Penstar Firmware Version 2.0

Current sub-version: PenstarOS 2.0 (1.00.24)

This page takes a deep dive into the firmware that is pre-installed on Penstar e-ink tablets to help potential users decide if these devices have the software functionality that they need.

First a note about version numbers. Before I received a review unit, I asked my contact at Penstar if the new eNote 2 would be using the same firmware version as the original eNote. Their reply was:

Firmware: The new PenstarOS 2.0 is currently exclusive to the eNote2, as it’s been optimized for the upgraded hardware and system architecture. (We’re exploring selective rollout options for earlier models later this year.)

Penstar contact

However, on the device itself, the firmware version is listed as 1.00.24, which is a little confusing. My best guess is that it uses two names for the firmware. PenstarOS 2.0 is what is used to describe the whole firmware for the eNote 2 (across multiple version numbers) and will remain for the life of the devices that use it, whilst the actual version number (1.00.24 at the time of writing) will increment as improvements are made to the system.

Operating system

PenstarOS 2.0 runs on Android 14 that, in principle, offers a broad degree of software flexibility. However, the implementation comes with a notable caveat: the device is not certified by the Google Play Store. As a result, the standard app installation pipeline – opening the Play Store, browsing, and tapping “Install” – is unavailable.

This does not preclude the installation of third-party applications, but it does change the workflow. Apps can still be installed via sideloading, either by manually downloading APK files or by using alternative app stores such as F-Droid, APKPure, or similar repositories. In practice, this approach is entirely workable, though it requires a bit more technical initiative and a willingness to obtain software through less conventional channels.

For users accustomed to turnkey Android tablets, the absence of Play certification might initially feel constraining. Many productivity-oriented or lightweight applications that make sense on an e-ink device remain accessible through sideloading. That said, the lack of Google Play Services may cause certain apps – particularly those deeply integrated with Google’s ecosystem – to behave unpredictably or refuse to run altogether.

As a base platform, Android 14 provides a stable and reasonably up-to-date (in the context of eink devices) environment for the PenstarOS. It ensures compatibility with contemporary APKs and avoids the stagnation seen on some budget e-ink tablets that ship with significantly older Android versions. But users should be aware that, without Play certification, app acquisition is slightly more hands-on than on mainstream Android devices.

Navigation

Because the eNote2 lacks a touchscreen layer, all navigation must be performed using either the stylus or the physical buttons (on the left edge of the device). This imposes a small but noticeable learning curve. Over time, I found myself developing a sort of internal heuristic for when it was more efficient to reach for the stylus and when the buttons offered a quicker route. The stylus effectively replaces the finger in the traditional touch-interface paradigm: taps, swipes, and long-presses all function as expected. A swipe down from the top-left of the screen reveals Android notifications, while a swipe from the top-right opens the Control Center (which I will discuss shortly).

A persistent system bar runs along the top of the display. The leftmost section shows the time, while the right-hand side displays volume status, Wi-Fi state, and the battery percentage. Down the left edge of the interface is a vertical column of icons providing quick access to the core system components: Home, Notes, Books, Files, Apps, and Settings.

The Home screen itself is divided into a grid of functional widgets (Calendar, Notes, Books, Email, and Apps) and also includes a search bar capable of querying the titles of your notes, books, and documents (but not your handwriting). The layout is pragmatic, if slightly austere, and its modular structure makes it easy to locate commonly used functions at a glance. However, the Calendar widget (which takes up the most space) is simply a link to the calendar – I feel it would be much better utilised if it at least displayed your calendar events for the day.

Navigation with the physical buttons takes some time to internalise but can become surprisingly efficient. By default, the large circular button acts as a Back button. The square buttons above and below it are configured, from top to bottom, as follows:

1. Quick Button Settings
2. Home (return to the main screen)
3. Previous Page
4. Next Page

The bottom four buttons offer:

5. New Draft Notebook
6. Browser
7. Book Library
8. Manual Refresh

These assignments are not fixed. The system allows you to remap the buttons to a generous array of functions, letting you tailor the interface to your specific habits. It is worth noting, however, that the functions of certain buttons change dynamically depending on the app in use. For example, within the reading and note-taking apps, some of the buttons switch to zoom controls or other context-specific actions in place of their global defaults.

One omission became increasingly apparent the more I used the device: there is no gesture or shortcut to open a task manager for switching between recently used apps. On most Android-based e-ink tablets, a swipe-up gesture or a dedicated soft key brings up the recent-apps carousel, allowing you to jump quickly between tasks. There is a Task Manager button available in the Control Center, but this requires a swipe-down from the top-right and a tap of the button – I feel that this is such a frequently-used feature that there should be some option for making it available with one-touch (either assigned to a button or a stylus gesture).

Overall, navigation is both idiosyncratic and surprisingly workable. The absence of a touchscreen initially feels like a constraint, but with practice, the combination of stylus gestures and physical buttons becomes rather fluid, if distinctly different from more conventional e-ink tablets.

Control Center

The Control Centre can be accessed with a stylus swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen. However, it is worth noting that this gesture is disabled within the native reading and note-taking apps. In those contexts, you must tap the area around the clock in the top-right corner instead. This small inconsistency is not catastrophic, but it is noticeable and occasionally interrupts the flow of use.

