The best smart pens of 2025: Expert recommended

The Livescribe Symphony Smartpen is the best overall for a reason. The pen writes like any other pen on Livescribe’s Smart Notebooks. The magic happens, however, from the camera in the pen, which captures and transfers notes, drawings, and even audio context. With 10 hours of battery, the pen could last through lectures or a hefty workday. And with language transcription features, the pen can handle your most draining workload. 

The pen’s camera has 128MB of storage, so you can doodle or note on 1,200 pages before you need to sync it. A companion app can be downloaded to your smartphone or tablet to sync your handwritten notes. You can conveniently upload them to your preferred cloud service, with options like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneNote. 

Verified customers pointed out that the search option in the Livecribe app is one of the most convenient features, “Sampling various pens, tablets, and other electronic “paper-feel” devices, none have come close to this pen and its software for the ability to write in real ink and sync digitally, and then to search my accurately located handwritten notes (even in cursive– still don’t know how they do that!),” one buyer wrote. 

This pen is a great alternative to handwriting notes the old-fashioned way.

Livescribe Symphony Smartpen features: Mobile app | Audio recording | Auto-sync to cloud services | Compatible with a Livescribe notebook

This smart pen is ideal for users who like Moleskine stationery products’ look and aesthetic feel. The Moleskine pen functions similarly to other smart pens but has the look and feel of a Moleskine product. Like the Livsecribe pen, the pen functions with the accompanying notebook only. However, it does have a heftier price tag.

The pen scans your handwritten notes in real time and then uploads them to the accompanying Moleskine app. Therefore, you can view, edit, or search your notes on demand through your preferred mobile device. The pen also has an audio recorder so you have the ability to add voice notes. And with 100 MB of storage, you can write to your heart’s content before you have to sync it.

Moleskine Pen+ Ellipse features: Magnetic charger | Black Moleskine notebook | 15 languages recognized 

The Neo Smartpen M1+ is a lightweight and easy-to-use smart pen that writes on physical paper. Neo offers paper options, while users note that Moleskine works great for the Neo M1+ smart pen. In fact, Neo is behind the Moleskine Pen+ Ellipse, making both compatible with each other. However, the Neo M1+ is compatible with more notebooks. 

The pen is rich with features such as transforming handwritten notes to text, editing pre-written notes with a range of color, thickness, and stroke options, and searching and organizing your notes. 

Reddit users say they appreciate the convenience of their Neo Smartpen M1+, “Overall, I’m really loving it! My main motivation for getting it was to have my paper notes information available and accessible to me in the event that I don’t have it,” one user noted. 

This smart pen is priced reasonably at $130 and would make a helpful addition to your workflow. 

Neo Smartpen M1+ features: Real-time sync | Handwriting to text | Export to cloud services | Up to 17 hours of battery

It may be harder for students or budding professionals to afford pricier smart pens, making Rocketbook the perfect solution. On top of their great price, they also relieve the issue of waste from handwritten notes. Once you have written all of your notes and scanned them into the app or your preferred cloud, you can wipe away the handwritten notes, yielding an environmentally friendly option.

However, we have the note that the pen included with Rocketbook is not technically a smart pen; it’s a Pilot Frixion pen. This means you can pick from any writing utensil from the Frixion line—colored markers, pens, and highlighters—to add your own flare to your notes. Once you’re done writing your notes, you scan them using your phone or tablet to store them in your chosen cloud service (such as Google Drive, Evernote, or iCloud).

The price does come with the caveat of scanning your notes manually; however, it is a great and feasible option for students, professionals, and others who take notes daily. 

Rocketbook features: 15 notebook colors | Smart titles and smart search | Compatible with popular cloud services