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Instead of buying several blank notebooks and getting confused about which one is for lists, which one is a gratitude journal, and which one is your personal planner, I’ve found one device that replaces them all: the Boox Note Air5 C. We gathered this data via links in ZDNET reviews, buying guides, and deals (don’t worry, your privacy is protected — we only have access to aggregate data from our user base, and there is no way for us to identify individual people’s purchases).
What makes this particular Boox digital paper tablet stand out from others is how it writes. The combination of the Pen3 stylus and this tablet’s screen makes it a true paperlike writing experience. That’s because the pen has an improved surface texture with 4,096 pressure levels and ultra-low latency, so it feels like you are writing on actual paper with a real ballpoint pen, instead of a stylus on a screen.
There are dozens of templates to use, audio recording, color-coding, and the ability to insert links and attachments into notes. Plus, built-in artificial intelligence enables text recognition, shape correction, and a strike-through erase feature that makes erasing much easier.
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Aside from the note-taking aspect of the Boox Note Air5 C, it is a productivity machine. The side-by-side feature isn’t anything new, but Android 15 makes it faster and easier to navigate back and forth between different apps than other Boox products I’ve tested.
Weighing just under a pound, it’s also my pick for the best lightweight note-taking tablet I’ve tested.
I use my Boox Note Air5 C