Comparing Our Favorite Digital Notebooks

Our Favorite Smart Pens

Neo Smartpen M1+ for $129: Skip the tablet and write directly on paper with a smart pen instead. The Neo Smartpen M1+ is the thinnest and lightest of all the pens I tried, which makes it feel a bit more like your standard pen. Importantly, it’s comfortable to hold and use. You should be able to find whatever size and style of notebook you need as well as planners. The Neo Studio app (iOS, Android) is nice, with an easy-to-navigate notebook system and the ability to search for pages by page number or date. You can change the color of the ink and thickness of the lines right on the page as you go, or you can switch them up later and edit the colors of what you’ve written. —Medea Giodiano

Moleskine Smart Writing Set for $251: Moleskine has garnered a devoted following for its classic notebooks and journals, but it has also moved into smart territory. The Smart Writing Set gets you a notebook and pen bundle, so this is the best option for most people starting out. Write in the notebook, and it’ll appear in the companion app! But you can buy the pen on its own, as well as the smart notebooks and planners in various sizes. The Moleskine Notes 2.0 app (iOS, Android) was easy to use once I settled into it. An older version of the app is available for download, but the 2.0 version is more streamlined. A pop-up let me know that 2.0 is still a work in progress and I might need to switch back to the older version if my device is having trouble, but my iPhone 11 didn’t have any issues. I tested the $149 2018 version of the Smart Writing Set, which is no longer available, but we plan to test the latest version soon. —Medea Giordano

Honorable Mentions

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft ($630) and Kindle Scribe (3rd Gen) ($500): The new versions of the Kindle Scribe are still solid all-around devices that have a good mix of e-reader and digital notebook features, but I still prefer the older model. While the new Scribe Colorsoft is a nice option if you want color, I think both are too expensive for what they are. The price comes from all the AI features packed into the device, but I don’t think any reader or digital notetaker was asking for more of those. Our picks above are a better price for similar features, though the Scribe does have the most impressive battery life of any digital notebook device I’ve tried (and that’s still true for the older model that I recommend above, too, so you don’t need the newest model for the best battery life).

Montblanc Digital Paper for $935: Yes, that Montblanc, the one with the famous pens, now has a digital notebook of its own. It’s no surprise that I’d call its digital pen one of the best. It’s got a super-lightweight feel while sporting three different buttons, two of which you can customize. (There’s no eraser, but I’ll give it up for that end of the pen to instead be a home button). I really like this device overall, but it’s pricey for what you get—aside from the customizable pen buttons, there’s not much to differentiate it from my top picks.

Neo Smartpen Dimo for $59: This is the cheapest smart pen option and uses replaceable batteries. It isn’t compatible with Google Calendar, iCal, or Outlook like our other picks.

ReMarkable 2 for $569 (with Marker Plus and Book Folio): This is the older ReMarkable digital notebook from 2020, and it’s still a great device with a great range of accessories (while they’re still available, that is). It feels similar to real paper with its matte screen, and works on the same platform as ReMarkable’s newer tablets. But the performance isn’t as snappy as newer models, and ReMarkable is no longer making it after launching the ReMarkable Paper Pure. I do really like using it with a Keyboard Folio as an e-paper tablet, though.

Rocketbook Fusion Plus for $30: If you really prefer the paper experience and don’t want something you need to charge, then Rocketbook is for you. Rocketbook makes several reusable notebooks, planners, and accessories like index cards and sticky notes. I like the Rocketbook Fusion Plus since it comes with a ton of different template styles, from your classic monthly and weekly pages to project management layouts and meeting notes, making it feel closer to the variety a digital notebook can offer you. Take notes with an erasable Pilot Frixion Pen (one comes with whichever item you buy), scan photos of the pages into the Rocketbook app, and erase the whole thing with the damp microfiber cloth (also included). The app is designed to keep everything organized and easily send things off to Google Drive, Slack, Trello, OneNote, and a handful of other options.

Supernote A6 X2 Nomad for $394 (with Standard Pen): This is a smaller version of the Supernote A5 X2 Manta, measuring almost 6 inches on one side and 7.5 inches on the other. Supernote designed it with travel in mind, but I find it to be a great size for a daily digital to-do list or writing down quick notes from a meeting. It’s too small for anything major, but if you’re looking for something compact, this is a good option with Supernote’s software (and with the same fantastic pens!). Like the Manta above, this model rose in price due to the tariffs, though it only went up $30.

