The digital notepad is the new way of saving papers without compromising your creativity. And whether you’re an art enthusiast, a student or even a busy businessman, considering it is indeed a wise decision.
A quality notepad doesn’t only save you a paper but will unleash your true writing and art potential. The reason behind this is many top-notch digital notebooks provide you with their app as well.
But unfortunately, there’s a catch. Picking the best fit among so many “claiming to be best” notepads without any prior knowledge is next to impossible. This is why we’re here.
We’ve made a list of some of the best digital notepads that’ll surely provide you a new healthy way of taking notes or making sketches.
To distinguish a quality notepad from so many worthy competitors, the big picture you need to have is what’s your need? On top of that, do have a look at these factors for a better insight.
Screen Size
The screen size is always a priority for any electronic device. And here too, having a larger work area will provide you with an amazing experience with the digital notepad. However, the screen size only matters for artists and businessmen only.
If you’re considering a digital notepad for general purpose, the screen size becomes a secondary choice for you.
Stylus or Digital Pen
The stylus of a digital notepad mostly decides your experience with the notepad. This is why it’s important to have an ergonomic stylus. Mostly, a quality notepad will provide you with a stylus with a similar appearance to a pen for easy writing purposes.
Another thing to note is how sensitive they are. This is an important factor to consider, as a digital pen with more pressure points will provide you with accurate and precise results.
If you’re confused by looking at these factors, don’t worry at all. A detailed buying guide is included later in this article. The guide comprises many factors (including these) to look for while making a purchase.
But now, let us hunt our best writing partner.
Best Digital Notebook in 2021
Best Digital Notebook Reviews
1. Royole RoWrite Smart Writing Digital Pad
Starting the list with the Royole Rowrite digital pad, one of the most famous players in the market. It would be the best friend for art enthusiasts, note-taking students, and even busy businessmen.
As it requires real paper to accomplish the work, you’ll not have to compromise your writing or drawing style at all. Its smart ink pen keeps track of every stroke accordingly.
Talking about the smart ink pen, it’s much similar to a normal writing pen. This pen works with refillable ink that can be easily bought separately further. It’s lightweight, ergonomically designed that captures 2048 pressure points for accurate and precise results. Moreover, you’ll need an AAAA battery instead of charging the pen every time. The battery will easily last up to three long months before getting completely drained.
This digital notepad comes with a built-in battery that can be easily charged with the help of a micro USB cable. There are also two buttons available in the pad, named A and B. By pressing the A button, you can easily transfer any of the pages to your phone with the help of an app. On the other hand, the B button indicates the pad to start a new page from there.
And here comes the most powerful feature of Rowrite digital pad, the Rowrite app. You can easily pair any Android or iPhone device with the app to get access to other sketchings features. Some of the features include using the pen in eraser mode, selecting desired brush and colour, and much more.
Advantages:
- Requires actual paper
- Powerful app
- Carry folio is aesthetic
Disadvantages:
2. Royole RoWrite 2 Smart Writing Notebook Digital Notebook
Coincidentally, the second product on the list is the successor of the Royole RoWrite. If you’re willing to go a bit higher with your budget, considering this would be a total game-changer. The RoWrite 2 digital notebook would be the best fit for you. This Royole has covered every flaw or limitation, its previous version was having.
Starting with the notepad itself. You’ll get an aesthetic cream coloured notepad that looks great and professional for both businessmen and artists. However, this time you get a conventionally designed notepad that uses synthetic leather and premium aluminium as built-in material.
These built-in materials don’t only provide looks to the notepad but make them slightly bendable as well. Thus, it can easily bear accidental drops and you’ll not have to worry about keeping it away from children. On top of that, the Rewrite 2 has reduced remarkable weight, from 775g to 420g. Now, you can easily carry it to other places without any hassle.
Its digital stylus pen is as usual ergonomic in design and feels like using a real pen. However, there is something intriguing, the magnetic touch. The pen easily gets attached on top of the notepad so that you’ll not have to store it somewhere else. Also, keeping the pen in this position will charge the pen as well, wherever you charge your notepad.
The battery improvement is also up to the mark. Here you get a 710mah of battery that easily lasts a whole day before completely worn out. And instead of charging with micro USB, USB Type-C is used here.
Its game-changing features is the humongous memory of 8GB. The earlier version only had 16MB of internal storage that had a maximum capacity of saving only 80 pages. On the other hand, you can easily store more than a thousand pages of work in the internal memory of the notepad. It’s due to the memory that Rowrite 2 can also be used to edit other media files as well.