Once open, the Control Centre provides a fairly comprehensive array of toggles and utilities. There are buttons to enable or disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and long-pressing either brings up their respective configuration menus. A Home button returns you directly to the main screen. There is also an option to activate Screen Cast, though I did not have time to test its functionality.

Additional controls include a Manual Refresh button, a Speed Up function (that frees memory by terminating background apps), and – crucially – a Recent Tasks button. This serves as the tablet’s task manager and is, somewhat inexplicably, only accessible from the Control Centre. As stated above, I feel it would have been sensible to expose this functionality via a physical button shortcut or a stylus gesture.

Another notable feature is Split View, which divides the screen into two panes. This allows you to display a notebook on one side and a book in the native reader on the other. Unfortunately, split view does not extend to third-party apps – the implementation is therefore useful but narrowly scoped.

Next is the Rotation control, which allows you to rotate the display manually in 90-degree increments or enable/disable auto-rotation entirely. There is also a button (MarkScreen) for writing on top of third-party apps, essentially an annotation overlay that can generate a screenshot including your mark-ups. A standard Screenshot button is also present.

Further down are options to customise the physical buttons, enter Sleep Mode, mute system sounds, or toggle Airplane Mode. Beneath these controls sits a volume slider, followed by quick settings for the default pen type and line thickness, which can be adjusted without diving into deeper menus.

Finally, there are three global appearance modes: Light, Reading, and Dark. To my eyes, Light and Reading mode were effectively indistinguishable. Dark Mode, however, is surprisingly well executed. Because the screen’s inherent contrast is high and ghosting is minimal with the appropriate refresh mode, the inverted colour scheme remains unusually clear and legible compared to many e-ink tablets. It is one of the more successful system-wide dark modes I have encountered on this type of hardware.

Virtual keyboard

The Penstar firmware employs its own proprietary virtual keyboard, and there does not appear to be any option to replace it with an alternative such as Gboard. This alone is not inherently problematic, but it does place certain constraints on flexibility and input preferences.

The keyboard itself is a conventional QWERTY layout and is generally responsive. For slower, deliberate typing, it performs adequately. However, when I typed more rapidly, I did encounter occasional missed keystrokes – individual characters simply failed to register. This is not unusual on e-ink devices, where refresh limitations can sometimes interfere with input cadence, but it was nevertheless noticeable.

On a more positive note, the handwriting-to-text option on the keyboard is remarkably good. Conversion is both fast and impressively accurate, making it a practical alternative for longer text entry if one is comfortable writing with the stylus.

One conspicuous omission is voice-to-text. The keyboard does not include a dictation button, and with no way to switch to a different keyboard, the only avenue for voice input is via third-party apps – none of which integrate cleanly into the system keyboard. Given that voice-to-text is increasingly standard on Android devices, its absence here feels limiting.

Overall, the virtual keyboard is serviceable and functional, with an excellent handwriting recognition engine, but the lack of alternative keyboard options and the omission of built-in voice input do hold it back somewhat.

Filesystem

The Penstar firmware uses the standard Android file system, which can be accessed by tapping the Files icon from the Home screen. The interface is divided into three tabs – Library, My Documents, and Storage – each serving a distinct organisational purpose.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover a substantial collection of pre-installed classic eBooks in the Library tab. These are royalty-free works sourced, quite evidently, from Project Gutenberg. While not indispensable, their inclusion is undeniably convenient and adds a small but appreciated sense of completeness to the out-of-box experience.

The My Documents tab contains your exported notebooks, annotations made in the reading app, and any files transferred to the device via Wi-Fi. This section effectively functions as the user’s working directory, gathering all documents that originate from – or are destined for – daily use.

The Storage tab provides full access to the underlying Android directory structure, including system folders and application data. The level of transparency is welcome, particularly for users accustomed to treating their e-ink device more like a conventional Android tablet.

Within the Files app, you can search by filename, sort items in various ways, and toggle between grid and list layouts. Long-pressing a file brings up a context menu with options to move, copy, rename, delete, or share the selected item. These standard operations behave as expected and ensure that file management remains straightforward and reasonably flexible (although sharing only seems supported via Bluetooth).

File transfers

File transfers with Penstar are handled in a straightforward and largely conventional manner. Documents can be transferred directly via USB-C, with the tablet mounting as expected when connected to a computer. This remains the most reliable option for moving large files or batches of notebooks.

Transfers over local Wi-Fi are also supported and work without issue. The tablet can receive files through its built-in Wi-Fi transfer utility, which is convenient when working across multiple devices or when a physical cable is not at hand.

Beyond these native methods, you can also rely on third-party apps to move documents between platforms. Cloud-storage utilities, email clients, and other file-transfer services work as you would expect once installed. While the lack of Google Play certification means some popular cloud apps may require sideloading (and there’s a possibility of them not installing/working correctly), the underlying functionality remains intact.

Cloud drives

PenstarOS includes built-in options for integrating with Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox. In theory, this should provide a convenient means of synchronising documents across multiple devices. In practice, however, my experience wasn’t great.

