Few E Ink fandoms are as trustworthy as Supernote customers. Ever for the reason that Nomad (also called the A6 X2) was launched earlier within the yr, followers of the privately-owned E Ink machine maker have been clamoring for the newest incarnation of its A5-sized pill. It didn’t assist that Supernote had been touting its imminent launch for many of 2024, solely to push again the date till mere weeks earlier than the vacations. However regardless of the shaken religion of many adherents, Supernote has delivered on its promise and launched the Manta (A5 X2) into the wild.
Workers Choose
Supernote Manta
The Supernote Manta is the subsequent evolution of the A5 X2. It is lighter, bigger, and extra practical than the A5 X, whereas nonetheless conserving every part that folks love about Supernote’s lineup, specifically its first-class writing really feel and customized software program just like the Chauvet OS and Atelier drawing program.
- Impeccable writing expertise
- Very refined notice and drawing app
- Lightest machine in its class
- Dearer than its opponents
- Sideloading apps is a chore
- Some first-party apps are afterthoughts
Value, availability, and specs
Positively not a funds e-reader
In order for you a Manta, it is going to price you $460, and it’s solely obtainable to buy immediately from Supernote by its web site. If you wish to get some safety on your buy, Supernote sells a half-folio cowl that may run you $60, and the most cost effective first-party stylus will price you one other $60, pushing the whole price as much as $580. If you happen to’re feeling flush, Supernote sells 12 completely different high-end styluses for $90 a pop.
Contained in the shell, with its quad-core processor and 4GB of reminiscence, the Manta is extra highly effective than most opponents. It is also one of many first 10-inch e-readers to ship with E Ink’s Carta 1300 screens, so which means quicker refresh charges and sharper distinction. Nevertheless, do not forget that this can be a specialised machine, hyper-focused on writing, so that you gained’t discover any audio system, microphones, or frontlights, only a USB-C port, an influence button, and two touch-sensitive strips alongside the left and proper bezels.
What’s good in regards to the Supernote Manta?
It feels good to write down
The very first thing you discover in regards to the Manta is how good it feels to write down on it. Most writing-first E Ink gadgets really feel like writing on frosted glass or a chalkboard. It’s not an disagreeable expertise, however it lacks among the analog appeal of writing on paper. Supernote makes use of a particular proprietary movie on prime of its show referred to as FeelWrite 2. Though it’s not a drop-in alternative for paper, it comes a lot nearer than most of its opponents.
The very first thing you’ll discover is the refined elasticity of the floor, which may deform and get well beneath the stress of your writing. It appears like writing in a pocket book, with dozens of layers of paper beneath your pen. Along with this elasticity, the floor can be visibly textured. This mixture of options offers the Manta a novel writing tactility unmatched by nearly every other pill.
The mushy show additionally permits Supernote to tug off one other trick that almost all different writing tablets can’t. As a result of most writing tablets have a tough floor protecting their shows, the nibs on their styluses need to be mushy to keep away from scratching them. That signifies that, over time, these nibs put on down and have to be changed. Because of Supernote’s mushy show, it could make its nibs a lot tougher, giving them a for much longer shelf life.
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A note-taking expertise that feels excellent
It feels good to make use of
The Manta is definitely the third iteration of Supernote’s A5-sized pill, and somewhat than attempting one thing radically completely different with each launch, it’s been refining and perfecting it as a substitute. You may not agree with Supernote’s UI selections for its customized Android-based OS (I believe it’s fairly good), however there’s little doubt that it’s a mature, intentionally designed product.
It is an E Ink machine, so it’s a must to cope with a level of latency, however total, the Manta is snappy and responsive. I’ve but to get caught ready for a menu to replace or an app to load. The writing responsiveness is close to excellent. The latency between the stroke of the stylus and the mark on the display is almost imperceptible, as is the parallax between the nib and the digital line.
Supernote’s first-party apps (one for note-taking and one for drawing) are so totally featured that you’ll want to reference the 160-page guide included on the machine to determine every part they will do. Regardless of this, because of a superb UI, it’s simple to intuit an important issues by yourself and flick thru the guide to find hidden gems as you get comfy with the Manta’s strengths and limitations.
What’s unhealthy in regards to the Supernote Manta?
$500 is some huge cash
Let’s tackle the elephant within the room: The Manta is pricey. At $460, it’s the costliest black and white e-reader beneath 11 inches. For only a bit extra money, you’ll be able to decide up a equally sized machine from Boox with a colour display, quicker processor, extra RAM, extra storage, and an even bigger battery. It gained’t have the Manta’s luscious writing floor, but when these different specs are vital to you, it’s not onerous to decide on the Boox over the Supernote.
Likewise, the first-party equipment for the Manta are additionally expensive. Paying $60 for a half-cover and $90 for a elaborate stylus is an enormous ask for somebody who has already dropped practically $500 for a really area of interest machine. Fortuitously, this sting could be mitigated considerably by the truth that you should buy an honest EMR stylus for round $30. Sadly, there are not any readily buyable, purpose-built third-party circumstances obtainable for the Manta but, so the one safety obtainable on your expensive pill is the first-party one, which solely protects the display from incidental harm; it doesn’t shield it from drops.
One among my pettiest gripes is how cumbersome some interactions are. For a tool purpose-built for handwriting with hardware-based OCR, I ought to by no means be obligated to make use of a digital keyboard. The Manta is a pleasure to write down on — it fulfills so many guarantees of what digital stationery might be — however the display is simply too large to comfortably accommodate thumb typing, and one-handed typing is simply as cumbersome. Hopefully there’s some obscure trick to allow OCR typing that I simply haven’t discovered but.
Supernote additionally must curate extra “accepted” apps. Out of the field, the Manta comes with apps for notes, e mail, calendar, and to-do. If you happen to discover the settings, yow will discover an “app retailer” to obtain Atelier and Kindle. Sideloading apps is definitely enabled on the machine, however truly doing it’s a chore.
Search for a tutorial sooner or later, however suffice it to say that it entails downloading developer instruments immediately from Android and utilizing the command line in your PC or Mac whereas linked to your machine by way of USB. It’s a disgrace that Supernote hasn’t streamlined the method, or a minimum of streamlined extra apps. There’s a ton of potential within the Manta.
Do you have to purchase it?
Sure, however provided that you should utilize it
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that 2024 was the yr of the E Ink writing pill. Kobo added stylus enter to its 7-inch Libra Color reader in April. In June, Boox launched the Go 10.3, which was adopted by the reMarkable Paper Professional in September, the Boox Observe Air4 C in October, and an up to date Kindle Scribe in December. In different phrases, there are numerous writing tablets to select from and nearly all of them are cheaper than the Manta.
Having mentioned all that, none of these gadgets will really feel pretty much as good to write down on as a Manta. None of them have elevated their note-taking and artwork apps to the extent Supernote has. It must be mentioned that reMarkable comes shut on all of those counts, however the Manta exists in an open ecosystem that integrates with Microsoft and Google companies. Regardless of the cumbersome technique of sideloading apps, it is doable to sideload.
The Supernote Manta will not be an all-purpose E Ink machine. In order for you a pill that may allow you to learn books in mattress, the frontlight-free Manta will not be the machine for you. In order for you unfettered entry to the Google Play Retailer, once more, purchase one thing else. However if you need a pill that’s hyper-focused on the expertise of writing or drawing whereas redefining what digital stationery could be, the Manta is definitely worth the cash.
Workers Choose
Supernote Manta
The Supernote Manta is an incredible machine, however it is probably not the most effective machine for you. However, if stylus enter is vital to you, and also you desire a gentle machine with an enormous display, then the Manta may simply be for you.
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