Penstar eNote Pro BW: Full & Detailed Review

Around a year ago, I reviewed the Penstar eNote 2, and whilst it didn’t quite earn a place among my recommended E-Ink tablets, there was still a great deal to admire. In particular, I was impressed by some of its more unusual features, including the provision of two styluses, an innovative half folio design, and an exceptionally white screen background (quite possibly the whitest I’ve encountered on an E-Ink device).

So, when Penstar offered to send me the new eNote Pro BW for review, I was naturally eager to discover how the company had built upon what I already considered to be a rather promising predecessor.

Design & build

The Penstar eNote Pro BW has a rather distinctive aesthetic that sets it apart from many of its competitors. Its htly bluish metallic trim, combined with a textured rear panel that closely resembles leather, gives it an appearance that is both attractive and somewhat unconventional.

Although the rear panel is actually made from PVC, it has a convincing leather-like texture that feels pleasant to the touch and provides a reassuringly secure grip. There is also a camera situated in the upper right corner of the rear panel.

The edges of the tablet are flat, meeting the front and rear panels at approximately 90 degrees, and are finished with a metallic trim that contributes to its premium appearance. More importantly, the construction feels exceptionally solid. Applying pressure to opposing corners produces no discernible flexing or creaking, and shaking the device reveals no loose or rattling components. These are encouraging indications of a well assembled and structurally robust tablet.

The metallic trim extends slightly onto the front panel, framing the screen along the top, right and bottom edges. Tiny apertures, which I believe accommodate the speakers, are situated along the upper and lower edges.

The top edge also houses a USB-C port towards the left, whilst the power button and a small microphone pinhole are located towards the right.

One design feature that I particularly appreciate is the mechanism used to secure the stylus. Rather than relying on magnets, as many manufacturers do, Penstar has incorporated a narrow slot into the upper right edge of the tablet, into which the clip of the stylus slides. This creates a firm physical attachment that is extremely unlikely to become accidentally dislodged.

I much prefer this arrangement to the relatively weak magnetic attachments found on many competing devices. Admittedly, some manufacturers, such as reMarkable, have implemented impressively strong magnetic connections, but there is something reassuring about having the stylus physically secured to the tablet. It is also remarkably convenient to attach and remove.

Along the left edge are two rectangular recesses that accommodate the attachment mechanism for the half folio cover. Regular eWritable readers will already be familiar with my fondness for this particular style of cover, which protects the screen without adding unnecessary bulk or weight to setup. The textured rear panel also provides a degree of cushioning, making a conventional full folio feel somewhat redundant.

The half folio attaches using two rectangular metal protrusions along its spine, which slot into the corresponding recesses on the tablet and are retained magnetically. The connection is sufficiently secure for everyday use, although there is one important caveat: lifting or carrying the tablet solely by its cover can cause the magnetic attachment to disengage under the weight of the device. Consequently, a little care is required when handling it. The only other device I know of that uses a half folio is the Supernote Manta and it uses physical clips, rather than magnets for a stronger connection.

Returning to the front, the leftmost portion of the tablet features a textured plastic strip containing five physical buttons. These comprise a larger circular button in the centre, flanked by two pairs of narrower, elongated buttons above and below. They can be used for navigation, including turning pages, and their functions can be customised through the software.

The buttons themselves have a satisfying tactile response, accompanied by a soft audible click that provides unmistakable confirmation of activation. I particularly appreciate physical controls of this nature, especially on E-Ink devices where touchscreen responsiveness can occasionally be less immediate.

Surrounding the display is a white bezel, with another set of controls positioned along its left side. Interestingly, during my initial unboxing, I mistakenly assumed these were touch sensitive buttons. However, after spending some time with the device, I discovered that they respond exclusively to the stylus rather than finger input. It is a slightly unusual implementation, but another characteristic that distinguishes the eNote Pro BW from more conventional designs.

One minor irritation, however, (and this may just be me) is that these buttons have permanently printed icons that cannot be changed to reflect their customised functions. Whilst this has absolutely no bearing on functionality, I find the potential discrepancy between an icon and its assigned action slightly disconcerting. For example, tapping a button depicting a stack of books to launch a web browser would introduce a small but persistent sense of incongruity that, personally, I would find rather bothersome.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the design and construction of the Penstar eNote Pro BW. It manages to combine an attractive, relatively premium appearance with a reassuring sense of durability, whilst incorporating several thoughtful and distinctive design elements.

