reMarkable 2 review: “The best note-taking experience since pen and paper”
WHEN I came across the remarkable opportunity to do a ReMarkable 2 review, I jumped at the chance.
I previously owned the reMarkable 1, and for me, it was a very considered purchase.
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
I went back and forth for months, considering whether it was just ‘nice to have’ or whether it would revolutionise my life completely.
Once I bought it, I never looked back; I used it every single day for a year before it was sadly stolen out of my backpack at a restaurant in London.
I mourned the loss but ultimately decided to be a responsible adult and not replace it immediately.
But there is something about the reMarkable 2 that just makes you feel and look like you have your life in order.
It gives off major “Lawyer sat in a Joe and The Juice” energy — and quite frankly, I’m here for it.
In a world where everyone and everything is fighting for your attention, it’s refreshing to have a device that helps you organise your thoughts with minimal distractions (there isn’t even a browser to steal your attention).
There are no notifications, no colour, no apps. Just you, your Marker, and your thoughts to organise (a terrifying concept, I know).
Pros
- Distraction-free note-taking
- Easy to organise
- Strong battery life
- Great tech integration
- Paper-like writing and reading
- Ability to convert handwriting to typed text
Cons
- The pen doesn’t have a strong magnet to attach to the tablet
- Heavy with the folio
- Changing between text and type can be annoying
- Handwritten-to-text doesn’t always get it right
- Connect subscription required to use it to its full capacity
Rating: 4/5
| Dimensions | 187 x 246 x 4.7 mm |
| Weight | 403.5g |
| Frame | Brushed Aluminium |
| Internal Storage | 8GB |
| RAM | 1GB |
| Processor | 1.2ghZ dual-core arm |
| Connectivity | WiFi |
| Battery Life | 2 Weeks |
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
reMarkable 2 review: quick summary
The reMarkable 2 tablet is an impressive bit of kit, there’s no denying it.
It’s an expensive simplicity that offers distraction-free note-taking in a world desperate for your attention.
It’s an expensive simplicity that offers distraction-free note-taking in a world desperate for your attention.
It offers a paper-like writing and reading experience with fancy bells and whistles like tech integrations with various cloud storage and a handwriting-to-text conversion feature.
Its sleek design and battery life make it perfect for the more serious note-taker. Despite some drawbacks like the weak pen magnet and the need for a subscription to experience the full feature list, I give this tablet a four out of five.
Pricing starts from £389 and in my opinion, it is a worthwhile purchase for those looking to level up their organisation game.
reMarkable 2 review: full review
What is the reMarkable 2?
The reMarkable 2 is a digital notepad that uses a 10.3-inch canvas display with e-ink technology, optimised with a low-latency screen and a high-precision stylus.
That might sound a bit jargon-y, but in practice, you use it in the same way that you would a notepad.
There are also fun and useful features like templates and convert-to-text, and integrations with everyday tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive.
Unboxing and first impressions
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
Design-wise, it’s just as chic as you would imagine. The all-black interior packaging showcases the light grey tablet perfectly.
In the box, you get instructions, a USB-C charging lead, and the digital notepad itself.
The setup was completely painless, and the tablet pretty much guides you through it. I selected my Wi-Fi and was good to start note-taking.
Battery life
The tablet boasts a battery life of up to two weeks on a single charge depending on usage.
I used mine daily and can attest to this.
Not only do I use it for everyday note-taking at work, but I also use it in my personal life for financial organisation, shopping lists, and project planning.
Not only does the battery last longer than most tablets, but it also charges incredibly fast, so you are not without it for long.
Storage and performance
After months of consistent usage, without deleting anything, I found that I’d only managed to use 0.55GB of my ReMarkable’s storage.
I try to be digitally organised, so it did kill me a little not to delete as I go, but for this review, I kept the scribbles, the lists, and everything in between.
With its full memory, reMarkable 2 can hold thousands of documents. The device is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM processor and has 1 GB of RAM, providing more than enough power for its intended tasks.
Software and features
The reMarkable 2 runs on a custom Linux-based operating system.
It supports various file formats, including PDF and ePUB, and offers features like handwriting recognition, document organisation and annotation tools.
I really enjoy the PDF compatibility of this device as it has meant that I can send articles to my reMarkable and then read and annotate them on my commute.
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
This also made working on things like contracts and proposals a lot more enjoyable and again — it can’t be said enough how nice it is not to be stolen away by notifications every two minutes.
There is a handy reMarkable browser extension which allows you to send articles and documents directly to your reMarkable tablet as long as it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
This is perfect when you want to read and annotate articles and reports on the go.
reMarkable 2 templates
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
I don’t think I could live without the reMarkable 2’s templates function.
I try to optimise my life as much as possible and discovered at university that Cornell notes are the best way for me to do that.
It allows me space to categorise the main subject on the left while taking my notes on the right.
At the bottom of the page, I can also summarise and write any next steps or action points.
My other favourite templates to use are the checklist for food shops and general to-do lists and also the weekly planner functions if you have a particularly busy week. You can also design your own templates using third-party programs.
Can you use reMarkable 2 without a subscription?
