My Choice
reMarkable
Runner Up
Bamboo Pen
Best Value
Boogie Board
Best Budget
UGEE
Becoming more environmentally friendly is a goal for many people. It’s often included in their New Year’s resolution and sits at the back of the mind of many people as they buy new items for their homes.
These digital notepads offer a great way to be environmentally friendly without much thought or change on your part. They work as a replacement for full-sized notebooks or sticky notes, and let you write as much as your heart desires.
Check out this list of the Best Drawing Tablet for Artists.
1. ReMarkable Paper Tablet
Product Highlights
The reMarkable Paper Tablet was one of the first e-ink displays to offer a writing option. Kindles and other e-readers have been around for a while, but they had limited options for touchscreens and notes.
This tablet is made to look and feel like paper but on a digital scale. This makes it perfect for keeping track of all of your notes and making new ones on the go without taking up a lot of space or weighing a ton.
They do have a newer version, simply called reMarkable Paper Tablet 2, but the higher cost may not be worth it for the extra features. This one is a cheaper option, and the few outdated features are still well worth the price.
Features
- A screen that feels just like paper
- Notes can transfer online instead of just staying on the tablet
- A stylus and replaceable stylus tips come with the device
- Low latency of 226 DPI
What We Liked About The ReMarkable Paper Tablet
There’s a lot to love about the reMarkable Paper Tablet. It does a great job of recognizing the pen while ignoring accidental finger and palm touches. It also lasts a long time without needing to be recharged, so you don’t have to remember to charge it daily to use it.
What We Didn’t Like About The ReMarkable Paper Tablet
There are only a few quirks that could benefit from being ironed out. OCR, or handwriting recognition, is a must. Not being able to search through notes based on words in the notes is a pain and severely lacks behind other note-taking apps. Faster load-up times and syncing would be another nice improvement.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Lightweight No battery needed for the pen The device does a good job of ignoring palms and fingers Paper templates for the perfect note-taking options Long battery life Tools for layering if needed | Takes a long time to load No OCR or ways to search through your notes for words Syncing files can be slow |
Our Final Score:
2. Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet
Product Highlights
If you want to take notes on your computer but want the freedom of typing, the Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet is a great option. If you’ve ever been to an office where you had to sign your name on a little tablet that’s connected to a screen, like a doctor’s office, but it doesn’t really have a screen of its own, that’s basically the Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet.
Features
- Works with Windows and Mac
- Interactive tutorials to help you get started
- Works for notes or art
What We Liked About Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet
This is a great tablet whether you want to work on digital art or just have a place for hand-written notes on your PC. With the tablet and pen, anything you write is instantly uploaded onto the computer, without any need for difficult saves or transfers.
What We Didn’t Like About Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet
The biggest issue is familiarity. It’s not like a lot of other tablets are devices, and it can be a little difficult to get used to for some. The pen is another issue as it’s difficult to use and fairly uncomfortable for long uses.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Fairly cheap for a notetaking/art tablet Wacom has a long history with great products Supports multi-touch gestures Good for beginners Works for right and left hands | The pen is a little difficult to use Sensitivity isn’t super easy to get used to It’s hard to start on writing or drawing on something that doesn’t let you see directly what you’re editing |
Our Final Score:
3. Boogie Board Reusable Writing Pad
Product Highlights
If you’re looking for something to replace notepads and sticky notes, this is a great tablet. It allows you to write notes with ease, and erase them when you’re done with just a push of a button.
For those that have a little bit of childhood still in them, this product feels a lot like scratch pads, without the mess and while being reusable. Draw on it when you’re bored or use it to leave notes behind for the rest of your family.
Features
- An actual digital notepad that lets you write notes on the screen, erase, and continue
- Plenty of colors to choose from
- Can write with anything, including a stylus or finger
- Doesn’t need cables or cords
What We Liked About The Boogie Board Reusable Writing Pad
The Boogie Board Reusable Writing Pad is a great option for those that have a bad habit of leaving sticky notes around the house to remind them, or their family to do something.
It reduces the amount of sticky notes and scrap pieces of paper that people go through. It also ensures that you know exactly where the note is, instead of sorting through stacks of abandoned paper.
What We Didn’t Like About The Boogie Board Reusable Writing Pad
It would be nice if the device uploaded the notes to the cloud, or at least offered the option. It’s a bit of a pain to have to rewrite the notes later if you need them for a while.