The leatherlike rear panel, secure stylus attachment, physical navigation buttons and practical half folio are all features that I genuinely appreciate. Furthermore, the absence of any discernible flexing, creaking or rattling inspires confidence in the quality of its construction.

As far as design and build quality are concerned, I really have very little to criticise. Penstar has produced a tablet that looks attractive, feels substantial and is a genuine pleasure to hold and handle.

Hardware specs

Under the hood, the Penstar eNote Pro BW is powered by a 2.2GHz octa-core Rockchip RK3576 processor, accompanied by 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

Interestingly, this is the same processor found in its predecessor, the eNote 2, although my Geekbench testing revealed a modest improvement in performance. The eNote Pro BW achieved a single-core score of 389 and a multi-core score of 1583, compared to 373 and 1393 respectively for the eNote 2. You can check out CPU Benchmark Scores for all devices I’ve tested here.

Whilst these improvements are certainly welcome, they are not particularly substantial, and overall processing performance remains firmly within the midrange of contemporary E-Ink tablets.

In everyday use, however, I encountered no discernible performance issues when navigating the interface, opening documents, taking notes or using the tablet’s native applications. Everything felt sufficiently responsive, and at no point did I find myself frustrated by the speed of routine operations.

Performance can become a little more sluggish when running certain third-party Android applications, particularly those that are more demanding or involve frequent screen updates. However, this is hardly surprising, as the relatively modest processing power is compounded by the inherent limitations of E-Ink display technology, which cannot refresh anywhere near as quickly as conventional LCD or OLED screens.

To help mitigate these limitations, Penstar provides some basic display optimisation settings for third-party applications, including five refresh modes: Normal, Clear, Fast, Rapid and Ultra. Experimenting with these modes allows users to find a suitable compromise between image quality and responsiveness, although faster refresh rates inevitably introduce some deterioration in visual clarity and potentially more ghosting.

For users whose primary requirements revolve around reading, handwriting and general productivity, I consider the eNote Pro BW’s performance to be perfectly adequate. However, anyone intending to make extensive use of more demanding third-party applications may be better served by a device from Boox or Bigme.

These manufacturers typically offer more powerful processors, considerably more granular display configuration options and proprietary refresh technologies that can deliver a noticeably more responsive experience in applications requiring frequent screen updates.

Ultimately, the eNote Pro BW offers respectable, albeit unexceptional, performance that is entirely sufficient for its principal purpose as a digital notebook and reading device.

Screen

The Penstar eNote Pro BW features a 10.3-inch monochrome E-Ink Carta 1200 display, with a resolution of 2480 × 1860 pixels (300ppi). This is approximately equivalent to an A5 sheet of paper and represents something of a happy medium between portability and usable screen space. Indeed, 10.3 inches has become one of the most popular display sizes for digital notebooks, providing a sufficiently generous canvas for handwriting and document annotation without making the device particularly cumbersome to carry around.

Being monochrome, the display benefits from several advantages over contemporary colour E-Ink technology. Most notably, the absence of a colour filter array allows more ambient light to be reflected, generally resulting in a brighter background, better contrast and sharper looking text. Furthermore, whilst technologies such as Kaleido 3 offer a colour resolution of just 150ppi, the eNote Pro BW maintains its full 300ppi resolution across everything displayed on the screen. Of course, colour devices can still render black and white content at 300ppi, but monochrome panels generally produce a cleaner, more uniform appearance.

There is no front light, which (again) presents both advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, the absence of an additional light guide layer helps minimise the distance between the display surface and the underlying E-Ink particles, giving handwriting and text the appearance of being closer to the surface. This can contribute to a more natural writing experience, with less of the visual separation that can sometimes be apparent on devices incorporating additional screen layers.

The obvious disadvantage is that the display relies entirely on ambient illumination. Whilst it looks perfectly comfortable in reasonably well lit surroundings and performs particularly well in daylight, reading in dimly lit environments becomes increasingly difficult, and using the device in darkness requires an external light source.

