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There’s a certain charm to writing on pen and paper that tablets will never be able to replace, but if you’re trying to cut down on paper waste and want a near-infinite amount of storage for your journal entries, sketches, and meeting notes, agood note-takingtablet is worth considering. And you don’t even have to commit to a full-on computer if you don’t want to, there are focused tablets designed to cater to writers with a notebook-like experience that only have features you need, and none of the other apps and distractions you don’t.
Freewrite Alpha is a playful, distraction-free way for me to write first drafts
It’s not a typewriter or a laptop, and it makes writing as simple as possible.
The ideal note-taking tablet will be great at capturing handwriting, but it should also accept other kinds of input, maybe even awhole keyboard accessoryif you prefer typing. Our picks cover a wide variety of tablets, with different types of displays, accessories, and operating systems. Even though it’s not the new kid on the block anymore, we think the reMarkable 2 is the best note-taking tablet because of its high-quality writing feel, simple but capable software, and robust integration with cloud storage, but the whole list is worth a read, so read on to explore all of your options.
Best overall note-taking tablet
reMarkable 2
A remarkable way to digitize notes
The reMarkable 2 tablet lets you take notes by hand, and it does so exceptionally well. It is the ultimate minimalist document creation and editing tool, with Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive integration.
The reMarkable 2 tablet lets you create as many “digital notebooks” as you can store onboard (or in the cloud with a reMarkable Connect subscription). This eliminates the need for physical notebooks, while still retaining the feel and experience of writing with pen and paper thanks to the excellent design of its hardware.
ReMarkable 2: You’ll never need paper notebooks again
It’s a tablet for writing on that has a paper-like feel… it’s a bit magical
Writing on the 10.3-inch E Ink display feels natural and responsive while still having enough resistance to feel like paper, and it does a reasonable job of converting imprecise handwriting into text. You can import PDFs and EPUB documents to annotate or read on screen, and bring in Microsoft Word documents, too. The tablet can connect to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive cloud storage. The display lacks a sidelight or backlight, though, which makes it unsuitable for use in the dark.
It’s worth noting, the reMarkable 2 is thin, at 4.7mm or 0.2 inches, and light, weighing just 400g, making it perfect for carrying around all day. When paired with its Type Folio keyboard, it is a svelte travel companion that is perfect for writing by hand or keyboard.
Best affordable note-taking tablet
Amazon Kindle Scribe
Amazon’s staple eReader took notes
The Amazon Kindle Scribe is more than simply the largest Kindle you can buy. It’s also the best note-taking tablet and eReader combo around.
The Amazon Kindle Scribe delivers a terrific writing experience paired with all the functionality of the alreadyexcellent Kindle eReaders. This 10.2-inch E Ink screen also has a sharp 300ppi resolution, which gives text an extra crispness that you won’t find on other E Ink tablets on this list.
Amazon Kindle Scribe: Write on
Amazon’s biggest-ever Kindle can be used to read and write, and stokes the paper tablet bandwagon fire to new heights
The Scribe also has side light and color temperature adjustments, so you can use the screen in any lighting without straining your eyes, a key feature fromKindle Paperwhitemodels. Of course, unlike other Kindles, the Scribe has stylus support. While there are fewer interesting templates than the reMarkable 2, the Kindle Scribe has more options than the competing eReader/note-taking tablet RakutenKobo Elipsa 2E, and it lets you pick them before you start writing.
The Scribe’s stylus feels comfortable in hand and is smooth to use on the responsive display. You can use the stylus to annotate books and PDFs, but for the most part, this is accomplished via pop-up boxes (as opposed to editing directly on the page). A few eBooks now support on-page writing, but not the majority – at least not yet, anyway. The Amazon Kindle Scribe is really the best choice for anyone deeply committed to Amazon’s Kindle bookstore, including students who also like to write notes.
Best premium note-taking tablet
Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (2022)
A way to keep all your notes within iCloud
The Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (4th-generation) packs a powerful punch with an Apple M2 processor inside. This tablet supports the second-generation Apple Pencil for accurate and seamless writing and sketching on screen.
TheApple iPad Pro 11-inch(4th-generation) is on the high end of Apple’s tablet offerings, and it shows in its level of polish. While other, less expensive models support the Apple Pencil, this model stands out because of how it strikes a balance between size, performance, and price. That starts with its weight, which comes in at just over a pound, and its 11-inch screen, which is large enough to handle everything from drawings to playing your favorite movie.
Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M2, 2022): Exceptional tablet, but a hard sell
This model has serious competition – a lot of which comes from Apple itself. The iPad Pro 11-inch remains a great tablet though.
