The Kobo Libra Colour e-reader works with Kobo's sold-separately stylus, but the combination works better for markups and quick notes than it does for longform writing. (Rick Broida/Yahoo)
Vinyl records made a comeback; so did bell-bottoms. Now it's the pencil's turn, because while we've all become accustomed to banging out notes on our laptops, there's growing evidence that handwriting has benefits to both learning and memory. (Some people just like it better, too.) Before you reach for your legal pad, however, consider a digital writing tablet; with it, you can capture an endless variety of notes and ideas, mark up PDFs, annotate e-books and much more. The latest models are pretty amazing, with slim, lightweight designs, ample storage and easy document sharing. Some even have color screens, a new development. Let's take a look at the best writing tablets you can buy in 2025.
I tested five of the latest from Amazon, Boox, Kobo and Remarkable; all of them ranged from pretty good to pretty great. I also tried an Apple iPad with Apple Pencil, because although it's not a dedicated writing tablet, it does a pretty solid impression of one. (It might actually be the best one; read on.) With its LCD screen, however, it's the outlier here; the others all rely on eye-friendlier electronic-paper displays, much like those used by Kindles and similar e-readers.
A quick personal anecdote: As a writer, I spend all day at a keyboard, where I'm comfortable and efficient, but I discovered — while writing this story! — that a tablet is my preferred tool for writing fiction. That's because it forces me to work a little more slowly and deliberately, and because it's completely free of distraction. I can see why some authors still choose pencil and paper over a word processor. There's just something about it.
Update, July 14, 2025: We checked all product prices and availability. Our picks for best writing tablet remain unchanged.
Screen: Color, 11.8 inches | Weight: 1.16 lbs | Stylus has eraser: Yes | Converts handwriting to text: Yes
ReMarkable all but pioneered the writing tablet, so it comes as little surprise that the Paper Pro (aka reMarkable 3) comes close to perfecting it. Released late in 2024, it not only increased screen size (to an unrivaled 11.8 inches), but also added long-awaited front-lighting and — surprise, surprise — color.
Yes, those colors appear somewhat muted, same as on all the other electronic-paper screens in this roundup, but they're nice to have for highlighting.
The biggest challenge with the Paper Pro is its price: At $629 (with the Marker Plus stylus, which adds an eraser), this is by far the most expensive writing tablet here. But for anyone who's serious about digital note-taking, it's probably worth it.
Read my complete reMarkable Paper Pro review to learn more.
Screen: Color, 10.9 inches | Weight: 1.05 lbs | Stylus has eraser: No | Converts handwriting to text: In select native and third-party apps
There's a strong case to be made for scribbling notes on an actual tablet, namely the base-model iPad. Paired with an Apple Pencil ($99), it is without question the most versatile option.
That's because it works not just with Apple's own apps (which were recently updated with some nifty AI-powered enhancements), but also a variety of powerful third-party ones. Notability, for example, affords a wealth of note-taking tools, including the option of recording and transcribing audio (a potentially huge benefit for students).
Another big plus: a lightning-fast user interface that's instantly familiar to iPhone users and easy for the Android crowd to figure out. Electronic-paper tablets feel pretty slow in comparison, and that makes any UI deficiencies even more acute.
Of course, because this is a full-blown iPad, it's useful for much more than note-taking. And it starts at a reasonable $349, though the Apple Pencil adds a less-reasonable $99. That still gets you out the door for $449, a couple of hundred dollars less than the Remarkable Paper Pro and $50 below the Boox Note Air 4 C.
There are, however, a few compromises to consider. The iPad and Pencil make for a slippery combo; you don't get that pencil-on-paper feel afforded by tablets like the Kindle Scribe and Paper Pro. (One solution: Apply a screen protector that creates a paper-like friction.) And I really wish the Pencil had an eraser; instead, you have to take the extra step of choosing an onscreen eraser tool (or double-tapping the barrel, if you have the 2nd-gen Pencil).
Consider battery life as well: The iPad is good for around 10 hours on a charge, the Pencil for around 11. Most of their electronic-paper counterparts are good for weeks.
Finally, because an iPad is effectively an oversized iPhone, it's replete with the usual distractions: Netflix, text messages and so on. Certainly, you can strip it down to the bare minimum, app- and notification-wise, but you may find you can't achieve quite the same level of focus as with a dedicated tablet.
For what it's worth, if you want the maximum benefit of this pairing, consider splurging on an iPad Air or iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil Pro. The latter adds magnetic charging, "squeeze"-powered tool selection and other nifty amenities — but works only with those higher-end iPads. (Still no eraser, either.)
