ReMarkable’s Paper Pro Brings a Color Screen to Its Focus-Friendly Tablet Lineup

I usually discover it very laborious to put in writing on my pc. As quickly as I settle in and let these artistic juices stream … ding! In comes a Slack notification. OK, it will take two seconds to deal with this primary. Minutes later, I will really feel the urge to examine my inbox. Oh wow, six pressing emails. Two hours later, I may need typed a single phrase on my web page. That normally results in a late evening of writing. Rinse and repeat.

The ReMarkable 2 has been a salve on this course of. This e-paper pill with a snug stylus is a wonderful digital notepad—it mimics paper and pen much better than many different devices—and the keyboard attachment has develop into an effective way for me to kind up tales distraction-free. You’ll be able to write notes, draw sketches, mark up PDFs, and arrange all of those paperwork into folders. 5 years after the discharge of that pill, the corporate is unveiling a brand new product known as the ReMarkable Paper Pro. It elevates the notepad expertise whereas nonetheless prioritizing that distraction-free ethos.

“We invented the class,” says Mats Herding Solberg, the top of product administration on the Norwegian firm. “We’re centered actually on focus and making a single product that is actually good on the verticals that we consider are vital. We do not need to be the corporate that goes tremendous broad and tries so as to add too many bells and whistles.”

Paper Path

ReMarkable’s Paper Professional is not strictly a successor to the ReMarkable 2. Consider it like how the “Pro” version of the iPhone aligns to the usual mannequin. It has some good upgrades at a better value beginning at $579, however you may stick to the $399 older mannequin if you happen to do not want the brand new options; it is not going away anytime quickly.

So what’s new? The spotlight is coloration. At CES 2024, E Ink—the corporate that produces lots of the electronic paper displays present in Kindles and the like—showed off extra units than ever utilizing color E Ink technology. This checklist now contains the brand new ReMarkable Paper Professional, although Solberg says ReMarkable has accomplished a whole lot of work on high of E Ink’s know-how to good the colour expertise. The customized “Canvas Color” show stack is comprised of bodily coloration particles that transfer across the display to point out particular colours, fairly than a separate filter on high of the black and white show. Solberg says this could higher replicate the precise feeling of “coloration on paper.”

Do not count on vivid, brilliant colours such as you see in your smartphone’s display. These hues are nonetheless muted, and you may solely select from 9 colours (from magenta to cyan), however you may mix and layer them collectively, which might then create much more coloration choices.

{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu

Additionally new is a front light system. It is totally different than the backlight typical of cellphone screens. As an alternative, a entrance mild angles the sunshine supply down onto the pill’s display so it is mirrored up at your eyes. It is a design that is develop into fairly customary through the years on the earth of e-paper units. The ReMarkable 2 solely displays ambient mild, which makes it tough to see the display in a darkish room. This is not an issue with the Paper Professional. You’ll be able to regulate the brightness of the sunshine, although it is nonetheless not going to get eye-searingly brilliant. Simply sufficient that you should utilize it in dim situations.

The Paper Professional has a bigger 11.8-inch show, which implies not one of the outdated equipment for the ReMarkable 2 will work on this unit. That is why there are an array of folio covers ($89 and up) at launch to help the brand new gadget, together with a Type Folio cover ($229) that provides a keyboard. Even the stylus has been rebuilt. The Marker/Marker Plus are lively styli, so that they should be charged—simply pop ’em on the sting of the Paper Professional, the place they’ll magnetically connect and begin wirelessly charging.