Additionally, there’s only room for one set of notes at a time. If you want to take multiple notes, then you either need multiple devices or you still have to use sticky notes.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to erase and use Lightweight and portable Magnetic strip to attach it to appliances like the fridge Not messy like dry-erase boards or chalkboards | Small for those that need longer notes No way to upload notes anywhere Stylus also doubles as a stand |
Our Final Score:
4. UGEE 11.9 Inch Drawing Tablet with Screen
Product Highlights
If you want a drawing tablet or note-taking tablet that also has a screen, then a great option is the UGEE 11.9-inch drawing tablet. It proves you with a secondary screen to use when writing notes.
If you’re a little tech-savvy, you can even keep your tablet up and running as a secondary display screen and have a note-taking app up and ready at all times.
Features
- Pen with shortcut buttons and no battery needed
- A secondary screen, and not just a screenless tablet
- Works with most major computer operating systems
- Very accurate colors
What We Liked About UGEE 11.9 Inch Drawing Tablet with Screen
The whole system was pretty smooth. The colors were accurate and the pen was comfortable and easy to use. It’s also fairly competitive pricing for other similar tablets. When not being used for notes, it doubles as a second, or third, screen for your computer.
What We Didn’t Like About UGEE 11.9 Inch Drawing Tablet with Screen
Though it’s a great tablet, it may not be the best option for simple note-taking. It’s made for art, and so a lot of the features have to do with art and don’t pertain to simple notes. The sensitivity is also a bit off and doesn’t always read marks from the stylus, which may not be great for those taking notes in a hurry.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Battery-free stylus Stylus comes with buttons for shortcuts Competitive pricing Easy to use and set up Solid quality on parts Very accurate colors for sRGB and Adobe RGB | Sensitivity is a bit difficult to get the hang of Pretty noticeable lag between tablet and device The screen is rather small |
Our Final Score:
5. Roaring Spring Whitelines Premium Ruled Spiral Notebook
Product Highlights
This is a digital notebook that works as a standard notebook. There are a lot of different products by Roaring Springs so it’s important to find the ones that specifically work with the app. You can choose between graph-ruled, lined, dot rule, or engineering notebooks or pads.
Once you write on these notebooks, you have the option to toss them away or upload them via the Whitelines app. Thanks to the unique paper layout that uses gray paper with white lines, the app removes the background entirely. This leaves you with just your notes or drawing.
Features
- Gray background with white lines to not detract from your writing when uploading digitally
- Free Whitelines App to work with your notes that’s available on iOS and Android
- Comes in various styles and paper types
- Made in the USA
What We Liked About The Roaring Spring Whitelines Premium Ruled Spiral Notebook
The gray paper is much preferred over the white paper, especially when working outside. The gray isn’t dark enough to be very noticeable unless compared to an actual white paper, but it reduces the blinding glare that traditionally comes with working on paper outside.
What We Didn’t Like About The Roaring Spring Whitelines Premium Ruled Spiral Notebook
Though this is a digital notebook because there’s an app designed to work with paper, it’s just barely a digital notebook. The paper is still thrown away after use, which eliminates a lot of the benefits that come with digital notebooks.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Gray paper with white lines is a good visual Not bright and blinding, making it easy to work outside Firm backing for writing on the go Works as a normal paper or digital notebook No lines when uploading pictures or notes digitally | Pricey Bleeds Through Very thin paper Still doesn’t eliminate paper waste |
Our Final Score:
6. Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook, Fusion Letter Size
Product Highlights
While Rocketbook isn’t the number one digital notebook on our list, all of its products are worth mentioning. This is their Fusion notebook. The name comes from the fact that it has a fusion of different kinds of pages.
Not only are there lined pages, but it also has a task list, dotted pages, idea pages, OKR pages, and a monthly and weekly planner. This is perfect for people who need a wide range of paper types but aren’t confident enough to create their own outlines or page templates.
Features
- Various page types to suit your need
- Write, upload, and erase in just a few steps
- Simple and intuitive layout
- Various colors so you can buy one for each school subject or client, or give one to every member of the family without getting confused by which is which
What We Liked About Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook, Fusion Letter Size
Many people customize their Rocketbooks with permanent markers to create a layout they enjoy. If you’re too nervous to do this, then the Fusion Notebook offers an advantage over the other notebooks by Rocketbook by providing you with useful and reusable page layouts.
It also offers dot-ruled and line-ruled notebooks to best fit your needs at that particular moment. Overall, this product is great for those who need to get work done and have a problem staying organized.
What We Didn’t Like About Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook, Fusion Letter Size
One big complaint across the board is that the notebook doesn’t offer anything unique. Sure, the pages are reusable, and there is OCR and easy upload to the cloud, but nowadays, there’s software and free apps that do the same, and most of the time better.
