Lenovo Smart Paper Review: A Mixed Bag

Worth When Reviewed

Unavailable within the US

After a restricted run in China, the Lenovo Sensible Paper has come throughout the pond, providing one other approach for gadget geeks to get off the grid and again writing with their digits curled round what may as properly be a magic wand.

For whenever you need to reduce your self off from distracting apps, however nonetheless have the odd one on pace dial as an emergency contact, this paper-like pill is begging to your consideration.

Taking up the likes of the ReMarkable 2, Huawei MatePad Paper, Kindle Scribe and Boox Observe Air 2 Plus, you’re both studying this as somebody searching for your subsequent paper pill, or a confused shopper fully not sure as to why (or how) the pc format that stemmed from the smartphone now desires to change into what it initially started to switch – paper. 

It’s not a brand new format. The writing focus is, comparatively, a contest that’s heating up. It’s unclear whether or not or not the Lenovo Sensible Paper will see a worldwide launch, however with it rolling out from one market to a different after a short time, our hands-on time ought to enable you resolve whether or not or not it’s price choosing up ought to it wash up in your shore.

Design & Construct

• Glossy and trendy
• Grip level
• Pen holder

At barely any greater than the USB-C charging port on its left aspect, the Lenovo Sensible Paper is a skinny system. Not fairly as skinny as E-Ink tablets can theoretically get, however simply substantial sufficient to really feel premium versus flimsy.

Its steel chassis is inflexible, and with a display that simply works in another way to any LCD or LED display you’re probably used to, tossing this factor round, prodding at its display, or by accident sitting on it isn’t prone to trigger any irreparable hurt.

Josh Brown / Foundry

The outside design job options loads of little particulars, too. The gently rounded corners of its casing make for a snug grip, they usually even transition from a brushed attraction to a machined mirror-like edge earlier than reaching the display bezel, the place both a gunmetal grey strip runs down the left aspect the place the included pen sits.

This works as a pure gripping level, with the extensive black body hugging the delicate E-Ink show roomy sufficient to nestle your palms towards in case you resolve to carry it by each corners.

On the again, there’s an identical story. Beneath the pen aspect is a skinny strip that runs underneath the pen cradle. It might additionally home the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth antenna. Between that and the Lenovo badge of honour on the other aspect is a rear that’s cut up 60/40 between one color and the subsequent.

Fingerprints will present on the again, however they’re simply buffed away. It’s a premium design you’ll see shared by current Lenovo gadgets on each side of the value bracket, from the P12 Professional pill to the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Professional laptop computer. It’s modern, it’s trendy, and it’s delectably easy. 

Josh Brown / Foundry

Although it may possibly output audio by way of related headphones, you’ll discover no audio system or quantity rocker. Past a trio of tiny microphones, its USB-C charging level, and the facility button, the perimeters of the Lenovo Sensible Paper are freed from any potential obstacles. For higher or for worse. Extra on that in a bit.

Display screen & Pen

• 10.3in HD E-Ink show with anti-glare coating
• Auto-adjust entrance gentle
• Included pen

Lenovo made the proper name by together with a pen with its note-taking system. Suiting the pill’s type, the largely cylindrical scribbler has one flat edge that gives each grip level to your thumb and a pure nest for the way it sits within the pill’s built-in cradle. It magnetizes to this groove with a loud, dependable snap that helps it double as a fidget toy that may get you yelled at.

In use, the pen is snug, nevertheless it’s not the thickest writing utensil on the market. Anticipate an ideal slot in your common use case, however younger kids or anybody with compromised dexterity may discover it a tad too slim. The tactility of placing pen to “paper” feels nice, with a satisfying thunk and good traction as you pull, flick, and dot.

Josh Brown / Foundry

The E-Ink show itself tells an identical story. The low-energy tech permits the display to seem like on with out actually impacting the battery in any respect, with it springing to life with a couple of shifts of the ink everytime you open the included case. This implies you’re in a position to have it present pictures, a clock, and even your calendar because it sits in view on standby with out fear.

From the pull-down settings, you possibly can change the display’s refresh behaviour to presets like quick and easy, allegedly suiting particular use instances like studying or writing. In observe, it’s exhausting to see the distinction between any of them. And in the event that they’re so essential to the expertise, having them shift routinely primarily based on the present app or pen standing would make extra sense.

Textual content seems sharp on the HD show, and the show tech naturally eliminates detrimental blue-light that might hold you awake. The built-in automated entrance gentle, which a couple of rivals haven’t included, means you received’t be holding anybody up with a bedside lamp. You possibly can even regulate the display color temperature for that cool look within the day, or heat have a look at evening. E-Ink is straightforward to see in brilliant outside gentle, and the anti-glare coating ensures studying within the backyard might be a delight.

