So, it seems like e-ink devices are the new thing for me. I’ve already had the pleasure of reviewing the MobiScribe Origin and BOOX Nova3, and now the lovely people at Supernote have sent me one of their A5X e-ink notebooks to try out.
The Supernote’s X series devices come in two sizes: the A5X (which I was sent) has a 10.3-inch screen, and the A6X has a 7.3-inch screen.
For those keeping track, that means that the A6X is ever-so-slightly smaller than the 7.8-inch screen on the Nova3, but an inch-and-a-bit larger than the 6-inch screen on the MobiScribe Origin. The A5X‘s screen, therefore, seems huge in comparison to the other e-ink devices I’ve tried out, and that really does make a big difference.
In the box with the A5X I received a folio case – which the device slots easily and very securely into – and a pen/stylus which I was delighted to discover had my name engraved on it [see also: my review of the LAMY Al-star pen, for use with the Supernote]. A tiny detail, but it made me very, very pleased. It’s a nice little extra touch and, obviously, would be great if you were getting one of these devices for someone as a gift. Also included is a USB C to A cable and a very basic printed quick-start guide. That’s it. That’s all you need.
The A5X has a USB port at the bottom and an on/off button on the top, everything else is done on-screen, or utilising the little touch slide-bar at the right of the screen. The whole aesthetic is one of high-end, slimline, elegant simplicity and user-friendliness. What you think is the protective film over the screen when you first open the box bears a warning not to try to remove it. That’s because it is the screen! As with all e-ink devices an image “freezes” on the screen when switched off, but I was genuinely surprised that this was the screen, because the quality was so much more like print than on any other e-ink device I’ve seen. It turns out that on the screen is a special self-repairing film (FeelWrite soft film) which is grafted on during the manufacturing process, meaning that even heavy-handed use of the pen/stylus will not scratch it.
Reading
Open the Supernote App Store and there’s one app in there: Kindle. I was a bit surprised by this, given that MobiScribe offers Kindle plus Kobo, Libby, OverDrive, and Tolino. Apparently, this is set to change in the near future with a wider range of apps being made available in late 2021/early 2022. Reading via the Kindle app on the A5X naturally requires signing into an Amazon account, so I can understand that some people might not be 100% happy with that being their only option. Also, who remembers their Amazon log-in details? It turns out I don’t. The Kindle app is not the only way to read on the A5X though.
The simplest way to test it out was to just connect the A5X to my PC and drag a couple of PDFs over into the Document folder. The first was the W. A. Neilson translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The text was clear and easy to read – black on light grey, rather than on white. You move back and forth through the pages with a tap of your finger, as you’d expect. There’s about a one-second delay between your tap of the screen and the turn of the page. This slight delay isn’t a problem and it’s something you get used to pretty quickly, but I think there is actually a clever reason for it, which I’ll come to in a little while. While we’re about it, it’s probably also worth noting that the A5X does not have a backlight, so the screen does not “glow” or light up. Again, this isn’t a problem, and again I believe it has been done for a specific reason, which I’ll come to in the next section of the review.
The second PDF I dragged over onto the A5X was of mine and MD Penman’s GN adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Now, this is a coloured comic, and not the kind of thing the A5X is really made for displaying but, you know what? By and large, it looked great. I had to adjust the contrast on some pages to make sure all the detail was there, and some panels which were supposed to be green and black still just showed up as full black, but I’d say about 80% of the entire book just looked like a really nice monochrome comic. Now, here’s the thing about that one-second delay on the page turns I mentioned above: there is virtually no ghosting on the A5X when you flick between pages, even when those pages are of a coloured comic which the device isn’t really supposed to be capable of displaying properly. If I tap-tap-tap on one side of the screen, does the A5X whizz through pages trying to catch up, leaving a blur of after-images? No. It completely ignores what I’ve done and just moves on one page. The Supernote will not be tricked. The Supernote does things at exactly the pace it needs to in order to maintain the best possible image on-screen. The Supernote will not be rushed.
Short version: Reading on the A5X is like reading on paper with all the zoomability and contrast adjustment extras we’ve come to expect from digital reading. A slight, and deliberate, delay when switching from one page to the next ensures a near-total absence of the ghosting problems other e-ink devices exhibit.
Writing / editing / typing
When reading a PDF on the A5X you have all the usual options of creating bookmarks etc, but you can also annotate the document with your pen. Those annotations can be found and viewed on their own, sorted and logged by page number. You can then export an annotated version of that PDF (even choosing red or blue as more noticeable alternate colours for the annotations when you do so). This is so simple, yet so very useful. Proofreading, annotating and marking a document just as you would on a print-out, and then being able to save and/or export that version.
