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54 DAYS with the Supernote A5 X2 Manta Digital Notebook: What I FOUND!
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Feb 18, 2025
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View Video Transcript
0:01
okay all right guys let's talk about
0:04
what I think might just be one of the
0:08
best allaround eink digital notebooks
0:11
and that would be the supernote Manta
0:15
now the supernote Manta recently just
0:17
came out and I had a chance to check it
0:19
out before honestly it ever launched
0:21
because the brand was willing to give it
0:22
to me before it launch to check it out
0:24
so I've been using this thing I think
0:26
for a couple of months at this point so
0:28
I have some pretty good ideas a of
0:30
what's great about it what's not great
0:32
about it and so that's what we're going
0:34
to be talking about in today's video but
0:36
first let's go ahead and talk about what
0:38
it is and before we do that let's
0:40
mention that I do have links down in the
0:42
description and the top comment of this
0:44
video If throughout the video think this
0:46
might be right for you there are paid
0:48
links down there so I do get a
0:49
commission if you guys decide to go for
0:51
it but otherwise let's get into what the
0:53
Manta is now while at first glance the
0:55
Manta may look like a larger Nomad which
0:57
is the smaller version of the Manta
0:59
there are quite a few differences so I'm
1:01
going to try to kind of mention those
1:02
differences throughout this first part
1:04
of the video so you guys can decide for
1:06
yourself if maybe the smaller form
1:07
factor is better for you now the Manta
1:09
is a 10.7 in diagonal display digital
1:13
notebook as opposed to the 7.8 in of The
1:15
Nomad and the idea behind it is
1:17
essentially that you're supposed to
1:18
bring anything that could possibly use
1:20
paper and bring it into one device so
1:22
I'm talking about things like books yes
1:24
it has Kindle on it this is for your
1:26
to-do list this is your drawings and
1:28
calendars and for some reason randomly
1:31
email capabilities now because of that
1:33
it doesn't have a browser you don't have
1:35
any form of social media and you don't
1:37
really have any of those time wasting
1:39
apps the idea is you want to be able to
1:41
get away from your phone but still be
1:43
able to do the things that you need to
1:44
do and it actually has done a really
1:46
good job of that but we'll talk about
1:48
that a little bit later as for the nerdy
1:49
specifications you're looking at 83 lb
1:53
and at its thickest point which is kind
1:54
of in the middle of the device you're
1:55
looking at24 in wide now the Manta
1:58
utilizes a half full folio instead of a
2:00
full folio that The Nomad has and that
2:03
allows it to be much much thinner while
2:05
still being a larger device and I got
2:06
two different styluses I got the Lamey
2:08
Safari Vista EMR pen but they also sent
2:11
the Lamey Safari twin EMR pen as well
2:14
but I found myself using the Vista much
2:16
more now as for the display you're
2:17
looking at a 1,920 by
2:20
2560 resolution it has multi-touch
2:23
capabilities and is even able to reject
2:25
when you have your palm on the display
2:27
it does have a film over top of the
2:29
display and this gives you kind of a
2:31
more pen-like feel to it rather than
2:33
pencil so if you like writing with pens
2:35
this is probably more for you and as for
2:37
processing power it has a 1.8 GHz quad
2:40
core processor along with 4 GB of RAM
2:43
and 32 GB of storage all of this is
2:45
powered by a 3600 milliamp removable
2:48
battery and of now with all that boring
2:51
stuff out of the way let's talk about
2:52
what I do and what I do not like about
2:55
this tablet we'll go a little bit more
2:57
into each of the features I kind of
2:58
talked about earlier during this section
3:00
of the video all right so the number one
3:03
thing I really liked about the Manta has
3:06
to be its writing experience I think
3:07
they have done a fantastic job with this
3:10
uh and I think especially in this larger
3:12
screen one of the big issues I had with
3:14
a nomad that I had tested a while back
3:15
that they had given me is it was really
3:18
really nice and compact for fitting in
3:20
backpacks but if you looking for like
3:22
drawing or note taking or any of that
