If you remember remarkable 2 when it is It was announced in March 2020you’ll be excited to hear about its successor: reMarkable Paper Pro. This new distraction-free tablet comes with a sleeker chassis, faster internals, a bigger display and, most importantly, a color screen.
If you’re not familiar, reMarkable is the standard bearer for these devices that stand in the delta between high and low tech. It’s an electronic paper slate with a pen (or keyboard) for reading, writing, or editing your own documents or annotating PDFs. The focus is on giving you a quieter place to get some Serious Work(™) done, away from the distractions of a ‘proper’ computer or tablet. The company has always argued that its devices offer a way to feel like you’re working on paper, without having to. Despite its age, reMarkable 2 has been a mainstay for us E Ink tablets guide is the best choice for most people as an option. The only other products currently in the conversation Kobo Scale Color and Onyx Book Tablet Note Air 3 C. These models also boast color screens and stylus compatibility, but both have smaller displays – 7 inches diagonally in the former and 10.3 inches in the latter.
The Paper Pro is a little over an inch longer and a quarter of an inch wider than its predecessor, but it managed to squeeze in more stuff. The rM2 has a 10.3-inch monochrome display, while the Paper Pro has an 11.8-inch display. Mats Solberg, Chief Design Officer of reMarkable, explained that his team tried to reduce the size of the bezels and chin to accommodate the larger screen.
While the older model stuck to the rugged concept of the post-iPad design language, the new Paper Pro gets a tougher look and feel. While the edge band is still comfortable to grip, it’s sharper, and Solberg emphasized the grooves carved into the sides. He explained that it both evokes the idea that you’re holding a sheet of paper in your hand, while also adding much-needed grip to such a thin device.
There are dramatic changes on the inside, with a new 1.8Ghz quad-core Cortex A53 paired with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. By comparison, the rM2 had a 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 1GB of RAM, and just 8GB of storage. As soon as you start Paper Pro, you’ll see the benefits of the new silicon with faster response times. You even get relevant animations during the installation process.
But the actual screen on display here uses a modified version of E Ink’s Gallery 3 technology called “Canvas Color.” This means that the display stores a number of ink particles within each pixel – White, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow – just like most conventional printers. reMarkable says the display looks like newsprint, which is an apt analogy with the clear, muted colors on the display.
The technology can also change colors by mixing each ink particle to produce up to 20,000 other colors, and colors can also be layered. This means that you can highlight parts of the text in the same way that you use highlighter on paper, the more layers you apply, the darker the color will be. Of course, the advantage of using a digital device is that you can highlight it as much as you want without getting anything wet.
As always, reMarkable has taken the limit and turned it into a benefit, offering you colors with a heavy dose of limitation. If you’re trying to organize your thoughts before a big meeting, you really don’t need your retinas burning from the inside out. Although I’ve been spoiled by such well-made displays lately, I wish the colors would pop a little more.
The Paper Pro is finally the first flagship with a front light that lets you get some work done in dark environments. Solberg explained that building the front light without damaging the distance between the stylus tip and the screen itself is one of the most difficult challenges. He said the team was determined to keep the space between the pen and the display below one millimeter, and they succeeded.
The last two slates had active displays but passive styluses, but the Paper Pro also gets an active stylus similar to the Apple Pencil. It will charge when magnetically attached to the side of the frame, and new components help improve accuracy and latency. Solberg said the reMarkable 2 has an input lag of 22ms and is aiming for 15ms for this model. He was proud to say that the team smashed that target by reducing Paper Pro’s latency to just 12ms.
However, for all the title changes, it’s the added responsiveness that’s really the appealing feature. The rM2 was no slouch, but the faster input really helps sell the idea that you’ve drawn up on paper. You can always give credit to the company for sweating the details, for example, it will follow the text as you edit, you can add emphasis or handwritten annotation to the typed text.
The company is introducing a new Type Folio to go with the Paper Pro, which like its parent is bigger and has backlit keys. I admit I was one of the few critics who loved the old model and felt it made the right compromises to keep the size small.. The new model can use the extra room to offer better headroom and palm rest. It’s basically the previous keyboard, and I found it pretty easy to work on for long periods of time.
I’m also impressed with reMarkable’s commitment to making the Paper Pro easier to repair and upgrade than older models. Solberg explained that the Paper Pro is more modular under the hood, with easily replaceable components. He ruled out end-user repairs, but said the only adhesive used on the chassis was two replaceable adhesive strips to hold the battery in place. Repairs will most likely have to be done at reMarkable HQ or a partner distributor, but it is commendable that it has been designed with long-term maintenance in mind.
reMarkable Paper Pro is available to order today reMarkable website and Best Buy$579 with the standard Marker and $629 for the Marker Plus. If you want to add a case, which I wholeheartedly recommend, it will cost you between $89 and $179, depending on your choice of material. If you want to add the Type Folio, you’ll have to pay an additional $229. The ReMarkable 2 remains a lower-priced option (not surprisingly, it’s a really good piece of kit), and will now be available with the standard Marker for $379.
Of course, you and your wallet will have to decide whether this is an amount you can afford to part with, especially in these tight times. With a product like this, the deliberate choices and limitations mean it will always stack up badly against a similarly priced iPad. The trick is to assume that you’ll be more productive with less mental and physical clutter in your computing environment, and go from there. When I have a lot to do and need to focus, I’ve found it to be a better way to do first drafts than any other device I can name.
Update, September 6, 4:43 PM ET: This story has been updated since its original publication to include a comparison with competing writing tablets with color screens.
