ReMarkable Paper Pure
pros and cons
- High-contrast monochrome display
- Fantastic writing experience
- Acceptable trade-offs for the price
- Bundled with folio and Marker Plus for $50 more
- Some flex and wobble
- No backlight
- Occasional lag
- No black folio
on Google.
ReMarkable has carved out a niche for itself with its premium digital paper tablets, a distraction-free ethos, and a devoted following. Devices like the Paper Pro offer a polished experience but command a high price: as much as $800 when bundled with accessories.
Sensing a shift in the wind, the brand has just (wisely) announced a new, accessible product to its lineup: the ReMarkable Paper Pure
The black-and-white display on the Paper Pure is high-contrast, with a whiter, smoother glass screen rather than the rough-textured beige on the Paper Pro. The black E ink is rich and deep black, with silky-smooth lines and zero pixelation. Even zooming into your handwriting to the max reveals smooth lines and crisp edges.
For sketching, taking notes, and organizing content, the Paper Pure offers a simplified — but no less enjoyable experience. The display is certainly on par with the Paper Pro and may even be preferred by some users for its higher contrast. No backlight obviously means you won’t be able to use this device in the dark, but on the flip side, it looks great in bright light.
Also: I tested the Kindle Scribe 2 for months, and it beat my ReMarkable in several ways
The grippable margin on the left side makes it easy to hold, and the pen firmly snaps to the right side with strong magnets that automatically charge it when connected. On the back, the gray textured plastic doesn’t feel cheap per se, but it’s certainly a departure from the Pro.
A quieter ecosystem
ReMarkable’s ecosystem is limited to its own UI and no third-party apps. I’m a big fan of its intuitive browser-based portal that bridges the gap between the tablet and the outside world. It’s very limited, however, and doesn’t have the app selection of the Google Play Store or the vast EBook library of the Kindle. Yeah. And it’s refreshing.
There is an optional Connect subscription, which, all things considered, is affordable. It costs $3.99 a month or $39 a year, opening up a handful of smart integrations and unlimited cloud storage.
Writing on the Pure is nearly flawless, but there is some lag, especially when writing quickly. But it’s not problematic and, at no point during my testing, detracted from the experience. Similarly, the tablet’s physical form is much less substantial than the Paper Pro or the Move. It’s thinner and lighter, and it has some flex in its body. On certain surfaces, the tablet does not lie entirely flat, with a millimeter or two of wobble.
Besides the hardware, the biggest trade-offs address user expectations. The Paper Pure’s instantly recognizable physical form means that it will be considered by a wider array of consumers, not just niche enthusiasts. Many of those consumers will need to understand that this device is not an e-reader with a one-tap library of thousands of titles at your disposal, and there is no browser or app store.
Also: I found an E Ink tablet worthy of replacing my Remarkable, and it’s on sale
You certainly can import e-book files in EPUB format via the mobile or desktop app, or on the website through your Connect account. It’s not difficult, but it is manual. The Paper Pure is much more geared toward work, with integrations to your own accounts and a robust library of templates and forms. In that sense, it’s designed to get you to do, not consume.
ZDNET’s buying advice
The ReMarkable Paper Pure, which also starts at $399, but has 16GB of local storage and pairs with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscription for $12 a month.
The ReMarkable Paper Pure is available to order now, with devices shipping in early June.