On the whole, though, the clarity of the screen is very good.

One aspect of the screen that I found rather disappointing, however, was its background whiteness (not necessarily compared to the wider market, but compared to its predecessor).

When I reviewed the original eNote 2, I was particularly impressed by its exceptionally white display background, which was one of the whitest I had encountered on any E-Ink tablet. It was one of the characteristics that really distinguished the device from its competitors.

Unfortunately, the eNote Pro BW doesn’t achieve the same level of whiteness and contrast. Its background has a slightly greyer appearance, and although I would still consider the overall screen quality to be very good, it is noticeably less impressive than its predecessor in this respect.

One possible explanation is the introduction of capacitive touchscreen functionality, which is perhaps the most significant change to the display between the two generations. Unlike the eNote 2, which could only be operated using the stylus and physical buttons, the eNote Pro BW allows users to navigate the interface using their fingers.

This is undoubtedly a more conventional and, for many people, more convenient arrangement. However, the additional touchscreen layer may also be responsible for the slight deterioration in perceived background whiteness and contrast. I cannot definitively attribute the difference to this, but it seems a plausible explanation, particularly given that the eNote 2 dispensed with the touchscreen layer altogether.

It is possible to disable finger touch through the software, although naturally this does not remove the physical touchscreen layer itself, so there is no corresponding improvement in display clarity.

Interestingly, the absence of touchscreen functionality was something I initially regarded as a limitation of the eNote 2, but subsequently grew to appreciate. Without finger touch, there was absolutely no possibility of accidentally activating something whilst resting my palm on the screen. This made handwriting a particularly carefree experience, and what initially appeared to be an inconvenience eventually became one of the device’s more endearing characteristics. I feel it is a shame that Penstar have not stuck with this distinctive feature.

Penstar uses its own proprietary implementation of electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology for stylus input. Although it shares the same fundamental principles as the Wacom EMR technology found in many competing E-Ink tablets, the two systems are not interchangeable.

Consequently, conventional EMR styluses cannot be used with Penstar tablets, and Penstar styluses are similarly incompatible with other EMR devices.

This proprietary approach is something of a disadvantage because it restricts users to Penstar’s own stylus ecosystem. It was less of a concern with the eNote 2, however, because Penstar thoughtfully included two styluses and a particularly generous supply of replacement nibs in the box. If one stylus became damaged or was misplaced, there was an immediate replacement available.

Unfortunately, the eNote Pro BW comes with just one stylus, accompanied by ten spare nibs. Whilst this is still a reasonable supply of replacement tips, the absence of a second stylus makes the proprietary technology feel rather more restrictive. Should the supplied pen be lost or damaged, there is no option to simply substitute a standard EMR stylus that you might already own.

As discussed in the design section, the screen is also accompanied by ten stylus sensitive buttons positioned along the left bezel, together with five physical navigation buttons on the adjacent edge. These provide some useful alternative methods of interaction beyond the touchscreen itself.

Overall, I would still describe the eNote Pro BW’s screen as very good. Text and handwriting are sharp, contrast is respectable, and the monochrome Carta 1200 panel delivers the clarity that I would expect from a modern 300ppi monochrome E-Ink display.

However, I cannot help feeling that Penstar has sacrificed some of the characteristics that made the original eNote 2 so appealing in the first place. The exceptionally white background, the complete absence of accidental touchscreen interactions and the inclusion of a second stylus were all unusual features that contributed to its distinctive character.

By introducing touchscreen functionality and removing the additional stylus, Penstar has undoubtedly made the eNote Pro BW a more conventional device, but not necessarily a better one in every respect.

The eNote Pro BW’s screen is still very good, but in this particular area, I am not entirely convinced that the changes represent an improvement over its predecessor.

Writing feel

The writing experience on the Penstar eNote Pro BW is largely unchanged from its predecessor, which is certainly no bad thing. As with the eNote 2, I would describe the overall sensation as gratifying, with a respectable degree of friction between the stylus nib and the display. There is sufficient resistance to ground each stroke and avoid the disconcerting, almost ice rink smoothness that afflicts some E-Ink tablets.

