I won't beat around the bush here, I really liked the reMarkable 2. Getting it almost three years ago now for a review, it's one of my most used bits of tech, and that experience only got better last year with the release of the Type Folio. Since then I've had the digital typewriter of my dreams, using it to draft the majority of my reviews and editorial content.

Despite my love for the reMarkable 2, I've not been without my wants and various desires. What if I had just a handful of colours for marking up? What if I the screen could light up like my e-reader? Much of this I'd dismissed for a distant future, assuming the tech just wasn't there yet in a way that could preserve the writing experience I'd come to love. Back in September reMarkable finally showed their hand with their new Paper Pro tablet, and having both of these coveted features, I was stoked to be hands on with it to really see if it could live up to my lofty expectations.

Out of the Box

As a company reMarkable have always done a good job with its packaging. Coming in a number of simple all-paper boxes, the Paper Pro and its accessories push the environmental friendliness and brand simplicity out of the gate... But that's not what we're here for.

On the surface level the Paper Pro is a good bit larger than the reMarkable 2, with the entire body of the RM2 sitting at around the Paper Pro’s screen size. Gone is the spine on the left of the device, notable for housing the pogo connector that enables the Type Folio to work, in favour of a more uniform design. It’s actually not too different to the original reMarkable, albeit without the buttons along the bottom bezel. As a general design choice it’s not something I really like or dislike, it’s just different. I can imagine the uniformity of the body making more sense with the device aiming to be ambidextrous, with the spine creating a division between left and right-handed users, but as a right-hander I’ve had no issues moving between the two while testing the Paper Pro.

Along with the removed spine, the new system also boasts a really sleek metal body, supposedly reminiscent of a stack of paper. It feels both solid and premium, while only adding 4mm of thickness over the RM2. The power button remains on the top edge of the device on the left side, and the USB C charging port remains on the bottom edge in-line with it. The only other change worth noting is that the pogo connector now lives on the back of the device, maintaining its functionality to connect to a new Type Folio. But we’ll get onto that later.

Between the size increase and choice of materials used, the Paper Pro does come at a price for those wanting a lightweight tablet, though still does manage to stay within a manageable weight class for me. At 525g it’s something I have no issues throwing into my bag, this compared to the the 404g of the RM2. Those numbers don’t quite tell the whole story though, since you’ll probably want a case too. With the standard leather case you’re bumping the Paper Pro up to 825g, and the bulkier-yet Type Folio almost doubles the weight of the device to 1040g. Note the reMarkable 2 with Type Folio is 879g, which is relatively close to the Paper Pro, in that case more than doubling the device’s weight. I sadly don’t have the standard leather RM2 case to round out the comparisons having given it to my mother after talking her into one of the systems earlier this year. Personally speaking I’m no stranger to bulk in my bag, already using a fairly large and spacious backpack when commuting to work to carry a tank of a laptop. The extra weight isn’t something I notice on my back, but I could certainly see it impacting those travelling lighter. The weight of the Paper Pro by itself is manageable though, and likely wouldn’t be a problem for those who might want to hold the device in one hand to draw or comfortably take notes. Only being held in place by magnets, it’s simple to just pull it from its case if you do feel yourself wanting to hold a little less. That ease of removal is something I would consider more important for those considering the Type Folio, but the 300g saving of even the basic leather case isn’t something to be overlooked.

A touch thicker than the reMarkable 2.

In terms of the case there are a few changes worth talking about in both aesthetics and usability. Unlike the RM2 only a book folio is purchasable from reMarkable themselves, with the simple sleeve no longer being offered. You get three different materials to pick from, with the black or brown leather case being the most expensive, followed by a “mosaic weave” in three colours, and finally the cheapest option in the single-coloured polymer weave. Both the mosaic and polymer weave folios appear to be made of the same recycled polyester, with the difference being the colours available to buy, and the texture of the surface. Looking at those those changes I mentioned, you really have one big one and a few small ones. To get those small changes out of the way, the reMarkable logo has moved from the bottom right to the top left of the cover, and is now debossed as opposed to being embossed. That means the logo is sunk into the material instead of sticking out from it. On top of that, for the brown leather case, the colour is a lot duller when compared to what we saw in the RM2. I definitely did prefer the old colour, but it is splitting hairs a touch.

