I tested the Supernote Nomad and Rocketbook Core. Which digital notebook is best?

CNN

6 days ago

When I talk about digital notebooks with friends and family, two very different products have come up in conversation: the Supernote Nomad and the Rocketbook. The former is an E Ink notebook that gives you a ton of options, and the latter is a physical notebook that's designed for easy scanning with your phone. I wasn't as familiar with either as I wanted to be, though, as I've had more experience with the Kindle Scribe and the ReMarkable Paper Pro: pricier options that might be out of the question for some folks. The more I heard about these devices, the more I knew I had to call them in. While they're quite different, I'll explain below how each has its own merits, and how I could easily see one being the entry-point to wanting the other.
This digital notebook is designed to be scanned with its app so you can keep your notes wherever you go.
Rocketbook Core Notebook
This digital notebook is designed to be scanned with its app so you can keep your notes wherever you go.
Supernote Nomad
This E Ink tablet is a great solution for those looking for a natural digital handwriting experience that syncs in the cloud.
From $35
From $329
Includes Pilot FriXion Pen and cleaning cloth
Pen and folio cost extra
Letter (8.5 x 11-in.) or Executive (6 x 8.8-in.)
7.6 x 5.5 in.
Paper
E Ink
8 oz.
9.6 oz. I tested the $35 Rocketbook Core pack, which includes a physical notebook with pages that are easily scanned into an app and designed to be reused. Once you scan your pages in, you can do whatever you want with those files, including sending them to a variety of apps. This spiral-bound notebook is protected by a rigid plastic cover, which makes it more durable than the cardboard paper bound composition notebooks of the past. Plus, it's available in six colors, ranging from the simple black to bolder pink and teal designs. The Rocketbook also includes its pen and cleaning cloth (more on that below), and all you need after that is an iPhone or Android phone.
You'll spend a lot more getting a Supernote Nomad, which starts at $329 without accessories and goes up to $500 when you add on the pen and vegan leather folio I've tested it with. But while the Supernote Nomad is pricier, I believe it's still worth it. If all of this sounds too expensive, we have some journaling supplies you should consider for a more analog take on writing.
TL;DR: The Rocketbook's low price makes it an easy purchase, while the Supernote's hefty price requires much more consideration.
I love writing with pens and pencils because it feels great. That's not exactly the case with the Rocketbook notebook and its Pilot FriXion pen, which feels slippery on the page. Also, the pen doesn't draw lines as consistently thick as I'd like to see, but it still gets the job done. The Supernote Nomad, on the other hand, has more options for your digitized ink than you might need, with multiple virtual pens and thicknesses. Most importantly, its pen and screen offer the appropriate amount of friction when I write on the screen, for that natural handwriting experience.
This stands in stark contrast with using an Apple Pencil on an iPad, which can feel too slippery, even though you're writing on some of the best tablets. I still like the feeling of writing with the ReMarkable Paper Pro slightly better, but if that didn't exist, I would be switching to the Supernote Nomad in a heartbeat. Also, its screen's crisp resolution offers a 300 pixels-per-inch density that makes it easy to see what you're writing.
TL;DR: The Rocketbook notebook isn't just a lot less expensive, it feels like it too.
The big downside of the Rocketbook system is its slightly cumbersome process. After you make your notes in your notebook, you take out your phone, open the Rocketbook app and scan each page in. Fortunately, you won't run out of pages, as you can erase the ink from the included pen by rubbing it with a slightly-wet towel (such as the included microfiber cloth). This is a far cry from the Supernote Nomad, which has undo gestures built into its sides.
There's just one other caveat to know about the Rocketbook way: the company advises you wait 10 to 15 seconds for your writing to 'bond' to the page before you move or close the page. And Rocketbook is right: you need to do that, because the included pen's ink easily smudges when I push it with my finger before that small, allotted window of time.
TL;DR: The Rocketbook requires a little elbow grease once it's time to clean its erasable pages or when you run out of paper.
After I figured out how to actually set up the Nomad's automatic syncing (swipe down from the top, tap Settings, tap Drive, tap Supernote Cloud and turn on Auto Sync), I got to experience how the Supernote system matches my beloved ReMarkable Paper Pro in terms of being the perfect notebook.
Anything you do in the Supernote Nomad syncs over Wi-Fi via its cloud storage service, so you can check it on a phone, laptop or tablet later on. This ends the ordeal of searching for your notes when you left your notebook somewhere else, as you're not reliant on the barriers of space and time to have your hand-written ideas within reach.
TL;DR: Supernote really feels like a super-powered notebook that does it all for you.