You can use the reMarkable 2 without the Connect subscription, but only files used and synced in the last 50 days will continue to be stored in the Cloud.
You will also not be able to use the desktop and mobile apps for note-taking.
This wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me, but I’ll be the first to admit that I hate this subscription economy where everything you do and use now has a subscription option.
Take me back to the good old days when I could just buy something when I needed it.
I still had my account from when I had my reMarkable 1, and when I signed up for my reMarkable 2, I was delighted to see that as a legacy user, I got a Connect subscription for free.
If you’re not a legacy user, you’ll be given a 100-day free trial of the Connect subscription when you first get your tablet. After those 100 days, you’ll have to pay £2.99 per month.
Does the reMarkable 2 have a backlight?
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
No, the reMarkable 2 digital notepad does not have a backlight, and this does make it difficult to use in low-light environments.
On the flip side, it does mean that you get no glare or eye strain when using it, and you don’t suffer from that fuzzy head that you can get from staring at a screen for too long.
reMarkable 2 vs Apple iPad Pro
Having owned and used both, I wouldn’t say that there is a fair comparison.
I don’t enjoy using my iPad Pro to take notes as I don’t get that same realistic, frictioned writing experience, and there are too many distractions like Instagram and YouTube.
It’s also much easier to rapidly shift between tasks on an iPad, and I’m very much in my ‘mono-tasking’ era, so I need the minimum amount of distractions possible, without being dragged in 100 different directions.
You can get paper-like screen protectors for the iPad Pro that give it more of a paper-like feel, but you’ll always be aware that you are writing on a tablet.
There is also something to be said for the battery life. My iPad won’t last a day, especially if the Magic Keyboard is in use.
Is the reMarkable 2 waterproof?
No, the reMarkable 2 is not waterproof, so if you had dreams of bathtime note-taking or taking it to the beach to work, then it may not be for you.
Does the reMarkable 2 come with a case?
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
The reMarkable 2 does not come with a case, but there are several options if you want to protect your new investment.
reMarkable itself offers three folio options.
The Folio (the cheapest, at £79) is a grey polymer weave case for the tablet to slide in and out of, with a separate space for the Marker.
There’s also the Book Folio (£119) which is what it says on the tin — the digital notepad stays housed within the case via magnetic attachment and it opens like a book.
The most expensive option is the Type Folio (£179), which is made from premium leather and is available in Ink Black or Sepia Brown.
The reason that it is more than double the price of the Folio is that it has a built-in keyboard.
This is the case I have, but it does defeat the point of having the tablet, and I’ve never thought to use the keyboard function. It also increases the weight of the tablet noticeably, and I’ll probably get a lighter case in the future.
My other gripe with the Type Folio is that it doesn’t have a separate Marker holder. This would be fine if I trusted the strength of the magnet, which I don’t.
If I continue to use the Type Folio, then there is a very real chance that I’ll have to rebuy the Marker at some point after losing it to a coffee shop or on the train.
Does the reMarkable 2 come with a marker?
The reMarkable 2 tablet comes with a standard Marker for no extra cost, but you can get a Marker Plus for an extra £40.
The key difference between the markers is that the Marker Plus has an eraser on the end, so you would just spin the marker around and erase as you would with a standard pencil.
They do not have a battery, so there is no need to recharge, and they magnetically attach to your reMarkable tablet (albeit without much Gusto).
Both markers come with nine replacement tips, and I found that each tip lasted 2-3 months with daily usage.
You’ll know when the tip needs replacing as it will start reacting strangely with the digital notepad — you’ll notice that even when you move the Marker away, it will still write.
This scared me at first as I thought my new device had a fault but it was quickly remedied by changing out the tip. You can also buy replacement tips on reMarkable’s site.
How much is the reMarkable 2?
reMarkable says that its second-generation device starts “from £369”, but the £369 model in question is actually a refurbished device.
If you want a brand-new model, you’ll have to fork out £389.
That’s certainly a lot more expensive than an old-fashioned notebook and pen, and it’s also quite a bit more expensive than its closest rival, the Amazon Kindle Scribe, which starts from £329.
There are also some running costs to take into account; you’ll need to pay £2.99 per month for the Connect subscription if you want to use all of the reMarkable’s features, and you’ll very occasionally have to buy new marker tips for your pen, at £15 per six nibs.
The verdict: is the reMarkable 2 worth it?
reMarkable 2 tablet, from £369
In my opinion, yes, but I can see both sides to the argument here.
If you are already an avid note-taker, then this will rock your world. If you’re not, then you might want to put your wallet away.
However, if you’re reading this reMarkable 2 review, you probably fit into the first camp.
I go through so many notepads that I finish, never look at again, and which just collect dust in my study.
To be able to organise, delete, and clean up my notes on a digital notepad has been revolutionary for not only my mental clarity but also for decluttering my house from half-used notepads.
Wherever I go these days, my reMarkable 2 is sure to follow.
Whether I am sitting on the train to work or in a coffee shop sipping an oat flat white, it’s out in front of me, ready to be put to work.
For me, it’s the best note-taking experience since pen and paper.