In use, the pen is definitely correct and pressure-sensitive sufficient for taking hand-written notes in school or conferences. The build-it app additionally consists of round a dozen pen/brush choices, which ought to make doodling and drafting designs or sketches versatile sufficient for anybody who doesn’t depend on elaborate third-party brushes (or color) to get their work completed.

Josh Brown / Foundry

The pen-to-paper really feel is there, however what you lose by coping with a monochrome show makes it exhausting to see any critical artist selecting this over a relatively priced iPad and Apple Pencil. Even a second-hand Samsung Observe might make extra sense for training your craft in a ready room. No devoted eraser on the highest or buttons for fast actions is a missed alternative, too.

On the whole use, there’s nothing flawed with the processor or the display’s contact accuracy, however the sluggish nature of the show shifting could make navigations you’re taking without any consideration in your telephone really feel like an actual chore. That you must decelerate your actions to keep away from frustration. Typing an online deal with or Google search, for instance, appears like engaged on a dusty and dated machine from the 90s, however the concept is that you simply shouldn’t be doing it a lot.

Efficiency & Software program

• Powered by Android
• Exterior APK help
• Naked important apps come pre-installed

The Lenovo Sensible Paper has a leg up over the competitors by working Android as an alternative of its personal customized working system. Being largely designed as a distraction-free good system, you received’t discover the Google Play Retailer prepared to supply extra apps. However that doesn’t imply you possibly can’t.

With a devoted note-taking app and an workplace suite that I can solely advocate as a final resort, solely Ebooks.com is put in because the book-reading app of alternative. Until you’re already utilizing it to accommodate your assortment, you’ll must obtain the app of your most well-liked e-book repository to entry the library you’ve constructed up over time: which isn’t going to be simple for the typical bookworm.

Josh Brown / Foundry

Through the use of the built-in Firefox internet browser, you possibly can set up exterior apps to the Lenovo Sensible Paper by way of third-party websites like APKPure. Easy, slower video games and apps like Wordscapes can add a bit of extra price to the system. Simply don’t count on something that depends on movement to fly, and for some apps to outright refuse to put in. The 1.80 GHz Rockchip RK3566 processor underneath the hood didn’t precisely smash our conventional pill benchmark checks, nevertheless it was by no means meant to. 

Making an attempt to put in the Google Play Retailer didn’t take. There’s some enjoyable available in testing apps the Lenovo Sensible Paper clearly wasn’t designed for, however your mileage will fluctuate in terms of these nice little surprises.

Doubtless designed with collaboration in thoughts, the Miracast function means you possibly can beam the display (with color and audio) to a appropriate TV or monitor. This opens up a couple of extra potential functions for the Lenovo Sensible Paper (like reside annotations in a gathering) however including native streaming latency on prime of the 25ms pen/contact lag and E-Ink display’s response time will nonetheless scare away full-colour artists.

Josh Brown / Foundry

Utilizing the browser on a machine like this can be a depressing expertise for duties apart from studying plain textual content, and may rapidly change into outright harmful with too many doubtful advertisements on-screen. Having the choice is appreciated, however it might have been swell to see Lenovo provide a curated app retailer for viable applications. It wasn’t nice on the Huawei Matepad Paper, however its inclusion confirmed some degree of thought had been put in.

In observe, the Lenovo Sensible Paper is an effective sufficient studying device. Although it’s a disgrace to see it skimp out on a 3.5mm headphone jack or quantity buttons that might double up as page-turners, you possibly can join Bluetooth headphones and activate built-in ambient sound options that will help you calm down whilst you learn.

For many who want extra photos with their phrases, studying manga obtained by Kindle works simply superb. Comixology, Viz Manga, or Shonen Bounce might work simply as properly.

You’ll miss out on the occasional full-colour web page, which may make studying Western comics and graphic novels a blasphemous expertise, however the choice is there. It’s simply that navigating them or zooming in to see detailed panels is usually a battle. The E-Ink expertise picture retention tendencies may also trigger some panels to bleed into the subsequent, which may mess with issues like shading on garments and hair, and even shadows.

Josh Brown / Foundry

For many, a standard pill will present a greater general expertise for the money. With studying probably higher suited to cheaper E-Ink tablets, the price of the Lenovo Sensible Paper begins to boost questions. In actuality, you’re unlikely to do way more than scribble down tough notes and browse issues again, making £450 exhausting to justify even earlier than elective subscriptions enter the talk.

You possibly can document speech throughout a gathering or lecture whereas writing down your personal notes, however you’ll be anticipated to pay for the privilege to show something however your personal writing into textual content to stick into one other app. And due to the system’s lack of audio system, you possibly can’t even hearken to recorded audio with out connecting headphones.

With no tactile buttons, studying easy methods to navigate the customized Android UI by gestures alone takes some adjustment. Even days later, I used to be nonetheless by accident closing apps, struggling to search out notes, and flicking the flawed approach by pages. There’s one thing about how E-Ink screens flicker to render new info that may make it exhausting to maintain up or discover what’s occurring, resulting in confusion about what motion or gesture led to what you see on display.