Rocketbook may not have its own cloud storage, but it will work with the one you already pay for. Seasoned iPhone veterans may look at the Rocketbook system and wonder why they need it when the Notes app already allows for document scanning and sharing. Well, that's where the built-in optical character recognition comes into play, as you can turn on OCR so that you include a TXT file of the text of your PDF when you send it with the scan. I've tried it myself, and it works fine, and I could see it as a huge time-saver that lets you easily copy and paste all of your writing into a big text file, email or other project.
On top of that, you can use the bubbles at the bottom of each Rocketbook page to automatically export your scans once you've made them. In the Rocketbook app, you simply assign services and apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox and Todoist to one of the 7 icons, which are also found on the bottom of every page. Unsurprisingly, especially at its price, the Supernote Nomad also connects to other services, including Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive.
TL;DR: The Rocketbook integrates with your existing apps and cloud storage providers, and so does the Supernote.
While the Nomad has more features than you might have time to dive in and figure out — the menus go very deep for those who want a very particular way to write — its coolest trick isn't software; it's the hardware. Not only does the Crystal model I tested embrace the retro clear tech aesthetic I love (remember those translucent Nintendo 64 controllers?), but it reveals the user-replaceable battery and SD memory card reader that you can access with a small screwdriver, so you never need to worry about the lifetime or storage capacity of your device once that built-in 32GB drive fills up. You can also do this to the non-clear Supernote Nomad.
Anyone looking for sustainable tech might see this as a great reason to go with the Supernote Nomad over any E Ink tablet.
Otherwise, the specs seem pretty standard for this kind of device, with 4GB of RAM, a USB-C port for charging and a no-name 1.8 GHz processor that's been fast enough in my testing.
TL;DR: The Supernote Nomad looks cool and it's made to last.
A lot of the time when we do a Battle of the Brands story, the products are so similar that it's a close fight. But this time is different. The Rocketbook Core is definitely the pick for those on a budget and looking to figure out if they really want to go all-in on hand-written digital notes without plunking down a lot of money for a nice iPad and Apple Pencil or digital E Ink tablet with pen.
Those who want a finer experience that does all of the work for you should get the Supernote Nomad, as it's a great starter E Ink notebook. Both products, I believe, are worth their price of entry, though I can see how some might think the Apple Notes app's note-scanning trick is a solid alternative to the Supernote. The only problem is that you'd be using actual sheets of paper, while the Rocketbook lets you reuse that same notebook, cleaning its pages again and again.
Before you know it, you might want a bigger, backlit screen and start looking at the ReMarkable Paper Pro, though its larger size does make it less portable. But since that starts at $629, the slightly-more-affordable Nomad is probably a better entry point for many aspiring digital handwriting enthusiasts. Either way, congratulations on jumping into the hand-written notetaking world. I swear we're a fun crowd.
Some might think it's a stretch to call these products similar, but they do both provide a digital system for writing your own notes. The Supernote Nomad, though, collects all of your notes for you in its system, while the Rocketbook Core is less of an electronics device and more of a notebook with a scanning app that puts the organizational onus on the user. Just don't expect the Nomad to compete with a Kindle, as it doesn't have an ebook store like the best e-readers do.
Which digital notebook costs more, the Supernote Nomad or Rocketbook Core?
Which digital notebook costs more, the Supernote Nomad or Rocketbook Core?
This one's super-simple. The $329 and up Supernote Nomad costs a lot more than the $35 Rocketbook Core.
Which digital notebook is bigger, the Rocketbook Core or Supernote Nomad?
Which digital notebook is bigger, the Rocketbook Core or Supernote Nomad?
Both the Letter and Executive sizes of the Rocketbook Core are bigger than the Supernote Nomad.
Are either the Supernote Nomad or the Rocketbook Core compatible with landscape notetaking?
Are either the Supernote Nomad or the Rocketbook Core compatible with landscape notetaking?
The Supernote Nomad allows for landscape orientation notetaking, but things with the Rocketbook Core are slightly more complicated. You can write in landscape all you want, but the PDFs you scan will be vertical. You'd need to edit them later to make them horizontal.
CNN Underscored comprises a team of writers and editors who have many years of experience testing, researching and recommending products, and they ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. Electronics writer Henry T. Casey has been testing gadgets for in-depth product reviews for more than a decade, and he's increasingly become a fan of the E Ink digital notebooks, carrying the ReMarkable Paper Pro to every work event he attends. He only wishes it had Find My support, because he somehow keeps leaving it behind.