1. Best Note Taker For Ipad
2. Best Note Taker Device

• Jun 04, 2021 No list of best note-taking apps is complete without Evernote, which is one of the oldest and most fully-featured. Evernote lets you create both simple and complex workflows using a combination of.
• The Remarkable 2 is going to be the best digital note taking device of 2020. Not only does the accompanied stylus have pressure sensitivity, but also tilt sensitivity, so you can draw at an angel.

Jan 14, 2021 The best note-taking app for designers and other creatives is Milanote. This app has the freeform feel of a diagramming or mind-mapping app, while still being a note-taking app. It gives you boards. Best General Note-Taking App While seeing the green elephant logo no longer sparks joy in me, Evernote is still the top pick for most people. Its vast feature set ensures that it does everything well enough and has the fewest quirks (even though it doesn’t have Markdown support — a MAJOR quirk).

Writing things down by hands will help us remember them better as well as improve our focus. Since the digital note taking is booming, more and more digital note taking devices are designed for creating scribbles or notes with a stylus for reading and marking up PDFs. We’ve already discussed the note taking tablet before, today I’d like to share the best note taking ebook Reader. Keep reading to learn the top 5 best note taking eReaders.

Note Taking eReader vs Tablets

Why not just get a tablet for note taking? There are different answers but can be concluded to the following 4 cases.

1• The batter life is short and you have to charge it every other day.

2• The screen will cause the eye strain. If your eyes are sensitive, the much paper like e-ink device can relief its stress.

3 • The screen can be hard to read in the sunlight.

4• You may be distracted by the versatile functionality on tablet. To be more focus, e-ink device can be a better choice.

1. reMarkable 2

reMarkable 2 is the second generation of the company’s e-ink tablet, but greatly improve the overlook and feel. With the 10.3-inch display and 226 DPI resolution as the original model, still it is 30% thinner than the original one. And it is made of glass while the remarkable 1 is made of plastic.

If you want to focus more on the task at hand, then remarkable 2 can offer you the best experience on note-taking, sketching, annotating documents, and reading PDFs and eBooks.

Price $399 for reMarkable 2, $49 for the basic, eraser-less pen

Features

♦ It offers a 21ms latency writing which is the biggest fix on the original model.

♦ It has super long battery life which will last about 2 weeks in daily use.

♦ The pressure sensitivity of the new pen is increased to 4096 level which is twice as the original one, which makes the experience feel and appear natural, close to the feel of writing with a fine-point Sharpie.

♦ Reading and annotating pdfs and epubs ebooks is also available on reMarkable 2. Sometimes, you may encounter the long-time waiting whey loading large ebooks or convert handwriting heavy documents.

♦ Taking notes and drawing is the basic function. You can even share them from the tablet as a PDF, PNG or SVG file through email.

♦ Just like the original one, the reMarkable 2 also doesn't offer the option for sync your work to the cloud unless you register a reMarkable account/app to sync content. Third party services like OneNote or Dropbox is not supported..

♦ It can convert the handwriting to text which is very useful for many people.

♦ There is still no backlight and no web browser.

♦ It is lack of many reading features as Kindle or Kobo does.

♦ Supports PDF and DRM-free ePub files. To read kindle books on reMarkable, please follow How to Read Kindle Books on ReMarkable Paper Tablet.

As the note-taking device, it is the dedicated one for dedicated note-takers because it is better for writing and drawing than it is for reading ebooks and PDFs.

2. Onyx Boox Note Air

Easy to hold, cold, solid metal slab, beautiful flat-front design, the Onyx Boox Note Air looks perfectly now. It has the very similar software to Onyx Boox Mac Lumi with lower price. It also runs a modified version of Android 10 which means you can install any android apps you like on it. This feature you’ll never found on Kindle, remarkable of Sony’s Digital Paper.

Onyx’s software is second to none when it comes to reading PDFs and it supports almost all ebook formats and you can write on every book format using the stylus. Most importantly, the notes are easily exported.

Price $479

Features

♦ The Note Air has a color-changing front light that goes from very yellow to very blue.

♦ Reading on this large E Ink screen is brilliant, but if you get close you can see the pixels pretty easily as this screen is only 1,872 x 1,404.

