Freewrite Alpha
The Freewrite Alpha is a $350 writing-only implement, plain and simple. It’s lightweight and has enough battery life to follow you wherever you might go. Its small screen doesn’t have a backlight, but it effectively kept me on task. However, the keyboard is the star of the show. The keys with their Kailh Choc V2 switches offer great feedback and that real “typewriter” kind of feel. This may seem like an odd pick amid all these other ultra-modern devices, but sometimes the design details matter more than how much processing power you can stuff inside a plastic box.—Kyle Barr
