One of the most important considerations when buying an e-ink tablet is the screen size.
Smaller screens are more portable, but larger screens have a bigger viewing area.
Categorising e-ink tablet screen sizes
E-ink tablet screen sizes are measured across the diagonal (e.g. from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner) and can be broadly split into four categories:
- Very small (around 7″)
- Small (around 8″ or A6-sized)
- Medium (around 10″ or A5-sized)
- Large (around 13″ or A4-sized)
I use the term ‘broadly’ because there are a few variations within the categories. For example, Small screens (around 8″) are usually either 7.8″ or 8.2″. And whilst the vast majority of Medium screens are 10.3″, there is one that is 10.2″ (the Kindle Scribe), and a couple that are 10.7″ (the Supernote Manta and Viwoods AI Paper).
The only e-ink tablets I know of that don’t fit neatly into one of these categories are the reMarkable Paper Pro, which is 11.8″ (so sort of occupies the void between Medium and Large screen sizes), and the reMarkable Paper Pro Move, which has a 7.3″ screen (although only slightly bigger than 7″, it has irregular form factor).
All these categories have their advantages and disadvantages, which will be dependent on your own particular use case. In the next sections, I will explore each category and provide my own subjective views about them.
Very small screens (around 7″)
Very small screens are super small, lightweight, and portable. They are also relatively more affordable compared to their larger-screened cousins.
In addition, many of them have physical page-turn buttons, which for some people (including myself) is far more comfortable than swiping the screen to turn a page.
However, the smaller screen size can make some reading and writing tasks less-than-pleasant.
Firstly I’ll discuss reading, and (more specifically) reading PDFs. ePubs (and other text-based file formats) work fine on small screen sizes because if the default text is too small, you can make the font size bigger (or even switch to a more desirable font). You can also adjust things such as line spacing, margins, and text justification to your liking. Essentially, the text is reflowable, which means that if, for example, you make the font bigger, some of the text at the bottom of a particular page will reflow onto the next page. Consequently, specific text is not fixed to a particular page number.
PDFs work differently because the text and layout is fixed into position and cannot be altered. For example, the text and layout on page one of a PDF (including the first and last words) remains exactly the same no matter what size screen it is viewed on.
A good way to think about these differences is by considering the pinch-to-zoom feature on an e-ink device. If you do a pinch-to-zoom with an ePub file, the font size will increase, shifting some of the text onto the next page to make space, but if you do the same with a PDF, it will zoom in/magnify, but all the text will remain on the same page.
Some PDFs (for example, textbooks, research papers, studies etc.) use a small default font, and may use layouts such as columns. In essence, they have been designed for a regular A4 sheet of paper, but when viewed on a very small 7″ screen, they are shrunk down to fill the screen and the font becomes even smaller. This makes these kinds of documents very uncomfortable to read on a 7″ screen.
Now, there are software solutions to solve this issue. For example, you can pinch-to-zoom in on the text to make it a more comfortable reading size, and then drag the page around as you read. You can also re-orientate the page into landscape, viewing half a page at a time. But to get a PDF looking good on a 7″ requires playing about with the configuration, which can be fiddly and time-consuming, and detracts from the reading experience immensely.
The other main drawback of a 7″ e-ink tablet screen is the writing experience.
With such a small writing canvas, you can run out of page space very quickly, particularly if (like me) your note-taking practice is of the long-form variety. Of course, you can easily add a new page when this happens, but when compared to larger-screened tablets, you end up having many more pages of notes – and when you go back to them later, it can take a lot of page-flicking to find what you’re looking for. For some people, this is fine because they tend to take a lot of short-hand notes and don’t need an awful lot of space to do this, but personally I prefer a larger screen.
In addition, pretty much all 7″ devices use some sort of Active Pen for stylus input (as opposed to EMR). You can read about the differences here, but essentially EMR styluses are much more superior in my opinion. There’s nothing functionally wrong with Active Pens – you can write with them absolutely fine – but overall experience is, on the whole, worse than EMR (for example, the nibs tend to be thicker at the point, the nibs are harder and sometimes create a horrible tapping sound when they touch the screen, they require recharging etc.)
So, in summary, whilst 7″ e-ink tablets are very portable, and great for reading ePubs (particularly if they have page-turn buttons), note-taking and PDF reading isn’t great. For these reasons, I would only really recommend this size for people that will primarily be using the device as an e-book reader – the ability to take notes and annotate documents should perhaps be considered a bonus that will be used infrequently. If note-taking or reading PDFs will be the primary purpose of buying an e-ink tablet, a larger-screened model would be a better choice.
| Pros (7″ screens) | Cons (7″ screens) |
|---|---|
| Smaller footprint | Poorer PDF reading experience |
| Light | Poorer writing experience |
| Portable | |
| Comparatively more affordable | |
| Great for reading ePubs (particularly if it has page-turn buttons) |
Examples of 7″ e-ink tablets include the Boox Go 7* (my review), Boox Go Color 7* (my review), Bigme B7* (my review), and Kobo Libra Color* (my review).