The real change that does make a difference is the inclusion of a strap to hold the pen in place when it’s attached to the side of the device. I’ll be the first to admit that the pen falling off the reMarkable in transit isn’t really an issue I’ve had. I have a large bag where the tablet gets its own pocket, and it’s always been fine for me; that’s not the case for everybody though. Amusingly just as I got the Paper Pro, I had my mother calling me asking if reMarkable made a pen holder for the RM2 because she was having this exact issue. She ended up making her own that attached to the case with elastic, but a case that takes this into account is naturally the better option. I appreciate what they went for here. It’s simple and clean, with the holder folding flat into the case when not in use. It doesn’t get in the way and does what it set out to. It’s a good case, and one that also now supports waking the device when opened, which is something I love to see.

A creative solution for reMarkable 2 users out there!

I do want to mention that with my case, I did notice the edges not quite be finished as nicely as I’d have expected. Where the RM2’s cases all have smooth edges, this one is shockingly rough, especially along the top edge. Only having one book folio to hand I can’t say whether this is a more widespread issue, but given the Type Folio I have to hand is smooth along each edge, I would want to hope this is just a quirk of an early sample. If you think this is something that would bother you, I’d advise looking into other reviews to get more opinions on the case.

The final major element of the package is of course the pen, and there are some pretty sizeable changes in this department too. What we’re looking at here is a completely different technology driving the pen (and by extension the screen). I’m not the most privy to the technicalities, but the gist is that we now have an active pen that requires charging to interact with the display. It does charge when held in place on the side of the system by magnets, much like Apple’s more recent iPads with the Apple Pencil, so that point hasn’t been an issue to me at least. Where I can see it disappointing some is the fact that the previous ecosystem of third party pens is completely out of the window.

As a whole the pen feels nice in-hand. It’s plastic but it doesn’t feel cheap, and has a good balance between being lightweight enough to hold for extended periods and weighty enough as to feel substantial in my hand. The version I have here is the more expensive Marker Plus that comes with an eraser on the top. That is the only change from the cheaper basic Marker, so if it’s not something you feel you’d use you can save a little money.

On the note of money, I can imagine you’re crying out to know exactly how much everything I just talked about adds up to… And it isn’t cheap. Though they have made some positive changes since we were last here. Your basic Paper Pro package comes in at £559, and for that you’re getting the tablet and the basic Marker. That probably doesn’t sound too important a point to mention, but considering the reMarkable 2 came bundled with nothing you have to give credit where due. If you can’t live without that eraser, the Marker Plus is an additional £40 though. You don’t get a case in this bundle, but I can see people making or buying generic tablet sleeves that will probably do fine here if wanting to keep costs down. If you are wanting one of reMarkable’s own book folios, you’re looking at an additional £79, £129, or £169 for your choice of polyester weave, mosaic weave, or leather materials. If you’re wanting to stretch to the Type Folio, which again I will come back to later, you’re looking at an additional £219.

Were I building my own bundle here, I would personally go with the normal Marker and the Type Folio for a total price of £739, but if typing isn’t so important to you there are obviously significant savings to be had. I do want to shine a quick light on the fact that reMarkable did also use the release of the Paper Pro to offer a similar bundle for the reMarkable 2, now including a standard Marker at its £399 price point (or £349 if you’re happy with a refurbished unit). If some of the newer features of the Paper Pro aren’t things that interest you, it’s still a really fantastic e-ink notebook, at a slightly more attractive price.

A Refreshed System

After all of that, I should probably start talking about the Paper Pro itself. The screen is really the star of this show, the 11.8 inch canvas being a small but notable bump from the reMarkable’s 10.3 inches. There’s a lot more happening under the hood though, giving two key features that I eluded to right at the start of the review: colour e-ink, and a front light. Before we get to the flagship changes though, let’s start with the basics. With a new screen and a new pen, the writing experience is naturally completely different. Better? Worse? I don’t think there’s a concrete answer.

The reMarkable 2’s screen is really quite soft. The best comparison I could make is using a soft pencil on a stack of paper. It remains responsive and is still great to write on all these years later. The Paper Pro is something entirely its own. The display feels harder, like writing on a single sheet of paper on a desk, or maybe some thicker card, with the pen feeling more like a sharp pencil or Biro. With the screen and pen combined the larger experience manages to feel more precise, and also a little scratchier and louder. I find all of those elements come together quite satisfyingly, but it’s one of those things you’d want to try to really know for yourself. The 100 day return window does again make a return, but to mirror a thought from my original RM2 review, it’s a huge shame they don’t have these things in retail stores for a real hands-on experience. A good number of years ago this is exactly how I was exposed to Kobo e-readers, thanks to their partnership with the UK book chain WHSmith. I do understand the retail landscape is vastly different to what it was back then, and that retail presence is something of a risk, but putting down more than £500 on the chance something is for you is a big ask. Even with a generous return policy.