There is also a faint audible scratch as the nib moves across the screen, lending the writing experience a pleasing analogue quality.

Personally, my preference would be for marginally more texture and resistance, but this is very much a matter of personal taste rather than a substantive criticism.

The stylus itself has a rigid nib that doesn’t flex under pressure, although its feltlike material cushions contact with the display, eliminating the harsh tapping sensation that can accompany harder nibs. There is a small amount of free play within the stylus barrel, allowing the nib to shift minutely when pressed. Whilst this movement is perceptible, I didn’t find it particularly distracting or bothersome during normal writing.

In terms of responsiveness, the experience is excellent. Handwritten strokes appear almost instantaneously, with negligible perceptible latency, and the pressure sensitivity is impressively nuanced. Penstar’s proprietary EMR implementation supports 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, twice the 4,096 levels commonly found on competing E-Ink tablets.

This additional granularity allows for subtle variations in line thickness and gives handwriting and sketching a pleasing sense of dynamism, particularly when using brushes that respond to changes in pressure. However, tilt sensitivity appears to be absent, with the available brushes showing no discernible response to changes in stylus angle.

One minor irritation I encountered was the occasional accidental activation of the stylus sensitive buttons along the left bezel. When writing close to the edge of the screen, the stylus would sometimes stray over one of these buttons, inadvertently triggering its assigned function and potentially opening another application. This happened only very infrequently and was never a significant inconvenience, but the proximity of these controls to the writing canvas does introduce a small risk of unintended activation that is worth mentioning.

As discussed in the previous section, Penstar’s proprietary implementation of EMR technology also means that its styluses are incompatible with conventional Wacom EMR devices, and vice versa. Whilst the enhanced pressure sensitivity is a welcome benefit, this comes at the expense of interoperability with the wider EMR stylus ecosystem.

Overall, the eNote Pro BW delivers a very good writing experience that is precise, responsive and satisfyingly tactile. Although I would personally welcome a fractionally rougher surface, the balance Penstar has achieved should appeal to a broad range of handwriting preferences. It was one of the stronger aspects of the eNote 2, and I’m pleased to see that the eNote Pro BW maintains that standard.

Hardware features

Having already covered the screen, physical design and writing experience in their respective sections, there are a few additional hardware features worth discussing.

In terms of connectivity, the eNote Pro BW offers both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, alongside a USB-C port for charging and transferring files. There is also a G-Sensor, which automatically adjusts the screen orientation between portrait and landscape depending on how the tablet is being held.

For audio, Penstar has incorporated both a speaker and microphone. Neither is particularly remarkable in terms of quality, but they are perfectly adequate for their intended purposes. The speaker is sufficient for listening to spoken audio, such as podcast, whilst the microphone provides a functional means of recording sound. These are useful additions, even if they are unlikely to be deciding factors for most prospective buyers.

One hardware feature that I particularly appreciate is the inclusion of physical navigation buttons along the left edge of the tablet. These have a satisfying tactile click and are especially pleasant to use when reading. Personally, I find pressing a button to turn a page considerably more gratifying than swiping across the screen, and the positioning of the controls makes it comfortable to hold the tablet in one hand and flick between pages using my thumb. Physical page turning buttons are relatively uncommon on E-Ink tablets of this size, so their inclusion is a welcome distinguishing feature.

I’m rather less enthusiastic about the ten stylus sensitive buttons on the adjacent bezel. As previously mentioned, they can occasionally be activated inadvertently when writing close to the edge of the screen, whilst their permanently printed icons may not correspond to their customised functions, something I find mildly irksome. Nevertheless, I can appreciate how having additional shortcuts readily accessible might prove convenient for other users, even if they are not something I particularly favour.

However, one hardware inclusion that I find particularly perplexing is the rear-facing camera.

On the face of it, incorporating a camera into a digital notebook might seem like a reasonable idea, particularly for capturing analogue documents, handwritten notes or other information that could subsequently be incorporated into a digital workflow. Unfortunately, Penstar’s implementation feels rather underdeveloped.