There’s a really, very area of interest marketplace for an e-reader that prices as a lot as an entry-level iPad with an Apple Pencil as well – a setup that may do all of the Lenovo Sensible Paper can do (and extra). E-Ink shows have all the time been an enchanting idea. They’re only a exhausting promote. You’re paying to cast off the conveniences of contemporary expertise.

Josh Brown / Foundry

The Lenovo Sensible Paper finds options to a few of the points that have an effect on the competitors, nevertheless it locks a couple of killer options behind a paywall you possibly can’t even join by way of its companion app on iOS. It must be completed by Android or Home windows. You simply may simply be capable of cast off the necessity by discovering a third-party app. As for why even that isn’t pre-installed on this Android-powered pill, your guess is nearly as good as ours. Google Drive is a chance, nevertheless it’s a bit of unwieldy.

Battery Life & Charging

• 3550mAh cell
• 10W charging
• 8 hours from 30-min cost

By way of how lengthy its 3550mAh battery will final you, the default settings ought to have it able to flicker again on for weeks. Standby time is stellar. When juicing up by way of the included 10W USB-C adapter, you’ll internet 13% in quarter-hour from a lifeless battery, with issues rushing as much as 33% after half-hour of cost time.

That’s greater than sufficient energy to final you a protracted prepare or aircraft journey. Whereas studying on the Kindle app, the battery dipped 4% over half an hour, which means you need to get round 8 hours of display time from a 30-minute cost.

Worth & Availability

• £450 RRP
• Subscription-based multi-device syncing 
• Single Storm Grey 4GB/64GB mannequin

Coming in at nearly £200 greater than the ReMarkable 2, the Lenovo Sensible Paper is something however cheap at £450. However when you dive into the main points, it’s simpler to see it as a extra full package deal.

You should buy it from Lenovo within the UK nevertheless it’s not accessible within the US on the time of writing.

For that inflated worth, you get two must-have equipment the ReMarkable doesn’t usually include: the pen and a modern folio case. Granted the case can’t fold over to pitch the pill at an angle for barely extra ergonomic writing or doodling, however its delicate magnetic connect methodology and ridge for the pen makes it work simply superb for rapidly stowing away in a bag.

Sadly, seamlessly backing up, transfering, or referencing your essential notes on one other system requires a Lenovo Sensible Paper subscription, following the ReMarkable’s enterprise technique in essentially the most annoying approach. Given the tiny measurement of such information, it’s a disgrace to see a lifetime subscription of types not included.

With the pen and folio bringing the competitors nearer to the value of this slab, cloud storage as commonplace might have been the deal maker right here. A single worth for the complete expertise, without having to fiddle with setup. Without end. Alas, that’s not the world we reside in any longer.

Scrub the concept of this being the final journaling expense you make. The included pen suggestions ought to final years, and there’s sufficient built-in storage for many, but when backups and transcription are a necessity, the preliminary fee for the {hardware} isn’t the final time you’ll be pulling out your bank card.

Take a look at our charts of the finest tablets and finest Android tablets for extra choices.

Josh Brown / Foundry

Verdict

The Lenovo Sensible Paper is an costly technique to rid your world of numerous bodily journals. Although technically able to saving you cash in case you’re a stationery retailer fiend, the character you lose by all the time holding onto a uniform gray system is a tricky promote. And also you may nonetheless lose that exterior pen.

With no approach so as to add a splash of color to your notes, and even monochromic probably vibrant pages of a comic book or graphic novel, it’s a tool that may suck the enjoyment out of a few of the actions it endeavours to advertise. There’s nothing basically flawed with the Lenovo Sensible Paper. It’s simply so restricted in its use – by design – that it’s exhausting to justify the excessive price ticket.

In the event you’re trying to broaden the usage of an older e-reader like a Kindle, it’s price evaluating it to the competitors. However in case you’re already within the note-making ecosystem, there isn’t a complete lot else on provide with this one past the core facets like a sharper display, extra reminiscence, and vastly extra non-expandable storage. This can be a note-taking system first and a reader second.

In the event you’re extra into the latter, you possibly can in all probability make do with a less expensive system. If notes are your sport and you want the concept of slicing your self off from a lot else, it’s a handy system. Simply keep in mind that subscription charges may imply chances are you’ll want simply be redirecting your month-to-month stationery funds somewhat than saving all of it collectively.

Specs

• 10.3in 227 ppi E-Ink, dual-colour, anti glare and matte show
• Auto-adjustable entrance gentle
• 1.80 GHz Rockchip RK3566 processor
• 4GB RAM
• 64GB eMMC storage
• Stress-sensitive pen
• Folio case
• 3550mAh battery
• 10W charging by way of USB-C
• Bluetooth 5.2
• 195mm x 226mm x 5.5mm
• 408g