Of the three services, I tested only Google Drive, and unfortunately, I was unable to install it. Attempting to authenticate triggered a security warning – Google blocked the process on the basis that PenStar does not comply with its device-policy requirements. This was disappointing, though not entirely surprising given the tablet’s lack of Google Play certification. I did not test OneDrive or Dropbox and therefore cannot comment on whether similar restrictions would occur with either of those services.

PenStar also provides its own proprietary cloud service, which synchronises calendar events and notebooks. These items can then be accessed from other devices via a companion application (which I will discuss in the next section). While this ecosystem is far more limited than a general-purpose cloud drive, it does at least offer a basic continuity solution for users who remain within the PenStar environment.

Overall, cloud integration feels somewhat constrained. The proprietary service functions adequately for synchronising notes and schedules, but the limitations encountered with mainstream cloud platforms reduce the convenience one might expect from an Android 14 device.

Companion app

PenStar provides a companion app for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS, though I tested only the Android version. My experience with it was uneven from the outset. I was unable to install the app on my Samsung phone due to a permissions-related error, and despite searching through the relevant settings, I could not find any way to grant the required access. In contrast, I was able to install it successfully on my Boox Palma 2 – also Android-based – and on the eNote2 itself. The discrepancy likely stems from the fact that the PenStar app is not distributed via the Google Play Store. Instead, it must be downloaded as an APK and sideloaded, and some devices (Samsung devices in particular) apply stricter rules around permissions for uncertified apps.

Using the companion app requires creating a PenStar account, which is standard for cloud-sync ecosystems, but worth noting nonetheless.

Once inside the app, you are presented with a list of your notebooks, which can be opened for viewing. The interface is functional but rudimentary. Export options are available: you can export either a single notebook page as a PNG or the entire notebook as a PDF. Curiously, these options appeared to be reversed in practice – selecting “whole notebook PDF” produced a single-page PNG, while choosing the single-page export generated a full notebook PDF (obviously a simple coding oversight, but something I would have expected to have been picked up and fixed).

A similar lack of polish appears elsewhere. In the calendar section, the “Today” button is misspelled as “toady,” and some icons that appear tappable simply do nothing. The calendar itself allows you to view events created on the tablet and to create new events from the app, after which they synchronise back to the tablet as expected. Functionally, this part of the app works, but it lacks refinement and feels unusually brittle.

In addition, I found that I was automatically logged out of the Companion App every day or two, which was a little frustrating because logging back in involves 2-factor authentication to get a code to my email, which would often interrupt my flow.

Compared with the companion apps provided by other e-ink ecosystems, PenStar’s offering is decidedly limited. It allows you to view notebooks, export them, view your calendar, and create new events – and that is essentially the full extent of its capabilities. It accomplishes these tasks adequately, but the overall experience feels underdeveloped and somewhat clunky. With additional polish, it could become a more useful supplement to the tablet, but in its current state it functions more as a basic utility than as a fully fledged companion.

Update: Since originally writing this, I’ve found that the Penstar app is now available to download/install from the Google Play Store, and this time it installed on my Samsung phone absolutely fine. In addition, the PNG/PDF export options are no longer reversed (however, it still says ‘Toady’ in the Calendar).

Native note-taking app

The native note-taking app is the pre-installed app used for creating and editing your notes.

Notebook management

The notebook interface on Penstar is straightforward and, for the most part, intuitive. By default, your recently accessed notebooks are displayed at the top, providing quick access to ongoing work. Organisation is handled through categories, which basically function as a flat, non-hierarchical folder system. This means you can group notebooks into categories, but you cannot nest categories within one another. It’s a simple structure that works adequately, though those accustomed to deeper folder hierarchies and custom tags may find it somewhat limiting.

Long-pressing on any notebook opens a contextual menu with options to change the cover, rename the notebook, move it to another category, favourite it, delete it, or share it. The sharing functionality is somewhat restrictive: notebooks can only be shared as attachments via the built-in email client, which must be configured beforehand. There is no option to export locally, directly to cloud services, nor to invoke third-party apps beyond the email client.

A search function allows you to query your notebook titles, and a “+” button lets you create a new notebook quickly. Display options include a list view and a grid view, and sorting can be performed by creation date, modified date, open date, or title, each in either ascending or descending order. These sorting and display controls give the notebook library a reasonable degree of customisability, without overcomplicating the interface.

The system also includes the ability to back up all your notebooks locally on the device, along with a corresponding restore option. This local backup mechanism is welcome, particularly for users who choose not to engage with PenStar’s proprietary cloud service or who prefer to maintain their own archives manually.

Overall, the notebook management interface is competent and functional. It lacks some of the more advanced organisational tools found in competing ecosystems, but it offers enough flexibility to keep a moderate collection of notebooks in order and easily accessible.

Canvas and toolbar

The note-taking interface is dominated, as it should be, by the canvas, which occupies the overwhelming majority of the screen. It is a clean, uncluttered workspace with very little visual noise. A single horizontal toolbar sits along the top edge, providing access to the core tools. The toolbar can be minimised to reclaim screen real estate, but it cannot be repositioned to the sides or bottom of the display. This immobility is not a serious constraint, though users who prefer side-docked toolbars may find it slightly limiting.

The app offers a surprisingly broad library of templates (around 50 of them) ranging from simple lined, dotted, and squared paper to more specialised layouts such as storyboards, to-do lists, daily planners, and various organisational grids. It’s a well-rounded selection that should cater to most note-taking styles without needing to import custom templates. Custom templates are supported, but it is not possible to import PDF templates into the note-taking app (such as multi-page planners, that retain internal hyperlinks).