Looking at the Paper Pro’s front light, it’s pretty much everything I could’ve wanted, albeit with some of reMarkable’s quirks blended in. By swiping down from the top-right of the display, you get access to a small menu that lets you toggle the front light, and pick between five degrees of intensity. Unlike the Boox e-reader I regularly use, this is just a single slider. There’s no cold or warm light balancing, you get what reMarkable have tuned for you and that’s all. And that does fit in with the larger theme of the device, for better or worse. This is something that feels so thought through and developed, with the caveat of “mother knows best” hanging over your head. In general, reMarkable devices don’t offer you much of the freedom you’ll find or even expect from other devices. I will just say the front light is good, managing to evenly illuminate the screen without significantly changing how the colours look on-screen. I do think it’s good, but if you didn’t, there would be no real recourse. The simplicity and focus at the core of the software, and the brand, can feel like restraints if you’re wanting to really go that step further in configuration and personalisation. It’s a double-edged sword that has its pros and cons. If you pick up this device, you’re using it the way reMarkable want you to, with the settings they’ve cherry picked to expose to you. I do appreciate the kind of simplicity that’s made it so accessible to even my technophobic parents, but at times I do find myself wanting one thing here or there that I’m just not able to access or do.

As a whole though the Paper Pro tablet is a really impressive feat, with the actual distance between the pen and the pen and the ink being less than what we saw with the RM2. They managed to squeeze in a light and a colour display, and still manage that! It’s all quite impressive to me, and circles back to really contribute to that responsive and precise writing experience. It’s not quite perfect, with the front light having something of a halo when on maximum brightness, but nothing it does is detrimental to the point of putting me off using any of the features.

With so much more under the hood, as well as a larger display, you might be wondering how battery life is impacted. This is really the only area where there is a notable downgrade from the previous RM2. For context the battery itself is a good chunk larger, coming in at 5030 mAh vs the RM2’s 3000 mAh, but there’s also a lot more that’s crying out for that power. The specs sheet advertises up to two weeks of battery life, but you won’t be getting close to that using the front light. My first day of using the Paper Pro I managed to get the battery from 100% to 47%. This was with heavy use and the front light turned all the way up, but you should manage your expectations accordingly. Using the system lightly for the rest of the week it was down to 11% after five days, at which point I charged it. Without the front light enabled you are able to push more out of it, coming closer to that original two week mark.

Supporting the Hardware

Moving onto the underlying software it stays true to my previous points, with simplicity and focus absolutely at its core. If you’ve seen the reMarkable’s OS in the past you’ll find a lot of familiarity here; the software between the RM2 and the Paper Pro only really diverges in a few places, making for a non-existent learning curve for previous users. For those new to this though, let me give you a quick rundown.

Opening your device will lead you to a files screen, where your documents, notebooks, e-books, and everything else is presented in a in a list. You’re able to organise this list using a combination of folders and tags, with the folders navigable as you would expect in any modern operating system, and tags quickly searchable via a search button that stays with you through the file explorer. You can filter your view to show all your notebooks, PDFs, and e-books too, though I find this a little cluttered of a view when working with anything but a small set of files.

When organising your files, there’s any number of approaches you can take, but with a new device I figured I would also try something new. As a part of their promotional materials, the reMarkable YouTube channel showed off the PARA method. This is a fairly simple approach that sorts your files between Projects, Areas, Resources, and an Archive. I won’t dwell too much on it, but it’s a system that’s worked well for me in how I use the device. The OS feels noticeably faster when compared to the RM2, making navigation between files all that bit better. It’s not to say I ever really felt the RM2 was sluggish, though I do question whether it’s just because I have a certain set of expectations when it comes to e-ink devices, and speed typically isn’t one of them.

From the main menu you can also access the limited settings reMarkable allow you to play with, and more importantly external cloud services such as OneDrive and Google Drive. I am a little sad to see that even several years later these external services aren’t fully integrated into the system, and are at best passable. You have no way to work from your cloud service of choice, requiring you create a duplicate document, and then later re-export it back. More a nitpick from my own lack of organisation on my OneDrive, but I would’ve also loved to have seen some kind of optional filtering available to the reMarkable to only show files that are actually compatible with the device. It’s tiresome to go through a huge list of files that the device knows it can’t read, displaying a tag that says as much, without a way to just hide them. I could of course organise my files better, I won’t deny that, but these kinds of small changes really do go a long way in making you want to use the device more, and go further with integrating it into what workflow you already have.