Advantages:
- Light-weighted
- 16MB of internal storage
- 710mAH of battery
- Aesthetic look
Disadvantages:
3. SolidTek ACECAD PenPaper 2
SolidTek ACE CAD Pen Paper 2 is generally known for simple yet effective note-making purposes. It would be a budget-friendly option for notes taking students, teachers and businessmen. The overall appearance is similar to a writing pad and doesn’t look for any fancy features as well. Let’s inspect further.
Its notepad design and conventional look will soon become your day to day necessity. This pad is equipped with 50 pages with dimensions of 5 X 8 inches. Thus, you’ll get sufficient space to note down the things without any issue.
Talking about the digital pen, you’ll get the notepad. The pen looks just like any other traditional pen and uses a general ink cartridge. You can easily replace it with a separate ink cartridge. Its sensitivity is also up to the mark. Here the pen captures up to 1024 pressure points for precise results. However, you might need some time to get used to it.
There are no flaws in the app, where the main aim is to provide general file transmission. And here’s the best thing about it, the app lets you edit other media files such as jpeg, and pdfs too.
At last, the battery of the SolidTek ACECAD PenPaper 2 lasts for eight long hours. However, it might disappoint long working hours workers. But, the smart power management of the notepad seems to make things easier. It automatically goes to sleep mode, if inactive for 30 minutes.
Advantages:
- Live view
- The battery lasts up to eight hours.
- Sleep mode
Disadvantages:
- Includes 1024 pressure points.
4. JONZOO LCD Writing Tablet, Digital Notepad
JONZOO LCD writing tablet would be a perfect gift for your kids and small ones. The tablet works fine for child’s play and notes taking purposes. And the best part, you’ll not have to leave your comfortable budget as well.
The body is firmly built and weighs only 188 grams. Here, you’ll get 12 inches of the working area, that’ll work just fine for a kid, or your general note-taking process. An intriguing this about this notepad is, it’s equipped with two magnets at the back. With this, you can easily attach it to the refrigerator or any metal surface for easy access.
It takes a 1pcs CR2025 coin battery to get energized. And there’s nothing to worry about replacing the batteries. This tablet consumes a minimum amount of energy. You can easily write up to 300,000-500,000 times before the battery gets drained.
A small drawback of this tablet is, it doesn’t come with any separate stylus. Although, it’ll work fine with any pointed object. Thus, you can use a normal pencil placed with a soft material (cotton) in the front. However, you can always buy a separate stylus for convenience.
The tablet takes care of your eyes and only emits natural green light. This light is bright enough, and you can easily work with it in any normal environment. There’s also a screen lock at the backside of the tablet that’ll pin the current screen. By doing so, you can easily rely on to write any important things without the worry of getting erased.
Advantages:
- Requires 1pcs CR2025 coin battery
- Great for kids
- Weighs only 188grams
- Natural light
Disadvantages:
- You need to buy a separate stylus.
5. BOOX Note Air 10.3 Notepad
Don’t have any budget issues, and are willing to spend more on a digital notepad? If you’re looking for a notepad that’s both robust and provides many features, the BOOX Note Air, got your cover. It’s one of the most expensive notepads in the industry that costs around 500 dollars but is worth investing every penny. Let’s dive deeper into the features it provides you.
You get a clean tablet that looks classy and aesthetic as well. Besides, USB-C charger port, and an on/off switch, this E-ink notepad provides you with a large working area. Its screen has more feats to reveal, let’s talk about that as well.
The anti-glare coating on the front surface will allow you to work on this notepad, regardless of the environment. Thus, even on a sunny day, you can use your creativity sitting on a park’s bench. Also, the brightness intensity can be configured into the warm or cool mode, according to the presence of light in the environment.
Considering this digital notepad as a smart tablet is not a false statement. It has every such thing to declare the title of a tablet. Starting with its 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal memory is not for managing text and drawing. You can even play with MP3, images, pdfs and whatnot.
The same goes with the other functionality also. You can literally download other Android apps on it to get access to limitless features. To support all this, you get a decent battery life as well. The BOOX Note Air 10.3 will last a whole day before getting drained.
Advantages:
- 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM
- Can run Android apps as well
- Anti-glare display
- Switch brightness according to the light available in the environment.
