What is the Best Interactive Whiteboard? (TOP 5 FOR 2022)

Buying an interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. There are many options on the market in 2022, and the price point varies widely depending on the kind of technology you opt for.

It could be that a basic black and white smartboard will suit your needs. There’s also full-color IWB’s. Do you need smartphone connectivity?  Are you interested in the benefits of having a fully-fledged 4k UHD interactive smartboard?

To help you in your search we have pulled together 5 top model boards, covering a range of budgets and specifications. A summary of our findings is laid out in the table below. For an ultimate IWB buyer’s guide plus in-depth reviews of each of the selected boards, keep on reading.

Best Interactive Whiteboard – Top 5

Interactive Whiteboard Reviews

Quality, build design, level of features and warranty support are all important factors that have enabled us to rank the available interactive boards for review.

Based on these rating criteria (and a whole lot more), we have selected what we believe to be 5 of the best interactive whiteboards on the market today.

1. Best Color Interactive Whiteboard: Plus C-20W Electronic CaptureBoard

The Plus C-20W is a portable integrated IWB unit that comes with 2 writing surfaces, an integrated application layer, and network support that allows for internet connection, as well as data storage and retrieval from remote FTP (file transfer protocol) servers.

It uses the pen mode, and its writing surfaces allow for horizontal scrolling, which increases the effective writing area beyond the physical area bound by the IWB frame.

The board is designed to operate as either a copy-board or a capture-board depending on current needs. As a copy-board, it allows data/information written on its surface to be stored, transmitted to a remote server, or printed via an optional printer (which must be acquired separately).

Relatedly, the standard IWB capabilities of its writeable screen surface make it an effective capture-board that can be used with a frontal projection system to write over projected images.

This high-performance, feature-rich, and high-quality IWB is designed and made by the Plus Corporation of America, and its model number is C-20W.

This IWB model can be installed in two ways; wall mounting (or partition mounting) using magnets attached to the IWB, or mobile floor mounting to a self-standing mount with T-shaped legs.

A pair of vertical frame covers must be fitted on the IWB frame, while a sheet covers the panel that serves as the projection field (with the sheet allowing one to write and draw diagrams that overlay the projected image).

The IWB control panel is located at the lower section of the left vertical frame cover. It has press buttons that allow one to save work in a USB or PC; or print it in color or black-and-white.

On the downside, this board lacks mouse functions across the projection field. The entire ready-to-use unit weighs about 55pounds, while the IWB is 78inches long, 39.4inches high, and 3.5inches thick.

The mobile mount weighs 27.5pounds and is sometimes omitted from the package. The color scheme of this IWB unit is silver-gray-white.

This is an electronic IWB that runs on a SoC that is compatible with the following PC operating systems;

• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Professional, Windows XP Home and Professional editions,
• 32-bit Vista and Windows7 both 32-bit and 64-bit;
• as well as Mac OS X 10.5 and later editions.

Its application layer allows for internet connectivity through the following web browsers: Internet Explorer 8.0 and later editions, and Safari 5 and later editions.

The IWB is a standalone computer that can be password-protected to ensure unauthorized users cannot use it as a copy-board or capture-board, but can still use it as a traditional whiteboard.

It also makes it compatible with color laser and inkjet printers with (printer) connection provided by Type A USB port. If the data cannot be printed immediately, then it can be saved in the internal memory (local drive) whose storage capacity is 32GB.

The other alternative is to connect an RJ-45 network cable to the ethernet port which allows the IWB data to be stored or shared across a networked system, including a system that incorporates FTP servers.

Its application layer allows for task organization and communication-wide organization, besides allowing data to be saved and retrieved from USB drives.

Relatedly, when connected to the PC, it is recognized by the PC OS as an external memory device from which stored data can be downloaded from, or PC data can be uploaded into the IWB.

The effective writing surface is 70.1inches long and 35.4inches high. This is also the size of the scannable area (also described as scanning surface area).

The endless horizontal scroll greatly maximizes the writing area on each panel, while capture-board functionality is supported by saving options that allow projected images, written notes, and drawn charts and diagrams to be saved in PDF formats for documents or JPG or PNG image formats.

The scanning time (duration for capturing the entire projection field) is 21 seconds for both color and black-and-white formats with the scan resolution capped at 50dpi. Even so, print resolution is capped at 300dpi.

The writing surface RGB LED as the light source for native illumination. Paging is achieved using horizontal scrolling, with its drive method being sheet movement; while a contact-image sensor provides reading capabilities.

Two writing surfaces mean that this IWB has 2 pages. The internal memory can save up-to 100pages, though this number varies depending on the data types.

Smartphone integration is provided by an application called meeting pocket app (MTG App) which can be installed in both Android and Apple smart devices. This app provides a scan function that allows the projected image to be saved in the phone, tablet, or phablet.

Moreover, the app allows for video and audio recording, with the recorded files bundled in the same folder as the saved projected image. This allows for file organization. Even so, this app can connect to the IWB via a wireless access point (WAP).