You'll find a few different options available to you with certain pen types.

Much like with the menus, the UI driving the note taking, the real core of the Paper Pro, remains incredibly familiar. Down the left side of the screen (or right for left-handed users) you have a collapsible toolbar to give you quick access to two pen configurations, as well as text, an erasing tool, a selection tool, undo, and redo. Following this toolbar to the bottom of the screen, you have the generally lesser-used options to display your notebook as individual pages, tag the current page you’re on, add, hide, and move between layers, set your template, and a few other handy things like sharing your screen live and sending your notebook via email. It’s worth mentioning too that a few of these actions are also available to you via gestures, with undo and redo being accessible via tapping with two and three fingers respectively.

Something reMarkable have always done well is presenting what you can do clearly and simply. This remains true here, resulting in a system you can really get to grips with quickly. The only real changes between the RM2 and the Paper Pro in the software is the pens that are available to you, with nine available here, and all but a few offering nine colours to choose from. Pick your pen, pick your width, pick your colour, and just start writing, drawing, whatever. The Marker’s ability to sense the angle it’s currently held at makes for a really natural writing and drawing experience, with tools like the paint brush standing out in showing the brush’s bristles in the stroke as the pen tilts. The highlighter is a personal favourite of mine as somebody more focused on typing thanks to the option to make it snap to text. On top of this, you’re able to highlight full blocks of text by drawing a diagonal line over it, which is something I’ve appreciated for making larger sections of a video script stand out when trying to read from it.

Each of the available colours look absolutely fantastic on the display, but those new to the tech might be unpleasantly surprised when using them for the first time. I won’t go into too much detail here because frankly my technical knowledge is limited, but the gist is that when you’re drawing or writing in anything other than black or white, you’ll see the line you just created flash black before settling into its final colour. Until you lift your pen (and wait a moment after), what you’ll actually get is something of an approximation. Some colours like red and blue are quite close, while others will only really show their lustre after the brief refresh. I have to say a part of me is impressed with how it all comes together; refreshing only the small part of the screen that actually needs updating seems like a really neat thing in my mind.

Though it is definitely better than forcing a full-screen refresh so frequently, I can still see it being something of a frustration or distraction to some. I’ve been watching a lot of content around the Paper Pro since getting it myself, and one thought to address this really stuck with me in having a limited palette of “good enough” colours. Like the red and blue mentioned earlier, these could be colours that look close enough to their intended colour without a refresh. It wouldn’t be a solution for the artists who really want to work with the full range available, but for folks like me who just like to make their titles stand out on a page, it really would be ideal.

On the note of colour palettes, it is also something of a disappointment to see such a limited number of colours available to pick from, especially when the screen is more than capable of going beyond that. It even gives you the tools to do so in the Blender. The Blender gives you eight washed out colours to layer on top of each other, a little like water colours, to get to pretty much any colour you can think of. It’s great on paper, and I really do appreciate what it enables… But why are you not able to save any of the colours you’ve made? Even if we just had a colour picker tool you could use the page itself to store your mixed colours; I wouldn’t call that ideal but it would be more than we have now. There are feature suggestions I see pop up every so often that I understand reMarkable holding off on as to preserve their simple and distraction-free ecosystem, but things like this stand out to me as areas they could, and should, improve on. They enhance what the device is already doing, and could do so without adding much of any in terms of complexity or distraction.

The way the system works right now is fine for me, and frankly I’ve been absolutely loving the writing experience. That doesn’t mean things can’t improve though, and with a fairly frequent update cycle I’m hopeful they will continue to.

A New Type Folio

When it originally launched, the Type Folio absolutely transformed how I used the reMarkable 2, giving me the comfortable digital typewriter I’d always wanted to make the most of my faster typing speed. The RM2 went from a system I could use for miscellaneous notes and thoughts to something I could draft full reviews and editorials on, and before the Paper Pro it’s exactly what I used. My workflow sees me using the reMarkable to write notes on games and hardware as they’re played and used, typically hand-written. From there I’ll use those notes to come up with a structure for the review, and draft more cohesive and flowing points, before moving onto writing out the review itself. The Type Folio has always felt great for what it is, ultimately being a compact laptop-style keyboard when you need it that happily folds away when you don’t. As mentioned previously it does add both weight and bulk, but to somebody like me it is genuinely invaluable. The Paper Pro’s Type Folio really is no different in that respect, though the increased size of the device does allow for some improvements.

