reMarkable announced their first major product in 4 years – the reMarkable Paper Pro. The new model brings a color e-ink screen, improved writing experience, and back lighting. In my prediction about today’s announcement, I assumed that they would not be introducing something as ground breaking as a totally new tablet. As someone that uses my reMarkable 2 all day, every day, I’m thrilled by the progress the company has been able to achieve with the new reMarkable Paper Pro. There was no mention of a reMarkable 3, so it’s safe to assume that this will be the flagship tablet for the foreseeable future.
Why is reMarkable’s product announcement important?
On September 4, 2024, reMarkable announced their first update to their popular tablet line in four years. The new reMarkable Paper Pro ($579 with Marker or $629 with Marker Plus) brings much requested capabilities like a color screen, improved writing experience and screen lighting. The device is also a bit larger and will leverage a powered stylus (instead of the older EMR technology on the Marker).
So that’s the ‘what’ that they announced. They why it’s important is that reMarkable is doubling down on their mission to “design products that help people think better.” Some of that has to do with writing, but much of it is really about products where knowledge workers can truly focus. As someone that struggles with distractions, their focus on focus is incredibly important to me personally.
During the announcement today, founder Magnus Wanberg said they were very deliberate about what they were not including on the new reMarkable Paper Pro. He mentioned that they did not include an app store, email, or access to social media “on purpose.” In a world of devices that try to do everything, focusing on the ability to “think better” is a welcome change. The library and book imagery in the announcement video (found here on YouTube) shows how the company thinks of itself as enabling users to really concentrate on deep thought work.
What’s new about the reMarkable Paper Pro
reMarkable Paper Pro features Canvas Color screen
The color screen and ability to write in 9 different colors is the most noticeable change on the new reMarkable device. This new capability will allow users to be more expressive and add new detail to deep thought work.
The color screen will also enable a richer experience when reading e-books and PDFs. This is a particularly important for mobile business travelers as it will more closely render exported Powerpoint and Keynote presentations. We’ll be writing more about this, but we are REALLY excited about this new capability for business people.
Improved writing experience on the Paper Pro
Writing has always been at the core of the reMarkable and it’s clear that the new Paper Pro doubles down on that medium. During the announcement, the team mentioned that they mapped out ~20 different aspects of writing (e.g., the feel, the sound, the medium response). reMarkable has designed the new Paper Pro to better replicate that experience.
To improve the reMarkable writing experience, the new device is utilizing a new powered Marker with the Canva Color display and unmentioned (but obvious) processing power. While the details of how aren’t super important, it results in a more precise and faster response.
With these improvements, visual response time (known as latency) is down to 12 milliseconds and precision is down to +/- 920 nanometers (from 946). While those are just specs, they result in a more responsive and exact writing experience.
Additionally, the upgraded display is covered with a textured glass cover lens (change from plastic film cover) to provide the necessary friction to feel like a pencil on paper. This new cover on the reMarkable Paper Pro will also perform better in direct sunlight (another plus for business travelers).
Backlighting to improve usefulness of reMarkable Paper Pro for business travelers
One of the critical short comings of the reMarkable 2 for business travelers was the difficulty of using it in dark environments. Enter the built-in backlight on the Paper Pro. The adjustable backlighting will illuminate the 11.8″ screen so that you can see your work.
Similar to the Kindle Paperwhite or other backlit e-ink solutions, the reMarkable Paper Pro’s lighting is only 4 nits of radiance (vs ~250 nits on a laptop). That means that it’s easier on your eyes and is less likely to cause eye strain or sleep impact.
The brightness is adjusted with a slider based in the top right quick access menu (introduced in v3.12). This would impact battery life, so reMarkable sized the battery up by almost 50% to maintain a 2-week useful life.
Brand new chassis and size for the Paper Pro
The chassis for the Paper Pro is noticeably larger than the reMarkable 2, primarily in terms of footprint (length x width). I assumed that the device would be significantly thicker, but in actuality it’s only 0.01″ thicker.
The beveled edge of the Paper Pro was specifically designed to mimic the look of stacked paper (where reMarkable draws it’s inspirational home). Coming from a machining background, I love the look of this new chassis.
The Paper Pro is ~30% heavier than the reMarkable 2, likely from it’s larger battery, larger screen, and new internal hardware. Also the addition of backlighting must have increased the weight of the device. Overall, the increased capabilities for a slightly larger footprint and weight seems like a wonderful tradeoff.
What’s the same as the reMarkable 2
User software looks very similar to reMarkable 2
Most of the user software looks extremely similar to the current generation of the reMarkable 2. That’s good news for power users who have a set work flow, but does leave a number of user hopes for reMarkable 3 unmet. This includes ability to move quickly between notebooks, stickers to highlight key things, and improved search.
Our hope is that with a new flagship tablet, reMarkable will be further incentivized to continue improving the software.
No AI (yet)
Magnus was quite clear that the team looked into AI for the Paper Pro, but weren’t ready to roll out any AI features. I think this plays well towards the keep it simple to ensure focus theme that works on all of the reMarkable tools.
Integration with reMarkable desktop, mobile, and web apps the same
Clearly reMarkable designed the Paper Pro to integrate into the broader Connect ecosystem. This is great news for current users who have these tools already installed.
The new color tools look great on Connect and double down on the legacy colored pens and highlighters.
What else did reMarkable unveil on September 4th?
New stylus / marker for the Paper Pro
reMarkable is introducing new writing tools to make the precision and responsiveness of the Paper Pro work. Just like the reMarkable 2, they have separated the options into a Marker (standard pencil) and Marker Plus (pencil + built in eraser). These run $79 and $129 respectively.
One major change is that the Pro Marker and Marker Plus have powered electronics. These devices will charge through the magnetic connection to the tablet and use a technology different than EMR (like the reMarkable and reMarkable 2).
The replaceable tip is larger on the Pro models, but looks like it will be replaced in a similar method. reMarkable is including 6 replacement tips with either model.
New Book Folio covers for the Paper Pro
Since the Paper Pro is much larger than the reMarkable 2, it will require a new cover to protect the device. reMarkable is offering three different materials – Polymer Weave, Mosaic Weave, and Premium Leather. The price of these covers will vary from $89 to $179. There do not appear to be any third party notebook covers (like there are for reMarkable 2), but I’m sure they’ll be in the market by Christmas.
Alluded to a new Type Folio for the Paper Pro
Just like Book Folios, the reMarkable 2 Type Folio will also not work on the Paper Pro. Therefore, reMarkable has introduced a specific version of the Type Folio for this model. This accessory is only offered in a single finish (Basalt) and costs $229 (or $50 more than the Premium Leather cover).
How do I get a remarkable Paper Pro?
The reMarkable Paper Pro is only (currently) available from the reMarkable website.
So what are the specs on the new reMarkable Paper Pro?
Size – 11.8″ screen
Dimensions – 10.8 x 7.8 x 0.24 inches
Screen type – Canva Color Screen (with textured glass cover, E Ink Gallery™ 3)
Weight – 1.16 lbs
Battery – 5,030 mHa
Wifi – 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
Memory – 64 GB
What’s it like to use the reMarkable Paper Pro?
We’ll have to report back once our Paper Pro actually shows up and we’re able to do some proper testing.
