E Ink tablets are a weird breed. Most people associate them with the best e-readers, but some of the best electronic ink tablets offer a host of assorted functions. Modern paper displays have advanced beyond the confines of limited usage and now many can be used for writing, reading comic books, and even drawing in color.
The best E Ink tablet that offers all these features in one unified body is the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C. It has a large and beautiful screen that can display color and has writing functionality that delivers a satisfying pen-and-paper feel. If you love the look and feel of traditional reading and writing mediums, this tablet will surely capture your heart. There are plenty more e-paper tabs out there, but the Tab Ultra C gives you the most value for money and performs consistently well.
At a glance
Best overall
The Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C undercuts Amazon's pricing while offering a lot more than its most powerful e-reader. You get a color e-ink display, the Google Play Store, stylus compatibility, and USB-C charging with weeks of battery life. This sleek and lightweight tab is easily the best overall choice.
Best for reading
The 11th-generation Amazon Kindle Paperwhite goes on and on for weeks, has brilliant contrast, can withstand a dunk in the pool, and it costs less than $150. If reading's the only thing on your mind, pick the Kindle Paperwhite.
Best premium writing tablet
A niche tablet with limited functionality may seem rich for your blood, but wait until you write on the ReMarkable 2. This is the best premium tablet built for writing, setting the industry standard for stylus sensitivity and feel.
Best for writing overall
Onyx Boox has a wide assortment of mid-range and high-end e-ink tablets. The Note Air 2 Plus is one of the brand's more affordable options, bringing you a typical Android tablet's features in a B&W e-ink format. Note-taking and scribbling is good fun on this, especially as you can use any app of your choice.
Best Amazon flagship
Amazon specializes in the budget segment of Android tablets, so the upper-tier Kindle Scribe is a surprise. Despite the lack of the Play Store, the Kindle Scribe is a fantastic e-reader and note-taking E Ink tablet. The price isn't the best, but the battery life and build quality are great.
Best entry-level
No matter what your budget is, the entry-level Amazon Kindle will fit it easily. This is the only e-ink tablet that you can purchase for just over $100. The resolution is crisp, the battery is insane, and you get USB-C charging.
Best overall
While most E Ink displays tend to focus on doing one thing, the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C does it all. The Tab Ultra C displays 4,096 colors on its 10.3-inch display, which is unusual for most E Ink tablets. Comics can be viewed in full color and you can even draw, highlight, or jot down notes in different shades thanks to the accompanying stylus. The Tab Ultra C's touch function for the stylus is powered by Wacom, the company that makes the best drawing tablets. It imitates the true blue traditional feel of writing on paper with a pen.
Onyx Boox really took things to the next level by adding more gear under the Tab Ultra C's hood. This stunningly slim tablet runs Android 11 out of the box so you can actually install and use apps from the Google Play Store. It has 4GB of RAM, 128GB of onboard storage, a microSD slot, a 16MP camera, stereo speakers, a mic, a USB Type-C port that supports fast charging, and a set of speakers. Amazingly, the 6,300mAh battery can last for a week or two with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in full use. The Boox Tab Ultra C is the complete package; it is almost a full-blown Android tablet.
Unfortunately, if you want the complete package, you'll have to pay for it since this tablet isn't exactly cheap in comparison to "normal" tablets. It also lacks water and dust resistance, which is a bummer, and E Ink displays are famously dim in the sun. We believe you can live with these shortcomings as the combination of features in the Tab Ultra C is just too good. As opposed to the Kindle Scribe, it provides more value and has so much more to offer.
Best for reading
For many years, Amazon has dominated the e-reader market with its Kindle line of reading tablets, and for good reason: Kindle e-readers are excellent devices and their displays have LED backlighting. The Kindle Paperwhite is the absolute best Amazon Kindle e-reader, which makes it the best E Ink tablet for reading.
The 2021 iteration of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite has IPX8 waterproof certification so you don't have to worry about getting it wet. You also get five adjustable LED backlights in the Kindle Paperwhite so it's fairly bright in sunlight. Its 6-inch 300ppi E Ink screen is a delight to look at and replicates paper very nicely. Audible integration makes it the perfect companion for lazy beach days when you want to sunbathe with your eyes closed. You can connect a pair of Bluetooth wireless earbuds and listen to audiobooks in peace.
Amazon introduced a bunch of different colors for the Kindle Paperwhite so you have a lot of variety. There's 8GB or 16GB of internal storage, which is enough to store thousands of e-books. The battery life is excellent and you get a USB-C charging port. Amazon sweetened the deal by setting a low price but you'll need to spend a little extra cash for the ad-free version. If you're an avid reader, you won't be disappointed by the Kindle Paperwhite. Some file formats aren't supported, though Amazon did introduce EPUB compatibility to compensate.
Best premium writing tablet
If you're searching for a more writing-focused E Ink tablet, the ReMarkable 2 is your best bet. Built from the ground up for this purpose, the ReMarkable 2 offers a premium writing experience. It has a 10.3-inch e-paper display that cannot display colors beyond black and white. It has Wi-Fi, USB Type-C charging, 8GB storage, a 3,000 mAh battery, and a cool magnetic accessory dock where you can store your stylus. Notes and other documents can be saved over the cloud, although the companion apps are a little buggy.
