Abandoned by Neo
They must have gotten bought by someone who wanted to mine all our data because they implemented a new app structure to force us to download everything to them.
That new app (this one) was crap and it mangled the notebooks when I tried to upgrade.
Now, almost two years later, I come back to find out they have disabled the ability to pull the old data forward, the new pens won’t work with the old app, the old app is no longer getting security patches. JFC.
Avoid at all costs!
Response from developer
Hello, this is the NeoLab Customer Support Team. Firstly, we apologize for any inconvenience caused by the discontinuation of NeoNote service and the automatic synchronization error with NeoStudio 2023. We are currently preparing the integrated version, NeoStudio 2, to enhance your experience with the Neo Smart Pen. We will strive to provide an even more advanced service. Once again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you.
App crashes constantly
Response from developer
Hello, this is the Neolab customer support team. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the error. Our team is actively working on resolving the issue, but it may still take some time to complete. We kindly ask for your patience and understanding during this process. To minimize the inconvenience, we recommend using the web version of Neo Studio on your PC or logging in with the same account on another device. To use the Neo Studio web service on your PC, please install Neo Lab Cloud from the link below and log in with the same account as the Neo Studio app. After connecting the pen, you can access the web version of Neo Studio. https://neolabdev.gitbook.io/neolab-cloud_en/ Again, we deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused and will do our utmost to resolve the error as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
Great pen with a poor app
Response from developer
Hello, this is the Neolab customer support team. We apologize for the inconvenience you are experiencing with the synchronization process. To ensure that your handwritten data is fully synchronized, please leave the NeoStudio app running (Background X) for at least 10 minutes. If your data is still not verified, please check that you are logged in with the correct account information. Additionally, we recommend using the web version of Neo Studio (https://app.neostudio.io/) available on your PC to speed up the synchronization process. Please install Neo Lab Cloud using the link we provided earlier and use the web version of Neo Studio through that link. If you continue to experience issues with synchronization, please send your account information and OS version to support@neosmartpen.freshdesk.com, and we will quickly check and guide you through resolving the issue. We apologize again for the inconvenience this has caused, and we are committed to resolving the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Not sure what they’ve done over weekend to make this app worse!?
Over the years this App has been annoying, though tolerable. The original app was great, worked and was stable.
Neo Studio has always been - flakey. Most days when syncing my pen the app crashes and I have to take multiple stabs to sync the pen. For the first time, my pen was full and was introduced to a new flashing light which seemed undocumented - the pen was almost full.
Once the data has been transferred then all is good.
Now over the weekend 19Mar23, I tried to sync my pen and I have no idea what’s happened. The app seemingly has taken gotten worse!?!
I took video of the following because I’m just over it, this tech has so much potential but somehow Neo can’t bring it all together.
I tried ti sync my pen, the first time after the app upgraded.
The app is now ridiculously slow, response time the enter the password for the pen was mind boggling slow. On top of that a message was displayed over the keypad so couldn’t actually press some of the digits or tap back space, but they could be because it was so slow in displaying what was tapped, I don’t know because the app crashed.
This is interesting in itself, because I’m not sure what the purpose of the password is if the pen is already telling me it’s downloading the data🤔
Eventually, I was able to get past entering the password screen, which again took multiple stabs.
Now I’m just trying to open the app without it crashing.
Just in case I’m asked, after a number of attempts I thought I should restart my phone, nothing changed. I was going to delete the app but there seems to be a lack of empathy around losing the data that’s on the pen, that when presented with deleting the app will delete data on the phone I baulked.
Now I’m just lost for words and am over it, I love the tech but I’m now just frustrated!
Response from developer
Hello, this is the Neolab customer support team. We are glad to inform you that the language and password problems have been patched and you can now use the app normally. We kindly ask that you refrain from deleting the app as doing so may result in data loss. If you continue to experience any issues, please send us an email at support@neosmartpen.freshdesk.com with your account and OS version information, as well as a video demonstrating the problem you are encountering. Our team will investigate the issue in detail and provide you with guidance to resolve it. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced and thank you for your patience as we work to ensure that our app provides the best possible user experience. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you.
Login broke on last update
Click the button at the bottom to use the ?application.
Back to NeoLAB Cloud”
…except, there is nothing clickable there so I’m just stuck on this screen. Absolutely unusable… and apparently without alternative?
Response from developer
Hello, this is the Neolab customer support team. We apologize for the inconvenience you may be experiencing with a specific device error. Our team is actively working on resolving this issue, but at this time, we do not have an exact solution. In the meantime, we suggest using the Neo Studio web version on your PC or using the same account on another device. You can find information on how to install and use NeoLab Cloud from the following link: https://neolabdev.gitbook.io/neolab-cloud_en/. If you log in with the same account as the Neo Studio app, connect a pen, and press the Neo Studio shortcut to take notes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions or concerns. Thank you for your understanding.
Buggy app updates
Response from developer
Hello, this is the Neolab Customer Support Team. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please note that the English language setting was made available through a patch. If you need to import handwriting data from before the update, you can do so by logging in again with your original ID. Please be careful not to turn off the app screen after logging in. Additionally, we strongly advise you not to delete the app as syncing may take time and you may risk losing data. If you continue to experience issues, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@neosmartpen.freshdesk.com. Our team will be happy to assist you. We apologize once again for the inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation. We appreciate your patience in resolving this issue.
Limited functionality and odd behaviours
Response from developer
Hi there, thank you for your feedback. To share you the instruction how you can migrate your notebooks, please contact to our support team: https://neosmartpen.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new Our team will be happy to assist you. Thank you!
Incredibly Frustrating
Response from developer
Hi there, we thank you for your feedback and deeply apologize with this inconvenience. We kindly ask you to reach out to our Neolab support team to further assist you. https://neosmartpen.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new Our team will be happy to assist you. Thank you!