♦ Although you can run the android app on this tablet, but you may not completely satisfied with what you are seeing. But it works well when you are using app optimize settings.

♦ The note Air is added a rotation sensor so it will automatically switch the screen orientation when rotating the device.

♦ It has a Wacom touchscreen with support for 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity.

♦ It also supports the screen split which mean you can run two apps at the same time on the splitted screens.

♦ It supports versatile ebook formats, such as EPUB, PDF, MOBI, TXT, FB2, HTML, DJVU, RTF, DOC, CHM, plus more via apps.

♦ Stylus lacks built-in eraser function and feels cheap.

Onyx’s devices aren’t bad but there’s more delay when writing, and there’s a bit more space between the stylus tip and the screen because Onyx has a thicker top layer over the screen.

3. Supernote A5X

Supernote A5X is features a 10.3 inch E-Ink Digital Ink Touch Screen with a WACOM digitizer layer. This device is running on an Android os that has been heavily optimized for making digital notes. This device is geared towards taking digital notes, editing PDF files and reading ebooks. It also pulls double duty as a dedicated ebook reader.

Price $499

Features

♦ It supports both epub and pdf files. But there are only three fonts available. And each time you change the fonts, margin or line spacing, you will go to the start of the epub or pdf files.

♦ With the touch-slider on the right-side, you can swipe down to bring up the menu at any time, or access your recent files, notes, and bookmarks. It is really handy feature.

♦ It officially offers three types of stylus: Standard pen, heart of metal and the lamy pen.

♦ It has a soft film protector on the top of it unlike other devices using the soft nibs in their pens and hard surface on its screen. It will provide softness and damping while you are writing.

♦ With the Android system , it enables you have the ability to adapt and have new apps installed.

♦ As for its price, it is not on the cheap side but it is right smack in the middle of the where you expected and where all the competitor device price are.

I would have no hesitation in saying that this is the dream device for anyone that works with text or needs to organize and optimize their note-taking.

4. Boyue Likebook Ares

If you are fine with the smaller screen and has limited budget, the Likebook Ares is a good choice. It features a 7.8 inch E INK Carta HD screen with with a capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1872×1404 with 300 PPI. The screen is completely flush with the bezel and has a layer of glass. It also has a WACOM layer which is designed to allow you to draw, take notes and export them to your computer.

Price $294

Features

♦ It allows you to draw, edit and annotate pdf files with a basic generic stylus that the Ares ships out with, which weighs around 6g and has 4096 degrees of pressure sensitivity.

♦ It has an SD card with a maximum of 128GB of additions storage.

♦ It also support wifi, Bluetoth 4.1 and with a usb-c port with OTG support, which enables you to connect up a keyboard, mouse or any other USB accessory.

♦ With two speakers on the side, you can listen to audiobook or music as well.

♦ Due to its android system, you can install any ebook reading app and read any format ebooks. Comics, manga, magazines, newspapers are all displayed well. As for its default app, it supports TXT, CHM,FB2, MOBI, HTML, RTF, HTXT, EPUB, PDB, DOC, PRC, PDF, DJVU.

The Ares is also quite excellent for people who have never had a digital note taking device before and want to see how it works. Also it is the start-up note taking e-ink device.

5. Onyx Boox Max 3

BOOX Max3 features a 13.3-inch E-ink Mobius and Carta display and a resolution of 2200×1650 and 207 DPI. It has a WACOM screen for the stylus and a capacitive touchscreen for interactions involving swipes and gestures. Its accompanied Wacom stylus has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity.

Price $860

Features

♦ It handles PDF documents perfectly. It is the best pdf reading/editing e-ink experience because of the screen size. You can even view the A4 formatting without zoom in or adjust it. As for annotation, you can just annotate directly on the document, or you can split the screen with the pdf on one side and separate notes on the other.

♦ It has very long battery life.

♦ It allows you to install basically any Google Play store app. But it feels sluggish using a lot of android apps that use simple animations in the user interface.

♦ Notes can be synced with several online platforms.

♦ It even has a HDMI port that can connect up to you PC as a monitor.

♦ The biggest drawback is the lack of a built-in front light, but you can use any light source to illuminate its screen. Any this makes it hard to take notes when studying at night.