Because the eNote2 lacks a touchscreen layer, all interaction – page turns, menu access, tool switching – must be performed via the stylus or the physical buttons. This initially feels like a constraint, but it also produces an unexpected advantage: your palm can rest freely on the screen without fear of triggering unintended gestures. On other tablets, even those with competent palm rejection, I often find myself subconsciously adjusting my grip or floating my hand just above the display to avoid accidental taps, page turns, and button activations. Here, the absence of touch input transformed the writing posture into something more relaxed and natural. Page navigation using the hardware keys becomes second nature after a while, and I found myself appreciating the predictability of this arrangement far more than I expected.

Overall, the canvas and toolbar design strikes a balance between simplicity and capability. It doesn’t overwhelm with features, but it provides enough structure to feel purposeful, and the absence of touch input – while unorthodox – creates a uniquely distraction-free writing environment.

Pens/brushes and eraser

The note-taking app provides six brush types: pencil, ballpoint, brush, pen, dip pen, and marker. All except the ballpoint and marker support pressure sensitivity, and this is implemented with commendable nuance. Variations in pressure translate into convincing gradations of darkness, and the system takes full advantage of the eNote2’s expanded 8192-level pressure range. There is, however, no tilt sensitivity, regardless of brush type, which limits some of the expressive behaviour found on other brands.

Stroke customisation is generous. There are 20 thickness levels and 14 colours, and specific configurations can be saved as presets for quick recall. This is particularly convenient if you frequently alternate between different writing styles or sketching modes.

The stylus’s tail eraser (the spring-loaded eraser at the top) can be configured to behave as a pixel eraser, stroke eraser, or selection eraser. Meanwhile, the side button can be assigned either an alternate pen or a stroke eraser, depending on personal preference. As I’ve mentioned previously, I am not fond of side buttons because of my tendency to press them inadvertently, but the option remains useful for those who rely on rapid tool switching.

Within the brush menu are several optional AI-assisted functions.

• Scribble-erase, where drawing a wavy line across handwriting erases it, worked reliably in my testing.
• One-stroke shape, which converts a drawn outline into a regular shape (or a perfectly straight line) when the nib is held to the screen after finishing the stroke, also performed well.

These features are subtle rather than intrusive, and they enhance workflow without feeling gimmicky.

Standard undo and redo buttons are present, behaving exactly as expected.

Overall, the pen toolset is thoughtfully implemented. It offers enough sophistication to accommodate a wide range of writing and sketching needs, without slipping into unnecessary complexity.

Lasso-select tool

The lasso-select tool functions much as one would expect: tapping its icon allows you to draw a loop around any section of your handwriting to select it. Once the selection is made, a set of manipulation options becomes available. You can move, resize, or rotate the selected content with ease. More conventional clipboard operations – cut, copy, and delete – are also present, along with the ability to bold the selected handwriting or change its colour to one of the fourteen built-in colours.

Two features stood out as particularly useful. First, you can add the selected handwriting directly to your to-do list. This triggers an OCR conversion and inserts the recognised text as a new event (rather than an actual task) in your calendar. Second, you can convert the selection into a heading that appears in the notebook’s table of contents. This is immensely helpful for structuring long notebooks into coherent sections or chapters, making navigation significantly more efficient. The only drawback is that the original handwriting on the page does not actually linked to the item in the TOC and does not visually change. Instead it just uses the OCR’d text as the text for the TOC item, which is linked to the page.

It’s also worth noting that although the Penstar firmware supports fourteen colours, the screen itself (at least on the eNote 2) is monochrome. Any colour changes remain almost indistinguishable on the device and only become apparent once the notebook is exported and viewed on a colour screen. This is not a flaw in the implementation, but rather a natural limitation of the display technology.

Overall, the lasso-select tool is versatile and well executed, with the heading and to-do integrations adding meaningful organisational depth to the note-taking workflow.

Insert tool

The Insert tool expands the note-taking environment beyond handwritten input, providing options to add shapes and lines, typed text, and images directly into your notebook pages.

Shapes and Lines

The shapes/lines palette is reasonably comprehensive. There are six line types, including straight lines, arrows, and a wavy “freeform” line. In addition, there are ten shape options, covering the usual geometric suspects: circles, triangles, squares, hexagons, and so forth. Each shape or line can be customised by adjusting stroke thickness and colour (bearing in mind, of course, that colours only appear when exported to a colour-capable display).

Once drawn, shapes behave as objects that can be subsequently manipulated with the lasso-select tool. This means you can move, resize, rotate, cut, or otherwise adjust them with the same flexibility applied to handwritten content. The system handles these operations cleanly, and it is easy to integrate shapes into diagrams, charts, or structured notes.

Text Boxes

Selecting the text option inserts a text box and invokes the virtual keyboard. The box can be resized horizontally, while vertically it expands automatically as more text is added. It can be moved freely around the page, allowing typed content to be positioned precisely where needed.

Text formatting is better than I anticipated. You can apply bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough, adjust font size and font type, and control justification and margins. These options bring a welcome degree of typographic refinement to the otherwise handwriting-centric interface.

