Today’s review is of the Lenovo Smart Paper, “an innovative digital notebook designed for those who like to write a lot by hand and care about the environment.” This is how the manufacturer, Lenovo, defines the device under review.
This gadget is neither a reader nor a pad, to which we are already accustomed, but simply “paper”, but, naturally, in our XXI century, “electronic”. And what is so “smart” about this device?
We will examine, touch, and thoroughly operate the gadget, kindly provided for testing by Lenovo.
Lenovo Smart Paper comes in a sturdy cardboard box with the company’s recognizable branding.
On the front surface there is a photo of the device and its name, everything is simple and extremely concise.
On the opposite surface, information about the product’s “features” is traditionally placed. In this particular case, a potential buyer can find out without opening the box that the product has a 10.3-inch E-ink display, which gives the feeling of working with paper. There is a front auto-adjustable backlight. Capacity: “Thousands of books”! The set includes a stylus and a protective case. You can save and synchronize notes.
Then (in very small print) it said “Personal (tablet) computer”, 4 GB + 64 G, WIFI, Storm Gray. The information intrigued me. It was not just “paper” after all.
Unpacking and packaging
My hands were itching to get acquainted with the contents of the packaging box.”
A closer look reveals the device itself, a branded Lenovo Smart Paper Pen,
a 10 W charger (the power is, of course, retro), a meter-long USB-C connection cable, a nice case with a magnet attachment, and accompanying documentation (manual, warranty card).
A separate small envelope contains 5 spare felt tips for the stylus.
I also have a very small box with a white metal ring of unknown purpose. I tried to guess, analyzed, looked through the published reviews of my colleagues, in which there is not a single word about it, and came to the conclusion that “this is a great mystery!” And in this I fully agree with the Apostle Paul.
Appearance and dimensions
Externally, the gadget is very thin (only 5.5 mm) and has an almost square shape (195 x 226 mm), which is a bit unusual, but it feels comfortable in the hands. The build quality is excellent, there is no backlash anywhere. After all, “this is Lenovo, baby!”. The screen is monochrome, matte, without glare.
The design is premium stylish and recognizable, as it is made in the branded “tablet” format.
The body is made of a lightweight magnesium alloy, which allowed the device to fit into a pleasant 415 grams (although the manufacturer insists on 408 grams).
The side edges are extremely minimalistic.
On the left side is a USB-C port and a pair of microphones.
The top one has a power button. On the right and bottom, there is nothing, from the word “at all”. The front surface is a monochrome 10.3-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1872 x 1404 pixels and a density of 227 pixels per inch.
Reading documents on such a screen is easy and convenient thanks to the use of E-Ink ink with two-color front illumination for reading in low light conditions. The device has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage (kind of makes you smile), but you can still store up to 50 thousand (!) pages of notes.
Getting started
The first thing I do is attach the device to the magnets of the protective case – it grips firmly. I press the power button at the top right. It takes 33 seconds to boot up. It is logical to immediately configure the settings, which I do. The setup is intuitively simple, and in the Settings section there is a Help and Tutorial option, where everything is described in detail. However, it is in English.
I immediately connect to the home Internet network via WiFi without any problems, configure Bluetooth 5.2, backlight and color temperature of the gadget under test.
Then I carefully study the potential offered. First of all, it’s Notepad, Library, and other necessary options.
In the Programs section, I find the installed software: File Manager, Email Calendar, Clock, Calculator, WPS Office, Ebook Reader, Firefox.
I familiarize myself with the capabilities of the Notepad option. In the Settings, there is a wide range of pens, pencils, a felt-tip pen, and a marker. I check the handwriting input. It works perfectly.
It recognizes handwriting almost instantly (despite the fact that I write “like a chicken with a paw”!).
Editing is also extremely simple: entries can be easily erased and moved around the page.
So we can already conclude that a digital notebook is a universal device for many tasks. For example, it allows you to choose one of 75 available templates with an almost unlimited number of pages.
The Library is another impressive feature. Smart Paper provides access to more than 2 million books from www.ebooks.com and allows you to optimize your reading experience in a way that was not possible with printed books before. The user can create an unlimited number of notes right in the book while reading, make bookmarks, and learn new terms without any remorse. To do this, you just need to click on an unfamiliar word in the text and look up its definition in the smart dictionary. Everything works like a Swiss watch.
“Inside” and autonomy
The device is equipped with a RockChip processor based on four Cprtex-A55 cores with a refresh rate of 1.8 GHz.