♦ Because the built-in android system, you can install Kindle app, kobo app or even more reading app. That means you can read and manage kindle format, epub, pdf and all other ebooks in one device.

♦ You can convert handwriting to text with this eink notepad.

♦ It is a little bit heavy but slim. Thus, it is easy to hold. In additional, it doesn’t collect fingerprints.

Although Onyx Boox Max 3 is a very nice note taking device, it is not affordable for many of us. But if you really like the large screen, this one can be the best candidate.

Comparison Sheet

The above sheet shows some specifications of these best note taking eReaders for your reference.

Which e-ink note-taking device will you pick? You are welcome to leave the message in the following comment section.

Iris Yan joined Epubor since 2017. She always wants to share everything related to ebook reading and improve your reading journey.

Note-taking is personal. It has as much to do with how your mind works as it does with what you’re taking notes about and why you’re taking them in the first place.

Still, search for the best note-taking app and you’ll invariably find Evernote at the top of most lists.

Some notes are for sharing. Some are a reminder. Some are taken and never looked at again.

Sometimes a note is a quick thought, jotted down on-the-go on a mobile device. Other times your notes are prepared at length at your computer over a large project, meeting, or study session.

Evernote is fine, generally-speaking — but you’re not just anyone, and your notes aren’t just any notes.

To find the best Evernote alternatives, we tested and used over 30 apps, reviewed top threads on Reddit, and consulted reviews on G2 to hear what the community had to say.

It’s not all just Evernote vs OneNote anymore. There are a slew of great note-taking apps, each with a key advantage over Evernote depending on what you are doing.

The best note-taking apps that aren’t Evernote:

• Hugo - Best meeting notes app
• CacoonWeaver - Best speech-to-text notes app
• Milanote - Best whiteboard-style notes app for creatives
• Bear - Speediest markdown notepad for iOS & Mac
• Typora - Best distraction-free notes app
• Workflowy - Infinite expandable bullet points
• OneNote - Best free option (not just for Microsoft lovers)
• Boost Note - Best note-taking app for developers
• Google Keep - Best note-taking app for Google fanatics
• Ulysses - Top-of-the line notes for serious writers
• Notability - Best notes app for iPad with Apple Pencil
• Nebo - Best note-taking app for Surface with Surface Pen
  

Why Evernote is no longer the gold-standard for notes

For many years, Evernote was on top of the note-taking game. With its sleek, comfortable interface, enjoyable mobile experience, and easy way of organizing with folders and stacks of folders, Evernote dominated the note-taking world after the iPhone’s original launch in 2007.

However, over the last 4+ years, Evernote has undergone a series of problematic changes, introducing bizarre new products in an attempt to expand its reach. They also changed the free plan in ways that have driven away users by crippling key features unless you pay.

Evernote remains a great product in many ways. It syncs across devices, offers a handy web clipper, and can even search handwriting.

But in trying to be all things to all people, the notes app market has opened up, offering a slew of note-taking apps that are going to appeal to more specific groups of people looking for more specific solutions.

What’s not on this list?

With note-taking apps, you need to be able to quickly take notes. Speed is of the essence. That means not having to waste time organizing and saving your files. You also need to be able to easily search your notes to find information.

Of course, you can take notes almost anywhere you can write.

Some people use the cells in a spreadsheet. Others use word processing apps like Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Authors may prefer to jot down notes inside the tools they are already working in, like Scrivener. You can also take notes in project management software like Asana, or collaborative docs like Dropbox Paper.

None of these, however, beat the speed and simplicity of a dedicated notes app.

So in this post, we’re only looking at tools that are primarily for notes. Full-on word processing tools aren’t in the running, nor are project management tools or CRMs that happen to have a notes function. (Ulysses might be a minor exception, as it can be both a notes tool and word processor depending on how you use it.)

With that, here are the best note-taking tools in 2020 that aren’t Evernote.

Hugo - Best meeting notes app

For iOS and in your web browser. (Android, iPadOS, and macOS are on the horizon)

Plenty of note-taking apps are good generally-speaking, but taking notes in meetings poses some unique challenges. Fortunately, Hugo is purpose-built for meeting notes at work.

