Last year, early December, I bought an E Ink tablet from Amazon. A BOOX Note Air 3 C. I used it for about a day. Really used it. Then promptly repackaged it and sent it back.
It's been more than a month, and as I try to remember why I returned it, a couple of things come to mind.
- I was looking for a tablet that I could write on, something that simulates pen (or pencil) on paper.
- Something light.
- A device with tons of battery life - measured in days, not hours.
- With an easy navigation and file management system.
- And perhaps, some integration with Microsoft OneDrive, or Google Drive.
Not much to ask eh?
Well I bought a BOOX Note Air3 C. About a week later, I returned it. I paid close to $800 for it. About $500 for the device, additional money for the cover, plus an extra Steadtler stylus. And then shipping and customs charges to Kenya.
The notetaking was OK. The feel wasn't really pencil on paper, more like a gel pen on paper, the surface of the tablet was quite smooth, even though BOOX has tried to make it scratchy by applying a screen protector at the factory.
After some effort, I got Microsoft Office installed, but I have two accounts - work and home. I didn't know it at the time, but there's a way to install a separate copy of Office accounts. So I was able to get the work tools working, but the home tools wouldn't connect.
But that's not the reason I returned it. Excel wasn't as smooth as on my iPad. Neither was OneNote - a tool I use extensively. I'd planned to keep using Excel and Word on my iPad, and then use OneNote on the BOOX, along with the handwriting notebook. I also wanted to move my reading tasks over to the BOOX, so I installed Libby and the Kobo reader.
Both readers were excellent, and in fact, Autodesk Sketchbook was surprisingly good.
But you must agree, for Libby, Kobo and Sketchbook - and handwriting notes - $800 is a bit on the high side.
So I returned the BOOX Note Air3 C and continued my search. I came across a different company, Supernote. Their products don't have the Google Play store, so they are limited in features, but YouTube reviewers all agree, the note-taking ability of these tablets is super.
And I found just the right one. My regular notebooks are small - around the size of an A6 (which is 4.1 x 5.8 inches). Not for drawing out huge plans, but very portable, pocket and knapsack (or backpack) friendly
On the left's my regular notebook - and the Pelikan Inky felt tip pen that I really enjoy writing with. And on the right, the Supernote A6X2, the latest as of 4 February 2024, and its basic pen. The Standard Push-up pen. The pen feels like a gel on paper with Wacom's FeelWrite2 screen protector which is factory installed.
The Supernote is exciting technology. So far, I've created a number of notebooks to keep track of work in the office, as well as jot down thoughts during the day. Because of its size, I carry it everywhere. The retractable pen fits in the holder and because the nib (ceramic) retracts, there's no fear of damaging the nib should the pen fall down.
And this notebook was much cheaper at $300 for the tablet, and about $130 for the pen and cover. As usual, I had to pay about $70 more to get it to me, but I wasn't asking for too much this time. Just a great small notebook that I could enjoy using.
Today I ordered the latest tablet, released in December 2023, by BOOX, the black-and-white Note Air3. No colour. No BOOX Super Refresh technology. And 10.3 inches in size.
The tablet and cover cost $400 and $50 respectively. But because of the reduced specifications, I'm hoping this time I'll be able to get better battery life, get OneNote working (both for work and personal accounts), get Libby and the Kobo reader and anything else will be icing on the cake.
I'll carry both of them, because that's what they're for!
Here's a photo of the small size of the Supernote - so lovely
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