This Kindle Scribe rival is best on each degree, apart from one

I’m a giant fan of E Ink, the display screen know-how made well-known by the Amazon Kindle. Through the years, I’ve delved into the area of interest world of E Ink gadgets, discovering every little thing from dumbphones to photograph frames, however I believe I’ve come throughout certainly one of my favorite makes use of of E Ink ever from an unlikely firm.

Alongside e-readers just like the Kindle and Kobo, a comparatively new class of E Ink system is the digital pocket book. Popularised by the Kindle Scribe and reMarkable vary of tablets, these large-screen slates provide a digital canvas on which to take notes utilizing a stylus.

This allows you to create scores of near-infinite notebooks and carry them round with you always, similar to you’d have lots of of books on a Kindle. Amazon cottoned on to this and made the Kindle Scribe, a 10-inch Kindle with an included pen to scribble in e-books and create your individual notes.

It’s good having each capabilities in a single system, however I discover the scale just too massive to cart round each day, and it’s comically giant to learn a guide on.

I’ve additionally examined a number of reMarkable tablets, E Ink notebooks from the Norwegian firm of the identical identify, that don’t double up as e-readers. The £399 reMarkable Paper Professional Transfer appealed to me with its smaller dimension after I reviewed it final yr, however its slender display screen meant I didn’t write on it constantly.

Enter the $299 Supernote Nomad, a lesser-known E Ink pill from Chinese language agency Ratta, which I’ve been testing for a few months. It has hit the precise candy spot for my digital notetaking wants, with the proper display screen dimension, wonderful stylus, good battery life and even e-book integration.

reMarkable does an ideal job of constructing its screens really feel such as you’re writing on paper, however it at all times irks me that you must purchase alternative nibs for the pens, as the fabric wears down like a pencil’s graphite, albeit slower. It is the identical on the Scribe.

Whereas the Supernote Nomad doesn’t fairly really feel nearly as good to jot down on, it’s totally shut, and the large benefit is that suitable pens don’t put on down and also you by no means want to switch the nibs. That is due to the (deep breath) “FeelWrite 2 Tender Self-Restoration Movie and Ceramic NeverReplace Nib”. FeelWrite know-how is from Wacom, the agency well-known for its digitiser enter methods within the inventive trade.

The easy indisputable fact that I don’t have to hold round spare nibs has made me use the Supernote Nomad greater than every other E Ink pocket book.

The Nomad can also be totally consumer repairable, a rarity in your complete client electronics trade in 2026. You may unclip the again plate and exchange the battery and different parts simply. It additionally has an SD card slot to increase the storage, and Ratta asserts that it needs the consumer to “really personal your system”, a uncommon opinion in right now’s world of month-to-month subscriptions and cloud storage lock-in.

The Nomad has a 7.8-inch display screen, which I discovered the perfect dimension for taking notes in conferences and for each day duties and to-do lists. The 300ppi decision is nearly as good as trendy e-readers, and the software program is pleasingly easy – create a pocket book and off you go.

Swiping down on the touch-sensitive bezel – changeable relying on which hand you write with, which additionally shifts the pocket book’s toolbar to the opposite aspect of the display screen – and also you get a fast menu to create notes and look at information, alongside non-compulsory further apps.

This contains an electronic mail app and calendar that may sync with Google or Outlook, and, amazingly, the official Kindle app.

Though I’m a Kobo convert today, the truth that the Nomad helps Kindle natively makes it a completely authentic Kindle Scribe alternative. For a less expensive worth, you get a repairable E Ink system that isn’t too giant, and has a greater writing expertise on your notes. It’s win-win.

The caveat right here is you’ll be able to’t annotate or markup Kindle e-books on the Nomad, one thing I didn’t miss. I would like an e-reader that’s, individually, a pocket book. In case you additionally need to scribble in your books, this system is just not for you.

I discovered there was a little bit of a studying curve to get used to Nomad’s complicated software program. There are superior options I’ve not used, however for my use case of compiling weekly and month-to-month work notes, and the occasional private journaling, it has been an ideal pick-up and go possibility.

The draw back is it doesn’t have a frontlight, so you’ll be able to’t make notes in the dead of night. That doesn’t hassle me a lot, however a light-weight would have been an ideal addition for the Kindle app to make this an e-reader for all hours of the day.

I additionally discovered the battery life slightly erratic – though we’re nonetheless speaking in days, not hours. There are settings to place the Nomad to sleep robotically, in addition to run extra energy effectively when it is aware of you’ve stopped writing, however general I might depend on the factor for about two weeks of energy earlier than needing to plug in – and it’s extra should you flip the Wi-Fi off.

You may decide to backup to Supernote’s personal cloud service, or Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. I like how Supernote’s companies are non-compulsory, providing you with management over the place your information is saved.

The software program is customisable, and Supernote lets very prospects view its firm’s software program roadmap of latest instruments it’s engaged on.

The pill itself is an efficient deal at $299, however it’s worthwhile to pay not less than $59 for a suitable pen, and I’d additionally advocate the folio case, which is not less than an extra $49. That’s $407 all up, which is £300 on the time of writing.

The newest Kindle Scribe is £379.99 for the pill and pen, however with no case and solely 16GB storage. Your complete Supernote Nomad bundle is cheaper, and also you get 32GB. The catch? Transport and import tax to the UK bumps the worth to $543.70, which is £400. However that worth continues to be similar to the Amazon and reMarkable options.

If you’re searching for an all-in-one digital pocket book to additionally learn Kindle books on, the Supernote Nomad is the proper dimension and repairable with an eternal pen, and it’s cheaper than the Amazon various. You simply should be OK with the absence of a frontlight.

Purchase the Supernote Nomad