The software caters to handwritten notes and processing them for multiple purposes. You can take notes directly on PDF files or use OCR to scan your notes taken by hand. To jot down digital notes, you need to use the compatible stylus. It comes with the Marker Plus that has an eraser on the opposite end, so it functions just like a standard pencil. It's extremely fun to use.
The downside of getting the E Ink digital notebook from ReMarkable is that you'll have to break the bank to get one with all its accessories. Mercifully, the price of the ReMarkable 2 writing tablet has decreased quite a lot since its launch, but there's still the matter of finding one. And there's another hard pill to swallow as well. Because you can't access the Play Store on the ReMarkable 2, it's no good for any other task beyond jotting down notes.
If you're looking for the ultimate handwriting experience on an e-ink tablet, these pains are worth undertaking though.
Best for writing overall
The ReMarkable 2 tablet is great for writing, but it is also ridiculously expensive. On top of that, the stylus isn't even included in its base price. If you want better value, the Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus is a better buy overall. Onyx Boox tablets beat Amazon, Kobo, and every other competitor easily because they all have the Google Play Store and run Android 11.
The Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus has a 10.3-inch black and white E Ink Carta display that has excellent contrast and a lovely crispness to it. It comes with a battery-free stylus that registers 4,096 degrees of pressure and you get native optical character recognition (OCR). This is such a vital feature for any tablet, whether it's an e-ink device or a full-blown traditional Android or iOS tablet. Unbelievably, the Kindle Scribe doesn't come with OCR which makes the Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus the obvious answer when comparing the two devices.
Apart from the stylus and excellent e-paper screen, the Note Air 2 Plus has all the advantages of e-ink tablets and e-readers as well as a few extras. You get weeks of battery life from its 3,700mAh cell, a USB-C port with OTG support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, support for tons of file formats, speakers, and even a microphone!
When looking for a writing tablet with an e-paper display, the Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus is easily the winning contender. This is saying something, considering the Note Air 2's foes include the Amazon Kindle Scribe and the ReMarkable 2. If you don't mind the price tag and lack of water resistance, this is the e-ink tablet to get for writing.
Best Amazon flagship
The Amazon Kindle Scribe isn't the best value tablet on this list, nor does it offer the most amazing features and specs. It does, however, have that legendary Kindle build and insane battery life backing it. This thing lasts for several weeks on a single charge, which is exactly what you'd expect from any decent Kindle.
For Kindle users, the Amazon Kindle Scribe is the perfect e-paper tablet. It doesn't have the Google Play Store and it doesn't support a lot of e-book formats. But the Kindle Store has an excellent collection of e-books and Audible brings you audiobooks in a portable form factor.
Now that Amazon has brought EPUB compatibility to Kindle devices, the Kindle Scribe is a lot more likable. You can easily send files to the e-reader slash tablet using the Send to Kindle feature and there's Bluetooth pairing for audiobooks.
The compatible Kindle Pen works well, there are no lags, and it feels really good to use. You can get a lot better e-paper tablets for the same price, but those who prefer Amazon's Kindle ecosystem will be very happy.
Best entry-level
E Ink tablet lovers out there on a budget can still get one for a nifty price. The entry-level Amazon Kindle (2022) is a budget e-reader sporting a 6-inch 300ppi e-paper display. It doesn't have many fancy features like a waterproof rating or Sudoku, but it can support a healthy number of file formats and looks brilliant.
It isn't that bright in sunlight but the adjustable front light is handy for late-night reading. The basic Amazon Kindle has some more no-nonsense specs like 16GB of storage, an insanely good battery life, Wi-Fi, and audiobook support. If you don't want to use the Kindle app, you can transfer files to the Amazon Kindle (2022) e-reader from your PC.
In comparison to almost every other e-paper device out there, the Amazon Kindle is the winner hands down when it comes to the price. The base model Kindle performs a tad bit slower and it doesn't have waterproofing, but it is still the best E Ink tablet for reading on a tight budget.
The best all-around E Ink tablet is multifunctional
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After staring at bright screens day in and day out, your eyes really need a break. The best E Ink tablet will not only provide relief but also allow you to carry out various tasks. The Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C is the best E Ink tablet owing to its fabulous soft colors, extremely sleek and lightweight build, and multitasking capabilities. It isn't limited to just being an e-reader, but if you want, you can use it for that purpose. But if need be, you can also use it to take down notes, sketch some lovely drawings, or underline passages of text.
Let's also not forget that you get native optical character recognition with the Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C, enabling you to convert your handwriting into digital text in real-time, whether it's to use the search bar in the Google Play Store or to use the search function in your handwritten notes. This alone is a great feat for any decent tablet that comes with a stylus.
The Tab Ultra C accommodates office use as well as home use. You don't have to sacrifice battery life or connectivity. It even has stereo speakers and a mic, something that no other electronic ink tablet on this list offers. What's even more brilliant is its ability to run almost any Android app. You can actually use it as a full-fledged tablet for most tasks related to reading and writing. The Tab Ultra C pushes the boundaries of an E Ink tablet in the best sense, and that is why it is the very best one you can buy.
