Livescribe Aegir Smartpen, Marlin Edition, Teal Color (APX-00031)

I've owned about every smartpen known to man. All of them were tried out, found sadly lacking and returned. The Livescribe 3 was extremely buggy and lost connection easily and then wouldn't connect at all. I went through two with the same issue. I decided to try the Aegier, hoping Livescribe has worked on the software. Here are my thoughts after owning it for a few days.Things I like:1) I bought the black and teal and it's a gorgeous pen.2) I like the built in ink cartridge remover and that ink is readily available. My favorite is Cross.3) The paper is readily available.4) I like being able to edit in the app before sending my document. To do this, press on the snippet on your screen.5) Setup was easy.6) There is a firmware update in the app. Be sure to do this.7) You will find a chat menu in the app. I contacted Livescribe due to connectivity issues and they emailed me the next day.8) You can merge snippets by going into your feed and clicking on the word "select" at the top right of the app.Things I don't like:1) The pen is a little heavy and the cap doesn't fit tightly on top while I'm using the pen.2) The pen requires special paper that is expensive when compared to a regular notebook.3) If you lose the charging cable, you're out of luck. Other cables I have tried do not work. Even the one for my Livescribe 3 doesn't work.4) Documents transfer via email as PDF documents and when I attempted to copy and paste the text, it showed up as multiple question marks in my Word document. The fix: Copy the text straight from the app and then paste into your email. I have not tried syncing with other apps such as Google Drive or Dropbox.5) Data does not transfer well from the app when I use the pen with the app turned off.6) Everything I read directed me to click on a "device pairing" icon in my notebook when having connectivity issues. My notebooks did not have this icon.7) Livescribe does not provide good directions. To transcribe, go into your feed and swipe your snippet from left to right. To delete it, swipe from right to left.8) You'll need to do a lot of work editing your document in Word because the software does not recognize when paragraphs begin and end and will cut off sentences in the middle at times, making a new line. I don't let this bother me because even though I have to edit, it means I've actually got some work done (I'm a traditionally published author.)I recommend the following:1) Update the firmware in the app before you do anything else.2) I ran into connectivity issues when changing from one notebook to another. I've found that if I disconnect the pen before changing notebooks, I don't have issues.3) I've found I have few issues connecting to the app if I disconnect the pen after every use.4) I ran into issues when my iPhone went into sleep mode, so I set it up every time I use the pen to not to time out.5) I don't recommend that you use the pen when the app is off. I had issues transferring data.6) I usually draw a small line at the top of the paper when getting started. I think this helps orient the pen.7) I have read that allowing the battery to totally drain, can fix some issues, so if you're having problems, you might want to try this.So, after owning about very smartpen made, what's my favorite? It's the Apple Pencil. The Livescribe has it's place though. It's great when you don't want to lug a tablet around with you and I love the creativity that stems from writing on paper.

If you've done any research on customer satisfaction, you quickly notice that EVERYONE complains about the ink cartridge! Livescribe ink for this pen does not work for anyone...including me! However, this pen is light, comfortable, and offers great features that make it a really helpful tool at a reasonable price. There is nothing special (except not working) about the ink refill! Any other brand D10 refill works. I found a green refill with a five star rating here, on Amazon. That refill has been perfect, and I happen to love green so the color was not a problem. After resolving the ink issue, I have had a chance to use this penand I can tell you I love it more than any other Livescribe product I've used.

I am electronic and paper - a digital smart pen is essential for me because I want to write in ink, but save digitally. The pen is finally a manageable size - feels just like a regular pen. It's gorgeous - beautiful design - and swaps easily with Cross ink. That said, it's very very glitchy. Sometimes connects easily; sometimes does not. Digital rendering of ink to digital file is HORRIBLE with this particular pen. (I've owned several livescribe devices). And that is my biggest complaint... the transfer to digital is so splotchy, that I can't read it consistently. Even got brand new notebooks to confirm. Darn! I really need a normal sized, good-looking, ink-to-digital pen.

Ok, this is the third Livescribe pen I've owned from the very first pen to the wireless 3. My gripe is that they can't seem to get it right. Like with each new pen they add features and take away abilities from previous models. Why can't they make a pen that has a digital display that talks ( like the first Livescribe pen), make it wireless, make it communicate with the desktop app AND the mobile app and be slim like the Aegir - With no small parts that break off or get lost? NOW! THEY'VE RELEASED A VERSION IN ALL BLACK! 😫😖

Update 9/17/19: Got through to Customer Service, and they sent me a new pen. The replacement has issues too, different ones. Sometimes it just stays on, but it's unusable until the battery drains. So, more productivity lost.!!These pens have a 1 year warranty, so if you had the same issues, contact them for replacement!!.Update: I've spent more time trying to get the pen to work, than actual use. It has been glitchy since I got it. I stopped using it Feb 2019. I just started school again, so I figured I'd give it a try again. Writing drops off. The It only records bits and pieces. The new desktop app also has issues. Now it won't open at all. So my final conclusion is, don't waste your time. It's junk. My girlfriend has one too, and she stopped using hers too. $200+ dollars wasted. Not even good for a paperweight it's so light. The Echo is good though. I've never had problems with it.Update 1/28/19: Attached comparison photo of Aegir and Echo for those asking about the size.I have been using the Livescribe Echo, through my school, for about 9 months. I was on their website looking for something else when I stumbled across the Aegir. I pre-ordered one on Amazon. The Aegir is fairly easy to use and is comfortable in your hand. I had one issue with it where it stayed on, and I couldn't connect to my phone. Their customer service is excellent, and even though I solved the issue by letting the battery drain, they were very helpful and updated the firmware for the pen. About a week after I bought mine, I bought one for my fiance and it's arriving today. I love this pen! I would love to see the "find my pen" feature added to the app, and the cap could be tighter on it while using it. Would love to see a price drop on ink and accessories prices, and also more options for accessories, such as index cards.