There’s widespread support for the pricey Apple Pencil 2 stylus, making the iPad Pro a great note-taking choice for creatives. It also works well with sharing across devices; for example, you can start a note or drawing on your iPad and share it with aniPhoneorMacBook.
As a note-taking tablet, the iPad Pro is among the most expensive models you can buy. But for the money, you not only get a capable note-taking tablet, but you also get one of the best all-around tablets on the market. As with other general-use tablets, the Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard are extra-cost add-ons, but they’re worth considering too if you want more of anall-in-one computerexperience. Fair warning, Apple is rumored to berefreshing its iPad lineup soon, so if you’re interested in the newest tablet experience, it might be worth waiting, either for this model of iPad Pro to go down in price or for a new and improved model.
Best compactnote-taking tablet
Ratta Supernote Nomad
Highly-customizable with the Kindle app built-in
Ratta’s Supernote Nomad is an E Ink tablet with dozens of templates to choose from, smooth handwriting, and the ability to link notes together.
For a smaller, more portable note-taking tablet, the Ratta Supernote Nomad combines the best of the reMarkable 2 and the Kindle Scribe into one compact package. Its self-repairing screen protector is great at simulating the feel of writing on paper when combined with the ceramic nibs of the styluses Ratta sells. And the Nomad’s touch-sensitive sides make it easy to pull up menus, select text, and undo mistakes without having to find the right tool.
Even better, Ratta has a small suite of downloadable software you can use to extend the abilities of your Supernote, including a drawing app called Atelier and a Kindle app for reading books from your Amazon library. The apps, along with the Nomad’s existing email, calendar, and cloud storage functionality make it an inherently useful note-taking tablet if you’re willing to pay a little extra for it.
Best Android note-taking tablet
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE
Samsung design at an affordable price
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 FE carries over the design of the company’s more expensive tablets just with slightly downgraded specs and a far more affordable price.
Samsung makes good Android tablets leveraging the company’s access to beautiful AMOLED displays, powerful chips, and reliable S Pen stylus, but it doesn’t make affordable ones. Enter theGalaxy Tab S9 FE(Fan Edition), which carries over a majority of the features you want from the normal Galaxy Tab S9 and pairs it with a more affordable LCD screen and Exynos processor.
Critical to taking notes, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE includes an S Pen in the box and has a pre-installed Samsung Notes app that is a completely competent way to take notes and sketch simple drawings on the go. You’ll have everything you need to read, browse the web, and write down your thoughts without having to spend a dollar more on another accessory.
Best Amazon ecosystem note-taking tablet
Amazon Fire Max 11
A thin, stylus-compatible Fire tablet
The Amazon Fire Max 11 is the first Fire tablet with a competitively thin, stylish design. It’s also the first Fire tablet that has a stylus option, so you can handwrite notes and sketch with ease.
The thin Amazon Fire Max 11 is Amazon’s first attempt at a grown-up tablet that doesn’t come with a plastic, candy-colored chassis. This, plus an aluminum body and reinforced glass covering its display, helps the tablet look and feel like its worth more than its bargain price. The Fire Max 11 also has a 16:9 aspect ratio display with 2,000 x 1,200 pixels. That means it’s not as sharp as, say, an Apple iPad, but it’s still high-resolution enough to produce pleasing images on its 11-inch LCD.
Amazon Fire Max 11: Amazon’s best tablet yet
Amazon pushes its Fire tablet range up a notch, delivering a more ‘serious’ tablet that’s still very affordable.
The Fire Max 11 has a microSD card slot, so you can easily expand its 64GB of included storage. It also has conveniences like a fingerprint reader built into the power button, which makes it easy to reliably unlock the tablet. As withall Amazon tablets, the Fire Max 11 runs Amazon’sFireOSoperating system, and it only works with the Amazon Appstore. Still, there are plenty of apps for entertainment and productivity, including a free trial of Microsoft 365.
The interface is straightforward, making it easy to consume and discover Amazon’s music, videos, and books. You’ll also love being able to have a split screen view for two apps and how responsive the USI 2.0-compatible stylus with 4096 pressure sensitivity is for writing and sketching on screen. This tablet is a great choice for students and professionals who want an affordable note-taking tablet and don’t need full access to the Google Play Store.