The camera allows you to take photographs, which can subsequently be shared as images embedded within PDF files using a QR code. However, there is no integrated optical character recognition (OCR) functionality, meaning that photographs of printed documents cannot be converted into editable or searchable text.

This is a significant missed opportunity, because document scanning and text extraction would at least provide a practical justification for including a camera on a device primarily intended for note-taking and productivity.

Without these capabilities, I struggle to identify a compelling reason to use it.

After all, most people are likely to have their smartphone within reach, which will almost certainly provide a considerably better photography experience. Not only will the resulting images be captured and displayed in colour, but framing a photograph is also much easier on a conventional display. The comparatively sluggish refresh characteristics of E-Ink make the live camera preview rather unpleasant, with frequent screen updates and flashing as the image changes.

There is also a further practical inconvenience resulting from the half folio design. When folded behind the tablet, the cover obscures the camera lens, meaning that you must either hold the cover out of the way with your other hand or detach it entirely before taking a photograph. Neither solution is particularly onerous, but it introduces an unnecessary complication to an already rather cumbersome process.

I can certainly appreciate the potential usefulness of a camera on an E-Ink notebook, particularly when accompanied by sophisticated document scanning, OCR and annotation capabilities However, without that supporting functionality, its inclusion on the eNote Pro BW seems somewhat superfluous.

I cannot help wondering whether the camera was added simply to give the device another distinguishing hardware feature and perhaps lend some additional credibility to its Pro designation, rather than to fulfil a clearly identified practical requirement.

Ultimately, the eNote Pro BW offers a reasonable complement of additional hardware. The connectivity options, automatic screen rotation and basic audio capabilities are all welcome, even if they are largely what I would expect from a contemporary Android E-Ink tablet. The rear camera, on the other hand, remains something of an enigma. It is not so much that I object to its presence, but rather that I would have liked to see Penstar do something genuinely useful with it.

Battery

The eNote2 houses a notably large 6500 mAh battery, significantly more capacious than those found in many similarly sized e-ink tablets. On paper, this should have positioned it comfortably at the top of my battery performance table. In practice, it performed exceedingly well, but not quite well enough to claim the absolute top spot. Curiously, a handful of devices with smaller batteries still managed to outperform it under my testing conditions.

The table below shows how much battery is depleted by performing certain operations for an hour.

Test (1hr)	eNote Pro BW (% battery used)
Note-taking	7%
Reading	2%
Wifi On	+1%

To assess battery performance, I carried out my usual tests involving an hour of reading and an hour of handwriting, which consumed approximately 2% and 7% of the battery respectively.

For consistency across my reviews, I use a hypothetical day comprising three hours of reading and three hours of note-taking as a benchmark for estimating battery endurance. Based on these results, the eNote Pro BW would consume approximately 27% of its battery over the course of such a day, equating to around 3.7 days of use before requiring a recharge.

Of course, actual battery life will vary depending on individual usage patterns, wireless connectivity, background processes and other factors, but this provides a useful basis for comparison with other E-Ink tablets.

Interestingly, the previous generation eNote 2 performed considerably better under the same testing methodology, achieving an estimated 6.1 days of battery life. This represents a fairly substantial deterioration in endurance for the newer model, which is particularly disappointing given that the two devices share much of the same underlying hardware.

The reason for this discrepancy isn’t immediately apparent. Both tablets employ the same processor and battery, and have broadly comparable hardware configurations, although there are some differences in their firmware and additional features.

As discussed earlier, the eNote Pro BW also managed to extract slightly better benchmark results from its processor, so it is conceivable that some of this additional performance comes at the expense of power efficiency. Alternatively, differences in firmware optimisation, background activity or the additional hardware components could be contributing to the increased consumption. Without more detailed investigation, however, it is difficult to establish a definitive cause.

Looking at the wider E-Ink tablet market, I would place the eNote Pro BW towards the lower end of average in terms of battery endurance, whereas its predecessor occupied a position closer to the upper end.

An estimated 3.7 days of relatively intensive use is certainly not disastrous, and should still prove adequate for many users. Nevertheless, the appreciably shorter battery life compared to the eNote 2 is disappointing, particularly when there is no obvious improvement in functionality or performance substantial enough to justify the additional power consumption.