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Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a false advertising class-action lawsuit accusing the company of overhyping its Apple Intelligence features—specifically a promised AI overhaul of Siri that plaintiffs say never materialized and, according to their lawyers, may not arrive for years.

The announcement comes just before Apple is supposedly set to finally unveil some form of AI-enhanced Siri at its developer conference in June, which would mark another swing at detailing a radically improved digital assistant for the iPhone.

The legal complaint says that Apple allegedly saturated the market with deceptive ads, inducing consumers to purchase iPhones based on “the promise of certain Enhanced Siri features” that Apple had first announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in 2024, a few months ahead of the release of the iPhone 16.

The proposed settlement, filed Tuesday in California federal court, is one of the largest Apple has ever reached. It covers only US customers who bought any model of an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025. Depending on the claim, those who qualify could possibly receive up to $95 per device.

Court documents state that a $250 million common fund will provide successful claimants with “a presumptive per-device payment of $25 for each eligible device, which may decrease or increase up to $95 per device depending on claim … The Settlement also reflects that Apple anticipates delivering additional Siri Apple Intelligence features in future software updates at no additional cost.”

The documentation goes on to cite that Apple’s advertising also drew the attention of the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division, which found that “Apple’s claim that Apple Intelligence is ‘available now’ conveyed that the updated Siri was available at launch, when it was not.” In March 2025, Apple told consumers that Enhanced Siri features would not be delivered until a future date.

The settlement, which is still awaiting a judge’s approval, includes no admission of fault by the company. Marni Goldberg, an Apple spokesperson, gave a statement to The New York Times, claiming that with “the launch of Apple Intelligence,” Apple has “introduced dozens of features across many languages that are integrated across Apple’s platforms,” but the company has “resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users.”

Apple acknowledged last year that its AI upgrades to Siri were falling behind schedule. In a statement to Daring Fireball in March 2025, Apple spokesperson Jacqueline Roy said the company had “been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps,” but confirmed that it was going to take the company “longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.”

The next day, Apple reportedly pulled an advertisement starring Bella Ramsey showing the actor using a version of Siri that is capable of answering the query “What’s the name of the guy I had a meeting with a couple of months ago at Cafe Grenel?”

The is the second time in as many years Apple’s voice assistant has cost the company dearly. In May last year, Apple agreed to pay out $95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over claims Siri listened in on private conversations.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is a wide-ranging bill from the Department for Education. The bill is intended to improve child safety by legislating the expected standards regarding the duty of care for children.

However, recent amendments to the bill, which were proposed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, have included two provisions that lead to ethical concerns regarding content moderation and the sharing of personal data.

The timing of these amendments is especially concerning, as they were included after the third reading in the House of Lords. The bill is currently at the consideration of amendments stage, prior to submission for royal assent (after which the bill would be enacted into UK law).

“We’ve been clear that we will take action to make sure children have a healthy relationship with mobile phones and social media. That’s why we’ve launched a consultation looking at everything from age limits and safer design features to a social media ban – seeking views from experts, parents and young people to ensure we take the best approach, based on the latest evidence,” said a spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

“The amendments made to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will allow us to act quickly on the outcomes of this consultation and help give young people the childhood they deserve.”

The government, including the House of Lords, have been in recess for Easter. As such, MPs and peers have not been given much time to scrutinise amendments that potentially have far-reaching consequences, beyond what was intended. However, the government has said that MPs and peers will have the chance to debate and vote on any measures brought forward.

“Amendments are being introduced into bills at very late stages in the House of Lords, and then you have this last-minute scramble and disagreement between the Lords and the Commons as to how to create legislation to deal with the issue that has arisen,” says James Baker, platform power and free expression programme manager for the Open Rights Group.

“They are such politically controversial hot topics that the government can’t ignore what’s going on in the Lords. It’s a terrible way to create legislation and bypasses huge amounts of Parliamentary scrutiny. That’s why we’ve ended up with a motion to ban all 16-year-olds from social media in a bill that was about improving standards in schools.”