First, staying organized. Hugo centralizes and organizes all of your meeting notes with the help of your calendar. Notes are associated with your actual meetings, so you basically don’t have to worry about categorizing anything. (You can always add tags if you want to.) This works with G Suite, Gmail, or Office 365 calendars.

Plus, Hugo also integrates with over 20 other apps used for work. It syncs notes to your CRM (e.g. Salesforce), pushes tasks to project management tools (e.g. Jira), and works seamlessly with video conferencing tools (e.g. Zoom).

The Chrome browser extension gives you access to your notes from any page in your browser, which means you don’t have to dedicate your screen to note-taking during a video call. Just open and close the Hugo drawer when you need to check your agenda or jot a note down.

Hugo isn’t designed to just help you (although it will). With accounts for teams, collaborative note-taking, and a library of 80+ meeting note templates, everyone in your organization can use Hugo to centralize your meeting notes together.

During the pandemic, Hugo is offering free accounts to teams of up to 40 users. If you sign up during this period, you’ll get to keep that pricing even after the pandemic is over.

Hugo Pricing:

• Free plan: Yes
• Paid plan: $6/user/month for teams 11+

ALSO: Take a look at this guide to taking amazing meeting notes.

Best Note Taker For Ipad

CacoonWeaver - Best speech-to-text notes app

Compatibility: iOS (iPhone/iPad)

CacoonWeaver is the best way to collect audio notes for iOS. Pop open the app and transcribe your ideas, thoughts, memories, and dreams. To organize your notes with voice commands, just say something like, “Cacoon Shopping” and the app will automatically put your notes in the Shopping category.

Unlike other note-taking apps where you need to enable dictation to record an audio note, and then carefully watch to make sure your text is going in correctly, CacoonWeaver records your audio and transcribes at the same time.

You can play back your notes, or read them back, which gives you the peace of mind to know that no matter what, your information won’t be lost, and there are no limitations on the max length of an audio recording.

CacoonWeaver also keeps track of where you had ideas, showing you blips on a map.

The UI is clean and minimalistic for distraction-free recording and offers custom push notifications and nudges to help you be your best self.

Because it is still in its debut phase, CacoonWeaver is currently free and keeps your data private and secure. The app claims to be in beta but it is fully functional and in better shape bugs-wise than a lot of other apps you’ll find on the AppStore.

CacconWeaver Pricing:

• Free app: Yes
• Paid plan: N/A

Milanote - Best whiteboard-style notes app for creatives

Compatibility: Desktop apps for Mac and Windows, plus mobile apps for iOS and Android

The Next Web calls Milanote “the Evernote for Creatives” and it’s easy to see why creative directors, filmmakers, photographers, marketers, and designers of all kinds enjoy using it.

Best Note Taker Device

Unlike most note-taking apps, Milanote takes a highly-visual approach, allowing you to organize your ideas and projects in visual boards. Collect images, videos, text, and tasks all together on your screen.

If your creative process includes activities like mood boarding, brainstorming, storyboarding, or mind-mapping, the visual canvas offers a flexible and delightful experience.

Milanote works for teams and clients too, with build-tin commenting, sharing, and notifications. Plus, you can download a high-quality, printable PDF of any board.

You can try Milanote free with no time limit, although it is limited to 100 notes, images, or links (and only 10 file uploads). After that, it’s $9.99 for unlimited storage

Milanote Pricing:

• Free plan: Yes
• Paid plan: $12.50/month when billed monthly, $9.99/month when billed annually.

Bear - Fastest markdown notepad for iOS & Mac

Compatibility: iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Mac

For Apple fans looking to upgrade beyond Apple Notes, Bear offers a good balance of features, design, convenience, and software speed. If you’re coming from Evernote, for example, it’s so fast, you’ll notice the difference immediately.

From your very first note, Bear’s design shines, treating you with elegant typography and theme options which include multiple dark modes.

Bear's speed isn't just for writing notes, either. Searching in the app also runs fast, with minimal delays when searching notes.

With many advanced markdown options (or is it markup?), Bear works great if you like to format as you type. Hybrid markdown support means you can see the formatted text as you’re typing, although if you’re not a regular user of markdown, you might not enjoy the experience at first. You can easily export these nicely-formatted notes to HTML, PDF, and TXT.

