Lenovo Smart Paper review

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

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

Taking up the likes of the ReMarkable 2, Huawei MatePad Paper, Kindle Scribe and Boox Be aware Air 2 Plus, you’re both studying this as somebody on the lookout for your subsequent paper pill, or a confused client solely uncertain as to why (or how) the pc format that stemmed from the smartphone now needs to grow to be what it initially started to exchange – 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 Good Paper will see a worldwide launch, however with it rolling out from one market to a different after a short while, our hands-on time ought to enable you to determine whether or not or not it’s value selecting up ought to it wash up in your shore.

Design & Construct

• Modern and trendy
• Grip level
• Pen holder

At barely any greater than the USB-C charging port on its left facet, the Lenovo Good 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 metallic chassis is inflexible, and with a display that simply works in a different way to any LCD or LED display you’re probably used to, tossing this factor round, prodding at its display, or by chance sitting on it isn’t more likely to trigger any irreparable hurt.

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 enchantment to a machined mirror-like edge earlier than reaching the display bezel, the place both a gunmetal grey strip runs down the left facet 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 in opposition to for those who determine to carry it by each corners.

On the again, there’s an analogous story. Beneath the pen facet 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 facet is a rear that’s break 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 units on each side of the value bracket, from the P12 Professional pill to the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Professional laptop computer. It’s smooth, it’s trendy, and it’s delectably clean. 

Josh Brown / Foundry

Although it will probably output audio by way of linked 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 Good 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 mild
• Included pen

Lenovo made the fitting name by together with a pen with its note-taking system. Suiting the pill’s fashion, the principally cylindrical scribbler has one flat edge that provides each grip level on 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 which may get you yelled at.

In use, the pen is snug, however it’s not the thickest writing utensil on the market. Anticipate an ideal slot in your common use case, however younger youngsters or anybody with compromised dexterity would possibly 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 analogous 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 just a few shifts of the ink everytime you open the included case. This implies you’re capable of have it present photographs, a clock, and even your calendar because it sits in view on standby with out fear.

From the pull-down settings, you may change the display’s refresh behaviour to presets like quick and clean, allegedly suiting particular use instances like studying or writing. In follow, it’s arduous 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 appears sharp on the HD show, and the show tech naturally eliminates detrimental blue-light that might preserve you awake. The built-in automated entrance mild, which just a few opponents haven’t included, means you received’t be maintaining anybody up with a bedside lamp. You possibly can even modify the display color temperature for that cool look within the day, or heat have a look at evening. E-Ink is simple to see in vibrant outside mild, and the anti-glare coating ensures studying within the backyard will likely be a delight.

In use, the pen is actually correct and pressure-sensitive sufficient for taking hand-written notes in school or conferences. The build-it app additionally contains 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 performed.

Josh Brown / Foundry

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

Typically use, there’s nothing fallacious 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 cellphone really feel like an actual chore. It is advisable decelerate your actions to keep away from frustration. Typing an online deal with or Google search, for instance, seems like engaged on a dusty and dated machine from the 90s, however the thought is that you simply shouldn’t be doing it a lot.

Efficiency & Software program

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

The Lenovo Good Paper has a leg up over the competitors by operating 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 may’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. Except you’re already utilizing it to deal with your assortment, you’ll have to 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.

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Through the use of the built-in Firefox net browser, you may set up exterior apps to the Lenovo Good Paper by way of third-party websites like APKPure. Easy, slower video games and apps like Wordscapes can add a bit of extra value to the system. Simply don’t anticipate 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 exams, however it was by no means meant to. 

Trying to put in the Google Play Retailer didn’t take. There’s some enjoyable available in testing apps the Lenovo Good Paper clearly wasn’t designed for, however your mileage will differ relating to these nice little surprises.

Possible designed with collaboration in thoughts, the Miracast function means you may beam the display (with color and audio) to a suitable TV or monitor. This opens up just a few extra potential functions for the Lenovo Good Paper (like dwell 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 grow to be outright harmful with too many doubtful adverts on-screen. Having the choice is appreciated, however it could 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 stage of thought had been put in.

In follow, the Lenovo Good Paper is an effective sufficient studying software. 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 may join Bluetooth headphones and activate built-in ambient sound options that can assist you calm down whilst you learn.

For many who want extra footage with their phrases, studying manga obtained by means of Kindle works simply effective. Comixology, Viz Manga, or Shonen Leap might work simply as properly.

You’ll miss out on the occasional full-colour web page, which might 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 know-how picture retention tendencies can even trigger some panels to bleed into the subsequent, which might mess with issues like shading on garments and hair, and even shadows.

Josh Brown / Foundry

For many, a conventional pill will present a greater total expertise for the money. With studying doubtlessly higher suited to cheaper E-Ink tablets, the price of the Lenovo Good Paper begins to boost questions. In actuality, you’re unlikely to do rather more than scribble down tough notes and browse issues again, making £450 arduous to justify even earlier than non-compulsory subscriptions enter the controversy.

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

With no tactile buttons, studying the best way to navigate the customized Android UI by means of gestures alone takes some adjustment. Even days later, I used to be nonetheless by chance closing apps, struggling to search out notes, and flicking the fallacious manner by means of pages. There’s one thing about how E-Ink screens flicker to render new info that may make it arduous 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 besides – a setup that may do all of the Lenovo Good Paper can do (and extra). E-Ink shows have all the time been a captivating idea. They’re only a arduous promote. You’re paying to get rid of the conveniences of contemporary know-how.

Josh Brown / Foundry

The Lenovo Good Paper finds options to among the points that have an effect on the competitors, however it locks just a few killer options behind a paywall you may’t even join by way of its companion app on iOS. It must be performed by means of Android or Home windows. You simply would possibly simply have the ability to get rid of 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 pretty much as good as ours. Google Drive is a chance, however 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 web 13% in quarter-hour from a useless battery, with issues dashing 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 it’s best 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 virtually £200 greater than the ReMarkable 2, the Lenovo Good 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 purchase it from Lenovo within the UK however it’s not obtainable within the US on the time of writing.

For that inflated worth, you get two must-have equipment the ReMarkable doesn’t sometimes include: the pen and a smooth 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 effective for rapidly stowing away in a bag.

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

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

Scrub the thought of this being the final journaling expense you make. The included pen ideas 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 greatest tablets and greatest Android tablets for extra choices.

Josh Brown / Foundry

Verdict

The Lenovo Good Paper is an costly option to rid your world of numerous bodily journals. Although technically able to saving you cash for those who’re a stationery retailer fiend, the persona you lose by all the time holding onto a uniform gray system is a troublesome promote. And also you would possibly nonetheless lose that exterior pen.

With no manner so as to add a splash of color to your notes, and even monochromic doubtlessly vibrant pages of a comic book or graphic novel, it’s a tool that may suck the enjoyment out of among the actions it endeavours to advertise. There’s nothing essentially fallacious with the Lenovo Good Paper. It’s simply so restricted in its use – by design – that it’s arduous to justify the excessive price ticket.

Should you’re trying to increase the usage of an older e-reader like a Kindle, it’s value evaluating it to the competitors. However for those who’re already within the note-making ecosystem, there isn’t an entire lot else on provide with this one past the core points like a sharper display, extra reminiscence, and vastly extra non-expandable storage. This can be a note-taking system first and a reader second.

Should you’re extra into the latter, you may in all probability make do with a less expensive system. If notes are your sport and you want the thought of slicing your self off from a lot else, it’s a handy system. Simply do not forget that subscription charges would possibly imply you might want simply be redirecting your month-to-month stationery finances slightly than saving all of it collectively.

Specs

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