How can something so reMarkable get even more reMarkable (Paper Pro)

reMarkable have been around since 2013, launching the reMarkable 1 in 2017 and then the reMarkable 2 in 2020. Those were both monochrome e-ink tablets, those lucky enough to purchase a 1 got the connect service for life which syncs the reMarkable to the cloud and desktop and mobile applications (with a live view possible). The connect service is now only free during the 100 day trial (during which the reMarkable can be returned) and then £2.99 per month.

The reMarkable 2 is a great way to take and store notes, it can use templates and it's possible to annotate PDFs (and read ePub books). It really does feel like writing on paper (it's not exactly the same but much better than say an iPad even with a grippy screen protector). Being e-ink is also very pleasant on the eye and easy to read in most lighting conditions.

Both of the above are slightly smaller than A4. The reMarkable 2 is 246 x 188 mm and weights 404g with a 10.3" black, white and greyscale display (226 DPI). It weighs 404g and is 4.7mm thick.

The new reMarkable Paper Pro is slightly bigger at 274.1 x 196.6 mm with a 11.8" colour display (20,000 colours) and 229 PPI. It weighs 525g and is 5.1mm thick with an adjustable reading light (e-ink display work well in sunlight).

All reMarkables come with a marker that is suited to the display so it feels like a pen/pencil and it comes with spare tips (which can also be purchased separately). Though standard EMR digital pens can be used, not all the functions (such as erasers) will work and some of the tips may damage the display. Of course there's a premium marker available with an eraser on the rear (in UK £40 extra).

Though a case isn't necessary, having one that fits well and securely holds the reMarkable is important to some and the reMarkable polymer Book Folio is good enough for £79 (other cases are available such as a leather (brown or black £169), mosaic (basalt, burgundy, cobalt £129).

There's also a Folio keyboard which is an extra £219.

The Marker Plus, Book Folio and reMarkable Paper Pro

The packaging is all paper/cardboard so can be recycled.

Ripped packaging

Ripping the strip opens the packaging.

opened packaging

The reMarkable inside in it's off state.

USB-C and instructions

Under the device is the USB-C cable and instructions, again all in cardboard.

Book Folio

Again the Book Folio comes in cardboard packaging that you rip a strip off to open. This is the grey polymer weave folio.

reMarkable in Book Folio

The reMarkable Paper Pro sits on the case and is held by magnets and knows when the folio is closed. The screen is pre-powering the device.

Marker Plus (inc spare tips)

The Marker Plus has a textured finish and comes with several spare nibs (though a lot of use is required before they wear out).

Marker Pro on side of reMarkable

The Marker (and Pro) attach to the side of the reMarkable Paper Pro and are held magnetically.

reMarkable Paper Pro with Marker Pro and flap

The new Book Folio has a flap that can be pulled from the back (again held magnetically) which is good when the device is in a bag or similar as it can't come off. The original reMarkables didn't have this and the marker would fall (or be knocked) off when moving around and then the hunt for it would begin. This is a much better design for transport.

Bootup - colour screen

When the reMarkable starts up it displays a nice colour graphic. The scroll bar at the bottom shows the progress (it's Linux underneath).

Start Screen

Now get the marker out and press start. WiFi and other details need to be entered. Then any system updates will be applied. As a new user there's 100 days of the Connect service for free (after £2.99 per month or £29.90 per year), this allows sync'ing with other devices. There's a Windows/macOS/iOS and Android reMarkable app, the device will show a code and this is entered on the reMarkable website. There's also live sharing which will update another reMarkable (app or device) in real-time.

reMarkable 2 and reMarkable Paper Pro

The difference in size between the reMarkable 2 (on top) and reMarkable Paper Pro underneath. Also shows the lack of marker holder on the reMarkable 2.

Opened book folios showing reMarkable displays

When the reMarkable 2 and reMarkable Paper Pro are opened, the Paper Pro has a significantly larger display.