Supernote has its own dedicated Cloud storage which is free to sign up for and use with your Supernote device, so all your notes and documents can be uploaded to, and downloaded from, there. You can also connect a Dropbox account (which, luckily, I do remember the log-in details for) meaning you can access your documents on the device. These include Word docs and, for me, this is where the Supernote really comes into its own. Want to proofread a Word doc on the Supernote? No problem. Spot a word that shouldn’t be there or a typo? Cross it out with your pen, and it’s erased. As easy as that. More than that, you can create a Word doc on the A5X using your own handwriting. Yes, handwriting direct into a Word doc. The handwriting recognition on the Supernote is better than on any other e-ink notebook I’ve tried, even with my terrible handwriting. And writing on the A5X feels so nice and smooth and natural, with virtually no lag. This brings me back round to the reason for the lack of a backlight on Supernote devices. Asked about it in an online Q&A, a representative of Supernote had this to say:
We have carefully thought about back or front light. We will say no because the back or front light affects the handwriting experience. The back or front light layer will make the device thicker and make you feel the nib is further away from the screen as you write. The back or front light weakens light transmittance and also causes the front light to be turned on where the light is not even needed. The back or front light will increase power consumption. We believe that most of the time people read or write in a light place, at night you can use a desk lamp.
It’s another example of how Supernote have put performance over bells and whistles – making sure that the device works the very best it can, rather than trying to include everything their would-be competitors do.
Like the BOOX Nova3, the Supernote can also be connected wirelessly to a keyboard. This means that with just the A5X and a Bluetooth keyboard you have a fully functioning word processor, able to open, create, edit, and save fully formatted Word docs. This, for me, is an absolute game-changer, and what sets the Supernote head and shoulders above the others I’ve tried. Coupled with a wireless keyboard, this is exactly the portable writing device I have been hoping for. It is worth noting that there is a slight lag between hitting a key and the characters appearing or disappearing from the screen, and some users might find this frustrating. Again, however, I believe this is a case of Supernote putting precision and quality over speed, rather than an actual problem. As I said, the Supernote will not be rushed.
Short version: Writing with the pen/stylus on the A5X feels completely natural. Handwriting recognition software is the best I’ve encountered. PDFs can be annotated, Word docs can be created and edited using the pen/stylus. Connecting a Bluetooth keyboard is easy, and turns the device into a lightweight, portable, but incredibly powerful Microsoft Word word processor.
Sketching
Being 100% honest, I have not really explored the possibilities of sketching and drawing on the A5X to any real extent. Mostly because they had me at the writing and editing capabilities. Handwritten notes do not have to be saved as Word docs, they can be stored as .note files (which only Supernote can use/open) or exported as PNG or PDF files. Sketches are created, stored, and exported in exactly the same way. Notes and Sketches can have up to four separate layers, plus a background layer, which can be chosen from a template library (lined, grid, dot, squared, etc), or can be created as a custom layer. As I said, I really haven’t explored this aspect of the A5X to any real extent as yet but seeing as I found the comparatively small MobiScribe Origin very easy to create thumbnails on, I have no doubt that A5X is equally up to the task.
Short version: Sketches can have up to five separate layers, including a background layer which can be chosen from a template library or custom created. Sketches are saved as .note files, but can be exported as PNG and PDF files.
What have I missed? Quite a lot, probably, because I’m really still just getting to grips with the A5X. Email is a feature on the MobiScribe Origin, BOOX Nova3, and the A5X, but the Supernote is the first device that I feel like I would really want to use it on. I’m confident that I could work on the A5X to the point that I’d be happy sending that work straight to editors, without having to check over it on my PC first.
The A5X is a professional, slimline, user-friendly and powerful e-notebook. It feels like a mobile office that’s the size and shape of a notebook. A year ago, when I tried out the Freewrite, I was incredibly excited by the idea of a paired down writing-on-the-go device. Freewrite promised “distraction free writing”, but it proved too limited for my needs. Now, it feels like the Supernote A5X delivers exactly what I needed from the Freewrite (even though I didn’t know what that was at the time), and more. I genuinely can not wait to do more writing on it.
EDIT: Since this review was originally published on the 1st of December 2021, Supernote have released a kernel upgrade which has significantly improved things such as page turn times, and even battery life. Supernote now also have a European distributor called Gorillascribe, with a full website coming very soon.