LiveScribe Wifi Smartpen 4GB review

Unfortunately, the LiveScribe WiFi Smartpen suffers from a number of problems. At the front of the notebook is a button to email your notes, and shortcut buttons for uploading content to Google Drive, Facebook or Dropbox. Sadly, all of the sharing features simply display a message that says “coming soon”. This has been the case since we first saw the pen demonstrated last year. It’s a pity, because integration with Google Docs, in particular, would be extremely valuable to many business users. Only Evernote synchronisation works at the moment.

The notebook also has button sections that act as scientific calculators, with the answer appearing on the pen’s screen. You’ll have no problems doing standard arithmetic, but sine, cosine, tangent and most other scientific functions don’t work. Previous Livescribe devices supported a wide range of apps, from text adventure games to far more important applications such as MyScribe handwriting recognition software. Without handwriting recognition, Livescribe is little more than a very expensive capture device for line drawing and dictation.

The lack of app support and promised features that remain unimplemented months after launch mean that the Wifi Smartpen feels half-finished, particularly compared to previous versions. Its basic features work, but until it supports handwriting recognition, the interactive features in its notebook and a wider range of sharing options, we recommend buying the older, USB-dependent Echo Smartpen instead.