Here are the best E INK E-Notebooks for Spring 2025

Many people need a dedicated e-notebook that is easy on the eyes and has a long battery life.  E-ink is the closest you will get to reading on actual paper. Some prefer tablets such as the iPad to draw and take notes with the Apple Pencil, but the drawing experience is not excellent and is app-reliant.

E-Notebooks have key functionalities: freehand drawing, taking notes, viewing PDF files, editing PDF files, and reading books. This makes these devices heavily specialized in form and function. Most of these notebooks have black and white e-paper displays, and some have color, enhancing their ability to use highlights or draw in full color effectively.

Digital notebooks with e-paper screens are aimed at a few key audiences. Students, professionals, and people in jobs that require them to be outside are also included. E-paper generally does not reflect light, so it is easy to work in direct sunlight. Professionals and students need something they can read, textbooks or PDF files. Backing data to cloud storage is also essential so it can be read on other devices or printed later.

A few brands in the e-paper space have drawing slates in their portfolio, and some focus exclusively on them. Remarkable and Supernote only make e-notebooks, which makes them heavily specialized and able to focus on just a few products. This allows them to make the drawing experience the best in class, and firmware updates tend not to be buggy.

Rakuten Kobo, Amazon, Onyx Boox, Bigme, Meebook, HyRead, Hanvon, Mooink, Pocketbook, and others primarily release e-book readers for the general consumer. However, each has at least one e-notebook in its portfolio for a more professional audience. Some users prefer the large screen to read books and are not concerned with note-taking. The Kindle Scribe is a good example.

Number 1 Pick – The Remarkable Paper Pro

Remarkable unveiled Paper Pro late last year.  The ultimate paper tablet has a color display, adjustable reading light, and unmatched paper-like writing feel; Remarkable Paper Pro is designed to help knowledge workers capture, refine, and elevate their thoughts in a world of distractions.

The Remarkable Paper Pro features an 11.8-inch e-paper display with Canvas Color 3.0, based on E INK Gallery 3, and employs electrophoretic technology. The white and white color content resolution is 2160 x 1620 with 229 PPI.  Other paper tablets put a filter on a black-and-white display to produce colors. On reMarkable Paper Pro, colored ink particles inside the display move around to render what users write and read. The natural colors evoke the feeling of a printed newspaper page.  Compared to LCDs or LED screens on laptops and smartphones, the Canvas Color display doesn’t use bright, flickering lights to produce colors. The low-glare display reflects natural light for a more comfortable reading experience. In dim lighting conditions, a new adjustable reading light softly illuminates the display, making it possible to read and work for hours without eye strain.

Underneath the hood is a 1.8 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, 2 GB LPDDR4 RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. There is a USB-C port to charge and transfer documents to the device. Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz are available, primarily to access cloud stuff and fetch firmware updates. It is powered by a giant 5,030 mAh battery. The dimensions are 274.1 x 196.6 x 5.1 mm (10.8 x 7.8 x 0.24 inches)
 and Approximately 525 g (1.16 lb).

Remarkable has the best drawing system of any e-notebook, period. They pioneered many features and concepts that everyone in the industry has copied. Although it feels simple to use initially, its functionality is comparable to advanced photo editing apps, such as Adobe Photoshop.

The Amazon Kindle Scribe 2

Amazon was late to the party with a dedicated e-note, but it was awe-inspiring. The first generation was the first 10-inch display with a 300 PPI screen. This resulted in unmatched resolution for reading e-books, making the fonts razor-sharp. Drawing, reading PDF files, editing PDF files, and right-clicking purchased e-books is very impressive. Lately, Amazon has been on their second generation Scribe, and they have introduced some AI features that enhance the workflow.

The Kindle Scribe 2 features a 10.2-inch Carta 1200 E INK display with a resolution of 1860×2480 and 300 PPI. Its redesigned display has uniform white borders. The screen is flush with the bezel and protected by a layer of glass. It also has 35 white and amber LED lights that can be adjusted automatically. This allows you to read in dark or low-light environments. The light from the device does not shine directly into your eyes but spreads evenly across the screen.

The new Kindle Scribe pen has new colors to match the Scribe 2. The new Premium Pen also has a customizable shortcut button so that long-pressing can activate the highlighter, pen, marker, pencil, eraser, canvas, or sticky note. The rubber eraser on the top is another considerable upgrade, making it easier to erase errant notes.

Underneath the hood is a 1GHz MediaTek MT8113 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of internal storage. It has Wi-Fi 5 to download e-books from the Amazon Store. Bluetooth 5.1 is available in select markets to wirelessly connect earphones or an external speaker to listen to audiobooks. Audiobooks are unavailable in every country, such as Canada, but they can be used in the US, UK, Japan, and other international markets. A  USB-C port is available to charge the device. Amazon rates the new and original Scribes as having the same battery life — up to three weeks if you write for about half an hour a day and up to 12 weeks if you read for that same amount of time. The dimensions are 196 x 230 x 5.8mm and weighs 433g.