If you asked me if I personally use a 7″ e-ink tablet in my day-to-day life, the answer would be a caveated yes. I use the Boox Go 7 as my primary e-book reading device, but very rarely use the stylus because the writing experience is poor. So, essentially, I use it as a glorified e-reader rather than a writing tablet.
Small screens (around 8″)
The next step up in screen size is the small 8″ category, which includes e-ink tablets with screens varying between 7.8″ and 8.2″ along the diagonal. This is around the same size as an A6 piece of paper (to get an idea of this size, fold a sheet of A4 or Legal paper in half and then half again).
For a bit more money, you get a bit more screen real-estate. These devices still tend to be quite portable (you can fit them into a small bag), but they do have the same drawbacks as the 7″ category – they’re still too small to read many PDFs comfortably without messing around with the settings, and the canvas is (in my opinion) too small for long-form note-taking. In addition, they tend to be a bit heavier and bulkier than 7″ tablets, which makes them a bit less comfortable to hold whilst reading. However, on the plus side, most of the e-ink tablets in this size use EMR for stylus input, which is preferable to the Active Pens that tend to be used on 7″ devices.
Overall, I would only recommend this size tablet if portable note-taking is a key requirement. And the emphasis should be on the portable keyword because I think 10″ devices make better note-taking devices in general.
| Pros (8″ screens) | Cons (8″ screens) |
|---|---|
| Smaller footprint | Poorer PDF reading experience |
| Portable | Smaller canvas size |
| Comparatively more affordable | |
| Writing experience okay for short-form notes |
Examples of 8″ e-ink tablets include the Viwoods AI Paper Mini* (my review), Supernote Nomad* (my review), Boox Tab Mini C, and Kobo Sage.
Personally, I don’t really use any of the e-ink tablets in this category. I find them too small for note-taking, and too heavy/bulky for reading. I do like the Viwoods AI Paper Mini and Supernote Nomad, but prefer to use the larger-screened models from these brands.
Medium screens (around 10″)
Medium screens (around 10″) are by far the most popular screen size used on e-ink tablets because they seem to offer the ideal balance between portability, affordability, and comfort.
They are approximately A5-sized (an A4/Legal sheet of paper folded in half once).
Although I would probably wouldn’t use the term portable, particularly when compared to the previous two categories, they are still fairly easy to carry around. Perhaps a good way to visualise the difference is that 7″ and 8″ e-ink tablets could be carried around in a handbag, whereas a 10″ e-ink tablet would require a briefcase/satchel/rucksack. And whilst you can hold up a 7″ tablet for long periods of reading (such as in bed or in the bath), your arms will soon begin to ache if you try to do the same with a 10″ tablet, so it really needs to be rested on your lap or a desk.
It is much more comfortable to view PDFs on a 10″ device. Most PDFs are designed with A4/legal paper in mind, but many look perfectly fine on a 10″ (A5-sized) screen. And for those that use a particularly small font, switching to landscape mode makes them more comfortable to read. In addition, there is just about the right amount of canvas space for long-form note-taking.
On the whole, I would recommend this screen size for the majority of use cases because it offers a good balance of everything you need from an e-ink tablet.
| Pros (10″ screens) | Cons (10″ screens) |
|---|---|
| Happy medium (between portability, affordability, and comfort) | Uncomfortable to hold upright for long periods (requires resting on lap or desk when reading/writing) |
| Great for reading all file formats | Bulkier (compared to smaller devices) |
| Great for note-taking | Bigger footprint (compared to smaller devices) |
Example of e-ink tablets with medium-sized screens include the Supernote Manta* (my review), Boox Go 10.3* (my review), Boox Note Air4* (my review), Viwoods AI Paper* (my review), reMarkable 2* (my review), and Kindle Scribe* (my review).
Personally, I use the Supernote Manta pretty much every single day to organise my life and work (you can read about my system here).
Large screens (around 13″)
Large-screened e-ink tablets are 13.3″ across the diagonal, which is approximately the size of an A4/legal sheet of paper. This makes them perfect for reading PDFs, which are usually designed for these dimensions.
In addition, you get a lot of screen real estate for drawing and note-taking, and very rarely feel like you need more space on a page.
The drawbacks are that these devices have a much larger footprint (around 1.5x the size of a 10″ e-ink tablet), and tend to be heavier and bulkier. This can make them feel slightly clumsy/unwieldy when writing with it on your lap because of the larger form factor (but are fantastic to use on a desk). They are also more expensive.
