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Ever since my first Kindle years ago, I’ve long been interested in e Ink devices! However, it wasn’t until I started realizing I spent far too much time on my phone that I started discovering how much I needed to find some great alternatives to spending hours on a blue light device, that can do everything and anything I want, and does everything it can to keep me on the device.
Instead, e Ink devices caught my attention, because they can do almost everything a regular device does, but feels more like paper (no blue light), and considering they lack the vibrant colors and animations of normal screen, they allow you to do what you need, but not keep you coming back for more.
Anyway, e Ink has become a big part of my recent life, and thankfully, some brands have been willing to gift me some of their products to put through testing! So here are my favorites, ranking the best ones at the top.
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1. Supernote Nomad
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- Everything is one place
- Drawing feels mostly like paper
- It's a really well-built unit
- The pen feels like something you want to use
- The clear back is cool
- The size is great
- The pen wobbles around in the folio
- The file system could be better
This Supernote Nomad was the first e-ink note-taking tablet I had ever tested! While it looks much like an e-reader at first glance, it’s quite a bit more than that. This high-end e-ink tablet is perfect for note-taking, drawing, and task organizing. While I may not have been a big fan of the file system setup (I wish it had a true smartphone-like home screen), just about everything else was top-notch.
With the Heart of Medal Pen 2 that I received with this tablet they gifted me, it felt just like writing on paper (after a bit of getting used to it)! I found that while it may have a plastic outer shell, it still felt extremely high quality, and there was little to no lag when it came to drawing or writing.
It really was-and-is awesome to have a tablet like this, that can give you the ability to feel like you aren’t looking at a screen, but still gives you the capabilities that most tablets have all in one place. I do however wish it was easier to install third party applications to the device, as the existing software is definitely limited.
If you are interested, you can read my full review of this tablet here!
2. Light Phone 2
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- Removes distractions that keep you on your phone, but keep the necessary!
- Extremely compact (you don't feel it on you)
- Only two types of notifications, texts and phone calls
- Includes podcasts and hotspot functionality (Speaker is quite decent)
- The sound quality is better than expected.
- Battery life is respectable.
- No more blue light
- Texting can be a bit of a pain!
- You miss out on some crucial apps that are built into our world.
- Keeping your existing service is iffy
- Scrolling isn't great
- Lack of camera
The device that takes most of my brainpower, is my iPhone 15 Pro! It’s quick, takes awesome pictures, and does everything I need – possibly too well. This results in me feeling like I constantly have to check for notifications, my emails, and what news stories might have happened in the last five minutes since I checked last time – it’s exhausting.
While Light may be coming out with their Phone 3 shortly, I had a chance to spend some time with this Light Phone 2, to see what this e-Ink device was all about. The idea behind it, is that you won’t have blue Light, and it can only do the things that don’t require your constant attention. It has a telephone, texting, podcasts, hotspot and a few other distraction (non-habit forming) free “tools”.
It really did do an awesome job at helping me stay much more in the moment, especially since the only two notifications I could really get were phone calls and texts. The other major thing I wasn’t expecting to like, was how light the phone is (weight wise), as you barely notice you have it on your person, which is something I didn’t even realize was an issue with my current phone.
Anyway, if you are looking to cut out distractions from your life and live more in the moment, this phone is about as cut back as you possibly can get! I will say, though, while texting can be a pain on the link screen, and the lack of apps like security apps and authentication apps may be an issue, what caused me to go back to my iPhone was the lack of a high-quality camera, which is something I can’t do without.
Want to read my complete review (the longest review I’ve ever written)? You can read that right here.