Montblanc unveils luxury digital paper e-note

Moving note-taking from good ol’ pen and paper to the digital realm can already be quite a pricey endeavor for consumers. But luxury pen maker Montblanc is aiming even higher with its Digital Paper e-note.

Reported to be the result of a collaboration between the luxury brand and design studio Akqa, and 3 years in the making, the Montblanch Digital Paper device is designed to offer well-heeled scribblers “a focused digital space to write, sketch, or annotate with ease.”

Precisely what flavor of E Ink is running the show here isn’t known, but it’s monochrome only and protected by a glass layer and wrapped in aluminum housing. It ships with a pen input that, to my eyes, looks to be inspired by the company’s premium fineliners. This is reported to boast haptic feedback, 4,000 levels of sensitivity, replaceable tips and can be charged wirelessly.

"A companion for those who write not merely to communicate, but to leave an impression" — “A companion for those who write not merely to communicate, but to leave an impression”

It can also magnetically attach to a recessed area to the front of the e-note. The pen makes use of a Bluetooth 5.4 connection to pair with the device, with Montblanc suggesting that this won’t allow for audio to be sent wirelessly to BT buds or portable speakers – though there is a companion mobile app available.

Dual-band Wi-Fi has been cooked in too, doubtless catering for sharing notes, backing up ideas, making sure your secretary is kept up to date on your comings and goings, and so on. The device also comes with 64 GB of onboard storage, and it looks as though templates are included in the options – including a daily planner, travel journal and storyboards. The 3,740-mAh battery is topped up over USB-C, but we’ve no word on potential per-charge runtime.

Aluminum housing, monochrome ePaper display, Bluetooth-connected pen, onboard storage plus Wi-Fi

“Montblanc Digital Paper invites creativity to flow across an endless canvas – every note, sketch, and idea finding its place, preserved and easily searchable,” said the company. “With Montblanc’s signature inkflow technology and adaptable tips, it mirrors the sensation of writing with a Montblanc pen on paper. Travel-ready and endlessly versatile, it transforms imagination into tangible expression, wherever and whenever.”

The Montblanc Digital Paper e-note weighs in at 436 g (15.3 oz), and the pen will add another 17 g to the portable payload. The e-note shapes up with 222 x 191 x 4.9 mm (8.7 x 7.5 x 0.19 in) dimensions, which means that we’re probably looking at a 10.3-inch display for this one – though Montblanc doesn’t actually specify.

As you might expect from a luxury brand, this device is priced far above competitors like reMarkable and PocketBook, and is on sale now for US$905, with three color options available.

This is not the company’s first brush with digital note taking – that would be the app-based Augmented Paper product line – but it is its first dedicated ePaper device. And the few specs we have indicate that it’s clearly aimed as a status symbol rather than a bleeding-edge tech masterpiece. The video below has more.