Accessories

Along with the tablet itself, the Penstar bundle also included a styluses, 10 spare nibs and the half-folio.

Stylus

The Penstar eNote Pro BW is supplied with the company’s B6 stylus, which replaces the B5 model included with the previous generation eNote 2. Both share a broadly similar design and writing characteristics, so rather than reiterating the writing experience already discussed, I’ll concentrate on the design differences between the two.

The B6 has a cylindrical metallic shaft, giving it a slightly greater weight and a noticeably cooler feel in the hand compared to the predominantly plastic construction of the B5. This lends the newer stylus a somewhat more premium appearance and tactile quality, although both remain comfortable to hold and write with.

At the top of the shaft is a plastic clip, which slides into a corresponding recess on the edge of the tablet, creating a secure physical attachment. As mentioned above, I particularly appreciate this arrangement because it is considerably less susceptible to accidental detachment than the magnetic connections commonly employed by other manufacturers.

Interestingly, although the older B5 also features a clip, it does not fit into the attachment slot on the eNote Pro BW, meaning that the two generations are not interchangeable in this respect.

The B6 also incorporates an eraser at the opposite end to the nib, although I noticed that this appears to be the source of a faint audible rattle when the stylus is shaken. This is a minor observation rather than a serious concern, but it is worth mentioning that the older B5 exhibited no such rattling.

Perhaps the most conspicuous change is the introduction of three buttons along the shaft, compared to just one on the B5. By default, the larger upper button activates the eraser, the second switches to a marker pen, and the third allows the stylus to emulate capacitive finger input.

The functions of these buttons can be customised through the software, although the available options are rather limited. In addition to the three aforementioned commands, there is a fourth option labelled Close, which, during my testing, did not appear to have any discernible effect.

Whilst the inclusion of three buttons is certainly unusual, and potentially a distinguishing feature in its own right, I’m not entirely convinced of its practical value given the restricted selection of assignable functions. There are only so many useful combinations that can be achieved with such a small pool of commands.

However, I should acknowledge that my own preferences may influence this assessment. Personally, I have never been particularly fond of buttons positioned along a stylus shaft, as I have a habit of inadvertently pressing them whilst writing. Consequently, the addition of two extra buttons is not something that I would necessarily regard as an improvement, although other users may appreciate having more functions immediately accessible.

One change that I found considerably more disappointing was the removal of the ingenious spare nib storage compartment incorporated into the B5.

On the previous stylus, the upper portion of the shaft could be unscrewed to reveal a concealed compartment capable of accommodating three replacement nibs. It was a wonderfully practical little feature that ensured spare nibs were always readily available without having to carry a separate container. I thought it was a particularly thoughtful piece of design, and one of the small details that made the original Penstar stylus so appealing.

Unfortunately, this functionality has been discontinued on the B6, and I genuinely struggle to understand why. Given the usefulness and simplicity of the original arrangement, its omission feels like an unnecessary regression.

Overall, the B6 is an attractive and comfortable stylus that performs its primary function very well. Its metallic construction gives it a more substantial feel than the B5, and the addition of three programmable buttons is certainly an unusual feature, although their usefulness is somewhat undermined by the limited customisation options.

However, the faint rattle from the eraser, the absence of internal nib storage and my personal dislike of multiple shaft buttons mean that I actually prefer the older B5.

It is an interesting example of how a newer accessory can incorporate additional features and arguably more premium materials without necessarily delivering a better overall experience. For my particular preferences, the B6 feels more like a sideways move, and in some respects a backward step, rather than a meaningful improvement over its predecessor.

Half-folio

Most E-Ink tablets are supplied with a conventional folio that encloses both the front and rear of the device, providing protection on all sides. The Penstar eNote Pro BW, however, adopts a rather different approach with its half folio, which consists of a single protective flap that covers the screen and attaches along the tablet’s left edge.

This is essentially the same design employed by the previous generation eNote 2, and the only other tablet I’ve used with a comparable arrangement is the Supernote Manta. Regular readers will know that I am particularly fond of this minimalist approach to protecting an E-Ink tablet, although I appreciate that it is something of a polarising design choice.

