VIWOODS AiPaper Mini 8.2" AI E Ink Tablet, Digital Notebook Bundle with Pen

I bought this mainly for my kid to do worksheets. Compared with an iPad, there are fewer distractions, and the e-ink screen is much easier on the eyes. Writing feels very close to paper, and PDFs are easy to transfer wirelessly. Importing, exporting, connecting to Wi-Fi, and connecting to a computer have all been very smooth. Battery life has also been great. Without the case it’s surprisingly light. The case adds some weight, but I’d rather have the extra protection. When we go out, this one device can replace worksheets, notebooks, and drawing paper. My kid even uses it to draw when bored. It has quite a few apps, although I personally don’t use most of them. The AI function is useful too. A few small things could be better. There are two small black dots at the bottom of the screen, probably sensors or microphones, but they always look like dirt to me. Also, the pen nib seems to wear down a little faster than I expected—I haven’t used it that long and the first one already feels close to needing replacement. And I still wish it had a built-in speaker. For how we use it, though, it has basically become my kid’s everyday homework notebook.

This is a review of the updated 8.2 inch ViWoods AiPaper Mini and my comments only apply to that device, I bought this device mainly as an eBook reader. I have a couple of 7 inch Kindles but wanted something with a larger screen but still small and light enough to carry around and the 8.2 inch seemed to be a perfect size. I listen to Audible books so I also wanted a device that was audio capable. I almost never do any note taking or markups so this review does not cover that functionality. The ViWoods Mini is a well designed piece of hardware. It is small and light enough to hold in one hand and the finish is beautifully done. When I run my finger from the glass screen to the bezel I cannot even feel the transition. It comes with a nice case and It is held in the case by magnets so it can be removed and replaced without any problems. There is only one real button which serves as both a fingerprint reader and power button and the only other break in the frame is for the usb-c connector. The device is several years old and runs Android 13. In many ways this is a great eReader. It fits nicely in one hand and is very light. The screen is amazingly white and the display is crystal clear and stands out well even though it is only Carta 1000. While the chip is a bit old the device is very responsive and page turns are very fast while setup page navigation is a bit laggy. Since it is Android you can add most apps that you would want, it has a built-in fingerprint reader and is reasonably customizable. It hosts Chrome which seems to work well and includes along with the case a very nice pen with an eraser. Writing and erasing works well, the Google Play Store is available and ViWoods includes its own App Store which has a number of good eReading apps. It has 3 sensors on the bottom of the front bezel for Back and Home and AI with several choices of which AI server you wish to use. I have no problems side loading books using my Mac and the Android File Transfer app and, of course, you can download them from your online storage as well. I have sent questions to ViWoods support and have always received prompt and helpful responses. One thing I want to emphasize is the quality of the screen display. Zooming in on maps and photos produces a much nicer and more finely detailed image than I generally see on my Kindle Paperwhite and the larger screen also helps. While the difference between a 7 inch and 8.2 inch screen may not seem large, measurements of the screens shows that the Mini has about a 38% increase in display space over the Kindle Paperwhite. The Dark Mode setting is pleasing for night reading and the daytime display is better than any of my other eReaders. There are also some drawbacks. It is fairly pricey for what is, as of this review, a 2-3 year old device and runs a 3 year old Android version. It is not waterproof although the case is listed as being waterproof. It does not have any speakers so any audio playback has to be done using bluetooth speakers or earbuds and the bluetooth pairing functionality does not seem very strong. I had to place my earbuds directly on the device for it to find and pair with them. There are no physical volume or brightness buttons so that has to be done in the setup panel. And the device does not auto-rotate because there is no built-in gyroscope sensor. The ViWoods App Store has some useful apps but the choices are limited and being an eInk device it sometimes responds slowly. Most online reviews of this device tout the battery life but if you are like me and use the front light a lot it may drain the battery more quickly and I find I need to recharge every 3 - 5 days, at least while I am actively setting up the device or reading a lot in dark rooms. Being an older device it does not support wireless charging. There are also some odd design features. The Google Play Store does not come pre-installed and installing it is a bit of a hassle. There is a special section in the main Settings dialog (Settings -> Play Store) to help you do the install and there are some YouTube videos explaining how to do that as well. The Play Store installation took me 5-10 minutes, but ViWoods could just have pre-installed it on the device and saved everyone the trouble. The volume control is done through software but the slider only appears if there is an active bluetooth connection. While the Kobo app is easily installed from either the ViWoods or Google stores it is a bit surprising that it was not pre-installed. All in all I am happy with this device. It shines so much as an eReader that the drawbacks and oddities seem to less significance than they might otherwise. It is easier to use for reading single handed than my Kindle and it runs all of my eReading apps flawlessly, I think that the price is about $50-$75 too high considering how old the device is but, again, I am pleased enough with it to ignore that. Overall I think that this is a good choice for anyone wanting an intermediate size eReader provided it fits in their budget. I have removed one star because I think it is a bit overpriced, so 4 stars.

The thing shipped very soon. I used serval days. The 8.2" size is perfect for travel. Syncing daily tasks and calendar with Google account that is very conveniant. An excellent digital notebook that boots my daily workflow.

The hardware itself is solid, but activating the Google Play Store is what really made it complete for me. I just followed the step-by-step setup guide on the official website to register the device ID and toggle Google Services. It took less than 10 minutes, and now I can download all my usual apps without any hassle. Once the Play Store is up and running, this tablet is pretty much spot on.

I am not an e-ink tablet expert, and I am NOT a power user in any sense of the word. My use is for personal journaling and note taking, with the occasional meeting minutes thrown in. My e-ink experience is limited to the new Kindle Scribe. I wanted a smaller tablet that was more portable for use outside the home. After doing some research, I decided to try the ViWoods Mini due to its capabilities and overall reviews. My experience was mixed. The user interface was more intuitive to me than the IFlyTek AINOTE Air, but the writing feel (to me) was not good at all. After several days of use, I still hated the writing feel (this is very subjective, others may find it acceptable). The device seemed very laggy, and like the IFlyTek, would often not respond to the touch of the stylus. Overall, I just did not enjoy using the device and ended up returning it.

Seems like a good idea, but was too sluggish for my use.

Super thin and lightweight, so it’s very comfortable to hold. The included pen makes it easy to write notes and highlight key points. It feels like a Kindle, but much smarter and more powerful, almost like an iPad with an e-ink display. Great for reading and note-taking.

I really wanted to like this device. On paper, it checked all my boxes: an e-ink display, paper-like writing feel, Kindle support, PDF reading and annotation, email, and basic Android apps. Conceptually, it is exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the execution is deeply flawed. From day one, the device suffered from constant Google authentication issues. Google Play is not properly certified, which leads to endless warnings, broken services, and apps that either do not work correctly or crash outright. Chrome would not reliably connect or launch, making even basic web access unstable. Worse, the device repeatedly threw “System UI isn’t responding” errors. That is not a minor app crash. That is the core operating system failing. When the system UI crashes, everything becomes unreliable, including navigation, touch input, and app stability. Reboots became frequent, and the device never reached a stable, usable state. This is not a learning curve or a setup issue. It is a firmware and system stability problem. No amount of troubleshooting should be required for basic functions like opening a browser or maintaining a home screen. I wanted this to be my daily reader and writing device. Instead, I spent my time fighting authentication errors, broken apps, and persistent UI crashes. Returning it. The idea is great, but the software simply is not ready.