Reviews of LivePen

By: Livescribe Inc. App

List of user reviews and ratings for LivePen

Total ratings

3.00 (Rating count: 35)

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Review summary

User reviews consistently highlight strong transcription and real-time note display as major positives, along with easy pairing and good hardware value. However, recurring problems drag the experience down: the app frequently struggles with syncing or fails to open/sign in, audio recording is missing, and updates can cause data loss. Several reviewers also note a bare-bones app with limited editing, renaming, or exporting features. Overall, LivePen offers promising handwriting capture and transcription, but reliability and feature completeness are significant obstacles.

Pros

Real-time syncing of handwritten notes to the app (notes appear instantly).
High-quality transcription/handwriting recognition that converts to text.
Easy pairing/setup with devices (pairing breeze).
Solid hardware feel and good value for the price.

Cons

Unreliable syncing/connection issues; intermittent missing notes and frequent disconnects.
App sometimes won’t open or sign-in problems (including URL redirect/HTTPS issues) hindering onboarding.
Audio recording feature missing or not working on LivePen (no audio capture).
Data loss or loss of saved data after app updates.
Limited app functionality (bare-bones app with no editing/deleting of notes and limited editing/export options; inability to rename pen).

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User Reviews

Recent rating average: 2.30

All time rating average: 3.00

Upgrade to see all 27 reviews

26% (7)

Date	Author	Comment
2025-10-16	Me*****	Worst Livescribe pen experience ever. Have been a client from inception. The lens with their own memory are gems and I still use them. The fail in this “LivePen” has been the need to be on the cloud. Huge lag and past a few pages intermittent processing Very unreliable. Also what a pain initially to even use with the sign on needing to sent a link. Ridiculous.
Worst Livescribe pen experience ever. Have been a client from inception. The lens with their own memory are gems and I still use them. The fail in this “LivePen” has been the need to be on the cloud. Huge lag and past a few pages intermittent processing Very unreliable. Also what a pain initially to even use with the sign on needing to sent a link. Ridiculous.
2025-06-21	I *****	App was ok for a few weeks then it won't open! iPhone update and app update all current. App still will not open. So much for that ! Back to old school notebook!
App was ok for a few weeks then it won't open! iPhone update and app update all current. App still will not open. So much for that ! Back to old school notebook!
2025-05-13	Lc*****	Started we’ll, and have used these before; now the app won’t open (yes I’ve freed up memory) and before that I had to constantly recap the pen then reconnect it for it to record. Was really hoping for better results.
Started we’ll, and have used these before; now the app won’t open (yes I’ve freed up memory) and before that I had to constantly recap the pen then reconnect it for it to record. Was really hoping for better results.
2025-04-05	Do*****	Initially the pen and the sync to the app and the web app worked flawlessly and I was happy. Then the sync became unreliable because some part of the notes would not appear. Tech support promised a fix soon but that was now several days ago and tech support fails to respond to my messages. The pen was promising and I hope there will be follow up and a response to me soon
Initially the pen and the sync to the app and the web app worked flawlessly and I was happy. Then the sync became unreliable because some part of the notes would not appear. Tech support promised a fix soon but that was now several days ago and tech support fails to respond to my messages. The pen was promising and I hope there will be follow up and a response to me soon
2025-03-24	BG*****	I've been using Livescribe smartpens since at least 2011. I love my Echo smarten but just purchased the livepen. Nice for the price but the app is bare bones. And the pen seems to not display all of my notes, as I am missing certain writing sessions. It's as if the pen doesn't always connect to my phone, despite being very close to it.
I've been using Livescribe smartpens since at least 2011. I love my Echo smarten but just purchased the livepen. Nice for the price but the app is bare bones. And the pen seems to not display all of my notes, as I am missing certain writing sessions. It's as if the pen doesn't always connect to my phone, despite being very close to it.
2025-03-13	Ru*****	I’ve own just about every pen LiveScribe has sold and most worked OK. With the Symphony, the form factor was finally slim enough to actually write well with, but unfortunately it died. Thought I’d try the much less expensive LivePen. Works ok but still clicks constantly (as they all have) as you write since the ink cartridge is slightly smaller a than the ‘tube’ it sits in - very distracting to me. Conversion to text is great. Very surprised it’s not compatible with the LiveScribe+ app. The LivePen app doesn’t do much. Apparently you can’t delete or edit any of your notes in the app, so don’t jot down anything that you don’t want there to be a permanent record of. This pen is a good value, but it’s not going to save LiveScribe. Dumbing-down a product that is too expensive to the point of being almost useless is not a good business strategy.
I’ve own just about every pen LiveScribe has sold and most worked OK. With the Symphony, the form factor was finally slim enough to actually write well with, but unfortunately it died. Thought I’d try the much less expensive LivePen. Works ok but still clicks constantly (as they all have) as you write since the ink cartridge is slightly smaller a than the ‘tube’ it sits in - very distracting to me. Conversion to text is great. Very surprised it’s not compatible with the LiveScribe+ app. The LivePen app doesn’t do much. Apparently you can’t delete or edit any of your notes in the app, so don’t jot down anything that you don’t want there to be a permanent record of. This pen is a good value, but it’s not going to save LiveScribe. Dumbing-down a product that is too expensive to the point of being almost useless is not a good business strategy.
2025-03-09	No*****	Incredible how this software got shipped. I work in the software industry and my expectations are realistic. But this software doesn’t work to retrieve from the pen more than 50%, and it rarely provides access to the historical pages. It’s like my previous pages never existed. In other words, it fails at its primary purpose. So, I have 5 notebooks that I can use with an everyday pen because the LivePen cannot be trusted. This is my experience. Your mileage may vary.
Incredible how this software got shipped. I work in the software industry and my expectations are realistic. But this software doesn’t work to retrieve from the pen more than 50%, and it rarely provides access to the historical pages. It’s like my previous pages never existed. In other words, it fails at its primary purpose. So, I have 5 notebooks that I can use with an everyday pen because the LivePen cannot be trusted. This is my experience. Your mileage may vary.
2025-02-19	Po*****	I decided to try livescribe live pen. Very difficult to set up. Finally after weeks it was working now the writing is intermittently working. Sometimes one or two partial words will show up but mostly nothing is showing on app. Spent 45 minutes troubleshooting.
I decided to try livescribe live pen. Very difficult to set up. Finally after weeks it was working now the writing is intermittently working. Sometimes one or two partial words will show up but mostly nothing is showing on app. Spent 45 minutes troubleshooting.
2025-01-31	Sh*****	I had a problem connecting pen to my iPad but not iPhone or laptop. After contacting support 😊 the next day I was contacted. They suggested turning off the VPN and using Google/Apple sign in 🥰 it worked perfectly with Apple sign in. I turn on VPN and never had problem! I purchased the ECHO pen for niece because in college audio function is important.
I had a problem connecting pen to my iPad but not iPhone or laptop. After contacting support 😊 the next day I was contacted. They suggested turning off the VPN and using Google/Apple sign in 🥰 it worked perfectly with Apple sign in. I turn on VPN and never had problem! I purchased the ECHO pen for niece because in college audio function is important.
2025-01-22	19*****	I was impressed at first- especially when the transcription feature debuted, but less than 2 months into using the pen/notebook/app and it's not connecting and syncing.
I was impressed at first- especially when the transcription feature debuted, but less than 2 months into using the pen/notebook/app and it's not connecting and syncing.