If you remember ReMarkable 2 when it was announced in March 2020, you’ll be happy to hear about its successor: reMarkable Paper Pro. This new unobtrusive writing slide comes with a sleek chassis, fast internals, a large display and most importantly, a color screen.
If you don’t know, reMarkable is the standard bearer for those devices that stand in the delta between high and low tech. It is an e-paper slide with a stylus (or keyboard) for reading, writing or editing your documents, or explanatory PDFs. The focus is on giving you a quiet space to get the Hard Work(™) done, without the distractions a “proper” computer or tablet can handle. The company has always emphasized that its devices give you a way to feel like you’re working on paper, without actually working on paper. Despite its age, the ReMarkable 2 has become a staple in our E Ink tablet guide as the best choice for most people. The only other products in the discussion are the Kobo Libra Color and the Onyx Book Tablet Note Air 3 C. Those models also boast color screens and paint compatibility, but both have smaller displays — 7 inches diagonally for the former and 10.3 inches for the latter. .
The Paper Pro is just over an inch longer and a quarter inch wider than its predecessor but manages to squeeze in a lot more stuff. The rM2 had a 10.3-inch monochrome display while the Paper Pro expanded to 11.8-inches. reMarkable’s Chief Design Officer Mats Solberg explained that his team worked to reduce the size of the bezels and chin to accommodate the larger display.
While the old model stuck to the strong idea of the post-iPad design language, the new Paper Pro gets a stronger look and feel. The edge band is sharp, if still comfortable to hold, and Solberg emphasized the grooves that are inserted into the sides. He explained that they both evoke the impression of holding a sheaf of paper, as well as adding a much-needed grip on such a thin device.
There are some impressive changes inside, with a new 1.8Ghz quad-core Cortex A53 paired with 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. In comparison, the rM2 had a 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 1GB RAM and only 8GB storage. As soon as you open the Paper Pro, you will see the benefits of the new silicon, with extremely fast response times. You even get a proper animation during the setup process.
But the real showstopper here is the display, which uses a modified version of E Ink’s Gallery 3 technology called “Canvas Color.” It means that the display holds a series of ink particles inside each pixel – White, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow – like most conventional printers. reMarkable says that the display is the same as newsprint and is a perfect match with vivid colors, if muted on the display.
The technology can also separate colors, mixing each ink particle to produce up to 20,000 other colors, and colors can also be layered. It means you can highlight sections of text in the same way you can use a highlighter on paper, the more layers you draw, the darker the color. Of course, the advantage of using a digital device is that you can flash it as many times as you like without it being difficult.
As always, reMarkable has reached the limit and turned it into an advantage, giving you colors with a high capacity to hold. And you don’t really need your retinas to burn unless you’re trying to organize your thoughts before a big meeting. Although, as has been the case with many well-made displays of late, I wish the colors would pop a little more than they do.
The Paper Pro is the first of its kind to feature a front light, finally allowing you to do some work in the dark. Solberg explained that the front light was one of the most difficult challenges to build without compromising the distance between the stylus tip and the display itself. He said the team was determined to keep the gap between the pen and the mirror to less than one millimeter, and they succeeded.
The last two slides had active displays but passive styluses, but the Paper Pro also gets an Apple Pencil-esque active stylus. It will charge while magnetically attached to the side of the bezel and new components help improve accuracy and latency. Solberg said the ReMarkable 2 has an input latency of 22ms, and he meant 15ms for this model. He was proud that the team broke that target, with Paper Pro’s latency down to just 12ms.
And yet, of all the subject changes, it is the added reaction that is the truly compelling element. The rM2 wasn’t a laggard, but the fast input really helps sell the idea of drawing ideas on paper. You can always pay the company to sweat the details, too, like you can add highlights or a handwritten annotation to a typed text that will follow the text around as you edit it.
The company is introducing a new Folio model that will go hand in hand with the Paper Pro which, like its parent, is bigger and gets back keys. I’ll admit, I was one of the few critics who liked the old model and felt it made the right compromises to keep its small size. The new model is able to take advantage of the extra room to provide better space and palm rest. It’s basically the same keyboard as before, and I found it much easier to work on for long periods of time.
I’m also impressed by reMarkable’s commitment to making the Paper Pro easier to maintain and repair than older models. Solberg explained that the Paper Pro is very similar to the hood under the hood, with easily replaceable components. He ruled that no further work would be done, but said that the only adhesive used on the chassis is the two pieces that are replaced to keep the battery in place. Repairs may need to take place at Remarkable HQ or a partner distributor, but the fact that it is built with an eye to long-term maintenance is commendable.
reMarkable Paper Pro is available to order today on the reMarkable website and Best Buy, priced at $579 for the regular Marker and $629 for the Marker Plus. If you want to add a case, and I heartily recommend you do, it will cost you between $89 and $179, depending on your choice of material. And if you want to add the Folio Type, you’ll need to cough up another $229. The ReMarkable 2 remains a low-cost option (surprisingly, since it’s a really nice piece of kit) and will now be available with the standard Mark for $379.
Of course, you and your wallet will have to decide what kind of money you can part with, especially in these tight times. For a product like this, the deliberate choices and limitations that have been made mean that it will always stack up badly against a similarly priced iPad. The trick is to figure out if you’ll be more productive with less mental and physical distraction in your computing environment, and move forward from there. I’ve found, if I have a lot of work to do and need to focus, it’s a better way to get out a first draft than other devices I can say.
Update, September 6, 4:43PM ET: This article has been updated after its original publication to include comparisons with competing writing tablets with color screens.
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