It also has quick shortcuts, such as for finding today’s date, and supports checkboxes to help with to-dos. Built-in tagging is powerful and allows you to create tags anywhere in a document that are automatically captured in the sidebar.

Bear uses iCloud to speedily sync notes between iOS and Mac with a Pro membership. Still, some users complain that this should be a free feature like it is with most other note-taking apps.

Bear is rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 Crowd with positive reviews from many note-taking app power users, such as consultants, software developers, and UI/UX designers. The biggest complaint about Bear is a lack of helpful or effective support.

Bear pricing:

• Free app: Yes
• Paid Plan: Bear Pro is $1.49/monthly, $14.99 annually with a free trial

‍Typora - Best distraction-free notes app

Compatibility: For desktop/laptop computers only (Mac, Windows, and Linux)

Typora is a slick alternative to Bear that is even more minimalist and distraction-free. The app is simple, with very little UI getting in the way. It’s also beautifully designed, with clear, aesthetically-pleasing text.

Typora has a night mode and also supports custom themes so that you can create the perfect writing experience.

It also has two cool modes. One is a unique Focus Mode that highlights the paragraph you’re currently working on, while graying out everything else. Typewriter Mode similarly highlights the center of your screen.

Many of the same advanced markdown features are in Typora, meaning that you can type up nicely-formatted notes without ever having to shift your hand to your mouse. Even so, if you want to get a little bit fancy, Typora supports tables, diagrams, mathematical formats, footnotes, code fences, and task lists.

Typora Pricing:

• Free app: Yes, during beta
• Paid Plan: Not yet announced

‍Workflowy - Infinite expandable bullet points

Compatibility: Desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux, plus iOS, Android, and in your browser

Do you love taking notes with bullet points?

Do you wish everything in life could be bullets — Infinite, ever-expanding bullet points, as far as the sky can reach?

Does your whole world spin around lists and bullet points? If not, would you like it to?

If the answer the above is a resounding Yes!, you’ll be in heaven with Workflowy.

The concept is simple. Workflowy lets you create infinite piles of bullet points which are also each their own document. Expand, collapse, move documents, drill in and out — it’s intuitive and natural bullet points at a scale that you may have never dreamed of.

The product works well for outlining and project organization just naturally. It’s novel, intuitive, and requires very little learning to figure out.

The only downside to Workflowy is in organizing more matrixed information. This might be more challenging, because every bit of information may not have a clear place in your stack of bullet points for where it should belong. (Contrast this with Hugo, which organizes meeting notes based on your calendar, so notes don’t live in just one particular place — they’re associated with names, companies, dates, meeting titles, etc...)

Still, for your next novel or work project, especially for people whose minds work in a certain bullet-driven way, give Workflowy a try.

Workflowly Pricing:

• Free plan: Yes
• Paid plan: $5/month

OneNote - Best free option (not just for Microsoft lovers)

For iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and in the browser

Simple, practical, and ubiquitous for Windows and Office users, OneNote is a free note-taking app that seems to be everywhere.

It’s a great basic option, with a familiar UI to anyone who has ever used Microsoft products like Word, and while it does most of the things Evernote does, it stands out because of one big four-letter word that starts with an F.

Free.

You get more advanced functionality here without having to pay.

In OneNote, you can add multimedia elements to your notes, such as audio, video, images, and even websites using the Webclipper browser extension. Task lists are an option, although robust task management in OneNote can be challenging because you can’t put due dates on anything.

OneNote has a large folder organization system, letting you create notebooks and sections, and nest them inside each other. The way that sections get dragged around can be frustrating — trying to move one section below another and can have it end up inside on accident — but again, for a free option, for many, this may be a minor inconvenience. Cross-notebook search is available, although there is a learning curve to finding your information.

OneNote uses OneDrive to sync across all of your Microsoft apps. If you don’t have an Office 365 subscription, you can upgrade your OneDrive to a paid plan for an increase in storage space.

OneNote Pricing:

• Free app: Yes
• Paid plan: Upgrade OneDrive for more storage space, starting at $1.99/month for 100 GB

‍Boost Note - Best note-taking app for developers

Compatibility: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and in your browser

Stylish, markdown-enabled, and fully open-source, Boost Note is a developer’s dream. The interface resembles Sublime, the popular text editor, with a slight skew toward taking quick and easy notes.