This processor can’t be called the top of the line and the latest, and it would be strange to find a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 here, as it’s not necessary. The RockChip RK3566 chipset has been on the market for a couple of years now and has proven itself well, primarily in set-top boxes. So it is “just right” for an e-reader. It copes with its work.
Currently, the device runs on Android 11, but it seems to be able to be updated up to Android 13. Well, we’ll have to wait and see, as they say in Odesa.
The device with a battery capacity of 3550 mAh holds a charge for up to several weeks with active use. I must admit that during the long testing I did not have to charge the device even once.
I can’t help but note another nice and interesting feature of the gadget. For greater concentration while reading, there is an AI technology that selects and plays music based on the material you read. Very cool!
Stylus
The stylus is worth mentioning. The device comes with a Lenovo Smart Paper Pen stylus without a battery, which is stored in a special case. The design of the device includes a “pocket” for the stylus, which, thanks to electromagnetic resonance technology, does not require additional charging. The user can change the settings of the pen, which includes nine in total, and write or draw in the most convenient mode. The pen also has 4,096 levels of pressure and tilt sensitivity, allowing you to immerse yourself in the world of drawing in various ways, such as hatching, sketching, and illustrating with maximum accuracy and realism.
The accessory is equipped with a felt tip and has a lag time of up to 23 milliseconds, so writing remains smooth and lag-free.
I test the stylus in practice. Still, I notice some slight delays. Nevertheless, Smart Paper with a stylus provides the feeling of a traditional pen on real paper, so taking notes is very comfortable and the quality of writing does not change. Moreover, the device allows you to take notes not only by hand: the digital notebook is equipped with built-in microphones and, if necessary, can easily turn into a voice recorder and subsequently transcribe the recording (but this is for an additional fee).
All files can also be stored locally or transferred to the cloud using the Lenovo Smart Paper App. It also allows you to synchronize your device with your PC or phone, so you can always have instant access to notes and documents through a convenient search engine.
Note-taking is not a luxury
Note-taking is a necessity for many people, but it can become burdensome for the modern lifestyle, when it is better not to accumulate excess paper for reasons of mobility and environmental friendliness. However, there are professions and people who prefer the natural and intuitive handwriting of a note-taker to typing on a computer. To offer a new, yet familiar experience for those who write a lot, Lenovo developed Lenovo Smart Paper.
Using E-Ink technology, it gives users the familiar feel of a pen on paper, along with smart features that optimize their productivity in new ways.
With the Lenovo Smart Pen stylus, you can choose from nine different pen settings – including ballpoint pen, pencil (wooden and mechanical), marker, and even calligraphy pen – so you don’t have to search for the right writing utensil.
And also a voice recorder
Thanks to its two built-in microphones, Lenovo Smart Paper can turn into a sensitive digital voice recorder, allowing users to record audio conferences or classroom lectures while taking notes. If a user cannot recall the verbal context of a note taken during one of these sessions, they can simply select the specific text they wrote to hear a short playback of what was said at that point in time, or they can listen to the entire recorded lecture again.
So there’s no more flipping through pages to find something that was written months ago; instead, keyword searches of thousands of handwritten notes can be done in seconds, and handwritten text can be easily converted to printed text. With access to more than two million books on eBooks.com, users can also quickly search for keywords in digital books and articles they have saved on their device.
Lenovo Smart Paper App
With the Lenovo Smart Paper app, users can access their notes and books from anywhere, and perform cloud synchronization to back up their files, which can be synchronized across multiple Android, iOS, and Windows devices. The app also allows users to transcribe audio recordings and translate text into different languages.
Surprisingly, Smart Paper accurately and correctly reproduces the feeling of writing with a pen on real paper, which makes taking notes enjoyable and does not degrade the quality of handwriting.
All files can be stored locally or transferred to the cloud using the Lenovo Smart Paper App. This program allows you to synchronize the gadget with computers/phones and provides instant access to notes and documents through a convenient search system.
Expert opinion
Undoubtedly, the device under test is a very interesting device and will find its buyers, although, in my humble opinion, the price is “slightly” overstated (the minimum price in Ukraine is UAH 17,999 – $470). Although, if you try hard, you can find it for UAH 22,919 ($600)! And this is with a Rockchip RK3566 processor, no slot for additional memory, no camera, no speakers (headphones are required to listen to audio), no GPS module.
Nevertheless, there will undoubtedly be “enthusiastic” geeks who will buy such a product to show off to others.
