I wrote this review on the ReMarkable Paper Pro. What better way to test it than using it as the distraction-free writing device it promises to be? This digital notebook is technically a successor to the ReMarkable 2 that launched in 2020—though the Norwegian company is presenting it as the “upgrade” model with more features, commanding a higher price.
This tablet now has a color E Ink screen, a front light that makes it visible in the dark, and an active stylus paired with a more responsive display, making the whole package feel much closer to the experience of writing with pen and paper. Considering the company will still be selling the ReMarkable 2 for $399—still an excellent digital notebook—it’s hard to say the ReMarkable Paper Pro is worth the eyebrow-raising $579 price (minus accessories), and it’s probably not worth an upgrade if you already have the ReMarkable 2.
But if you struggle to stay focused on a laptop and miss the feeling of pen and paper—which has real benefits for memory retention—the Paper Pro can be an invaluable tool. The updates in this model are welcome, and if it means being able to write this review without hearing an incessant ping from Slack, then that might just be priceless.
Color Me Mine
Photograph: Nena Farrell
I love taking notes, whether it’s on a paper planner or a digital notebook. The Paper Pro is bigger than most of these, with an 11.8-inch screen, so it feels much closer to having a sheet of A4 paper in front of me. It’s a nice size for my loopy handwriting and ever-growing lists, but it’s not so large that it’s uncomfortable to carry around. It’s thin enough to stack on my laptop or a large book as I wander about my home. It’s just over a pound, which is manageable.
I’m also a big fan of adding color when I can, and that’s the headline feature here. Color E Ink screens have been becoming more common of late—Kobo has a color e-reader and it’s safe to expect Amazon to release one soon—but ReMarkable says its Canvas Color technology was built on top of E Ink’s color display and features physical color particles that move around the screen. It’s not a color filter sitting on top of a black-and-white display, which is what you’ll find on some other color E Ink screens.
The colors aren’t electric but muted, kind of like colored pencils rather than a set of vibrant pens or highlighters. The shades range from classic primary shades of red, blue, and yellow to magenta and cyan. You can choose gray or white too, and the latter only shows up if you’re writing on top of another color. There are seven different pen styles to choose from, similar to the ReMarkable 2, all of which have the same range of six colors and three neutrals, while the highlighter and new shader have slightly different color options.
The colors on the page are still easy to see and identify. The experience of using them is fun too; when you initially write it’s often black or gray, and then the Paper Pro starts recoloring the letters after you lift your pen. Typed text, meanwhile, can only show up in black. I liked using the colors to mark edits I needed to make when proofreading my typed work or to write color-coded notes. The black pen color is much darker than any of the colors, so much so that I would use gray as my neutral option so that it wouldn’t make the colorful writing look faded.
Power Up
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Another major upgrade is the built-in light. It’s not a backlight like your smartphone or tablet but a frontlight like on many e-readers—the light faces the display and illuminates it, reflecting it up to your eyes and making the display readable in the dark. If you’re in a well-lit room, you might not even notice the light is on—I can barely see the difference when sitting at a table with plenty of natural light. But in darker rooms, the gentle glow of the screen reminds me of reading on my Kindle at night. It’s well suited for writing your novel on an evening plane ride or taking notes in a dimmed presentation hall.