which provide help to leap between necessary bits.

That stated, a Supernote system is just like one from Onyx Boox in that it’s not going to carry your hand. It’s important to be able to mess around, mess with settings and usually tinker with it proper while you open the field, and a few shall be just fine doing that (like our personal weekend editor Cheyenne MacDonald). The software program isn’t as polished as that on gadgets made by Amazon or Kobo, which results in an unavoidable studying curve. However pocket book nerds like myself shall be thrilled with all that the Supernote Nomad has to supply.

That stated, this isn’t the most costly E Ink pill on our listing, however it is going to set you again $329 or extra: $329 for the Nomad A6 X2 or $505 for the Manta X2, and $89 (or extra) for an accompanying pen. Which measurement you select will in the end rely on private desire. The Nomad, as its title suggests, is the extra transportable of the 2 and feels extra like interacting with a paperback e-book (albeit a really skinny one), whereas the Manta offers you noticeably extra display screen actual property. If you recognize you’ll do numerous writing on this system, contemplate your handwriting sizer — those that default to cursive or huge, crazy print might discover a extra spacious companion within the Manta.

Display screen measurement: 10.3-inch | Battery life: Weeks | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capability: 64GB | Included stylus: Sure | Supported file sorts: PDF, PPT, EPUB, TXT, DJVU, HTML, RTF, FB2, DOC, MOBI, CHM, PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP

Onxy continues to iterate on its lineup of E Ink tablets with the Note Air4 C, a pill that appears and feels virtually equivalent to the Air3 C, however now it’s barely much less weighty (actually 10g lighter than its predecessor), consists of two additional gigabytes of RAM and runs Android 13.

I skilled little to no latency when writing on the Boox Word Air and I used to be proud of the variety of brush choices it has within the Pocket book app. Due to the colour E Ink show, now you possibly can even add and save a number of totally different brushes with coloured ink, line thickness and different specifics and rapidly change between them. That is notably helpful on a colour E Ink pill like this as a result of it can save you, say, black, purple and blue brushes to make use of to distinguish several types of notes and switching amongst them is tremendous fast. You too can now add totally different shapes to notes and fill them in with colour; I made one thing that resembled a sticky be aware utilizing a easy sq. crammed in with yellow. Probably the most visible learners amongst us will discover options like this very useful.

Just like the Supernote A6 X2, this pill comes with a bunch of web page templates you should utilize for note-taking (together with some colour choices now as effectively), or you possibly can herald your individual PDFs and different paperwork to make use of as templates. There’s an “AI recognition” function that interprets a complete web page’s handwriting into typed textual content, and it’s really fairly correct. (Although, it did persistently confuse my “&” for a capital A). I additionally appreciated you could add other forms of fabric to your notes, together with internet pages and voice recordings, and share notes as PDFs or PNGs by way of e-mail, Google Drive and different companies. Options like these be certain that, with this partially analog system, you don’t miss out on a number of the conveniences {that a} true digital pocket book system would have.

The actual fact stays that Boox’s whole Word collection is what you’d get if you happen to eliminated a number of the notebook-specific options from the Supernote A6 X2 and added in a extra full model of Android. Boox makes a variety of fascinating E Ink gadgets and the Boox Word Air is the one which finest compares to the others on our listing because of its 10.3-inch show. They’re E Ink Android tablets, so which means you possibly can really obtain Android apps from the Google Play Retailer like Kindle, Kobo and others. There’s even an internet browser, and sure, you possibly can watch movies on this factor, too.

In fact, simply because you are able to do all of that doesn’t imply you must. E Ink screens are actually finest for studying and writing, so I didn’t spend a lot time binge watching YouTube on Boox’s system – however I used to be comfortable that I had the liberty to take action. Actually, the utility of Android is available in with the app retailer and I anticipate that most individuals will use it to obtain all of their favourite studying and writing apps. Very similar to a regular pill, this shall be an amazing possibility for anybody that will get their studying materials from a bunch of various locations — and since you possibly can manually switch paperwork out of your pc to the system, too, it’s far-and-away essentially the most versatile possibility on our listing.

And, importantly, Boox tablets on the whole supply an fascinating worth proposition. A Boox Word Air4 C bundle with the pill, a regular pen and a folio case is available in at $529, placing it on the upper finish of the value spectrum among the many gadgets we examined. However contemplating it’s a full Android pill, that doesn’t appear absurd. Those that wish to keep away from distractions more often than not whereas nonetheless accessing e-mail and an internet browser would possibly gravitate in the direction of a tool like this.

Display screen measurement: 13.3-inch | Battery life: Weeks | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capability: 128GB | Included stylus: Sure | Supported file sorts: PDF, PPT, EPUB, TXT, DJVU, HTML, RTF, FB2, DOC, MOBI, CHM, PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP

Most E Ink tablets accessible now max out at 10 or 11 inches in display screen measurement. However the newest mannequin from Boox, the Note Max, has a gloriously giant 13.3-inch Carta 1300 show. It’s not the one E Ink pill from Boox to get this huge — the Tab X has the identical measurement display screen, albeit with a decrease dpi (207 vs the Word Max’s 300) — but it surely is among the few e-paper tablets with such a big show made by a longtime producer on this house.

Except for the luxurious show, the Word Max feels and works like some other pill within the Word collection so get able to tinker with it if that is your first such Android-based system. However I discovered the note-taking and doodling expertise to be outstanding on such a big e-paper show. I’m somebody who prefers giant notebooks (B5-sized and bigger, A4 or legal-pad sized most popular) so it’s not stunning that I used to be drawn to the Word Max.