While the reMarkable 2 is a great system and great for notes and sketches, the Paper Pro's colour display makes a huge difference. Being able to sketch in colour makes it more like sketching on paper and though the colours are never going to be as good as an iPad or such like the e-ink display is superb and the colour screen still maintains that paper like feel (yes you can get tips for the Apple Pencil and screen protectors that improve the feel - they are not as good as this).

With the Connect subscription (which is definitely worth it - though original reMarkable users still get their original subscription for free), as well as the sharing systems, there's also access to templates and workbooks - productivity, planning, community, strategy, note-taking and communication. There's also integrations with Slack and unlimited cloud storage. There's also a 3 year protection plan.

The reMarkable Paper Pro is £599 and includes the Marker.

The Marker+ adds £40.

The Books Folios are

• Premium Leather (Black or Brown) £169
• Mosaic Weave (Basalt, Burgundy or Cobalt) £129
• Polymer Weave (Grey) £79

The Type Folio (keyboard) £219

There's free shipping to UK.

There are also business Connect subscriptions which give different features like device management and single sign-on.

All in all recommended.

It's a tablet with re-markable electronic ink display that almost feels like paper

The reMarkable tablet is an e-ink device (and pressure sensitive stylus) that is meant to be a replacement for pen and paper. While it's not quite there, it actually does a pretty remarkable job. The stylus is pressure sensitive (with 2048 levels) and tilt is also detected, allowing the pencil tool to emulate a real pencil (and other tools thinner or thicker lines dependant on pressure).

The unit is well made with a aluminium back and the e-ink display (monochrome) has a special coating so the stylus does feel somewhat like pen on paper. The black and white contrast is very clear with a 1872x1404 resolution (226 DPI) on a 10.3 inch screen. The whole unit is 6.9 x 10.1 x .26 inches and weighs 350g. It also comes with a wallet that holds both the device and stylus and spare nibs for the stylus (and a tool to extract the old nib).

Battery life is pretty good and it will last a few days, though if not using it turn it off rather than putting in standby) having a capacity of 3000 mAh. It has a standard micro-USB for charging (which can also be used to connect to a computer and then access through a web browser to access the files). Internal storage is 8GB (claimed 100,000 pages) and 512MB of RAM coupled with a 1GHz ARM A9 CPU which makes the system pretty responsive. It runs a mobile version of Linux (Codex) which has been optimised to drive the e-eink display.

Though the tablet can be run by itself, it can also be used with the reMarkable web service, so documents will be automatically sync'ed and then can be made available to the desktop (macOS/Windows) or mobile (iOS/Android) clients. It's also possible to import documents into the clients, then they'll be upload to the tablet when it next goes on-line.

Currently the software understands ePub and PDF documents. A nice feature is that PDF documents can be imported, then a new layer created and then use the new layer to annotate etc. Then the document can be exported again with the annotations.

There are several ways to list documents, but in the start-up mode the tablet will have a rM (access to settings etc), then below that and My Files, then Notebooks, Documents, Ebooks and Bookmarks.

Notebooks are where you create documents., which can also be organised into folders. Each page can support multiple layers and there are several templates available (plain pages, isometric, ruled, dots, etc).

It's possible to delete Notebooks/EBooks etc from the device.

A slight oddity is with Quick sheets which is a single notebook that's always there. Multiple pages can be created and functionality is identical to a Notebook, though there doesn't seem to be anyway of deleting them, so once a page is created, though it's possible to erase the data of it, there's no way to delete the actual pages themselves.

The 3 keys at the bottom of the tablet are for navigation, left button goes back a page, middle is home and right goes forward a page.

At some point in the future there will be a system to convert hand written text to text, but that's not there yet and there's no timescales for when it will be implemented (there's been no software updates for the device since it arrived).

Should you get one? It's a really good idea and it's transportable i.e. you'd use this instead of a pad of paper. However there are quirks and the software could do with improving. It's nice to be able to annotate existing documents or use it to draw (if your writing is illegible with a pen, it will be just as illegible on the reMarkable). It is nice to be able to export straight to a PDF of JPG.

Pre-orders were heavily discounted but it's now shipping for £579