N2 pen support discontinued- do not buy
Response from developer
Hi there, thank you for your feedback. We apologize with this inconvenience caused, but we ask for your kind understanding with our policy. Thank you!
Impossible to log into Google to transfer data
I received the automated response from developer. After much effort I figured out the problem is JavaScript was turned off I guess for security in my browser and the embedded browser in their application requires it and without it it silently fails to login it just sits there. Turning JavaScript on and then going back into the app allowed it to work however I still am unable to get my information off of an iPad and into Google Drive so that I can then access those pages from the new device (a phone).There appears to be no way to get the page data stored on my iPad out of it and accessible/readable as pages in their app on the phone. Well not entirely somehow I seem to have 30 pages from two years ago but none of the 30 pages since then.This is leaving me with no choice but to move to a different platform and probably dispose of all these cool notebooks that I probably can’t use anymore?
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Documentation speaks to Evernote or other storage but transfer brings me to a login page for Google which says I’m signed out. There is absolutely no combination of anything on my iPad that lets me trigger asking me to login. None of the things I could think of, including changing default browser, loading desktop pages, iPad shutdown, hard reset of the iPad, closing all applications, or anything allowed me to login. I even deregistered my pen hoping that change in state would help. Nothing helps. The quality of the programming here is pretty dismal. I’m going to have to switch to a different provider because I can’t have it be so incredibly awful. And when I went on their website to look for support multiple links said under construction. And I’m sorry but what century are we in?
Surpris de l’efficacité
Response from developer
Hi there, thank you for your valuable feedback. Let us know if you need further questions or concerns. Thank you.
Service Recovery
Neo Support sent me a new pen and paid shipping costs to return the old pen. The new pen synced immediately, and it works flawlessly. I’m excited to have a functioning pen!
Original Review
Despite my purchase of a new N2 pen directly from Neo on September 26, Neo sent me an older version of its pen that it discontinued on March 5! See Neo’s March 5 blog post. The older pen will not sync with the Studio app. I contacted support and received an automated response with pasted language from Neo’s support page. I tried every suggestion. None work. Neo ignored my follow up requests. In response to this post, I bet Neo will insert an automated suggestion that I reach out to support. I already did! You ignored me!
Won’t pair with Bluetooth
Update: developer said oops they sent me an old pen which doesn’t work with their app!!!
But they would be happy to exchange my pen for one that works for $75.
Unless you live in Korea their support is a nightmare to deal with. They are entirely incompetent dealing with complaints.
They’re not rude just very very incompetent.
Do not buy from this company directly!
Response from developer
Hi there, thank you for your review. We kindly ask you to reach out to our Neolab support team to further assist you. https://neosmartpen.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new Our team will be happy to assist you. Thank you!
What the…?
Were they not happy offering a good product and becoming rich?
The market is now wide open for developers with a stronger grasp of ethics and common sense.
It’s yours for the taking.
Neo just waked away in the middle of a game they were winning.
Can’t Edit Pages
Response from developer
Hi there, we apologize with any inconvenience that caused you and we have addressed this issue to our development team. We definitely take our customer's needs in mind, always, when developing easier and more helpful upgrades to our product. Thank you.
Disappointed
Response from developer
Hi there, we apologize with this inconvenience and we have addressed this issue to our development team. We definitely take our customer's needs in mind, always, when developing easier and more helpful upgrades to our product. Thank you.
Needs improvement
Response from developer
Hi there, we are sorry with this inconvenience and we have addressed this issue to our development team. We definitely take our customer's needs in mind, always, when developing easier and more helpful upgrades to our product. Thank you
Pens No Longer Connect
Response from developer
Hi there, thank you for your feedback and we apologize with this inconvenience. We kindly ask you to reach out to our Neolab support team to share you detail information with your questions. https://neosmartpen.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new Our team will be happy to assist you. Thank you!
Should be better!
The pen feels better/more natural than older digital pens. I can appreciate the simplicity of the app, and the design shows some good ideas: for instance, it makes sense to have everything organized & worked upon by page (although if by some chance this company survives, I would expect it to be possible to eventually work on multiple pages at a time).
My use case is to use the pen & notebook to do rough drafts, transcribe them, then revise them in another application. I knew going in that the transcription would be far from perfect, and I knew that I could only work one page at a time.
After writing & transcribing 30 pages, I had the same problem on every single page. Here’s what happens. On certain parts of the page, the transcription is approximately correct, with most words right and everything appearing in the order that I wrote it. But on certain parts of the page, it’s like someone threw the transcription into a blender: most of the words are right, but words are totally out of order.
It’s a clear defect, which I explained in detail, and provided all the requested supporting material. Clearly the core of the software is decent (it transcribes most words correctly, after all), but between the software and (maybe) the particular notebook, there is a serious and consistent bug.
The response from support?
“It seems to us that there is no problem and that is normal.”
There was no attempt to engage with the details I offered, no follow up questions: just a blunt assertion that a proven defect is not a defect.
I could understand, e.g., asking for another example, more supporting materials, etc. I don’t expect an instant resolution - but to have a bug of this severity be brushed off as a feature is laughable. If I tried this with my customers (I worked in software myself), I’d soon be looking for work.
I suppose it’s possible that someone in support was having a bad day, on top of the development/qa teams letting a huge bug through - but based on the other reviews, I’m afraid this is business as usual for this company.
Good but Transcribe is missing?
Otherwise, the pen was easy to set up and the app is great.
Response from developer
Hi there, we apologize with this inconvenience while using our Neo products. We have addressed this feedback to our development team. We definitely take our customer's needs in mind, always, when developing easier and more helpful upgrades to our product. Thank you.