Images

The insert-image feature allows you to add pictures from the device’s local gallery. Once placed, images can be moved, resized, rotated, cut, copied, deleted, and cropped. Manipulating images feels straightforward, and they integrate well into the broader note-taking canvas. This makes it easy to annotate diagrams, reference screenshots, or incorporate scanned documents directly into your notes.

Page overview

At the centre of the toolbar are simple arrow buttons for moving to the previous or next page. Between them is a page indicator showing your current page number alongside the total number of pages in the notebook. It’s a small detail, but one that keeps you oriented when working in longer documents.

Tapping the page indicator opens the Page Overview, which displays thumbnail previews of every page in the notebook. This grid makes navigation vastly quicker – simply tap the page you want, and you jump directly to it. For large notebooks, this feature becomes indispensable.

Within this view, you can also bookmark individual pages or assign them text titles. Any titled page automatically appears in the Table of Contents, making it easy to divide a long notebook into chapters, topics, or sections. This dual system of bookmarks and headings offers a welcome degree of structural organisation.

Pressing the Edit button inside the Page Overview reveals an additional set of tools:

• Rearrange pages by dragging them into a new order
• Save selected pages into a new notebook, effectively allowing you to split or extract sections
• Duplicate pages
• Insert new pages
• Delete pages

It’s a surprisingly comprehensive suite of tools for rearranging and restructuring your work.

In addition to the standard linear thumbnail grid, the Page Overview offers two filtered views:

• Bookmarks View – shows only pages you have bookmarked
• Headings View – shows only the pages added to the Table of Contents

These filtered views make it simple to jump between key sections of your notebook without scanning through the entire page list.

Overall, the Page Overview is a thoughtful and highly functional system. It elevates navigation and organisation from a simple page-by-page affair to a more holistic management tool, which is particularly valuable when working with long or multi-topic notebooks.

Voice recording

The note-taking app includes a basic voice recorder, accessible by tapping the microphone icon on the toolbar. Its implementation is deliberately minimalistic. You can create one audio recording per notebook, rather than per page, which means that longer recordings must be managed within a single continuous file rather than segmented across multiple sections.

There are no transcription features within the native note-taking app, so the recorder functions purely as an audio-capture tool. For quick voice notes, reminders, or supplementary commentary alongside written work, it performs adequately. The recordings themselves are clear enough for general use, though the lack of per-page recordings and absence of integrated transcription do limit its utility for more complex workflows.

Overflow menu

The overflow menu gathers a range of other functions that don’t fit naturally on the main toolbar. From here, you can rename the notebook, zoom in or out, perform a manual save, delete the current page, initiate a network print, and access the settings specific to the note-taking app. It’s a compact but practical collection of tools.

One of the most important features housed here is the handwriting-to-text conversion. The system uses local OCR, meaning the conversion process does not require a Wi-Fi connection. In my testing, accuracy was exceptionally high – far better than I expected, and certainly competitive with the more established players in the e-ink market. The trade-off is speed: conversions can take a little while, especially when processing longer pages (other brands often handle this quietly in the background, but here the operation is manual and sequential).

Once the text conversion is complete, you can either save the text locally, send it to the email client, or upload it to the PenStar cloud. Uploading produces a QR code link, which can be opened on another device. However, there are no security options – anyone with that link can access the file. For personal notes this may not be a concern, but for sensitive material it is something to be aware of.

The overflow menu also contains the Share and Export options. These allow you to select specific pages for export or export the entire notebook at once. Export formats include PNG and PDF when saving locally. You can also export via email or through the PenStar cloud (again via QR code, and again without security protections, such as a password or expiry).

Native reading app

This section explores the native reading app provided as part of the Penstar firmware.

File Formats

The native reading app supports a broad array of file formats. It can open PDF, EPUB, MOBI, AZW, AZW3, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, FB2, CBR/CBZ, and various Office file types, among others. This means that, straight out of the box, the device can accommodate a wide variety of e-books, documents, and reference materials without requiring additional software.

In addition, if you maintain a library of Kindle or Kobo e-books, you should be able to install the corresponding Android apps and access your existing purchases that way.

Navigation

When you open an eBook in the native reading app, the interface adopts a deliberately minimal layout, with the vast majority of the display devoted to the text itself. Across the top-left corner you’ll find the current chapter title, while the top-right corner contains a small button that reveals the Writing Toolbar. At the bottom of the screen, the left side shows the time and battery percentage, and the right side displays your current page number alongside the total number of pages. It is a simple, quietly functional arrangement. Tapping the stylus in the centre of the screen brings up the Configuration Bars(at the top and bottom of the screen).

Highlighting text is performed through a long-press and drag with the stylus, which brings up a contextual menu offering several annotation options (which I’ll describe later). Because the eNote2 lacks a touchscreen layer, page navigation must be done either by tapping the left or right side of the screen, or by swiping left or right with the stylus. Both methods work reliably, and the stylus-based interaction feels natural when engaging in academic or research-focused reading – tasks where I frequently highlight passages, jot notes, or annotate margins. In that context, having the stylus already in hand is a convenience rather than a burden.