Came beans new as advertised and actually arrived early with a plan courtesy advance shipping. I appreciate their customer service

Ok, so my no. 1 recommendation for any new owner before you use the pen for the first time is to upgrade the firmware after pairing it with your phone and the Livescribe+ app. If you do not then you will get errors when you try to write using the pen (flashing red light and audible alarm).I was on the verge of returning the pen because I couldn't get it to work then I can across an FAQ on the Livescribe support site which described this remedy. However, I strongly feel that this is not really good enough: the "quickstart" instructions should explicitly say that upgrading the firmware is the first thing you should do when you receive your pen before attempting to use it for the first time.Hopefully Livescribe will take on-board the above feedback...Otherwise it is a lovely pen, nice to write and since resolving the initial problems I've had no other cause for complaint. It feels completely like a (albeit, slightly chunky) normal biro pen. The design of the Aegis is a massive improvement on the Livescribe 3 and previous models.

I had some difficulties getting the pen to connect to BlueTooth and needed a firmware upgrade to get this to work. Support chat got me there eventually, but it shouldn't be this difficult. The pen now works OK, but connecting could still be a bit smoother and more reliable.What is really needed now is a desktop app, which is promised, but not yet available. Working with recorded note pages on my phone is not ideal.The pen itself works well and it's great to have good quality recording without the nib sounds that you get with the Echo. Also, a much nicer pen, with a better feel than Livescribe's chunky previous pens.I bought this as I'd lost my Livescribe Echo. I subsequently found my Echo and will use this until there's a desktop app. I'll then update this review.

Pros: Sleek design over other livescribe pens, nice build quality.Cons: poor actual pen quality, poor digital quality, battery life is unexpectedly short when not used (1 week), loose lid fit. No backup for livescribe app dataThis was purchased on recommendation at work but I chose the Ageir over the other livescribe pens due to it being smaller and I did not need the additional memory. I have not used other digital pens so cant compare other than by statistics.First off the actual pen quality is really poor, its basically a mini refill which are common in many pens, none of which I find particularly good over a cheep gel pen or biro. But when you pay £100 for a pen you sort of expect something a bit better, its not, its basically a cheep pen with digital capabilities.The build quality seems to be very good with a couple of small flaws in design, 1 is the lid has a really loose fit and the other is that the pen turns it self on very easily with vibration which I think is why the battery life is so poor when the pen is not used, but I have not tested yet for a week with out it being in my bag.Battery life, the first time I noticed an issue was when I went to use it in a meeting, the battery was flat, I had not used the pen for a week and was surprised, I now charge it weekly to avoid this issue, but its a pain. My expectation was if its off and I am not using it the battery should stay mostly charged.I had an issue at one point where the pen would not work, there was an error light and I couldn't do anything, support were not helpful and I basically had to wait for it to go flat. Once it had gone flat and reset the problem was fixed but I have no idea why it ended up in this state and the fix seemed daft ie having to wait for it to go flat. There seems to be no reset button or method which I guess is a design flaw.Unfortunately during the support process I have uncovered another issue. Support told me to reset my app which I did, however there appears to be no way to back up the data stored within the app so all the pages I previously had are gone from the App (Android version) and I am just left with the PDF copies I have in the cloud. Not a complete loss but seems to be a big limitation of the App. The app does not appear to be backed up to google on android or livescribe.The actual quality of my writing is fairly poor but when I lent it to one of my daughters who has very neat handwriting I noticed that the actual quality of the digital page is actually fairly poor as well. I was expecting a fairly good digital representation, smaller handwriting especially is clearly not well copied.Overall a particularly poor introduction into digital pens and not something I would recommend for the price. I will go back to using laptop and one note!!

This is my third Livescribe pen, and by far my favourite. It's a weighty pen, but somehow much more balanced and really lovely to write with - very smooth. It's also much nicer to look at than the previous versions (black plastic).I've been using this for a couple of weeks now, and the ink cartridge it came with is still going.The phone app seems more intuitive in some ways than the old desk top app, and in particular that you can easily see different notebooks if, like me, you have more than one on the go at one time.My only gripes about it are firstly that it doesn't seem to have a desk top app any more and because I use this for work, I like all my notes stored on my desk top. And secondly, it has an irritating habit of beeping to indicate a low battery when the battery is actually fine. Time will tell how that holds up.

Super happy with my pen. It registers everything I write. Not so good for converting my hand writing into searchable text, but wasn't expecting that to work well. The app has a couple of glitches and sometimes it takes a while to connect to the pen but it's been a minor issue. The pen feels alright, not too heavy, nice to hold. Ink cartridge doesn't last much so I'd recommend you get replacements as you get the pen. My experience buying compatible ink refills was very bad as they didn't fit the pen.