INTHEBLACK March 2025 - Magazine - Page 57
TECH STACK
Digital note-takers
The convenience of paper and pen combined with the productivity benefits
of digitisation, digital note-takers bring handwritten notes into the modern age.
Words Adam Turner
SCRIBBLING IN A NOTEPAD IS QUICK, EASY and affordable,
especially for people who aren’t fast typists. Of course, the
downside of handwritten paper notes is they aren’t easy to
back up, search or share, which creates challenges when it
comes to record-keeping and collaboration.
Writing with a stylus on a digital note-taker offers
the best of both worlds.
A pressure-sensitive stylus mimics the tactile experience
of handwriting and sketching. Pressing harder draws darker
and thicker lines, while some styluses can also detect if they
are tilted, for shading. Some styluses feature an eraser on
the opposite end, along with a built-in action button that
makes it easy to click to change pen tips and colours on the fly.
An E Ink display mimics the texture of paper as the stylus
slides across the screen, plus it is easier on the eyes than
a tablet-style LCD screen — and offers a significantly longer
battery life.
The ability to convert handwriting into text ensures that
notes can be easily tagged, categorised and searched for
future reference — eliminating the need to sift through
stacks of paper. Digital notes can also be synced to cloud
storage, so they are backed up and accessible across
multiple devices.
Here are six popular digital note-takers.
1. reMarkable PAPER PRO
Featuring an 11.8-inch colour E Ink screen, the reMarkable
Paper Pro weighs approximately 525 grams. It comes with
a pressure-sensitive Marker stylus, or the optional Marker
Plus, which has a digital eraser on one end, but neither
features an action button. Notes can be synced to a range
of cloud services, although this requires a reMarkable
Connect subscription.
2. ONYX BOOX NOTE AIR3 C
Sporting a 10.3-inch E Ink colour screen, the BOOX Note
Air3 C weighs approximately 430 grams. It includes a
pressure-sensitive stylus, with the optional Premium stylus
adding an eraser but no action button. The device can
sync notes to cloud services and note-taking services like
Evernote and OneNote. It runs on Android, with the ability
to install third-party ebook apps.
3. SUPERNOTE NOMAD (A6X2)
With a 7.8-inch monochrome E Ink screen, the Supernote
Nomad (A6X2) is lightweight at 266 grams. Unlike most
digital note-takers, the screen lacks a built-in light.
The price doesn't include a stylus, but Supernote sells
standard (plastic) and luxury (metal) options. The device
can sync notes to desktop and mobile devices, as well
as a range of cloud services.
4. AMAZON KINDLE SCRIBE
Featuring a 10.2-inch monochrome E Ink screen, the Kindle
Scribe sits at 433 grams. It ships with a Basic stylus, with
the optional pressure-sensitive Premium stylus adding an
eraser on the other end and an action button that switches
between pen and highlighter. The Kindle Scribe initially
lacked handwriting recognition and even now still only
supports converting handwriting to text when exporting
notebooks. As a Kindle, it also supports Amazon ebooks.
5. KOBO ELIPSA 2E
With a 10.3-inch monochrome E Ink screen, the Elipsa
weighs in at 383 grams. It comes with the Kobo Stylus 2,
which features a highlighter action button and an eraser
on the other end. Notes are automatically synced to
Kobo.com or manually synced to Dropbox. As a Kobo,
it is also a very flexible ebook reader.
6. ROCKETBOOK FUSION
Rather than relying on a screen, the Rocketbook Fusion
is a physical A4 or A5 notebook with 42 reusable pages.
They can be written on with a Pilot FriXion pen, and
then wiped clean with a damp cloth to use again.
The Rocketbook app lets you take photos of written pages
with your smartphone and upload them to the cloud,
while transcribing handwritten notes into text. ■
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 57