However, for pleasure reading, I found the stylus less welcome. When reading novels, where my primary interaction is simply turning the page, holding the stylus began to feel unnecessarily cumbersome. Fortunately, the hardware design offers a solution: the physical buttons can be used to turn pages. Once I realised this, I found I could comfortably set the stylus aside and read without encumbrance.

This dual-mode navigation – stylus for study, buttons for leisure – ended up being one of the more unexpectedly pleasant aspects of the reading experience. It allowed the reading app to adapt to different contexts without forcing me into a single interaction paradigm.

Writing toolbar

Tapping the toolbar button in the top-right corner of the reading app reveals the horizontal writing toolbar across the top of the screen. This overlays the reading interface and provides access to a range of tools for interacting with the text.

The toolbar begins with zoom in and zoom out buttons. Their behaviour depends on the file type: in reflowable formats like EPUB, zooming adjusts the font size, whereas in fixed-layout files such as PDFs, it performs a conventional zoom into the document. Both functions operate smoothly, and the distinction between reflowable and fixed formats is handled transparently.

Next is the hand tool, which effectively turns the stylus into a surrogate for finger-based navigation. With this tool active, stylus taps and swipes behave like touchscreen gestures, allowing you to turn pages without inadvertently drawing on the screen.

Beyond navigation, the toolbar offers three customisable pen tools, each capable of being assigned its own brush type, thickness, and colour – mirroring the flexibility of the note-taking app. When activated, these allow you to write, scribble, or annotate directly onto the page. Accompanying them are the eraser, undo/redo buttons, the shape insertion tool, and the lasso-select tool, though the latter is more limited here than in the note-taking app. You can still move, resize, or rotate your handwritten annotations, but advanced options (such as converting to headings) are not available in the reading environment, as you would expect.

The toolbar also includes a Table of Contents button. This opens a multi-tabbed panel showing:

• the book’s native table of contents,
• your bookmarks,
• the pages where you have made handwritten annotations, and
• the pages where you have created highlights or notes.

This layered navigation system is genuinely useful, particularly for academic reading, allowing you to jump quickly between key sections, annotations, and personal notes.

Configuration toolbars

Tapping the stylus anywhere near the centre of the screen reveals two auxiliary toolbars – one at the top and one at the bottom – providing quick access to key reading and navigation controls.

Top Toolbar

The top bar contains:

• Home button – returns you directly to the home screen.
• Search button – allows text-only searches within the eBook.
• Bookmark toggle – marks or unmarks the current page (you can also bookmark by tapping the stylus in the top-left corner of the page).
• Split View – displays the current book alongside either another book or a notebook, though only native reading and note apps are supported.
• Annotate button – opens the writing toolbar and immediately switches the stylus into pen mode.

The top toolbar is straightforward and functional, offering rapid access to the most commonly used reading controls.

Bottom Toolbar

The bottom toolbar contains several tabs: Contents, Display/Layout, Progress, Refresh, and Listen. For PDFs, an additional Excerpt tab appears.

• Contents: Opens the Table of Contents panel – identical to the TOC available through the writing toolbar – with tabs for bookmarks, handwritten annotations, and sticky-note highlights.
• Display (EPUBs only): Offers font and font-size adjustments, line spacing controls, portrait/landscape orientation switching, contrast sliders, and other typographic options. These can be applied either per book or globally.
• Layout (PDFs only): Includes zoom and scrolling behaviour, margin settings, text reflow (where supported), and contrast adjustments. Additional options appear in an overflow menu.
• Progress: Displays a slider for quickly navigating through the book, alongside shortcuts for jumping to the next or previous chapter. The slider is responsive and makes large jumps through the text efficient.
• Refresh: Lets you set the current e-ink refresh mode: Normal, Clear, Fast, or Ultra. You can also configure how many page turns trigger an automatic refresh, which helps mitigate ghosting during long reading sessions.
• Listen: Activates text-to-speech, reading the content aloud through the speakers while underlining the text on-screen. The voices are predictably synthetic and somewhat grating, but this is hardly unique to PenStar – most e-ink devices using Android’s built-in TTS exhibit similar limitations.
• Excerpt (PDFs only): Uses OCR to extract all recognisable text from the current page. This can be useful for copying quotations, saving notes, or sharing selected content, particularly in research-oriented reading.

Context menu

Long-pressing and dragging across a word or passage with the stylus brings up a context menu, and its options vary slightly depending on whether you are reading a PDF or an EPUB.

PDF Context Menu

For PDFs, the available actions include:

• Copy – copies the selected text to the clipboard.
• Excerpt – saves the selection as an “excerpt” in your bookshelf.
• Dictionary Lookup – checks the selected word in the built-in dictionary.
• Search – searches the entire document for further occurrences of the selected text.
• Share on PenStar Cloud – uploads the text to PenStar’s cloud service, accessible via QR code.

EPUB Context Menu

For EPUB files, the context menu also offers Copy, Excerpt, and Dictionary, but also expands the annotation options:

• Underline – highlights the selected passage.
• Add Note – attaches a typed note to the selected text.
• Text-to-Voice – reads the selected passage aloud through the tablet’s speaker.

