Pros
- Colour screen
- Small
- Lightweight
- Inexpensive
- Waterproof (IPX7)
- Frontlight
- Speakers
- Decent native note-taking app
- Handwriting search
- Handwriting-to-text conversion
Cons
- Small canvas size
- Sunken screen
- Stylus (see below)
- Screen size limits reading capabilities
- Not as 'snappy' as more premium tablets
Where to buy?
MobiScribe, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon US, eBay AU, eBay CA, eBay DE, eBay ES, eBay FR, eBay IE, eBay IT, eBay UK, eBay US,The Mobiscribe Wave is compact, lightweight, portable and inexpensive, and has a colour screen. In addition, it is one of the few E-ink writing tablets that is waterproof.
We have not reviewed the Mobiscribe Wave Color first-hand, however, we have reviewed its monochrome sibling here.
The review of the black-and-white version will help you to understand what mobiscribe has to offer because the devices are virtually identical.
The main difference is that the Mobiscribe Wave Color uses a Kaleido Plus colour screen. Whilst a colour screen may seem like a distinct improvement, it is important to understand the current limitations of colour on e-ink screens:
- Colours look washed-out
- Colours are far less vibrant than they are on LCD/OLED screens
- The screen is darker overall
- You make out a faint ‘honeycomb’ pattern across the screen
In addition Kaleido Plus (as used on the Wave) is an older technology compared to other color e-ink tablets which use Kaleido 3, such as the Boox Tab Mini C and Bigme S6 Color+.
I discuss the differences between Kaleido Plus and Kaleido 3 in slightly more detail in my Boox Nova Air C article (which also uses Kaleido Plus)
The differences between the two versions of the Mobiscribe Wave can be seen in the table below:
| PRODUCT | MOBISCRIBE WAVE | MOBISCRIBE WAVE COLOR |
|---|---|---|
| Specs & ratings info |  Okay |  Okay |
| My Rating | ||
| Price (approx) | $285 | $350 |
| Manufacturer | Mobiscribe | Mobiscribe |
| Release year | 2023 | 2023 |
| SCREEN | MOBISCRIBE WAVE | MOBISCRIBE WAVE COLOR |
| Screen type | Carta | Kaleido Plus |
| Screen size | 7.8" | 7.8" |
| Screen resolution (B/W) | 1404 x 1872 | 1404 x 1872 |
| Screen density (B/W) | 300dpi | 300dpi |
| Colour | ⨯ | ✓ (Kaleido Plus) |
| Screen resolution (Colour) | n/a | 468 x 604 |
| Screen density (Colour) | n/a | 100dpi |
| Frontlight | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wacom compatible | ✓ | ✓ |
| Buy | ||
| HARDWARE | MOBISCRIBE WAVE | MOBISCRIBE WAVE COLOR |
| CPU | 1.5 Ghz Quad-core | 1.5 Ghz Quad-core |
| RAM | 4Gb | 4Gb |
| Storage | 64Gb | 64Gb |
| Battery | 2500mAh | 2500mAh |
| Super Refresh | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Keyboard folio | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Speakers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Microphone | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| G-Sensor | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Ceramic Tip | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Bluetooth | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fingerprint scanner | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| SD card slot | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Rear camera | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Front camera | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Waterproof | ✓ | ✓ |
| USB-C | ✓ | ✓ |
| Width | 148.3mm | 148.3mm |
| Height | 193mm | 193mm |
| Thickness | 8.1mm | 8.1mm |
| Weight | 0g | g |
| Buy | ||
| SOFTWARE | MOBISCRIBE WAVE | MOBISCRIBE WAVE COLOR |
| Operating system | Android 12 | Android 12 |
| Google Play Store | ✓ | ✓ |
| Kindle support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Handwriting search | ✓ | ✓ |
| Handwriting conversion | ✓ | ✓ |
| Insert shapes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Insert images | ✓ | ✓ |
| Split screen | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| Custom templates | ✓ | ✓ |
| No. templates | 50+ | 50+ |
| Brush types | Pencil, Fountain Pen, Paintbrush | Pencil, Fountain Pen, Paintbrush |
| Screen share | ✓ | ✓ |
| ADE support | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| File formats | PDF, EPUB, TXT, FB2, AZW3, MOBI, PRC | PDF, EPUB, TXT, FB2, AZW3, MOBI, PRC |
| File formats (image) | PNG, JPG | PNG, JPG |
| File formats (Audio) | - | - |
| Buy | ||
| Where to buy | MobiScribe Amazon DE Amazon US eBay AU eBay CA eBay DE eBay ES eBay FR eBay IE eBay IT eBay UK eBay US | MobiScribe Amazon DE Amazon UK Amazon US eBay AU eBay CA eBay DE eBay ES eBay FR eBay IE eBay IT eBay UK eBay US |
| PRODUCT | MOBISCRIBE WAVE | MOBISCRIBE WAVE COLOR |
About the author
Dan Dutton is passionate about E-ink writing tablets, which bring together the pleasure of writing on paper with the power of digital technology. When he bought his first tablet, he realised that there wasn't a lot of unbiased information available for people that were considering buying an E-ink tablet, and so he built eWritable.