Screen: Grayscale, 10.2 inches | Weight: 15.3 oz | Stylus has eraser: Yes | Converts handwriting to text: Only via e-mail
The Kindle Scribe has "Kindle" right in the name, so it goes without saying this is the tablet to pick if you're an avid reader. Just like a Paperwhite or other Amazon e-reader, it provides direct access to your e-book library — plus a nice big screen for those who might prefer a nice big font.
And as a writing tablet, it builds on the successes of its 2022 predecessor. The size, screen and writing feel are all excellent, and the interface keeps things admirably simple; this is among the more novice-friendly tablets out there.
Color isn't on the menu, though, at least for now. But Amazon did bust out some nifty AI features. For any given page or notebook, you can request an AI-generated summary or a "refinement," the latter combining OCR with organization: Your scribbles get converted to neatly organized text. When either procedure is done, you can customize the results or add them into the notebook. This works surprisingly well, even with my chicken-scratch handwriting.
I was less enthusiastic about the Scribe's new Kindle book-annotation feature, which basically sticks your handwritten notes into an inline box. It works, but the Kobo Elipsa 2E is definitely better at this.
In addition, the stylus changed ever so slightly from the original version; the eraser tip now produces a more realistic rubber-on-paper feel as you scratch off unwanted ink. I don't like that extra resistance; grit's great for writing, less desirable for erasing.
Read my complete Amazon Kindle Scribe review to learn more.
Screen: Grayscale, 10.3 inches | Weight: 13.8 oz | Stylus has eraser: Yes | Converts handwriting to text: Yes
Update, July 14, 2025: The Elipsa 2E is currently out of stock, but to our knowledge has not been discontinued. Hopefully more inventory will arrive soon.
The Elipsa 2E goes head to head with Amazon's Kindle Scribe, faring much better in many respects — but slightly worse in one or two others.
For example, it has twice the storage (32GB) of the Scribe while weighing slightly less. However, it also has lower screen resolution, which results in both text and handwriting that look a little less sharp.
As with Kobo's Libra lineup of top e-readers, I loved the Elipsa's smart, streamlined user interface and pop-up help windows that help you learn your way around. You can read books here, of course, but only from Kobo's bookstore or your library's OverDrive/Libby service (which is accessible right on the device, a huge benefit).
As a writing tablet, the Elipsa gets nearly everything right — except, one might argue, the most important thing. It offers the usual array of writing tools, including an eraser integrated into the stylus, plus the ability to sync documents with Dropbox and Google Drive.
It can instantly convert handwritten notes to text, either by double-tapping them with your finger or drawing a line around the section you want, and its accuracy at this is superb. I was especially pleased to discover I could mark up e-books much the same way I could mark up PDFs: notes, arrows, underlines, etc., anywhere and everywhere on a page.
In all these respects, the Elipsa beats the Scribe hands down. However, it has only four pen types, and one of them isn't a pencil. (I'd gladly trade either fountain or calligraphy — who needs those? — for that option.) But the real issue is the overall writing experience.
On the Scribe, digital ink lays down cleanly and smoothly, no matter how fast I scribble. On the Elipsa, I found that when I tried to write quickly, it couldn't keep up; the results were often partially incomplete pen strokes and, consequently, hard-to-read notes. I don't know if that's the result of the lower screen resolution or a slow processor or what exactly, but it proved frustrating.
When I slowed down and wrote more deliberately, however, the Elipsa captured everything just fine. And if that's how you typically take notes, I think you'll be happy here.
Indeed, if you can overlook one or two shortcomings, there's everything to like about the Kobo Elipsa 2E.
Screen: Color, 10.3 inches | Weight: 14 oz | Stylus has eraser: No | Converts handwriting to text: Yes
One of the iPad's strengths is its ability to run a huge assortment of apps; it's not locked into a tiny, self-contained ecosystem. The Boox Note Air 4 C brings a similar versatility courtesy of Android 13, its core OS. That means you can install Kindle, Kobo, Libby, Hoopla and other apps for reading books, to say nothing of Dropbox, OneDrive and more for easy access to PDFs and other documents.
In other words, this is effectively an Android tablet with an e-paper screen and a stylus. Specifically, it's a 10.3-inch color Kaleido 3 screen offering a crisp 300 ppi (pixels per inch) in monochrome mode and 150 ppi in color. Just be prepared for the rather muted colors that are also common to these kinds of displays. But there's almost zero glare, and your eyes don't have to suffer from harsh backlighting.
The rest of the hardware is solid — 64GB of storage, microSD slot (making this the only expandable writing tablet in the group), dual speakers and even a fingerprint reader for unlocking — but the software may prove frustrating to some.