The built-in English dictionary deserves special mention. PenStar uses a locally installed Collins dictionary, which delivers definitions instantly and without requiring an internet connection. This is becoming increasingly rare: several recent e-ink tablets have shipped without any dictionary support at all, while others rely on cloud-based AI definitions. While AI-driven definitions can be informative, they introduce two drawbacks – latency and dependency on connectivity. Penstar’s local dictionary avoids both issues (however, I was unable to find an option to use custom dictionaries instead).

If a word cannot be found in the dictionary, the system also offers a Wikipedia lookup, which does require an internet connection but is a sensible secondary option.

Annotations, highlights etc.

The Penstar software offers four principal methods for recording information as you read. These features have been referenced earlier, but they merit a more detailed examination because they shape the device’s utility for study, research, and long-form reading.

1. Handwritten Annotations

Using the writing toolbar, you can jot handwritten notes directly onto the page. This works in both PDFs and EPUBs, but with one crucial difference:

• In PDFs, handwritten notes are burned into the page, meaning they appear on any device when the PDF is exported.
• In EPUBs, handwritten notes are visible only on the PenStar tablet. This limitation is inherent to the EPUB format, which is reflowable; fixed-position annotations cannot reliably survive text reshaping. This also means that if you adjust font size or layout, your annotations will shift accordingly.

2. Excerpts (Text Clipping)

You can save selected text as excerpts. Each excerpt becomes its own TXT file and appears as a separate item in the Excerpts section of your bookshelf. This is particularly effective for capturing quotations, citations, or snippets of information from large documents without cluttering the main text.

3. Highlights (EPUB Only)

For EPUBs, you may underline passages of text, functioning as the app’s version of text highlighting. These highlights are tracked in the Notes tab of the Table of Contents, allowing you to navigate directly to each marked section.

4. Text Notes (EPUB Only)

You can attach typed notes to specific passages using the virtual keyboard (technically, you can also handwrite your notes using the virtual keyboard, and they will be converted into text). These notes also appear in the Notes section of the TOC. This system is especially helpful for structured study: it allows you to annotate key ideas or add interpretive commentary without altering the body text.

From the Notes tab in the TOC, you can:

• Export one or more notes into a standalone TXT file, or
• Use “Notes to Book”, which compiles all your notes into a new EPUB.

This latter option is particularly compelling. It creates a separate, exportable document containing all your annotations in one place—a useful tool for revision, summarisation, or research collation.

Schedule/calendar app

The PenStar Calendar app is a relatively simple, sparsely-featured tool that focuses on daily scheduling rather than full-fledged productivity management. Its layout is clean and easy to parse. In the top-left corner sits a small monthly calendar, with indicator dots beneath dates that contain events. Directly below this sits the selected date, accompanied by a list of its associated events. You can create new events from this view with minimal friction.

On the right-hand side is a daily memo area, which allows for handwritten notes. This is a nice touch and provides a convenient space for jotting reminders, sketches, or short reflections without needing to open a separate notebook.

One interesting characteristic of the PenStar system is that it treats calendar events as tasks. Events can be ticked off as completed, and using the “add task” function from within the note-taking app automatically creates a corresponding calendar entry. This duality is efficient and gives the impression of a unified organisational system.

That said, I personally prefer a clearer separation between tasks and calendar events – for me, appointments and actionable tasks serve different conceptual purposes. However, I can see the appeal of PenStar’s approach: it is quick, clean, and low-friction, and likely aligns well with users who prefer an integrated, minimalist workflow.

The app’s simplicity is also its greatest limitation. It cannot sync with third-party calendars such as Google Calendar or Outlook, and there is no mechanism for linking notebooks or specific notes to particular dates. For users accustomed to rich cross-platform calendar integration (such as that provided by Viwoods), these omissions may feel restrictive.

Overall, the PenStar Calendar app is functional and pleasantly straightforward, but it lacks the sophistication and interoperability of more fully developed calendar systems. It works well enough for local, device-bound scheduling, but users with more complex calendaring needs may find it somewhat underpowered.

Other apps

In addition to the note-taking, reading, and calendar apps, Penstar also provide additional apps, some of which I discuss below.

Email

PenstarOS includes a basic built-in email client, though I must admit I chose not to use it. My reluctance stems from past experiences: configuring email accounts on e-ink tablets is often a fiddly, patience-testing exercise. Interfaces tend to be slow, authentication screens occasionally misbehave, and the overall experience is rarely satisfying. Moreover, I simply prefer not to access email on an e-ink device unless absolutely necessary; if I were to do so, I would likely sideload the Android Gmail app rather than rely on the included client.

That said, the built-in email app does have one notable purpose. The note-taking app’s “export via email” function requires the internal email client to be configured. If you intend to send notebooks or OCR-converted text via email directly from the tablet, you will need to set it up.

Beyond that, it appears to be a modest, serviceable tool – sufficient for sending files or checking the occasional message, but not something I would gravitate toward for regular email workflows.

Wi-Fi Transfer App

The Wi-Fi Transfer app provides a simple but effective method for moving files between the PenStar tablet and other devices over a local network. Once you start the transfer service, the tablet displays its IP address, which you then enter into a web browser on another device connected to the same network. This opens a lightweight web interface that allows you to download files from the tablet or upload new files to it.

For convenience, the app also generates a QR code, which you can scan to open the interface directly without manually typing the IP address. In practice, this worked smoothly and without any hiccups. File transfer speeds were perfectly adequate for documents, notes, and smaller PDFs, and the process required very little setup.

