Launched in September 2025, the iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 is an e-ink tablet targeted at professionals, students and productivity enthusiasts. With a focus on AI-supported transcription, note-taking and intelligent document management. After intensive everyday use, I can say that this device is not an all-rounder, but what it does, it does amazingly well.
Technical data of the iFlytek AINOTE Air 2
| The product | AINOTE Air 2 |
| dimensions | 193 mm x 137.5 mm x 6.5 mm |
| weight | 231 g |
| Display | 8.2 inch HD E-Ink |
| resolution | 1,440 x 1,920 pixels |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM + 32 GB system memory |
| CPU | Quad-Core 1.8 GHz |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6; Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Price | € 549.00 * |
iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 review: design and workmanship
The first time you touch the AINOTE Air 2, you notice how well thought-out its design is. The casing is made of metal and conveys a solid, high-quality feel without appearing bulky. The dimensions of 193 × 137 × 5 to 6.4 mm make the tablet exceptionally slim and with a weight of just 231 grams, it can easily be carried in your bag all day long. The screen-to-body ratio of 88.5% ensures that the edges are pleasantly narrow without compromising handling.
The back has a matt textured finish. This looks elegant, but is unfortunately a real fingerprint magnet. The flat back is a practical feature, despite the built-in cameras: it allows the tablet to be placed flat on the table without it wobbling. A small but extremely helpful detail in everyday writing. The power button is combined with a fingerprint scanner and is easily accessible at the top. The design is deliberately unobtrusive, which I personally really appreciate.
The 5-megapixel camera on the back initially seems unusual for an e-ink tablet, but it serves its purpose as a document scanner. The quality is not outstanding. I would wish for a higher resolution for professional scans. But it is sufficient for quick digitization in everyday life. The stylus supplied is also an excellent addition. It can be attached magnetically to the side of the tablet. The magnet holds quite well, but not as securely as on an iPad and the like. The stylus can still fall off in the event of an unfortunate bump
Equipment and features of the iFlytek AINOTE Air 2
The heart of the AINOTE Air 2 is its 8.2-inch e-ink display with a resolution of 1440 × 1920 pixels at 293 PPI. The matte, textured surface effectively reduces reflections and gives writing a paper-like feel. The brightness can be adjusted in 24 levels for warm and cold light. Ideal for different lighting conditions and long periods of reading without eye fatigue.
However, there is no option to adjust the e-ink settings such as the page refresh rate, which can lead to jerky animations when typing or scrolling quickly. Speaking of jerky:
Under the hood is a quad-core processor with 1.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory. This may seem quite powerful, but it quickly becomes apparent in the test that the AINOTE Air 2 implements all animations, menu changes and adjustments with a noticeable latency – which is partly, but not exclusively, due to the E-Ink technology. You do get used to it, but in everyday use everything should be a little faster.
The memory is a critical point: there is no microSD card slot and 32 GB quickly feels tight when used intensively. Especially as it can only store around 6 hours of audio recordings. Connectivity is provided by WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5, as well as a USB-C port for charging or transferring data. In addition to the tablet itself, four microphones and a speaker are installed. The speaker’s sound is quite decent, although it is of course designed for the presentation of audio notes, which are reproduced clearly and intelligibly.
The operating system is Android 11, but without the Google Play Store or the option to install apps. Instead, iFlytek provides a curated selection of apps, including Kindle, Libby, Kobo Books, WPS Office, Outlook and APKPure. The e-ink tablet can easily handle many file formats such as PDF, EPUB, TXT, MOBI, AZW3, DOC(X), XLS(X), PPT(X), JPEG, JPG and PNG.
The absolutely unique feature is the AI-supported speech recognition and transcription in real time. It supports 15 languages, including German, English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French and Spanish. Real-time translation supports 10 languages. However, the operating system is limited to English and various Asian languages, so unfortunately there is no German menu.
Especially cool: The device also converts handwriting into text and recognizes an impressive 83 languages. The converted handwriting is converted directly into text and can then be saved and searched via the menu in notes, tasks and many other parameters. ChatGPT 4o is integrated as an AI assistant, but it is not connected to the Internet and therefore has a very limited effect in practice.