3:24
kind of stuff it just it's a little bit
3:26
too small of a screen and especially
3:28
since I use mine a lot for work I really
3:32
just I kept finding myself wanting a
3:33
bigger screen which is why I was really
3:35
excited when the Manta came out but of
3:37
course that larger screen does come with
3:38
drawbacks but we'll talk about that a
3:40
little bit later the number two thing
3:42
that I really liked about it is its
3:43
pen-like writing experience I talked
3:45
about this a second ago however if
3:47
you're somebody that tends to draw with
3:49
pens a lot this might be something
3:51
you're a little bit more used to and
3:54
when you first start using these tablets
3:56
whether it's the Nomad or this Manta
3:57
that I'm talking about in this video it
3:58
feels a little bit gummy but after about
4:01
a day of using it you get really really
4:03
used to it and it feels much more like
4:05
using a ballpoint pen rather than using
4:07
a pencil there are some other tablets
4:09
out there that do feel a little bit more
4:10
like pencils but this one is a little
4:12
bit more like a pen and I have to say
4:14
its experience is really nice it's among
4:16
some of the best I've ever used and now
4:18
while it's not technically the tablet I
4:21
really really liked the new Lamey pens
4:23
they partnered up with Lamy to create
4:25
their new generation of styluses it is
4:27
still a ceramic nib stylus
4:30
but it feels more like a normal pen and
4:33
not quite so heavy like their heart of
4:34
metal pen 2 that I had used the last
4:37
time and I have been really impressed
4:39
with it it's super lightweight it feels
4:40
like a normal pen and it really doesn't
4:43
take away from the experience at all and
4:44
if anything adds to it the next thing
4:46
that I really liked about it is how
4:48
lightweight it is now this is a big
4:50
tablet it's 10.7 in diagonal that's a
4:53
big tablet however they've cut down a
4:56
ton of weight and getting into why it's
4:58
called the Manta the idea behind it
5:01
essentially is that the tablet is going
5:02
to be really really thin but like a
5:04
manta ray in the middle of the manta ray
5:06
it's actually a little bit thicker and
5:08
then it tapers out and it's thinner on
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the edges which means they're not only
5:12
cutting down on mask but just overall
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the tablet ends up feeling thinner in
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general even if it technically is a
5:17
little bit thicker in the middle now the
5:19
manta ray thing actually comes down to
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the fact that the tapering ends with the
5:23
power button as well as the charging
5:25
port which kind of doesn't taper out
5:28
which kind of makes it look a little bit
5:29
more like a manta ray and that's kind of
5:31
cool but in comparison to a lot of the
5:33
other notetaking tablets I have to say
5:35
this tablet is extremely lightweight and
5:37
is really really thin if you're looking
5:40
for a really awesome go anywhere larger
5:43
drawing tablet like this this is a
5:45
really good one the next thing is the
5:46
half folio I really liked the full folio
5:49
of The Nomad but it definitely added
5:51
quite a bit of bulk to it and I didn't
5:53
really like the placement of the pen on
5:55
it the half folio has completely fixed
5:57
that the half folio is easily removable
6:00
but it is pseudo permanently placed on
6:02
there so it's not just going to fall off
6:03
and you don't pull it off like magnets
6:05
like you did with a nomad and it allows
6:07
for it to be considerably thinner than
6:10
it was on The Nomad so it is a really
6:13
good trade-off I have to say it doesn't
6:14
feel quite as nice as the full folio
6:16
from The Nomad but I think the
6:18
trade-offs are definitely worth it oh
6:20
and it should also be mentioned the pen
6:22
is now pseudo permanently fixed to the
6:24
tablet not to the folio which I really
6:25
liked because you're not flapping around
6:27
the pen every time you open up the folio
6:29
next thing I like is actually coming
6:31
down the operating system this actually
6:33
was a big drawback for me when I was
6:34
using the Nomad and I have to say I am
6:36
getting used to it you can definitely
6:39
