ReMarkable’s original oversized E Ink tablet was an interesting 2017 idea: it’s a 10.3-inch tablet with the ambitious idea of trying to completely replace paper with a digital tablet. It was not entirely successful. But now the company is back with the reMarkable 2, a thinner, faster, cheaper, and generally more fun attempt to achieve that goal.
The original reMarkable tablet was conceptually a nice product, but was held back by a few major flaws, such as the expensive $ 499 price, laggy software, and poorly optimized menus.
The newer model aims to solve most of these problems. At $ 399, it’s cheaper. There is a new dual-core processor that promises to be faster. The software has been updated and has new features, including a new Google Chrome plugin that offers a Pocket-like service where you can send articles from the internet to read later on the tablet. The design is also thinner: reMarkable claims the new tablet is the thinnest in the world.
Like the original model, the star of the show is the company’s Canvas display, which is now in the second generation. The newer model is still “partially” powered by E Ink and still measures 10.3 inches with a resolution of 1872 x 1404 (for 226 DPI, close to other tablets of similar size).
But where the reMarkable 2 stands out is the ‘paper-like’ design, a mix of the textured writing surface and the custom material used for the stylus tips, making it feel like a real pencil. The Canvas display has a few new things, though: a shorter distance from the case to the actual E Ink underneath, and a much faster latency of 21ms (almost twice as fast as the older model). The new model also switches to USB-C for charging, which is a welcome thing to see in 2020.
Of course, the questions remain around the original: At $ 399 (plus $ 49 for a pen and $ 69 for a suitcase, though those two accessories come with pre-orders), it’s a pretty big price tag for a fairly limited tablet. That’s especially true compared to an entry-level iPad ($ 329) and Apple Pencil ($ 99), which are collectively cheaper than a comparable setup for the reMarkable 2 and offer more functionality at that price point.
On the other hand, the point of the reMarkable (and thus the reMarkable 2) is not to create a device that can apparently replace a laptop like an iPad can. They are focused devices that are meant to be more capable notebooks, a place to jot down ideas, read documents and books, and generally disconnect in a distraction-free environment than traditional digital products.
Pre-orders for reMarkable 2 begin today, with products expected to ship in June.