My experience with the Note A1 NXTPAPER
Hi everyone, it's been awhile since the Note A1 came out, so I thought I'd come back and share my experience.
Before we start:
- This review is limited to note-taking and focuses on user impression. This is not a technical review.
- I haven't owned any tablet before, so I have nothing to compare it to.
Why the Note A1?
I decided to look for an e-ink tablet because I often find myself wanting to re-write my notes to look cleaner. Without going into too much detail, the Note A1 met all my needs in terms of price, size, desired functions (on paper at least), and whether it was/could be available in Canada.
First Impressions
I'm sure everyone agrees that the first impression was terrible. The only redeeming quality was the hardware and being a good e-reader. The writing experience was laggy and the pen made a clacking sound against the screen. This improved slightly after I slapped on a Paperlike Screen protector (iPad Air 11" 2024 & 2025).
The real improvement came after the first update brought us Google Play and an better writing experience. (Note: I did see a review saying that they felt it got worse, but for me, it improved to a level that gives me a satisfying writing experience.).
Note-taking
The note-taking experience is enjoyable for me. I only use the pen, eraser, and lasso, so I cannot comment on any other features.
Pros:
- The lasso: lets me move text and change its colour and size. This is the key feature that I need and it has greatly improved my note-taking experience.
- Custom colours available for the "ink".
- One-stroke shapes helps me create straight lines (I need a lot of those).
Cons:
- When I use the eraser on the back of the pen, sometimes it acts as a nib and draws faint lines instead.
- I unintentionally activate the inspiration space all the time. This is likely because I don't hold pens "correctly", but this means I have to keep rotating the pen in my hand to find the right angle.
- The copy and paste function only works within the same note.
- I'm not sure why, but I was flipping through my notes and suddenly all the text on one page became thicker. I could not change it back and had to re-write that page.
In summary
While the writing experience can be further improved, the Note A1 has become a device that meets my (limited) needs for note-taking. There are better e-ink tablets on the market for sure, but my experience is such that I no longer regret having bought the device.