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The ReMarkable 2 is the best digital drawing and handwriting experience you can get this side of a paper pad and pen, hands down. As our ReMarkable 2 review will show, it improves on its ReMarkable Tablet predecessor in almost every way, leading to a premium tablet experience that excels at its key purpose: allowing you to draw and take notes without distraction.
It’s an expensive device, given its e-ink “Canvas” display technology only allows grayscale document editing and note-taking; There’s no app store here, no web browser, and no support for video playback. But that’s almost exactly the point: this is a device for creation, not consumption.
ReMarkable 2 Tablet specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Display | 10.3-inch monochrome digital paper display |
| Resolution | 1872 x 1404 pixels |
| Weight | 0.74 pounds |
| Battery Life | Up to 2 weeks of typical use |
| Storage Capacity | 8GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, USB-C |
| Compatibility | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android |
| Input Method | Stylus |
ReMarkable 2 Tablet review: Design
Think of the ReMarkable 2 as a great Kindle you can write on, and you’re on the right track. Measuring 187 x 246 x 4.7mm (the world’s thinnest tablet, the company says) and weighing 403.5g, it uses a 10.3-inch monochrome E Ink Carta display, which has been modified and optimized for handwriting input, making it what ReMarkable calls a ‘LONA’ Display.
That display is the star of the show here. It won’t blow you away with the colors and silky smooth motion. Instead, it’s about the reading and writing experience. It’s sharp thanks to a pixel density of 226 DPI (a resolution of 1872 x 1404) and easy on the eyes thanks to the same anti-glare properties offered by other E Ink devices. You can buy this tablet from its official website.
ReMarkable 2 Tablet review: Performance
The reMarkable 2 works very well for its purpose. This is meant to be a note-taking device first and an e-reader second. There’s no app store, no web browser, no email clients, and that suits me just fine. The typing experience feels natural. It feels like paper, not glass like we have experienced on other tablets. We noticed that we had already worn down the tip of my Marker Plus considerably compared to the other tablet we used.
ReMarkable 2 Tablet review: Software
It also unlocks handwriting conversion, screen sharing, email note sharing, and a 36-month extended warranty. This requires a lot of additional utility from ReMarkable 2, but we didn’t find any of these additions critical to getting a great tablet experience. In fact, it was only when using the Connect function that we ran into some software gremlins.
Despite being reliably stable and lag-free for over a month when using ReMarkable 2, when connecting my Drive account, for whatever reason, the tablet forced a reboot a couple of times. We left it on for around an hour, after which it worked perfectly.
ReMarkable 2 Tablet review: Connectivity
Anything you do with the ReMarkable 2 tablet can be shared over a Wi-Fi connection, with the tablet supporting both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz standards. While you can email documents directly from the tablet, you’ll likely find the ReMarkable desktop and mobile software more useful. These apps sync quickly to your tablet and are available on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC.
Although they don’t support any handwriting input, they more or less mirror the tablet’s interface, with the addition of being able to import and export files to and from your ReMarkable 2 tablet wirelessly. Annoyingly, though, the handwriting-to-text feature is only supported on the tablet, which means you’ll have to manually decipher your scribbles if you forget to convert them on the ReMarkable tablet.
ReMarkable 2 Tablet review: Price and availability
Upgrade to the full Connect experience and you’ll also get support for Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive, handwriting conversion, screen sharing, built-in emailing, and an extended 36-month warranty.
So if you want the full reMarkable experience, the price of the device, Marker and the first year’s subscription to Connect will set you back nearly £624.
Final Words
The ReMarkable 2 is the best portable tablet out there for those who like to draw. It has some problems and its multimedia potential is very limited, but the sensation of writing on its e-ink screen is second to none.
ReMarkable 2 Tablet Ratings
THE GOOD AND THE BAD
THE GOOD
- Long battery life of up to 2 weeks
- Lightweight and portable
- Includes a stylus for precise input
THE BAD
- Extremely limited format support
- Complex PDFs render slowly
FAQS
What is reMarkable 2 good for?
The reMarkable 2 works very well for its purpose. This is meant to be a note-taking device first and an e-reader second. There’s no app store, no web browser, no email clients, and that suits me just fine. The typing experience feels natural.
Can you use reMarkable 2 on the Internet?
You can send web content to your reMarkable paper tablet with our Read on reMarkable extension for Google Chrome. You can choose whether you want to send documents in a simplified text format or as a PDF.
Is reMarkable 2 storage enough?
The reMarkable 2’s 8GB of internal storage is the same as the first model, and that should be good enough for most people.