Battery life of the iFlytek AINOTE Air 2
The iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 comes with a 2,600 mAh battery. A value that sounds modest on paper and technically speaking it is. The extremely slim housing simply does not allow for a larger battery. In practice, however, this figure is put into perspective: as it is an e-ink tablet, the display consumes virtually no power in idle mode and the Air 2 is also extremely economical when in active use.
In my everyday life, I have used the AINOTE Air 2 for several days without charging. Provided I don’t use permanent internet connections or intensive audio recording. As soon as WiFi is active and the transcription or synchronization functions are running, consumption increases noticeably. Transcription in particular requires an internet connection, which puts a noticeable strain on the battery during longer meetings. Overall, the battery life is sufficient for typical productive use over several days. That fits.
Practical test of the iFlytek AINOTE Air 2
In real everyday use, the iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 shows most clearly what it was really built for. The writing experience with the stylus is simply excellent: the palm recognition works flawlessly, the writing capture meets my personal writing style very precisely and the matte display surface gives the writing that pleasant paper feedback that you don’t get from cheap tablets. The selection of tools for taking notes is somewhat limited compared to other e-ink tablets such as the reMarkable, but is absolutely sufficient for everyday use. Notes, calendar entries, to-do list,… all no problem.
The audio recording with synchronized notes is the feature that convinced me the most. In meetings or lectures, I record in parallel and take notes in the form of bullet points. If I click on a note later, the audio jumps to exactly the right moment and shows me where I am in my note.
The AI-supported summary of the recordings is a nice add-on, but is no substitute for taking careful notes yourself. I was pleasantly surprised by the handwriting-to-text conversion in 83 languages during the test: recognition is fast and largely reliable, although there are a few problems with recognition here and there. However, these tend to be technical terms, including the actual product name. The iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 turned the tablet into an “it’s Friday. One or two e-ink tablets”. Oh well.
The tablet also cuts a fine figure as an e-reader. PDFs and EPUBs can be conveniently annotated, and with Kindle and Libby, a huge range of books is available. However, the 8.2-inch display reaches its limits with comics or illustrated books. For pure text, however, the size is pleasant. The text-to-voice feature, i.e. reading e-books aloud, is particularly interesting for language learners, but is only supported in four languages (English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese).
The document scanner function performs everyday tasks reliably, albeit not at a professional level. What bothered me in the test: The cropping mode has to be activated manually each time for several consecutive scans. This takes unnecessary time.
Another practical feature is that the manufacturer offers a companion app for iOS/Android and Windows systems. Notes and content can be uploaded to the cloud and easily synchronized with other devices, enabling seamless editing. A really useful feature in everyday life.
iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 test: Conclusion
The iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 is not a tablet for everyone. Anyone looking for a powerful productivity device with free real-time transcription, excellent handwriting feel and sophisticated audio note synchronization will find a serious tool here at a price of around 550 euros (RRP). The slim metal casing, low weight and strong e-ink quality make it a reliable companion for students, journalists, editors and anyone who simply wants to capture their thoughts.
However, there are undoubtedly weaknesses. The lack of a Google Play Store, the limited memory, the offline AI assistant and the sluggish E-Ink update rate show that iFlytek is a nuisance in everyday use. The fact that the tablet takes a little longer to navigate through the menus is particularly annoying at first.
If you are looking for a universal Android tablet with E-Ink, you are better off with some of its competitors. However, anyone looking for a focused, distraction-free productivity device that intelligently combines voice, writing and documents will certainly be satisfied with the AINOTE Air 2.
- Elegant design
- Compact and lightweight
- Good e-ink display
- Reliable transcription
- Audio-to-text
- Mixed performance
- Limited memory
- No Play Store
- Cloud sync with account requirement
- AI assistant rather useless
iFlytek AINOTE Air 2
Design & Workmanship
Equipment
Performance
Features
Value For Money
84/100
Successful e-ink tablet for note-taking and transcription that does its job very well in practice. However, the system is a little clumsy and the internal memory is very limited.