Boost Note highlights syntax for you and recognizes over 100 programming languages. It also supports math blocks where you can write math equations using LaTeX syntax. Themes are fully customizable.

Notes are stored safely in the cloud, with more file system-based storage coming soon.

Boost Note Pricing:

• Free app: Yes (100 MB cloud storage)
• Paid plan: 2GB cloud storage at $3/month. Boost Note for Teams launches in June 2020.

Google Keep - Best note-taking app for Google fanatics

Compatibility: Android, iOS, and in your web browser

Google Keep is a straightforward notes app that comes as part of your G Suite or Gmail account. It offers a clean, nicely-organized UI that has most of the standard features you’re looking for in a note-taking app, without too many bells and whistles.

If the rest of your life already revolves around Google products, Google Keep may be the right pick for you.

As you create notes, they are organized on your screen visually in a corkboard style. You can change the background colors to give it a post-it notes effect. While if you take a ton of notes, this may feel haphazard, with moderate use it's colorful and fun.

You might be wondering, Why do I need Google Keep when I have Google Docs?

For some users, it may be redundant to have multiple types of Google Docs, but others may enjoy the simpler note-taking experience in Google Keep. And if your notes start to become something more than just a note, there’s always the Copy to Google Docs action to transfer it over.

Google Keep Pricing:

• Free app: Yes
• Paid plan: N/A

Ulysses - Top-of-the-line notes app for serious writers

Compatibility: Mac, iPad, iPhone

For writers and authors, Ulysses is a notes app that will replace your word processor 99% of the time. Fully-featured and elegant, it is a very power writing app.

Export in various file formats, including text, HTML, ePub, PDF, and DOCX, plus a number of export styles for professional-looking PDFs and manuscripts. You can also schedule or publish articles to Wordpress and Medium directly within the app.

Ulysses also excels at organizing, if you’re willing to set it up. With views, custom searches, filters, and tags, it’s the most organizable note-taking experience on this list (except for Hugo, which auto-organizes meeting notes based on your calendar.)

All of this functionality comes at a cost, however. Ulysses is free to try, but if you get hooked, there’s not paired down free version to stick with.

Ulysses

• Free plan: Trial only
• Paid plan: $4.99/month or $39.99 ($3.33/month) when paid annually

Notability - Best note-taking app for iPad with Apple Pencil

Compatibility: iOS (iPhone and iPad)

Combine handwriting, photos, and typing into a single note with Notability. The elegant interface is nicely-designed, letting you choose from a variety of typing and drawing instruments with ease.

Notability has a nice range of sketching tools that make it easy to recolor, scale, and adjust your ideas and sketches. You can also pick from different paper backgrounds, for example, to sketch your notes on graph paper, or more textured art paper.

Notability syncs with iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, AirDrop, and Email for easy sharing with colleagues and study partners.

It’s also great for annotating PDFs.

Notability Pricing:

• Free trial: No
• Paid app: $8.99

(Note: Nebo, discussed below, is another great option that works across all tablet platforms.)

‍Nebo - Best note-taking app for Surface with Surface Pen

Compatibility: iOS, Android, and Windows

Microsoft’s Surface Pen offers a delightful drawing experience on the Surface Book, Pro, and Studio, and there’s no reason you can’t use OneNote for this purpose. The anniversary update of Windows 10 also brought the Windows Ink Workspace, which gives you three cool apps: Sticky Notes, Sketchpad, and Screen sketch.

If you have an active pen like the Surface Pen, you might be asking, with all this greatness bundled for you in Windows, can note-taking get any better?

The answer is yes, and the other answer is Nebo.

Draw sketches and diagrams. Easily switch between your pen and keyboard.

There are tons of cool gestures that make the experience delightful, like how you can scratch out a letter to delete it, or swipe up to join two sentences together.

Getting notes out of Nebo is a breeze, with image, text, DOCX, and HTML formats available. You can also copy/paste diagrams to PowerPoint and they stay fully-editable.

Nebo pricing:

• Free app: N/A
• Paid app: $9.99