Many worry that while Rocketbook had a good idea, it’s not keeping up with the times. With the fairly high cost of the notebook, it needs to be able to do something different and offer more than free apps and even built-in phone cameras can do.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Seven different page types make it easy to organize and stay on top of tasks Comes with a pen so you don’t have to go and immediately buy more 42 pages of various types to fit every need | Pages aren’t always cut straight Pens run out fast Can use cheaper options to get the same results |
Our Final Score:
7. TIQUS LCD Writing Tablet Pad
Product Highlights
When looking at the price and the fact that two writing tablets come in this set, one might be wary that it’s too good to be true. However, this is quite a great product. The low price comes from the simple design.
Similar to the other two note-taking tablets above, it’s just a small screen for writing notes that erases at the press of a button.
Features
- Has a lock button so you don’t accidentally erase important notes
- Bright screen
- Can use anything to write on the screen
What We Liked About TIQUS LCD Writing Tablet Pad
The price just can’t be beaten. It’s a rather simple design, but it does everything you need it to and works similarly to the products above, but for a much cheaper price. The lock feature is also nice as it allows you to ensure you or your kids never press the button and erase something important.
As it comes with a two-pack, you have the option to give one to a child so you have matching tablets. You can also give one to a friend or put them up throughout the house for easy access.
What We Didn’t Like About TIQUS LCD Writing Tablet Pad
Though this is a new model of the TIQUS writing pad with an LCD screen that makes it brighter than the last model, it would still be nice if it was a little brighter. It’s hard to see the screen in certain lighting.
Another issue is the battery. Watch batteries aren’t something most people have in their homes. Though the device lasts a long time before you need to buy a new tablet it’s frustrating if it dies on you and there’s no replacement battery nearby.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Cheap Works well Lasts a long time Easy to erase | The screen brightness could still be a little higher The lock button is on the back Uses a watch battery |
Our Final Score:
What to look for when buying digital notebooks?
How Digital
The first thing you need to consider is how digital a notebook you want. There are varying degrees of options, including regular notebooks that allow for easy digitization, and completely digital notebooks. You have to decide which is most practical and feels best for you.
Extra Features
You also need to consider extra features. Do you want a digital notebook that just allows you to write a few notes and erase them later, or do you want a notebook that uploads everything to a cloud service so you can refer back to the notes no matter where you are?
Usability
Finally, consider how much function you want from the device. A smart notepad doesn’t allow for the transferring of notes and is limited in size, giving you minimal usability. However, traditional paper gives you more to do with the notebook.
There may also be extra features like OCR, cloud services, background removal, easy erase, and more that benefit you and that you should consider when picking the best notebook for you.
FINAL VERDICT -THE BEST DIGITAL NOTEBOOK
ReMarkable Paper Tablet
ReMarkable Paper Tablets broke into the scene and made digital notebooks a whole new thing. Instead of digital notebooks just being ones you could scan images of and automatically sync to the cloud, now it actually means tablets that hold all of your notes.
The first one isn’t perfect, but it is definitely close. With the long battery life, and plenty of storage for all of your notes, you don’t have to worry about an important message going missing or getting erased by accident.
Remarkable was one of the few companies that started on Kickstarter and actually made a name for themselves. Now, they’re looking to expand. Check out their first-generation tablet for a discount here, or consider the reMarkable 2 for newer features (though at a much higher cost).
Anyone excited about digital tablets is ready to see what they come up with next and how they improve their already almost-perfect digital tablets. Once you try out their device, you’ll see why they were placed right at the top of this list.
Best Digital Notebooks FAQs
What is a digital notebook?
There are several different types of digital notebooks. Some are tablets made expressly for note-taking while others are just notebooks that have an app for easy uploading to a cloud server.
Are digital notebooks worth it?
It depends on which one you get and what you’re looking for. They are a little more pricey but allow for quick access from anywhere and are usually more portable than regular notebooks. These features mean it’s worth it for some individuals, but that may not be enough to justify the cost for others.
How does the Roaring Spring Whitelines Premium Ruled Spiral Notebook work?
This notebook works just like a normal notebook. It’s even made with regular paper. The main difference is that the notebook uses gray paper with white lines instead of white paper with black lines and it has a specific app for easy uploading of any notes into the cloud.
Are there different sizes and paper types for the Roaring Spring Whitelines Premium Ruled Spiral Notebook?
Roaring Spring Whitelines offers a wide range of options. If you’re not feeling a spiral notebook, they also have journals and legal pads. Besides lined paper, they also have dot and graph-ruled paper. This makes it easier to find a notebook that fits your needs best.