Fujitsu Quaderno A4C Generation 3

Fujitsu has released the third-generation A4 e-notebook, the first to employ the Kaleido 3-color e-paper. This device is primarily geared to viewing and editing PDF files in full and vibrant color. It is locked down and does not have cloud storage, an internet browser, or even a front-lit display. This makes it perfect for a corporate environment since it is distraction-free.

The Fujitsu Quaderno A4 Color features a flexible 13.3-inch Kaleido 3 e-paper display with a black-and-white resolution of 1650 x 2200 and 207 PPI. It can display 4096 colors and has a color resolution of 103 PPI. The screen has a capacitive touch panel compatible with finger input and is electromagnetic induction digitizer-compatible. The device’s body is white alongside the bezel and dark grey on the back. The screen is slightly sunken and does not have a layer of glass protecting it, making the colors shine.

The Quaderno has 32GB of internal storage, which holds 10,000 PDF files. It also has Wi-Fi on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, Bluetooth 5.1, and a USB-C port for transferring files from your PC or Mac. Constant usage gives the device two weeks of battery life. The device measures 222.8mm x 301.1mm x 5.7mm and weighs 368g.

This e-note is unavailable on Amazon but can only be ordered from the Good e-Reader Store for $719.99.

Rakuten Kobo Elipsa 2e

The Rakuten Kobo Elipsa 2e is their second shot at a large-screen e-paper display primarily geared towards taking notes, freehand drawing, annotating PDF files, and editing ebooks. There have been a few massive improvements to this model that the first-generation Elipsa did not have. The front-lit display has been upgraded from a Comrtfortlight to Comfortlight Pro, providing better illumination for warm and cool colors. The Kobo Pen has been redesigned; it is 25% lighter, making it easier to hold for long writing sessions. A dedicated eraser at the top is a great way to remove errant mistakes. There is a new processor architecture, providing a massive increase in single-core speed and increasing power efficiency.

The Kobo Elipsa 2E features a 10.3-inch E INK Carta 1200 e-paper display panel with a resolution of 1404×1872 with 227 PPI. The screen is flush with the bezel and protected by a layer of glass. It uses the ComfortLight PRO front-light system, an improved version of the original ComfortLight system found in the first Elipsa, with white and amber LED lights that provide warm and cool lighting or a mixture of both. There are five magnets alongside the bezel. The stylus will automatically attach itself to the side, limiting the potential misplacement on it.

Underneath the hood is a brand-new processor that Kobo has not used before. They are employing a dual-core 2GHZ Mediatek RM53. The single core count is 45% faster than the All-Winner one they utilized on the first-generation Elipsa. e e-note uses 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The device has WIFI to access the Kobo bookstore and cloud storage providers. Speaking of cloud storage, Kobo provides access to Dropbox to save and import books, PDF files, and Google Drive. It also fully supports public libraries that use Overdrive to power their collections.

Onyx Boox Note Max

Onyx Boox is a brand that primarily uses Google Android and full access to the Play Store as a key selling point for their e-readers and e-notes. The Note Max is their newest model and their most capable large-screen e-paper writing slate. It has the best hardware specs in the list. This is our final pick because although Android is a big deal, the battery life will be measured in days or weeks instead of months, like the other e-notebooks on this list.

The Onyx Boox Note Max features a 13.3-inch E INK Carta 1300 e-paper display with a black-and-white 3200×2400 and 300 PPI resolution. It is the first tablet with this screen size and resolution. However, this device does not have a front light, so you must use it in a well-lit environment.

Underneath the hood is a Qualcomm 2.8 GHz octa-core processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage. There is no SD card slot to expand the storage further. It has two stereo speakers and a microphone, which allows users to listen to audiobooks, podcasts, and music. It also has Bluetooth 5.0 for pairing wireless headphones or earbuds. A microphone allows for audio dictation for notes and voice communication apps such as Discord or WhatsApp. WiFi (2.4GHz + 5GHz) internet will provide fast internet browsing. It has USB-C for charging and transferring data. The battery is a respectable 3700 mAh. The dimensions are 287.5x243x4.6mm and weighs 615g.

The Note Max has Google Android 13 and full access to the Google Play Store, where users can download millions of free and paid apps. Onyx has optimized the Amazon Kindle app to avoid page-turn animations, making it an excellent experience for an e-paper screen. Evernote and Onenote have received similar treatment. This device also supports many languages, including English. Many competitors, such as Mooink and Dasung, only support Chinese and English.

It features Onyx BOOX’s “Super Refresh” technology, which allows users to choose between optimizing image quality or enhancing motion graphics for smoother scrolling.