New and old side by side.

Starting from the top row, we see the same half-height number keys. What’s new here is an additional two keys, one being the +/= key in the top-right, and the other being the escape key in the top-left. Following the keyboard down we see each of the keys on the left side taking up a bit more room, as well as a cluster of familiar keys returning on the right. It’s great to see square brackets and braces here, as well as the #/~ key of the UK layout. I will make a note here to say each of these keys was technically accessible before, making use of either multiple modifier layers or an additional menu that can be summoned using Ctrl+Alt+Space. They were always available, but having them in a much more natural position makes the larger typing experience much more fluid for those actively using them, and puts it that step closer to what you’d just naturally expect from a laptop keyboard. On the note of that additional menu though, I did recently notice it not loading when typing in a notebook. It does still appear when renaming notebooks, so I would assume it’s a bug. Even with the expanded keyboard there are still some special characters unique to the menu, so I would like to see access to it be fixed.

The UK layout keyboard I have on hand ultimately manages to feel really familiar, and didn’t really have much in the way of a learning curve for me. The only real oddity worth noting is the inclusion of the “ç” character next to left shift. On a regular UK keyboard this key would be backslash by default, and “|” when holding shift. Here though we see the “|” on a normal keypress, and “ç” when holding shift. I assume this decision was made for the UK keyboard to have better parity with other EU layouts, but with reMarkable not showing them on their site I can’t say for sure. An accessible backslash key isn’t a huge loss on a device like this, but it’s a weird enough omission to mention at least.

If you’ve been perusing the images on the review, you might have also noticed a new non-standard key on the folio that sits next to Alt Opt. This new key acts as a toggle to switch to a focused typing mode, and it really just does what it says on the tin. When enabled, all the menus and toolbars disappear, and your Marker becomes a tool for selecting and moving text around. It’s a small feature, but it’s one I appreciate here as much as I do on apps like Scrivener. The reMarkable in itself isn’t exactly cluttered with its larger UI, but that feeling of returning to a bare page of just text is something I really enjoy. I would criticise the lack of full screen refresh when going into this mode though; the clean layout does find itself somewhat marred by the afterimage of the toolbar. I can understand wanting to keep full refreshes to a minimum, with them being distracting to some, but it goes back to my larger criticism of reMarkable locking down settings so much. This could easily be a setting for people to toggle, or better yet, a button for a full screen refresh could just be added to the quick menu for when the user feels they want to refresh the screen. As a whole the Paper Pro does a good job of knowing what to refresh and when, but there’s always going to be odd instances where you just want things to be cleaned up outside of this.

One last thing I want to mention is that the keyboard now lights up, much like the Paper Pro itself. You have five levels of lighting to pick from on the quick menu, with only the centre of the keyboard lighting up. It feels an odd choice to only illuminate the letters, but I can appreciate the ties back to keeping the device distraction-free. The keyboard is by no means cluttered, much like I was saying with the UI, but I really enjoy this thread of refinement and focus being weaved into every part of the Paper Pro. Everything seems intentional, and it all comes together for a genuinely wonderful package.

Imperfect but Ultimately Fantastic

I really do love reMarkable’s latest release, even if it is lacking a number of things to really reach the potential I feel it has. For me personally, there’s one big feature I’m waiting on to elevate it beyond what it is now. The larger screen gives you more room to work with, and for those like me typing, there’s a huge amount of screen space sitting idle with the system being landscape. My biggest want from the future would be the ability to have two notebooks open side by side, and this would be such a game-changer. I’d be able to have notes or drafts side by side as I write reviews out, marking up and ticking off things as I go. As it is now I’m forced to open my notes on a separate device, and while that does work, it does take away from the Paper Pro’s real draw of being this switch off and write kind of system.

The reMarkable Paper Pro is a fantastic upgrade to a device I already used daily, but I do appreciate that the tech at its basest form is still a very niche thing. I won’t pretend even half the people reading this are going to want to go out and pick up an e-ink notebook, even if I do feel this does a stellar job in iterating on previous successes. If like me you were crying out for colour and an easier time writing in a dark room, and can get past the sacrifices in battery for using these features, you’ll be in for a grand time.