This is an energy-efficient IWB model that requires AC power input of 100-240 Volts (V) at 50-60Hertz (Hz) with current flow capped at 0.75amperes (A).

It uses 3 watts (W) when in standby mode, and this increases to 12W during operation without a printer. Its power output is 12V direct current (DC) at 3.0A. This IWB model benefits from a 12-month warranty.

Bottom-line

Plus C-20W is a portable integrated IWB unit that comes with 2 writing surfaces, integrated application layer, and network support that allows for internet connection, as well as data storage and retrieval from remote FTP servers.

It uses the pen mode, and its writing surfaces allow for horizontal scrolling. It supports wall-mounting and mounting on wheeled mobile stands, and can be used as a capture-board or copy-board.

It also allows for a quick scan with the scanned file being saved in multiple output formats: PDF, JPG and PNG. It also has an internal storage capacity of 32GB and is supported by a 12-month warranty. These aforementioned features along with its high quality and good build design make this IWB model the best color smart board in this review.

2. Best Black & White: Plus M-17S Copyboard

This is a portable integrated IWB unit that operates as a copy-board with 2 writing surface and an integrated application layer.

Its construction and operational designs are quite similar to the Plus C-20W, though devoid of capture-board capabilities, as well as lacks network supports which eliminates remote data transfer potential. Even so, it uses the pen mode, and its writing surfaces allow for horizontal scrolling.

It only allows for data/information to be written on it, and thereafter erased, stored, or printed via an optional printer (which as expected must be acquired separately).

Lack of capture-board hardware and functionalities also makes the Plus M-17S much cheaper and lighter (less heavy) than the C-20W, which is also designed and made by the Plus Corporation of America. The model and part numbers of this copy-board are M-17S and 423-084 respectively.

Just like the C-20W, this copy-board can be installed in two ways; wall mounting (or partition mounting) using magnets attached to the IWB, or mobile floor mounting to a self-standing mount with T-shaped legs.

The ready-to-use copy-board weighs about 33pounds, while the IWB is 58.3inches long, 39.4inches high, and 3.5inches thick. The mobile mount weighs 23pounds and is sometimes omitted from the package. The color scheme of this IWB unit is silver-gray-white.

In this copy-board, horizontal scrolling of the writing surface allows for two writing surfaces to be combined side-by-side into a single writable surface.

Its control panel is located at the lower section of the left vertical frame cover. It has press buttons that allow one to save work in a USB or PC; or print it in black-and-white.

Just like the C-20W, this copy-board has the same downside, lack of mouse functions, including click-and-drag emulation, across the projection field.

Functional-wise, this copy-board differs from the capture-board in one major way – the copy-board can only print black-and-white images while the Plus C-20W has the additional benefit of printing color images.

The panel size is 51.2inches long and 35.8inches high, while the effective writing surface is 50.4inches long and 35.4inches high. This also defines the scanning surface area.

Its copy-board functionalities are supported by saving options that allow for written notes and draw charts and diagrams to be saved in PDF formats for documents or JPG or PNG image formats.

The scanning time is 15 seconds with the scan resolution capped at 50dpi. Even so, print resolution is capped at 300dpi. Scanning is quicker in this copy-board as compared to the C-20W capture-board because the copy-board has a smaller scanning area.

The writing surface and reading area of this copy-board uses RGB LED for native illumination. Paging is achieved using horizontal scrolling, with its drive method being sheet movement; while a contact-image sensor provides reading capabilities.

Two writing surfaces mean that this IWB has 2 pages. The internal memory can save up-to 100pages, though this number varies depending on the data types.

Unlike the C-20W model, the M-17S model lacks a stable smartphone integration.

Even so, this copy-board is an electronic IWB that runs on a SoC that is compatible with the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional,
• Windows XP Home and Professional editions,
• 32-bit Vista and Windows7 both 32-bit and 64-bit;
• as well as Mac OS X 10.5 and later editions.

Its application layer allows for internet connectivity through the following web browsers: Internet Explorer 6.0 and later editions, and Safari 4 and later editions.

The printer connection is provided by Type A USB port. Furthermore, even if a color printer is connected, the printed document would still be black-and-white.

On the upside, batch printing is supported with 10 documents being printed simultaneously. Nonetheless, if the data cannot be printed immediately, then it can be saved in the internal memory (local drive) whose storage capacity is 32GB.

Its application layer allows for task organization and communication-wide organization, besides allowing data to be saved and retrieved from USB drives. Relatedly, when connected to the PC, it is recognized by the PC OS as an external memory device from where data can be retrieved or stored.

This copy-board is an energy-efficient IWB that requires AC power input of 100-240 V/50-60Hz with current flow capped at 0.75A. It uses 3W when in standby mode, and this increases to 12W during operation without a printer. Its power output is 12V DC at 3.0A. It also benefits from a 12-month warranty.