With top handwriting recognition: Remarkable Paper Pure in review
The Paper Pure is a digital notepad reduced to the essentials: no colors, no backlighting, and a writing experience like on paper. Only the mandatory subscription is annoying.
Remarkable is one of the big players among e-ink brands, but it's also expensive. The Pro model costs 800 Swiss francs (RRP) with stylus and case.
The Paper Pure counters the hefty price, yet it's fast and equipped with good hardware. With the additional subscription, the possibilities are extremely extensive, but also come with annoying costs. Are these additional functions worth it?
Sleek design and sharp display
The Remarkable Paper Pure has a slim and lightweight casing with a thickness of six millimeters and a weight of 360 grams. It features a textured display surface that mimics the writing feel of pen on real paper.
A 10.3-inch E-Ink Carta 1300 panel is used as the central element. It delivers a resolution of 1872 × 1404 pixels and a pixel density of 226 ppi. It is sharp and high-contrast, but without backlighting. I don't miss it.
Hardware runs smoothly
A dual-core processor powers the device. Remarkable does not specify which one exactly. It gives the device a quick response time, and I can type as fast on the touch keyboard as I'm used to on my smartphone. The RAM is two gigabytes (GB) and 32 GB of storage space is available.
With a battery life of 30 hours and standby mode, I can get through a good two to three weeks before I have to recharge the device.
Also included is a stylus, the "Marker", with six replacement tips. The larger bundle with a case includes the "Marker Pro" tested here. This can be magnetically attached to the tablet and runs without a battery. It feels comfortable in the hand and appears high-quality.
A practical feature of the Marker Pro compared to the regular stylus is that I can use the back of the pen as an eraser. However, it feels a bit hard when in use. That's why I initially feared I would scratch the display with it – but so far, I haven't. If you already have a Remarkable 2 Marker: Unfortunately, it doesn't work with the Paper Pure.
Software: reduced to the essentials
Remarkable equips the device with Remarkable OS. This is a customized system based on Linux. PDF and EPUB files can be imported. For export, PDF, PNG, and SVG are available.
The interface is clean, tidy, and directly displays all saved files. I can sort them with filters or only show one file format at a time – notebooks, PDFs, or e-books.
I need a smartphone or a computer for setup because it runs via the website. Afterwards, it works quickly and without problems.
Writing and working even without a subscription
The Remarkable Paper Pure lives up to its name. The display is black and white and thus behaves like a regular notebook.
If I want to create a new notebook, I choose from a few dozen paper templates. These include lines, dots, and grids, as well as pre-made storyboards, weekly planners, and sheet music.
Thanks to the gently roughened surface of the display, writing on the Paper Pure feels pleasant. Even with quick notes, I notice no latency with the stylus. Among the writing tools are pencil, ballpoint pen, brush, and a calligraphy pen. They mimic their analog counterparts well, so sketching is also a joy.
The device is not overwhelmed even with multiple layers – the upper limit is five layers. This is sufficient for most applications. In addition to handwritten notes, I can also type text. The E-Ink tablet doesn't lag behind at all. And if I prefer to write everything by hand, I can then convert the text into block letters.
This works surprisingly well, even if I deliberately scribble messily. The conversion rarely shows errors and even adopts bullet points. However, I need an internet connection for this, and sometimes paragraphs still end up on the same line.
With a Chrome add-on, I send online articles and other websites directly to the Remarkable as a PDF. The device does not transfer banner ads and, if desired, no other images.
Afterwards, I use these files like a notebook: I add my own thoughts to the pages, highlight important passages with the marker, and add new note sheets. I also place layers on the pages, for example, to show and hide markings and notes.
I link Google Drive to the Remarkable for free. The device automatically synchronizes the files. However, only those I have used in the last 50 days – that's an unnecessary restriction that I have without a subscription.
Functions with the Connect subscription
With a Connect subscription from Remarkable, additional functions are available to me. Personally, I find the subscription connection annoying for a device that is already expensive. However, the additional functions are practical and worth a look.
For 4 euros a month or 40 euros a year, I get unlimited cloud storage and additional templates for notes. If I want to link and fully synchronize other cloud services (Dropbox and Onedrive) in addition to Google Drive, I can do that with the Connect subscription on the website. There I also connect my device to Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook.
Thanks to the calendar link, I can easily create meeting notes. If a meeting is coming up, I open a meeting note with just one click, which is immediately provided with a title and date. These notes are saved in a separate folder; Remarkable saves recurring meetings in the same notebook.
A system-wide search for content via keyword is only available with a subscription. The content can be typed or even handwritten, the search finds it. Notes can also be sent to the collaboration tools Slack and Miro with the subscription. There, sketches and handwriting are converted into digital elements for further processing.
To import or export files, I use the desktop or mobile app instead of the website. The app is free, but if I want to revise and add to my notes there, I need a subscription.
In a nutshell
Top-of-the-range hardware with an annoying plan
The Remarkable Paper Pure makes no compromises when it comes to hardware. I get a sharp display, a fast processor, and there’s no noticeable lag when writing or drawing. As a digital notebook, the Paper Pure offers a wide range of features and is easy to use. At the touch of a button, I can download web pages as PDFs for editing or create notes in a flash that are linked to my calendar entries.
The major drawback is the additional plan. I have to pay extra for cloud storage expansion, editing notes in the Remarkable app and various third-party integrations. That’s simply annoying.
In the world of E Ink tablets, Remarkable remains the market leader nonetheless. I can’t think of an alternative if you’re looking for a snappy tablet for notes and sketches that focuses on the essentials. However, we don’t currently have the device in our range; only the Pro model. Unfortunately, that costs twice as much.
Pro
- fast hardware
- Stylus included
- Focus on the essentials
- excellent handwriting recognition
Contra
- key functions (such as search or app editing) behind a plan wall
- no built-in backlight
Ever since I learned how to hold a pen, I've been doodling away in bright colours. Thanks to my iPad, digital art has also become part of my life. That's why I love testing tablets – from the graphic design range to the regular kind. When I feel the urge to express my creativity without lugging lots of equipment, I go for the latest smartphones and start snapping away.
