What Are Paper Tablets? (A Guide to What They Can and Can’t Do)

If you’ve been hearing about “paper tablets” and wondering what they actually are, you’re not alone. The name sounds almost too simple. Are they digital notebooks? Are they tablets? Do they connect to the internet? Can they replace an iPad?

Paper tablets sit in a category of their own. Let’s see exactly what they can and can’t do.

What Is a Paper Tablet?

A paper tablet is a thin, lightweight device built around an E-Ink display that mimics the look and feel of real paper. When you write or draw on it with a stylus, there’s just enough friction to feel like a pen on paper — something you can’t get from a standard tablet.

Popular models include reMarkable 2, Kindle Scribe, BOOX Note Air, and Sony Digital Paper. While each brand has its own strengths, they all share the same core purpose: to give you a clean, focused space to write, sketch, read, and think – without apps fighting for your attention.

What You Can Do on a Paper Tablet

Despite their simple design, paper tablets are surprisingly capable. Here are some things you can do:

Write and take notes with a paper-like feel

The writing experience is what makes paper tablets special. The E-Ink screen has a matte texture that adds just the right amount of friction, so when the stylus touches the surface, it genuinely feels like a pen on paper. There’s no glare, no smudging, and no delay — just a smooth, natural writing flow that makes jotting down ideas, class notes, or meeting summaries feel effortless and familiar.

Draw, sketch, brainstorm, and annotate documents

Paper tablets aren’t just for writing. Their precise styluses make them great tools for sketching quick diagrams, doodling, or mapping out ideas visually. You can draw freely on a blank page, add diagrams to your notes, or annotate existing documents with arrows, circles, and handwritten comments. This flexibility feels close to working in a real notebook — just with the added benefit of unlimited space.

Read eBooks, PDFs, articles, and long documents

Most paper tablets double as excellent reading devices. Their E-Ink displays make the experience feel very close to reading a printed page. That’s why they’re great for eBooks, PDFs, research papers, articles, and any long-form document you need to work through. Because E-Ink screens are gentle on the eyes and produce no glare, you can read for hours without discomfort — much better than staring at a traditional tablet.

Highlight text and add margin notes

Reading becomes more interactive with the ability to highlight important text and write down quick notes in the margins. You can mark key sections in a PDF, underline quotes in an eBook, or attach digital sticky notes to specific passages. It feels natural, intuitive, and helpful for studying, reviewing documents, or simply keeping track of ideas as you read — all without carrying highlighters or sticky tabs around.

Organize notes into folders and notebooks

Instead of dealing with piles of separate notebooks or scattered pieces of paper, everything on a paper tablet stays neatly organized. You can create as many notebooks as you need and sort them into folders for different subjects, projects, or clients. It’s like having a perfectly organized filing cabinet — but one that weighs almost nothing.

Convert handwriting into typed text

Another feature people love is handwriting recognition. You can write naturally with the stylus and later convert your handwriting notes into searchable, editable text. You can also export them as PDFs, Word documents, or emails. If you prefer handwriting but need polished notes afterward, handwriting-to-text conversion is a huge time-saver.

What You Can’t Do on a Paper Tablet

Paper tablets are intentionally limited, and that’s part of their charm. They’re meant to be quiet, simple, focused tools — not replacements for your laptop, phone, or iPad.

Here are some things you usually can’t do on a paper tablet:

• Use social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook
• Watch videos or stream content (YouTube, Netflix, etc.)
• Play games or run animation-heavy apps
• Browse the internet quickly or smoothly
• Multitask with multiple windows, like on an iPad
• Use full-color, vibrant displays (most are grayscale)
• Run photo-editing or design software

If you want a device for entertainment, fast browsing, apps, video, or color-heavy work, a paper tablet won’t replace your existing tech — but it can complement it beautifully.

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