Overall, it’s a straightforward and dependable tool. While not as fully featured as a cloud-synchronisation system, it offers a reliable, local, and platform-independent means of transferring files – which is often exactly what’s needed on an e-ink device.

Web Browser

The Penstar firmware includes a built-in web browser, derived from Chrome but substantially pared back. It is functional for casual browsing – reading articles, checking documentation, looking up reference materials – but it lacks many of the features associated with full Chrome builds. There is no extension support, no integrated password manager, and the overall interface is simplified to suit the constraints of an e-ink display.

For light, occasional browsing, it works perfectly well. Pages load reliably, and navigation feels steady, albeit naturally slower than on LCD or OLED devices due to the inherent limitations of e-ink refresh rates. However, anyone requiring more sophisticated capabilities – extensions, autofill, synchronised passwords, or enhanced rendering – will likely want to sideload an alternative browser.

In short, the built-in browser is adequate for brief tasks and information retrieval, but it is not intended to replace a full-featured mobile browser.

Voice-to-text transcription

The Penstar firmware includes a preinstalled voice-to-text app designed to transcribe spoken input into written text. It works reasonably well and produces accurate transcriptions, but it operates on a credit-based system. You are allotted eight hours of transcription time for free; once this is exhausted, you must purchase additional transcription credits to continue using the feature.

This paywall may deter users who rely heavily on dictation or who expect offline, unlimited transcription. It also means the app is best viewed as an occasional convenience rather than a core component of the workflow – especially given that there is no built-in voice-to-text option in the virtual keyboard, which limits integration with other apps.

In short, it is a functional tool but one bounded by a restrictive usage model, making it less appealing than fully free or system-integrated dictation services found elsewhere.

Others…

The Cloud Drives app provides shortcuts for connecting to Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox. As mentioned earlier, I was unable to authenticate with Google Drive due to a security-policy conflict, and I cannot comment on whether OneDrive or Dropbox suffer similar issues. The app itself is little more than a launching point for these services, and its usefulness ultimately depends on whether authentication succeeds.

Beyond cloud access, PenstarOS includes a handful of basic utility apps:

• A calculator, simple and functionally adequate for quick arithmetic.
• A music player, which can play locally stored audio files through the internal speaker or Bluetooth headphones.
• An image gallery, which allows you to browse and view images stored on the device. Viewing photographs on an e-ink display is naturally limited, but the gallery works well for diagrams, scanned documents, or exported notebook pages.

None of these apps are sophisticated, but they do add small conveniences that round out the system. Their presence enhances the tablet’s general usability without introducing unnecessary clutter.

Final verdict

When I first began exploring the PenStar eNote2, my expectations for the firmware were modest. Yet the deeper I delved into the system, the more I found myself appreciating how thoughtfully designed many of its components are.

The native note-taking app is genuinely impressive. It includes features typically reserved for higher-end devices: scribble-erase, shape perfection, audio recording, straight-line tools, image insertion, and more. The handwriting-to-text OCR is local, remarkably accurate, and versatile enough to create custom tables of contents and calendar events. The brush selection is wide and expressive, and what struck me most was how elegantly all these disparate functions are arranged within a single, uncluttered toolbar. The interface never feels chaotic or overburdened, despite the surprising depth of features.

The reading app is similarly capable. It offers a broad suite of configuration options – many expected, some pleasantly unexpected. The presence of a local dictionary, for instance, is increasingly rare and greatly improves usability. Likewise, the inclusion of split-view reading is a welcome enhancement that is far from ubiquitous on e-ink devices.

The calendar is basic but clean, and the additional built-in apps add modest but genuine utility. And, importantly, the ability to sideload third-party apps extends the system’s flexibility considerably.

However, the firmware is far from perfect, and its weaknesses tend to cluster around interoperability and integration with broader ecosystems. The lack of Google Play certification results in predictable complications. Some third-party apps are difficult to install; some behave unpredictably. The Companion App is not Play-certified and refused to run on my Samsung phone (though it did install on another Android device). Even when functioning, the Companion App feels clunky and decidedly under-polished. Google Drive refused to authenticate due to a security-policy issue, and there is no syncing with external calendars such as Google or Outlook.

As much as I enjoyed the native note-taking and reading apps, I would not claim they are the absolute best on the market. They are, however, far more capable than I anticipated – certainly better than many offerings from other e-ink brands.

In short, I came away very impressed with the firmware overall, but still aware of the areas where it falters. The lack of Play certification casts a long shadow: even when things do work, they sometimes feel as though they are doing so in spite of the system rather than because of it. This friction may give some users pause, particularly those who rely heavily on cloud services, third-party apps, or integrated productivity workflows.

That said, used as a standalone reading and note-taking system, without reliance on cloud drives, Companion Apps, or third-party software, the Penstar firmware performs admirably. With its local dictionary and local OCR, you can comfortably use the device entirely offline, save for the occasional local Wi-Fi file transfer.

Overall the Penstar firmware is very good in my opinion. It provides a strong and surprisingly sophisticated foundation, with the potential to become significantly better over time through future updates.

Buying options

Penstar devices can be purchased from:

• Penstar (direct)*
• Amazon*

Firmware overview