tell this tablet was created how do I
6:42
say it not necessarily for the general
6:44
public it's more for like developers and
6:46
a little bit more uh techy type people
6:49
cuz it feels a little bit more kind of
6:51
archaic a little bit more older style of
6:53
Technology with their file system and
6:55
there isn't any form of homeone screen
6:57
and you're kind of going into a couple
6:59
different men used to get to different
7:00
things but I have to say I've gotten
7:01
really used to it and I really like
7:03
things like their quick access area
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where you can access your most used
7:07
stuff and it's little things like their
7:09
lasso tool can allow you to link to
7:11
different places in your documents which
7:14
means you can kind of create a really
7:16
nice table of contents that you can jump
7:17
around throughout your notes and it's
7:19
pretty cool it's something I feel like
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the general public really wouldn't
7:23
necessarily think of but works really
7:25
really well in this tablet and of course
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there's a lot of other things I really
7:28
like about this tablet it really really
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is probably the best larger note taking
7:33
tablet out there for most people and
7:35
value and all that stuff but let's go
7:37
into the things that I didn't like about
7:39
it to see if they're deal breakers for
7:40
you the number one thing is the screen
7:42
reflection now when you're using a
7:45
normal book or a normal piece of paper
7:47
there really isn't any form of
7:49
reflection but with pretty much all of
7:51
these tablets there is it's a normal
7:53
screen just with kind of a rubbery kind
7:55
of surface on top of it and so you are
7:58
still going to get reflections from
7:59
light especially I noticed when I was
8:01
reading Kindle books uh I had to
8:03
constantly be kind of moving it around
8:05
to be able to read the display and you
8:06
didn't get that on normal Kindles and it
8:09
was a big drawback for me and especially
8:11
when you're trying to replace all of
8:13
your different paper into one device
8:16
it's a bit of a drawback but is
8:17
something I easily got around the number
8:19
two thing I didn't like is that the
8:21
screen is actually darker than a normal
8:23
piece of paper now this has no front
8:25
light this has no back light you are
8:26
fully using normal Lighting in your home
8:29
or in your business to be able to see
8:30
the tablet and with the paper like
8:33
screen being a little bit darker than
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normal paper I found sometimes it was a
8:38
little bit harder to read because you
8:39
know it's darker than normal paper so
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it's always going to be a little bit
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harder to see but there is still a lot
8:45
of contrast there and it's not a huge
8:47
deal but just a little bit noticeable
8:49
especially if you put a piece of paper
8:50
up to it the next thing I didn't like is
8:53
it comes down to its larger size a big
8:56
tradeoff of having that larger screen
8:58
than the Nomad had is it's a little bit
9:00
more difficult to fit into Tech Pockets
9:02
I found this especially in things like
9:04
my able carry backpack where I have a
9:06
laptop in there and I have that tablet
9:08
style Tech sleeve uh I had a harder time
9:11
fitting the tablet into that tablet
9:13
sleeve because it was just so much
9:15
larger than the Nomad whereas The Nomad
9:16
fit perfectly in there I didn't have to
9:18
worry about it moving around the Manta
9:21
just is a little bit too large for those
9:23
and sometimes had to live in with the
9:25
laptop so then they're kind of rubbing
9:26
up against each other and so it just
9:28
makes it a little bit less mobile than
9:30
the smaller version and the next thing
9:32
is how expensive it is now if you get
9:35
the things that you need to have for
9:37
this tablet the half folio is an added
9:39
option and your stylus is going to be an
9:41
added option and you really do need
9:43
those things to have this tablet you're
9:44
looking at over $600 for this tablet and
9:46
that puts it into comparison with things
9:48