For me, the advantages are fairly straightforward. By dispensing with the rear portion of a conventional folio, the combined tablet and cover remains thinner, lighter and less cumbersome. Given that the screen is invariably the most fragile and vulnerable component of an E-Ink device, concentrating protection on this area seems an entirely sensible compromise. Why introduce additional bulk to protect a rear panel that is considerably less susceptible to damage?

Of course, there is a perfectly reasonable counterargument. Leaving the rear exposed makes it more vulnerable to scuffs, scratches and general cosmetic deterioration. Some users may also feel uncomfortable carrying an expensive device that isn’t completely enclosed within a protective case.

Personally, this doesn’t particularly concern me. My Supernote Manta has accompanied me almost every day for years, and whilst its rear panel has accumulated various marks, discolouration and minor scratches, I regard these as something of a patina rather than a problem. Admittedly, this is a highly subjective perspective, and I can certainly understand why others would prefer to keep their devices in pristine condition.

It is also worth remembering that the Supernote Manta has a relatively resilient plastic construction and a flexible Mobius display, whereas the eNote Pro BW has a more rigid chassis. Consequently, I would be somewhat more cautious about accidentally dropping the latter.

The half folio attaches to the eNote Pro BW using two rectangular metal blocks positioned along its hinged spine. These slot into corresponding recesses on the left edge of the tablet, where they are held in place magnetically. Whilst this arrangement is perfectly serviceable for everyday use, it isn’t particularly secure when subjected to any significant pulling force. In particular, lifting the device solely by its cover can cause the magnetic attachment to disengage, potentially sending the tablet tumbling to the ground.

This is something that I also criticised on the eNote 2, and unfortunately, Penstar doesn’t appear to have made any meaningful improvements to the attachment mechanism.

By comparison, the Supernote Manta employs a much more reassuring mechanical connection, with metal clips that lock the folio firmly in place. Even vigorous shaking is insufficient to dislodge it, which inspires considerably more confidence when carrying and handling the device.

The advantage of Penstar’s magnetic approach is that the cover can be detached relatively easily, although aligning the attachment blocks with their corresponding recesses can occasionally require a little dexterity. Nevertheless, I would personally favour a more secure locking mechanism over the convenience of effortless removal.

Aesthetically, the folio complements the tablet rather nicely. Both its interior and exterior feature an understated blue-grey finish with a subtle imitation leather texture, whilst a discreet Penstar logo occupies the lower right corner of the front flap. The overall appearance is attractive without being ostentatious, and the material feels pleasant to handle.

The main difference from the eNote 2’s folio is the absence of a stylus loop. Previously, Penstar incorporated an unusually long loop that held the pen securely alongside the tablet, although it could become slightly awkward when folding the cover behind the device. With the eNote Pro BW, the stylus now slides directly into a dedicated attachment slot on the tablet itself, rendering the additional loop unnecessary. I consider this a welcome refinement, as it simplifies the cover’s design whilst providing a more convenient and secure means of carrying the stylus.

Overall, I remain an enthusiastic advocate of the half folio concept, and Penstar’s implementation is attractive, lightweight and practical. I particularly appreciate how little additional bulk it introduces, and the removal of the stylus loop makes the design a little cleaner than its predecessor.

My only real reservation concerns the magnetic attachment mechanism. Although it performs adequately during normal use, the possibility of inadvertently detaching the tablet by lifting the cover is something that warrants a degree of caution. A more secure mechanical connection, similar to that employed by Supernote, would make an otherwise very appealing accessory considerably more reassuring to use.

Software

My review of this tablet should be read in conjunction with my review of the current firmware (see table below), which includes aspects such as the Operating System, User Interface, and Native Apps.

The hardware and software reviews have been separated because the firmware used at the time that this review was written may not be the same firmware being used currently. This could result in the review quickly becoming outdated. Also, as several tablets may use the same firmware, this would mean going back and updating every single tablet review from a particular manufacturer to account for the new firmware. By splitting them up, if there is a firmware update, I am able to make the updates on a single page.

Current versions of this brand’s firmware are shown in the table below, along with the tablets running them.

