Note-takers, this review is aimed squarely at you.
Handwriting seems be on the decline, but if you are a person who buys yellow legal pads in bulk, and you can tell what kind of pen you are using just by the feel of the ink on the paper, you’ll want to take a look at an electronic writing tablet I’ve been testing called the Remarkable 2 ($399 at remarkable.com).
This tablet looks like a Kindle and an iPad got together and had a very skinny baby. It has some of the best features of Kindles and iPads, but it is unlike either one.
It is very limited in what it can do, and that is by design.
The differences between other tablets and e-readers and the Remarkable 2 are key to understanding whether it’s right for you.
There’s one big caveat: Most of the functionality you’ll want relies on a monthly subscription. If you choose not to subscribe, you’re limiting the features, which I’ll cover below.
What does it do?
The main function of the Remarkable 2 is to take handwritten notes.
Creating notebooks is a snap, and you can use templates that show up as backgrounds on your pages. Want to write on graph paper or college-ruled notebook paper or a weekly planner? There are templates for that. There are even templates for writing music or calligraphy and grids for perspective drawing.
Once you’ve filled up a page, just swipe your finger from right to left on the screen and you’ll get a fresh page.
Notes can be edited. You can select sections of a page and move it around. You can add or delete pages or entire notebooks.
There are eight gigabytes of onboard storage, and you can’t add more, but you can sync your notebooks to a phone, tablet, computer and to several cloud services, including Remarkable’s own cloud storage.
If you have Wi-Fi and cloud syncing turned on, you can email pages of your notebooks to any email address.
You can also import files to the Remarkable 2.
You can transfer PDF files, unprotected e-book files, and JPG and PNG graphics.
You can also use the Remarkable to read web pages, but not in the traditional way.
There is a Google Chrome extension that lets you send a webpage to the tablet, but you don’t get the whole page, just the text with no graphics, links, photos or ads.
It is great for reading long stories.
For long PDFs or e-books, there are no page forward or back buttons. You swipe on the screen to change pages.
You can use the pencil to mark up PDFs for other files you have on the tablet.
What it can’t do
While the Remarkable 2 can connect to Wi-Fi or to your computer via USB-C for the purpose of importing or exporting content, it does not have a browser or apps.
It is not trying to be an iPad or a Kindle.
You can’t check your email, surf the web, load your Kindle books, listen to music or watch videos.
This is a device that wants you to focus on creating or reading.
All about the screen
Remarkable’s grayscale 10.3-inch screen has a resolution of 1,872 by 1,404 pixels.
It is an e-ink display (similar to a Kindle) with no backlighting. It needs some source of light shining on it to work. It also works beautifully in the brightest sunlight.
The glass screen is not smooth — it has a very slight texture, which is key for giving you the feeling you are really drawing on paper. It even sounds a bit scratchy when you write, like a pencil on paper.
I have an iPad with an Apple Pencil for comparison and the Remarkable 2′s writing surface is superior.
The user can choose from eight different pens, pencils and brushes with three line thicknesses. If you choose a paint brush or calligraphy pen, the screen has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity plus tilt detection, so the lines get thicker the harder you press down.
The Remarkable 2 needs markers to work, and they’re not included with the tablet.
There are two models, one with an eraser and one without. Both write the same and have tips that are replaceable. Neither needs a battery. I tested both, and I found the marker with the eraser useful enough to recommend buying it.
Battery life and other specs
The Remarkable 2 has a 3,000 milliamp-hour battery that lasts for about two weeks with moderate use. The tablet has a USB-C port for charging and syncing data.
It features 2.4 gigahertz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi for connecting to the cloud services.
The tablet measures 7.3 by 9.68 by 0.18 inches and it weighs 14.2 ounces.
This is the thinnest tablet I’ve ever used. It could not be any thinner and have a USB-C port.
Desktop and mobile apps
Once you have created notebooks, you’ll want to get the files to your computer or mobile device. There are Remarkable apps for Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android. When you buy the Remarkable tablet, you’ll create an account that is used to log into the tablet and to your desktop or mobile apps.
Once you get the notebooks synced, you can print them, save them locally or email them like any other file.
Connect subscription
The Remarkable 2 sells a service called Connect with two subscription levels.
The plans are a big part of the tablet’s functionality, so let’s go in-depth on what they offer.
Connect ($7.99 per month) is the full-service subscription that includes unlimited cloud storage and syncs all your notebooks to any of the Remarkable desktop apps (phone, computer, web) through the Remarkable Cloud service.
You can also sync your notes to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox. I have my tablet synced to OneDrive and the sync is flawless as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection.
Connect also offers handwriting conversion to editable text. If your handwriting can be deciphered (i.e., it’s not chicken scratch), you can choose to have your handwritten notes turned into text. Unfortunately, the text is not searchable.
You can export any (or all) of your notebook pages via email. The mail interface is a bit clunky, but it works. You enter the email address with an on-screen keyboard, then you can type any message, name the attachment and choose which pages to send.
The Connect subscription also includes screen sharing, which lets you see a notebook displayed on a computer screen and show you drawing on it in real time. This shared screen can be presented in a video conference from services like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It reminds me of sharing a whiteboard.
The Connect subscription also extends the warranty of your tablet and accessories to 36 months, as long as the subscription is active.
Connect Lite ($4.99 per month) includes the unlimited Remarkable cloud sync between your tablet and all your devices.
It does not include third party cloud services, handwriting conversion, screen share, email export or the extended warranty.
If you choose No Plan (which is an option), you get to sync your notebooks to the desktop or mobile apps, but storage is not unlimited. If you don’t open a notebook for more than 50 days, it is purged from the remarkable cloud and desktop/mobile apps but still remains on your tablet.
The ability to import PDF and nonprotected e-pub files and the ability to export web pages from Chrome are available on all the plans (including No Plan). You do need to install the Chrome Extension separately on your computer.
Pricing
The tablet itself costs $399.
The marker plus with eraser costs $129, and the regular marker costs $79.
There are two protective folios.
A gray polymer weave envelope-type folio costs $79 and has a dedicated marker storage pocket.
A book folio is available in the polymer gray weave for $129. There are premium brown or black leather book folios for $169.
The book folios are nice, but they don’t have storage for the marker. The markers do have magnets to attach to the side of the tablet, but I’d worry about losing one without a place to store it.
There is a money-saving bundle with the tablet and a prepaid three-month Connect subscription for $299, which is a $100 device discount. The bundle also includes a $50 accessory credit for accessories purchased at the same time.
Worth the price?
The Remarkable 2 with the folio and marker plus will set you back a little more than $600, plus another $96 per year for Connect.
You can certainly buy an iPad with an Apple Pencil for less, and there is no subscription needed.
Is the price difference worth it?
I love the Remarkable’s note-taking functionality and the feel of the marker on the screen. The sync works great, but the other features, like file import and Read on Remarkable, seem a bit unrefined.
Remarkable wants to separate the note-taking experience from the distractions of other tablet functionality like web browsing, and it does a good job.
If you really love handwriting (like my wife), and you can afford it, the Remarkable 2 is a great addition.
I’m not thrilled with the subscription cost, but hopefully there are periodic additional features and improvements that will justify the added cost.
Pros: Fantastic writing experience, easy sync, beautiful hardware and very thin but strong.
Cons: Limited file formats can be imported, subscription to unlock the best features, no stylus included.
Bottom line: A great tablet for note-takers to replace legal pads, but the other features need some refinement.