Although the extra screen size does make a massive positive difference for both reading and writing tasks, it can be difficult to justify this when you look at the price of some of these devices. For this reason, I feel that the users that are going to benefit most from this form factor are those that will be using the device primarily for reading complex PDFs (such as textbooks and academic papers), writing long-form notes, and performing sophisticated calculations – essentially academics, students, professors etc.
| Pros (13″ screens) | Cons (13″ screens) |
|---|---|
| More space for note-taking | Heavier and bulkier |
| Great for reading all file formats, particularly PDFs | More expensive |
| Great for note-taking |
Because of the limited market appeal of 13.3″ e-ink tablets, primarily due to their cost, there are not a lot of buying options in this size category. It is dominated by Boox – Boox Note Max* (my review) and Boox Tab XC* (my review) – but Fujitsu also make a 13.3″ e-ink tablet (although I’ve struggled to find enough info about this device to add it to my comparison table).
Personally, I use the Boox Note Max for my (self-directed) maths and physics studies because it is ideal for reading textbooks and research papers, as well as offering plenty of canvas space for working through exercises.
reMarkable Paper Pro tablets
reMarkable are quite unconventional in the way that they design and develop their products, so it is not surprising two of their devices don’t quite fit into one of the above categories. So, I’m going to briefly deal with them separately in this section.
reMarkable Paper Pro (11.8″)
The reMarkable Paper Pro (rMPP)* is 11.8″ across the diagonal, which places it directly in the middle between medium sized e-ink tablets (10.3″) and large-sized e-ink tablets (13.3″). So, in the classifications I’ve defined above, it’s a bit too big to be classed as medium tablet, and a bit too small to be classed as a large tablet.
Personally, I feel that the rMPP is a great size for viewing PDFs (about on par with 13.3″ tablets), because it is only slightly smaller than A4. However, from my experiences, the native reading software doesn’t handle ePubs or other file formats very well. It also has a decent canvas size for note-taking (although I’m not keen on the writing feel because it uses an Active Pen rather than EMR).
However, it is quite heavy (particularly when used with the keyboard folio), and, of course, has a larger footprint than 10″ e-ink tablets. It is also rather expensive.
So, it is probably closer to a large 13.3″ e-ink tablet than a 10.3″ e-ink tablet, but (and this is my opinion), it has all of the cons of a large device, but the pros aren’t quite as good.
| Pros (rMPP – 11.8″ screen) | Cons (rMPP – 11.8″ screen) |
|---|---|
| More space for note-taking | Heavier and bulkier |
| Good for reading PDFs | More expensive |
| Good for note-taking |
The reason that I’ve chosen the ideal use case as typing is because that is what I personally use the rMPP for. I use it fairly regularly to type up articles and reviews for eWritable before emailing myself the finalised document and copying/pasting it onto the website. The keyboard folio is divine, and I feel I can completely disconnect and focus on my work. However, although it is capable as a PDF reader and note-taking device, I feel the limitations of the firmware means that there are better options for these purposes.
reMarkable Paper Pro Move (7.3″)
Although the reMarkable Paper Pro Move (rMPP Move)* has only a slightly larger screen size measured across the diagonal when compared to regular 7″ e-ink tablets, the form factor is much different. It is taller and thinner, shaped very much like a smartphone, which makes it perhaps the only e-ink tablet that can fit comfortably in your pocket. Technically, I have been able to fit other 7″ tablets in a pocket, but I have to use a pretty wide pocket (e.g. a coat pocket) or it is a tight squeeze.
Of course the small size means it’s not great for reading PDFs and reMarkable doesn’t have a great ePub reader, so the main use case would presumably be as a pocket-sized note-taking device. I’ve not yet had hands-on experience with this particular device, so I’m going to reserve full judgment until I have, but I imagine that the best use case for this would be as a more portable companion to one of reMarkable’s other products (the rMPP or the rM2) rather than as a stand-alone device.
| Pros (rMPP Move – 7.3 screen) | Cons (rMPP Move – 7.3 screen) |
|---|---|
| Smaller footprint | Poorer PDF reading experience |
| Light | Poorer writing experience |
| Portable (pocket-sized) | Quite expensive |
| Good for note-taking ‘on-the-move’ |
Summary
To summarise:
- 7″ e-ink tablets work best as e-book (ePub) readers, with note-taking and PDF reading being a secondary use
- 8″ e-ink tablets work best as portable note-taking devices, with reading tasks (PDFs and ePubs) being a secondary use
- 10″ e-ink tablets work well for both reading and writing tasks – a kind of happy medium
- 13.3″ e-ink tablets are best for reading complex PDFs, but are also great for other reading and note-taking tasks. However, they are heavier, bulkier, and more expensive.
- The rMPP is best as a digital typewriter and PDF reader. Note-taking is also good.
- The rMPP Move is yet to be reviewed, but I think it will work well as a pocket-sized note-taking companion for those that are already invested in the reMarkable ecosystem