My rating	Firmware version	Tablets using this firmware
	2.0 (current version) Aug 2025	Penstar eNote 2 Penstar eNote Pro BW
	1.0 (current version) Aug 2024	Penstar eNote
Older Penstar firmware versions may be found here

Brand

For some people, it is also worth considering the brand as whole, including aspects like customer service, ecosystem, values, and criticisms.

My full overview of the Penstar brand can be found here, but I have provided a summary below.

Final verdict

There is certainly a lot to like about the Penstar eNote Pro BW, particularly when it comes to its physical design and construction. I genuinely appreciate the half folio concept, the reassuringly solid build quality, the inclusion of tactile navigation buttons, and the ingenious mechanism that allows the stylus to slot securely into the right edge of the tablet. The writing experience is also very good, with excellent responsiveness and a pleasing degree of friction between the nib and the screen.

However, having previously reviewed the eNote 2, I cannot help feeling somewhat disappointed by the direction Penstar has taken with its successor.

What made the eNote 2 so appealing to me was not necessarily that it excelled in every area, but that it offered several unusual and thoughtfully implemented features that distinguished it from an increasingly homogeneous selection of E-Ink tablets. Its exceptionally white display background was among the best I had encountered, and the inclusion of two styluses was a particularly generous touch. Furthermore, the ability to store spare nibs inside the stylus itself was a wonderfully practical little innovation that I genuinely appreciated.

Unfortunately, many of these distinctive characteristics have disappeared with the eNote Pro BW.

The screen, whilst still perfectly respectable, has a noticeably greyer background than its predecessor. The second stylus has been omitted, and the convenient internal nib storage compartment has been abandoned in favour of a new pen that, despite its more premium metallic construction and additional buttons, I personally find less appealing than the original.

Meanwhile, some of the new additions leave me rather perplexed. The rear camera feels like an unnecessary inclusion, particularly without any meaningful document scanning or OCR functionality to justify its presence. The stylus sensitive buttons along the bezel may prove useful to some, but their proximity to the writing canvas introduces the occasional accidental activation, whilst their fixed icons can become incongruous when the functions are customised.

None of these are particularly serious shortcomings in isolation, but neither do they represent the sort of meaningful improvements I would hope to see from a successor.

There has been a modest increase in processing performance, although this is accompanied by a considerable deterioration in battery endurance. Under my standardised testing methodology, the eNote Pro BW manages an estimated 3.7 days of use, compared to 6.1 days for the eNote 2. That is a substantial compromise for what amounts to a relatively minor improvement in responsiveness.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect is that, in attempting to modernise the eNote 2, Penstar appears to have relinquished much of what made the original so endearing. The eNote Pro BW feels like a more generic E-Ink tablet, but not necessarily a more accomplished one. Indeed, several of the changes strike me as regressions rather than improvements.

I should emphasise that the eNote Pro BW is by no means a bad device. Its construction is excellent, the writing experience is thoroughly enjoyable, and its performance is perfectly adequate for the sort of reading and note-taking tasks for which it is primarily intended. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it, and I can certainly envisage users being perfectly happy with what it offers.

However, the E-Ink tablet market has become increasingly competitive, and being merely competent is no longer sufficient to earn a recommendation from me. Devices from more established manufacturers offer compelling combinations of functionality, refinement and performance, and I struggle to identify a particularly persuasive reason to choose the eNote Pro BW over those alternatives.

In fact, if I were offered a choice between the eNote Pro BW and its predecessor, I would personally choose the older eNote 2. Its brighter screen, additional stylus and thoughtful little design innovations gave it a character that I found genuinely appealing, even if it wasn’t quite good enough to make my recommendations at the time.

Ultimately, the Penstar eNote Pro BW is a perfectly serviceable digital notebook with some commendable qualities, but it feels like a missed opportunity. Rather than building upon the distinctive strengths of the eNote 2, Penstar has produced something more conventional, with a handful of questionable additions and several unfortunate omissions.

It is a capable device, but one that has lost much of the individuality that made its predecessor interesting. And, regrettably, there is simply not enough here to persuade me to add it to my list of recommended E Ink tablets.

Buying options

Penstar devices can be purchased from:

• Penstar (direct)*
• Amazon*

Technical Specs