I started messing with reMarkable's tablets for as long as the company has been around. Their original slab, the RM1 had little to recommend when it was released. It was slow, a little glitchy and, its writing tools were rudimentary, at best. But it offered the closest analogue to writing with a pen on paper I'd ever encountered. I hate working with an iPad and Apple Pencil. I frigging love scribbling on reMarkable hardware. One of the things that makes it great is that while they don't often release new hardware, reMarkable is always coming out with software upgrades, bug fixes and small tweaks to their tablets' operating system. It feels like they give a shit about their users–even though some would argue that their service subscription to make full use of their tablets is a little lousy (I'm not one of them.)
When the reMarkable 2 popped, I bought that as well and, after a year of use, reviewed it for work. The addition of writing-to-text, e-reader functionality, integration with popular cloud services like Microsoft Office and Dropbox and maybe most importantly, the ability to pair the device with a keyboard for distraction-free writing made the RM2 an indispensable tool for me. The device shared a significant flaw with the company's first tablet, however: it doesn't come with front or backlighting. That means it can only be used when the lights are on.
Enter the reMarkable Paper Pro: it's the company's first tablet with a front-lit display. It's also their first device capable of displaying colour. Despite the omission of a few features that would improve the user experience, it's pretty much the tablet I've always wanted.
- It's a handwriting-first device. There's no latency between the time that the stylus hits the display and what you've written shows up.
- It's speedier than previous reMarkable tablets. Screen fresh and on-screen response when doing things like moving around cut and paste content is noticeably improved.
- It's about as distraction-free as it gets. With the exception of files you send to it to read or annotate, there's nothing on the Paper Pro to get in the way of your productivity.
- Like the RM2, the Paper Pro can also be paired with a keyboard folio to churn out words when you get tired of writing them down by hand.
My two favourite upgrades? Front lighting and the ability to show content in color.
With Front lighting, I can now use the tablet under any lighting condition, which makes it a hell of a lot more useful. Being able to pull it out and work on a redeye flight without pissing off my neighbour is a win. The ability to use it as an e-reader in bed before I go to sleep? Bigger win.
Being able to display and create content in color has proven a bigger deal than I thought it would be. Annotation and highlighting passages in a document now stand out from the black and white of the print and screen. And, if I want to, I can devour graphic novels on the Paper Pro's 11.8" display.
Of course, it's not perfect.
I'd love it if the screen lighting was a little brighter. Additionally, while content on the Paper Pro is perfectly legible, it's nowhere near as crisp as what you'll get out of an Onyx Boox or Amazon Kindle device. So yeah, I'd like it if things appeared a little bit sharper. But this is such a small list of gripes, it's hardly worth mentioning.
If you find the multi-functionality of an iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab off-putting but want to use less paper in your life, this could be the device you've been waiting for.
Previously:
• ReMarkable e-Ink sketching slate pitched at 'paper people'
• e-ink keyboard changes for every purpose
• E-ink phone is like a Kindle and a Blackberry had a baby
• Pebble e-ink watch to return