One of many native Boox apps I notably liked utilizing on this large-format system was Calendar Memo, which supplies you a month-view calendar you could faucet into particular person days and take notes that correspond to that day. So for instance, you possibly can take work notes, journal, write down to-do lists and extra and return to these writings even after the day has handed simply by tapping on a selected day within the calendar. And if you happen to use Boox’s native ereading app, the books and paperwork you learn on every day may also present up along with your notes, offering a useful log of your progress. Not solely did I discover it helpful to have all of that data in a single viewport because of the massive show, however I may additionally see myself utilizing the Calendar Memo app often to log the entire most necessary issues I wish to keep in mind long-term for every day.

That stated, the Word Max doesn’t come low cost: it’s $689 for the pill, plus the included cowl and stylus. Whereas it’s nice that Boox doesn’t make you pay additional for these much-needed equipment, it’s nonetheless possible too cost-prohibitive for most individuals.

Display screen measurement: 7.3-inch | Battery life: Two weeks | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi | Capability: 64GB | Included stylus: Sure | Supported file sorts: PDF, EPUB

For those who like the thought of the reMarkable Paper Professional however both need one thing smaller or cheaper (or each), the brand new Paper Pro Move was principally made for you. With its 7.3-inch Canvas Shade show, it resembles a steno-pad version of the full-sized Paper Professional. It’s most comparable in measurement to the Supernote Nomad, however the Paper Professional Transfer is barely smaller in width and top, which ought to permit it to slide into vast pockets extra simply.

The {hardware} is top-notch identical to the common Paper Professional, with strong, ridged edges and a luxe display screen that gives good suggestions while you write on it. Its marker attaches magnetically to the precise facet of the system for charging and protected conserving, and you may optionally get a folio case for the Paper Professional Transfer that may defend the display screen while you’re not utilizing it and safe the marker even additional.

Software program is equivalent right here to the common Paper Professional as effectively, with a number of new added options like a drag-and-drop toolbar, be aware search and handwriting-to-text conversion that shall be accessible throughout different reMarkable tablets. As well as, you possibly can create all method of notebooks for handwritten textual content and add paperwork utilizing reMarkable’s cellular app and internet consumer. The system helps PDFs and EPUB recordsdata, which limits issues a bit if you happen to have been hoping to make use of this like a ereader. There are higher E Ink tablets for that objective; the Paper Professional Transfer, identical to the common pill, is finest for handwriting notes, marking up paperwork and the like. And because of its measurement, it’ll possible be a lot better for many who work on location or within the discipline, slightly than at a desk.

The value can be a bit extra manageable than the full-sized Paper Professional. The Transfer will run you $449 when paired with its commonplace marker, however if you need the upgraded marker and wish to add the folio case into the combo, be ready to spend extra. Nonetheless, $449 is a greater beginning value than the common Paper Professional’s $629 flooring.

Display screen measurement: 7-inch | Battery life: As much as 40 days | Community connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Capability: 32GB | Included stylus: No | Supported file sorts: EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR, Kobo audiobooks

The Kobo Libra Colour not solely provides colour to its display screen but in addition stylus assist. Meaning you possibly can spotlight textual content, write within the margins of e-books and create notebooks. The low-latency, feature-rich stylus, plus integration with Dropbox and Google Drive, make the Libra Color a surprisingly efficient E Ink pill. In the end, we nonetheless assume the Kindle Scribe is your finest wager for a tablet-and-ereader combo, because of the extra expansive Kindle library and the bigger, ten-inch display screen — however Kobo’s newest deserves a point out.

The Libra Color is our present choose for a mannequin with buttons in our ereader guide. It has a premium construct, loads of textual content customizations for snug studying and a crisp, warm-light, seven-inch show. The addition of colour provides curiosity to e-book covers and allows you to spotlight textual content in 4 totally different hues. Kobo additionally caught a quicker processor within the system, which makes waking from sleep, turning pages, navigating the menu and altering orientation zippy quick.

The Libra Color doesn’t include the Kobo stylus — one other level within the Scribe’s favor — however if you happen to add the $70 accent, you’ll have the ability to spotlight textual content and scribble notes within the margins of any e-book. You’ll additionally unlock entry to Kobo’s two kinds of notebooks: Primary, which helps you to draw, scribble and write freehand, and Superior, which may convert handwriting to typed textual content and allows you to add diagrams and sections.

The stylus gives three pen kinds, plus a brush and highlighter, and switching between them is fast with an unobtrusive menu. Due to the colour expertise, you possibly can write and attract ten colours and spotlight in 4. One of many few points I bumped into was with the highlighter button — it’s in an amazing spot for spotlighting textual content on the fly, however that location can be proper the place I relaxation my pointer finger, so I usually hit it whereas writing. However the utility of the built-in eraser balances out that irritation.

I seen a barely perceptible latency and good strain sensitivity, which is most blatant utilizing the fountain pen. The faucet-to-convert function virtually all the time appropriately turned my bizarre printing-and-cursive-hybrid handwriting into sort, and importing notebooks to Dropbox or Google Drive took mere seconds. (You too can do hardwired, USB-C transfers to a pc.)

With the added value of the stylus, you’ll pay $300 for Kobo’s set, which remains to be $100 cheaper than the bottom mannequin of the most recent Kindle Scribe. For those who don’t want a bigger display screen or entry to the lots of of Kindle titles you could have already bought, the Libra Color makes for an interesting ereader/E Ink pill various. — Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter