Unlike the other pens, you don’t have to charge the actual pen with this device. IRISNotes Air 3 Digital Pen The pen is the lightest that we tested, weighing 0.6 ounces, or about as much as three normal Bic pens. A point of irritation is that handwriting-to-text is one of the features behind the Inkspace Plus paywall, so you'll have to upgrade your subscription to turn your handwriting into rich text. You can easily further edit and refine your captured thoughts and ideas in Bamboo Paper. Once the note is saved, you can export it as a JPEG, PNG, PDF, or WILL file through any compatible messaging or social media app you have installed, whether that's Slack, email, or a cloud service. The Wacom Bamboo Slate is a straightforward, if limited, way of getting your notes off the page and onto your phone and cloud services. Bamboo Paper, an app that turns your mobile device into a paper notebook, is the perfect complement to the Wacom Inkspace app. There was a problem. The Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad is an excellent tool for artists and doodlers to easily save and share their work digitally. I understand the simplicity of the note taking in Inkspace and syncing across devices, but including all of these features within one app would go a long way in a process that benefits from as much streamlining as possible. Wacom Bamboo Slate has evolved from Bamboo Spark, the device targeted at the note taking crowd. Your subscription has been confirmed. It took us a little over one minute to turn on the pad and have it pair to our test smartphone, which was the second longest of all the pens we tested. There's not really a solution for sheets of paper that aren't bound in that way, but the cover helps keep everything in place if you're on the move. © 1996-2021 Ziff Davis, LLC. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. The pen is one of the lightest and most comfortable we tested, and the pad is easy to sync and use, thanks to a tutorial in the Wacom app and more tutorials online. Ian Stokes The pen is one of the lightest and most comfortable we tested, and the pad is easy to sync and use, thanks to a tutorial in the Wacom app and more tutorials online. As with the Spark, this is an ink-equipped ballpoint pen with changeable cartridges for when you need a refill. You can get better coloring and drawing control on a bigger screen like a tablet than your phone, especially if you have a Wacom stylus. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, The Bamboo Spark is what Wacom is calling a ‘smart folio’. That was a slightly more novel feat when I reviewed the Spark, but it remains impressive here, and the form factor may be much more to your liking. You can also draw on or annotate your note once it's in the app, which can be somewhat useful, but there isn't much functionality. Wacom Bamboo Spark review: pen and paper with digital tricks ... Wacom Bamboo Spark is a good idea on paper, but falls down in a few places in practice. Conclusion Though expensive, the Wacom Bamboo Folio makes it easy to convert full-page pen-and-paper notes to digital formats. Here’s a snippet of the image exported from the app. The company's Slate and Folio are a no-risk way of getting your paper notes in the cloud. Get the best reviews, product advice, news and more! The Bamboo Slate is one of Wacom’s new entries in its simple to-advanced note-taking line of information gadgets just like the Xiaomi tablet. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. Shop Wacom Bamboo Spark Smart Folio and Stylus Pen Gray at Best Buy. Unfortunately, the accompanying software has some down sides that hurt the experience, such as relegating color editing options to a second app. As for in-app editing, Inkspace offers a couple of options. For our money, the Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad is the obvious choice for artists thanks to its ability to use any type of paper combined with near-perfect accuracy when replicating your writing and drawing. CES 2021 FULL COVERAGE. Design and Setup The Folio is more substantial than its Slate counterpart at 0.74 by 10.5 by 13.3 inches (HWD), due mainly to the textured and sturdy nylon fabric cover. CES 2021. There is a light that comes on when the pad is charging and it turns off when the battery is charged. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Sharing across messaging and cloud apps is quick and simple, and the attractive physical design makes using the Folio more appealing. It's also annoying that the coloring functionality in its entirety is reserved for another app—the Moleskine set uses one for everything. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. Inside you find a notepad from Wacomthat has tiny dots which can be used for grid drawing or to help keep straight lines. The Folio comes in only one size, as opposed to the Slate, which was a half-letter variation. The Bamboo Folio ($199.95) is one of the new additions, taking the same technology used in the Spark and transitioning the form factor to a business folder. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad Digital Notebook at Amazon.com. Color and highlighting functions require a second app. I drafted a couple of paragraphs of this review with good old fashioned handwriting on the Bamboo Folio, pressed the button and in a couple of seconds they were on my phone. Neo Smartpen N2 Bamboo Slate and Bamboo Folio can pick up subtle changes in pressure from the Wacom Ballpoint pen – even through 80 sheets of paper. When you're done with a meeting, or want to save one page and move on to the next, pushing the Sync button saves your physical notes as an image file in the Inkspace app, which is available for both iOS and Android. You can export in a number of graphics formats, or converted to text, to anything you can “Share” to on your device. Using the pad is straightforward. The free version of the Inkspace service offers up to 5GB (more than 6,000 pages) of storage. We believe this small error isn’t enough to detract from the freedom of digitizing pen strokes on any paper surface, so this pad and digital pen is still our choice for best pen for artists. For saving and sharing doodles and drawings digitally, this pad and smart pen is our favorite of all the digital pens we tested. But you can't use just any writing implement, you need to use a compatible Wacom pen (which is included). As long as the paper is placed over the board, your input will be tracked. The Wacom Bamboo Spark is actually a smart folio with a tablet sleeve Bluetooth ready smart devices. You can fold over the cover to … Using the Wacom Inkspace app, you can organise, edit, and share notes and sketches. This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. ... (Wacom knows pens!) Wacom’s Bamboo Folio Smartpad is the best smart pen for artists because you can use any type of paper on the smartpad and the pad will digitize your notes or drawings. Today's best Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad deals, We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices, Best extended car warranty services 2021: Reputable auto warranties, Comfortable pen that doesn’t need to be charged. Bamboo Paper. COVID-19. Another app, Bamboo Paper, can be used to color and highlight notes. Dark stitching outlines the Wacom-enabled surface—the majority of the inside panel—and a black button to the left serves as both Power and Sync. When you’re ready to sync, you press the button and the light turns green again. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad Digital Notebook, Small (A5/Half Letter Size), CDS610G at Amazon.com. The Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad is an excellent tool for artists and doodlers to easily save and share their work digitally. The software isn't too intuitive, particularly the note layout of Bamboo Paper, and it takes away from the experience. There are at least color options in Paper, but the choices aren't exactly overwhelming here, either. Your handwriting will only appear in black while taking notes and when drawing, and there are only two other editing options: Erase and a tool that lets you select part of the image freehand and drag it somewhere else on the page. The cartridges are about half the size of a regular pen's, so they won't last forever, but one extra is included, and they can be purchased separately as well (a three-pack costs $9.99). Although the Bamboo Folio comes in a Large (A4 / letter) size, we reviewed the Small (A5/half letter) paper edition. I prefer the Editors' Choice Moleskin Smart Writing Set's method and more advanced pen, as the experience is more robust and it's unified within one app, but the Folio is still an attractive, larger version of the same concept that works relatively seamlessly. Folios come in three configurations to hold a phone, a small tablet, or an iPad Air 2. The Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad comes in both A5 and A4 size variants. Livescribe Echo Sharing across messaging and cloud apps is quick and simple, and the attractive physical design makes using the Folio more appealing. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Wacom K100871 Bamboo Folio Digital Notepad A4 (Letter Size), Large Portfolio Notebook with Digitisation Technology Including Stylus with Ballpoint Pen, Compatible with Android and Apple, Dark Grey at Amazon.com. Thank you for signing up to Top Ten Reviews. You will receive a verification email shortly. Wacom - Bamboo - Folio A4 Smartpad review got a score of 9.2/10 from customer reviews. You're already sending files to other apps (after sending them from the Folio to your device), so another transition just to add color is a somewhat clumsy additional step. Review: Wacom Bamboo Slate. Functionally the Folio works as well as the Spark did, offering a straightforward way to share your physical notes digitally; the design is nice and professional; and the added writing or drawing room is a plus. By At any time, you can split the notes wherever you are in the timeline, separating them into two different files should you want to send a portion of the note to another app or person. The company has now doubled down on these smart input devices, expanding the line to include different styles. This is different from the Moleskine set, which places more emphasis on the pen and its onboard memory; it features a bound book with smart pages, so you'll run out eventually and have to replace the notebook. He spends entirely too much time on Twitter (find him @MJBuzzi), with which he has a complicated relationship. When not gaming or writing, the rest of his time is spent on the emotional rollercoasters known as Chelsea FC and the NY Rangers. You buy this product on the official Wacom Website. The pen sits snugly in your hand and its ink cartridges can be easily replaced. Moleskine Pen+ Ellipse With a professional look and feel, the Wacom Bamboo Folio is a fast, simple, and reliable solution for taking your paper notes into the digital realm. There are four variations on this theme in the Bamboo range. Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad Digital Notebook The Bamboo Folio is very similar to the Bamboo Slate, except in—you guessed it—a folio style notebook. Though expensive, the Wacom Bamboo Folio makes it easy to convert full-page pen-and-paper notes to digital formats. That was a slightly more novel feat when I reviewed the Spark, but it remains impressive here, and the form factor may be much more to your liking. The app appears as one of the export options if you choose to send your note as a WILL file, and if you switch apps and open up your file there, more editing choices are available. 06 January 2020. The Wacom Bamboo Folio is the lightest smart pen we tested, in part because so much of the technology resides in the smartpad. Matthew Buzzi is a Hardware Analyst at PCMag, focusing on laptops and desktops with a specialty in gaming systems and games. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. It's large—designed for letter-size paper, so a good deal bigger than the small Slate, the Spark, or the Moleskine notebook—but you may well appreciate the extra space. Though expensive, the Wacom Bamboo Folio makes it easy to convert full-page pen-and-paper notes to digital formats. It's expensive, though, and the related apps have shortcomings. There are more drawing implements available, but you have to buy them (some are included in tool packs which priced at or around $5) within the app. Pen-to-paper digital capturing tools have been around for a little while now, but they still seem like magic. Top Ten Reviews is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. Save this story for later. You can find a FAQs page on this company’s website as well as tutorials and videos to help you use the device. Read all reviews for Wacom - Bamboo - Folio A4 Smartpad now and buy at … Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. This pen has a one-year warranty which will cover any manufacturer defects or problems. Visit our corporate site. Note that you do not have to use this pad and that you can put any type of paper or pad in place and stil… It was one of the most comfortable to hold, and all you have to do to start writing is twist the pen to expose the nib. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/wacom-bamboo-folio. Also, the Spark would frequently forget what page I was on and would start a new page when I turned it on, or sometimes randomly mid-paragraph. I prefer the method employed by the Editors' Choice Moleskine Smart Writing Set ($199.00 at Moleskine) , with its smart notebook, unified app, and advanced pen, but the Folio is still a solid analog-to-digital option that allows you to use any paper. How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad, How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill, How to Find Free Tools to Optimize Your Small Business, How to Get Started With Project Management, Logitech Launches MX Anywhere 3 Compact Wireless Mouse, HP Launches World's Fastest Charging USB-C Gaming Mouse, Razer Brings Back Left-Handed Computer Mouse to Address Disabled Gamers, Logitech Is Adding a Carbon Impact Rating to Its Products, Logitech Launches G915 TKL Wireless RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. A slit in the back panel substitutes for a clip or other fastener for your paper—just slide the rear cover of your pad (usually cardboard) down the slit, and it will be held in place as you write or travel. It utilizes a similar general strategy and innovation as the late delivered Bamboo Folio and the prior Bamboo Spark (at Banggood), yet moves the form factor from note pad to clipboard. Inkspace is also Wacom's cloud solution, so your files will be synced across devices. Please refresh the page and try again. Inkspace app You can download apps to use this tablet with your iOS or Android device. A … PCMag Digital Group. With a professional look and feel, the Wacom Bamboo Folio is a fast, simple, and reliable solution for taking your paper notes into the digital realm. Small and Large in both cases. Between the black interior, darker gray on the exterior, and the cover that hides your notes, the Folio looks more professional than the clipboard-style Slate, and I prefer the feel of carrying it with me to meetings. © Battery in the folio lasts weeks between charges. Sharing across messaging and … Handwriting-to-text available only with a paid subscription. This pen also scored very highly in our drawing test, as we only found one small error in one of the drawings. Once you touch the pen to your paper, though, the light turns blue, letting you know that your drawing has not yet been synced to your connected device. Because it's difficult to withdraw a cartridge from the pen by its tip with your fingers, a small ring tool is included for this purpose. There are two “Slate” models and two “Folio” models. All you have to think about is what you’ll create with it. Recently, someone pinged me the photo of a review I wrote in … When Wacom released the Bamboo Spark ($59.99 at Amazon) earlier this year, we thought it was a simple, effective way to transform pen-and-paper notes into digital files. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Wacom CDS610S Bamboo Folio Smartpad Digital Notebook at Amazon.com. The Good Wacom's Bamboo Slate and Folio are easy to use and a seamless way to get your written notes into the cloud without sacrificing pen and paper. They still seem like magic pad is charging and it turns off when the battery is charged indicate any or! Drawings digitally, this is an excellent tool for artists and doodlers to easily save and share notes and.... 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