Best color E Ink note-taking tablet
Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C Pro
The best part of a Kindle: in color
If you’re considering the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C Pro, it’s probably because of its color E Ink display. Where most electrophoretic displays are monochrome, the Boox Tab Ultra C Pro can display colors at 150ppi. That means colors look muted and grainy, like a color photo in a newspaper. But even if they’re dull, it still adds a splash of life that differentiates this note-taking tablet from other E Ink competitors.
You can download apps and access any eBookstore, and use Google apps and services, too.
Another notable distinction: this model runs Android 12 and can access the Google Play Store. That means you’re able to download apps and access any eBookstore, and use Google apps and services, too. The Tab Ultra C Pro has a roomy 10.3-inch glare-free screen, and it comes with a stylus that feels good in hand.
Creating notes is front and center and easy to accomplish, but that’s about all that’s clear about the interface. The stylus is responsive with the included Notepad app and its over 40 templates – and you’re able to add your template by uploading a PNG or PDF file.
Best 2-in-1 note-taking tablet
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (Wi-Fi)
Trade off taking both written and typed notes
The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 combines unique design points like a built-in kickstand with a crisp display that supports both touch and stylus input. And since it’s a Windows 11 PC running on a 12th-generation Intel Core processor, this tablet is a laptop replacement, too.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 packs a Windows 11 PC into a high-resolution, freestanding display. The 13.3-inch screen has a 2,880 x 1,920 resolution, making it well-suited for everything from gaming to precise content creation and, at nearly two pounds, the Surface Pro has a certain heft that reflects its robust components.
Microsoft Surface Pro 9: A master of versatility
The Surface Pro gets equipped with 12-gen Intel Core hardware to give you more power on the move.
The tablet’s specs are modest for a PC, but still more powerful than most other tablets on this list. The baseline configuration priced here has 8GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD, and an Intel Core i5 processor; higher-spec’d versions with more RAM and storage and a better processor are options, albeit at higher prices. The Surface Pro 9 even has a Thunderbolt 4 port, handy for use with high-speed storage peripherals. You can run the full gamut of PC and web apps and services just as you would on your laptop.
The Surface Pro 9 works with Microsoft’s optional stylus for handwriting notes and drawing in professional applications. The stylus is a great addition to note-taking apps like Microsoft OneNote and complex creative apps like Corel Paint or Adobe Illustrator.
The bottom line: best note-taking tablet
If the only thing you plan to do with your device is write notes, and you don’t want the distractions that come with apps and eBooks, then the reMarkable 2 is the top note-taking pick, in part because it is laser-focused on one task – using a stylus to write digital notes – and it does this task very well. It has a slew of useful templates, ranging from a blank page to storyboards and various music writing templates. The variety and range of templates are a real plus, since they make it easy to get started on creative and professional projects.
The Kindle Scribe might be Amazon’s most expensive Kindle, but it makes for a highly affordable note-taking tablet. Its stylus and notebook tool offer a satisfying note-taking experience and, on the whole, it gives you a good bang for your buck, since it’s a great eReader on top of being a good writing tool. If you’re looking for something more premium, and a lot more capable, it’s hard to beat the 11-inch Apple iPad Pro (4th-Generation). You lose some of the focus of more traditional E Ink tablets, but you get an all-around more powerful and flexible computer, that’s great at taking notes with an Apple Pencil.
How did we choose the best note-taking tablets?
Both the Pocket-lint and I have extensive hands-on experience testing and using tablets for work and creativity, with a special focus on taking notes. We considered the various use-cases for each device, along with display quality, writing feel, the reflectivity of their screens, and their software. Additionally, we looked at how other factors, such as battery life and ports, played into the overall aesthetic and practical experience of using each tablet.
Q: Are there any advantages to E Ink over a color screen?
If you’re just interested in plain old handwritten notes, there’s really no reason to stray from the monochromatic joys of an E Ink tablet. Color screens, and particularly OLED and LCD ones, usually mean you’ll have easy access to more distractions. A color E Ink could be worth considering if you know you’ll want to read comics when you’re not jotting down thoughts, but until color E Ink displays improve, there are real trade-offs in resolution that could bother you.
Q: Do styli for note-taking need replacing or refills over time?
Surprisingly, it depends on the tablet. Both the Kindle Scribe and reMarkablet 2 have styluses with refillable nibs that get worn down over time. They ship with a sheet of refills, but if you write a lot (or with added pressure) you’ll have to buy refills eventually.
In contrast, the S Pen that comes with the Galaxy Tab S9 FE doesn’t ever need to be changed, but it’s also far less enjoyable to use to write. The Apple Pencil you’re able to use with the iPad Pro falls somewhere in the middle. It technically has a replaceable nib, but it takes much longer to wear down.