like an iPad Air which I would say is
9:50
considerably more capable but it's not a
9:53
minimalist device so it does pull you
9:55
kind of you know into social media you
9:56
have browsers you have all those kind of
9:58
things and of course you have that Blue
9:59
Light which isn't as nice to look at but
10:03
when you're looking Apples to Apples and
10:05
you're like hey the iPad is much more
10:08
capable and it's a similar price you
10:10
really have to be somebody that wants a
10:12
truly minimalist device that really does
10:15
a lot of writing to go with the Manta so
10:17
that makes it a little bit more of a
10:18
niche device than I'd say The Nomad was
10:21
but for those that want to pull away
10:23
from their phones and their computer
10:24
screens and all that like I am yeah I'd
10:27
say it's worth it but i' definitely say
10:28
don't go go any more expensive than that
10:31
and the number five thing I didn't like
10:32
about the tablet again comes down to its
10:34
size I really really like that supernote
10:37
allows for the Kindle app on this things
10:39
like there's a ton of other tablets like
10:42
this these note-taking tablets that
10:44
don't allow for Kindle and supernote has
10:46
done a fantastic job of including it I
10:48
think that is a huge huge benefit of
10:50
this tablet but it's larger size doesn't
10:54
make it great for reading books The
10:56
Nomad was considerably better than that
10:58
because for times like when you're on
11:00
the couch or like you're laying down the
11:02
larger 10.7 in screen definitely makes
11:06
it a little more cumbersome and makes it
11:08
so you're kind of like you know laying
11:10
like this it's it's it's not amazing I'd
11:13
probably go again for the Nomad if
11:14
you're wanting to read books I did also
11:16
notice that the Manta is a little bit
11:17
more prone to damage I literally have
11:19
this like one or two days and I already
11:20
had Nick in it and kind of separated the
11:22
body from it I literally don't even know
11:24
what happened and how that happened
11:26
thankfully the body was just snapped
11:27
back on but I do I do have a little bit
11:30
of final lasting damage on the Manta and
11:32
it's a bit of a bummer I would say the
11:34
Nomad is probably going to be a little
11:36
bit less a little bit more damage
11:38
resistant and I think the plastic is a
11:40
little bit harder on The Nomad but
11:43
that's the only damage I've had to it
11:44
and now it's been a couple months and I
11:45
haven't seen it any further and that
11:47
brings us to who the Manta is for it's
11:50
for somebody like me somebody who takes
11:53
a lot of notes doesn't want to be on
11:54
their screen so much uh and just wants
11:57
to be able to read wants all those
11:58
things but doesn't want to be on a blue
12:00
light screen doesn't want to be
12:02
distracted by checking all these
12:03
different things all my statistics for
12:05
my YouTube channel my analytics for my
12:08
website and all that stuff um and want
12:10
to be able just kind of pull away from
12:11
things while still being able to work I
12:14
think it's a fantastic thing to do I
12:16
think the Manta is more for people that
12:19
use it for work and I'd say The Nomad is
12:21
probably a little bit more for people
12:24
that uh are going to use these for play
12:26
I think they both are fantastic tablets
12:28
but if you use this for work I'd
12:31
probably go with the Manta all day every
12:32
day unless of course you're going to
12:34
travel a lot with it which you might
12:35
think about maybe getting the Nomad
12:37
instead who is it not for if you're
12:39
somebody that needs all of this extra
12:41
information needs to be able to surf on
12:43
the web needs to download all the
12:44
different Android apps and all that kind
12:46
of stuff this is not for you this is a
12:48
true minimalist device this is meant to
12:50
get you away from all of those screens
12:52
so make sure to keep that in mind when
12:54
you're looking to purchase this product
12:56
this is a fantastic tablet it has been
12:58
one of my favorites and being so
13:01
lightweight it is so awesome I do have
13:03
some other tablets like this in testing
13:05
so make sure to subscribe and like if
13:07
you want to see those reviews as they
13:08
come out and I'll see you guys next time
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