Indeed, despite my general familiarity with Android, I had some difficulty learning to navigate the user interface, which is heavy with options and settings spread out across different menus. There's definitely a learning curve here, a steeper one than on other writing tablets.
The native notes app, for example, has lots of useful tools, but vexed me with its cryptic toolbar. Many of its icons' text descriptors are inexplicably cut off. The top item, template, reads "Temp...". Shapes is abbreviated as "Sha...", Share as "Shar..." and so on. (That last one has room for an ellipsis, so why not just include the "e" instead?) You can collapse the toolbar or relocate it, but you can't expand it to see all the icon labels.
I tried a popular third-party app, Notewise, and found that although it had no trouble recognizing the stylus, there was considerable lag in my pen strokes. (In the native app, input was butter-smooth.)
I missed having an eraser on the stylus, but at least the Air 4 C lets you "scratch out" anything you want to delete. Just scribble over a letter or word or whatever, and in a moment it magically disappears. (You can't just draw a line or x through it, though — you really have to scribble.)
As an e-reader, this tablet is arguably your best possible option, seeing as it's platform-agnostic. (To be fair, the iPad is as well.) Read Kindle books, Kobo books and so on. However, as with other Boox devices I've tested, the Hoopla app — a favorite of mine for checking out library e-books — proved problematic. Owing to some obscure battery-permission setting, I couldn't actually download any books to the device. Surprisingly, Boox has instructions for working around this issue, but they were out of date; the screenshots didn't match up with what I found in the settings. Eventually, I got it working, but only with a lot of fiddling.
What's more, although the Air 4 C's FreeMark tool lets you add notes just about anywhere — including in, say, a Kindle or Hoopla book — those notes don't stay embedded. Instead, you can save individual pages. That's not without value, just not the same thing as marking up an entire e-book and revisiting those notes later within that book.
The Boox Note Air 4 C is a robust Android-based writing tablet that is, in some ways, hobbled by its Android trappings. Tech-challenged users are likely to get frustrated by various aspects of the UI. But if you're willing to learn your way, you'll find this a powerful reading and writing companion.
Kobo Libra Colour with optional stylus: I love the Libra as an affordable color e-reader and wanted to love it just as much as a writing tablet. Alas, the 7-inch screen makes note-taking feel cramped, and it doesn't afford that great pencil-on-paper feel. I also found I had to write slowly and with extra pressure to get readable scribbles. I did appreciate the simple interface and surprisingly good OCR, so I wouldn't rule this out entirely. But I suspect most writers would be happier with a larger, more paperlike screen.
Ease of use: Is it easy to get started writing (and reading)? Does the user interface make sense? Some of these tablets are definitely easier to use than others.
Overall feel of writing: A slippery plastic pen atop a slippery glass screen doesn't make for the most pleasant writing experience. Thankfully, some tablets offer a bit of resistance — a bit of grit, if you will — thereby simulating the feel of pen on paper. This may not sound like a huge deal, but it makes a big difference.
Ease of importing (and exporting) a PDF: If there's a document you're hoping to mark up, it's probably a PDF. The question is, how do you access it via the tablet, then send it wherever it needs to go when you're done? In some cases you'll have to e-mail it; others allow you direct access to storage services like Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive.
Converting handwritten text to digital: Otherwise known as OCR (optical character recognition), this is the automated equivalent of someone typing up your handwritten notes. Then you could more easily feed them into, say, a word processor for further editing. For this test I wrote the same paragraph on each tablet, first in block text and then in cursive, and then let it convert my handwriting to text.
I struggled a lot with this question because there are definite pros and cons with each. A dedicated writing tablet offers the same kind of distraction-free experience as a dedicated e-reader; it's just you and the page, no intrusions from text messages or come-hithers from TikTok. You get much longer battery life, too — weeks instead of hours. However, a regular tablet is significantly more versatile; provided it's paired with a decent stylus, you can get more or less the same writing experience for about the same money.
I'd say they're better for sketching, especially those that have grayscale screens. Even those with color afforded a limited palette, and usually a pretty muted one at that. Bottom line: You've got a stylus and some basic drawing tools, but you won't get nearly as far as you would with a color tablet like an iPad.
No consumption of trees, for starters. A writing tablet can hold reams' worth of electronic paper, yet it weighs only about a pound and takes only a sliver of space in your carry-on. A tablet also offers a wide assortment of templates — planners, sheet music, graph paper, you name it — and an assortment of pen types to use: pencil, marker, highlighter, etc.
In addition, your notes are centralized, backed up and searchable in the cloud. Paper can't hold a candle to all that. So that shopping list, brainstorming note or whatever is also available on your phone, not sitting on the kitchen table when you're 10 miles (or 100 miles) away.