Disadvantages:
6. Moleskine Smart Writing Set
If you want to get some looks along with the utmost features, I doubt there would be anything near the Moleskine Smart Writing Set. Its notepad comes with leather coverings and looks similar to a classic diary. Moreover, if you’re wondering to gift a digital notebook, look no further.
This smart writing set includes a Moleskine Pen+ Ellipse smartpen, Moleskine dotted paper tablet notebook, D1 sized ink refill, micro USB charging cable, and an easy setup guide.
Let’s start with the notepad itself. This notepad comprises 176 pages of A5 length. By looking closely, you’ll observe small dots present everywhere on a page. These dots will sense the pressure of the pen and will provide accurate results to you. Needless to say, all the leatherwork gives this notepad a classic look.
Moreover, if you can easily buy another Moleskine notepad after filling the first one. However, it’ll cost you some money to get the second version.
Coming to the digital pen of this notepad. Its Pen+ has got styles too, its finished material is a shiny metal rather than plastic. Thus, the metal looks aesthetic and provides durability as well. There’s also a LED indicator and power button at the opposite sides of the pen for convenience. This whole thing is powered by a built-in battery. You can easily charge it with the help of a Micro USB cable.
To access the full power, its Moleskine M+ Notes app will surely help you out. There’s nothing that this writing app does not provide to you. From changing font colours to editing different media files, the sky becomes the limit here. Moreover, the app easily connects to all the cloud services for convenience.
Advantages:
- Aesthetic view
- Power app.
- Aesthetic pen
Disadvantages:
Buying guide
Feeling dizzy after looking at so many worthy competitors? Well, that’s why the buying guide is mentioned below to provide you with complete clearance on what you need to buy. Let’s dive in
Screen Size
The foremost thing to consider here would be the screen size of the digital notepad. And here it refers to the working area you’ll get. You can easily have accurate numbers by looking at the product description of a particular digital notepad.
The most ideal screen size for you depends a lot on your needs. In general, if you’re a professional sketch artist or a businessman, the A5 sheet size would be the best pick for you. On the other hand, for notes taking students or for general use, there shouldn’t be much issue. A digital notepad even with a smaller size will work just fine in that case.
The stylus of the Digital Notepad
Your digital notepad might turn out to be a waste without its stylus. Thus, having a quality stylus or digital pen simply means hassle-free sketching or writing process.
The bottom line for a stylus is, it should be ergonomic in design and look similar to a traditional pen. In this way, you’ll not have to spend time getting familiar with your digital pen. With that being said, this digital pen should also come with a decent amount of pressure sensitivity as well. Anything above 1024 pressure points will be good to go for.
One last thing you should look for is, can you easily replace the ink cartridge on it or not. A quality digital notepad offers you this feature for utmost convenience.
Size and Weight
There would be times when you’ll use the digital notepad in different places such as art classes, or office places. Thus, it should weigh less and come in a decent size to provide you with utmost carrying experience.
In general, the size of the digital notepad can be similar to a small writing pad and can vary up to a drawing slate. Pick that does your work easily and doesn’t create issues while travelling. The same goes with the weight of the notepad as well.
Memory
The memory is kind of a superpower of your digital notepad. And you should look for a notepad with memory if you’re a frequent note-taker or love to sketch whenever you feel so.
Having a decent amount of built-in memory will let you flow your creativity without any compromisation. You can completely rely on it. In general, the digital notepad with built-in memory provides you with several Megabytes of memory. Which is an adequate amount when it comes to saving pages. However, many notepads even offer you internal memory of several GB as well.
App
Many digital notepads offer you with their applications that give you access to the many writing features. Depending on the application you’re using, these features can include write and erase mode, setting different colours, and even different brush strokes.
It might not excite you as a businessman or a student, but these feats are a goldmine to an artist.
Conclusion
The above information will surely help you out to pick the best digital notepad according to your needs. As the list mentioned above contains something for every type of user- for professionals to small kids. By deciding the usage of notepad, you’ll reach the halfway point.
And to finalize the things, this buying guide includes almost everything that you should look for.
“But, I’m really confused!”. Well, this situation must’ve arisen because of your professional usage. If so, I will advise you to go with the Royal Rowrite digital notepad. It fits right in the budget and has everything in adequate amounts to get the work done.
If you’ve any doubts regarding the digital notepad, do let us know by commenting below. Our team will contact you in a short while.
