Top tablets for note-taking

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen tech

Introduced earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Yoga Tablet 2 is the most compact tablet on the list, measuring in with an 8-inch display and running Microsoft's Windows operating system. The unique feature of the Yoga Tablet 2 is Lenovo's AnyPen technology.

Instead of walking around with a pocket protector to safeguard a specialized digital stylus, AnyPen allows you to write on the display with almost any item you have laying around, including a pen, pencil, key, or even a knife.

The benefit is that you can almost always find an ad-hoc stylus with nearby office supplies, like a paperclip, to do your writing. The downside is that if you glide across the screen with the wrong apparatus, your Yoga Tablet 2 could incur some scratches.

For those who prefer a larger slate for writing, Lenovo offers the AnyPen as an option on select configurations of the ThinkPad Yoga 12, 14, or 15 models.

• Read our hands on review of the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

For those working out in the field, or professionals who value portability over having a large canvas on which to jot down ideas, the Galaxy Note 4 is an excellent option. Although it isn't advertised as a tablet, this large format smartphone (or phablet) is perfect for small-format data input.

The 5.7-inch device comes with all the features that make the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 a great note-taking tablet. For example: the included Wacom-powered S Pen makes the Galaxy Note 4 a versatile device that is perfect for capturing your thoughts on the go. Essentially, the Galaxy Note 4 can be used as a digital Moleskine notebook for users in the field who don't need to capture copious amounts of handwritten notes or annotations on the more compact display.

Although you the S Pen is an accurate writing tool, the small screen of the Galaxy Note 4 will feel more like writing on a digital Post-it or an index card than on a mini notepad. Heavy writers will quickly run out of paper room on the 5.7-inch display and will long for a larger canvas to write on.

• Read our Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review

Benefits to handwriting

Though handwriting may seem like a lost art form, proponents of the pen argue that there are benefits of writing over typing on a keyboard. Studies reported by the New York Times show a correlation between improved learning, better memory retention, and even in idea generation.

University of Washington researcher Virginia Berninger's study shows students produced more ideas more quickly when they compose text by hand rather than on a keyboard. Memory retention and better subject matter understanding during meetings and lectures were demonstrated by Pam Mueller's and Daniel Oppenheimer's study published in Psychological Science. Those findings were similarly confirmed by researchers at Princeton University and the University of California, Los Angeles.