The Remarkable Pro leads the pack in E-ink writing tablets

The Remarkable Pro is the long-awaited colour e-ink upgrade to the Remarkable 2 tablet. Here’s how it’s better - and worse.

For years, fans clamoured for an update to the popular Remarkable 2 writing tablet with its paper-like writing experience.

It finally arrived last month. After using it for a few weeks, here are my thoughts.

Going Pro

I’m assuming you are familiar with e-ink displays or have heard of the older Remarkable 2.

The Pro differs in the following ways:

• Larger 11.8-inch display.
• 5-step “reading” light.
• New active stylus
• Colour screen.

The idea is to give the Pro a larger canvas to write with, though the team kept screen sharpness the same at 229dpi.

A refined writing experience

The Remarkable Pro is a technological marvel that brings it another few notches closer to the experience of writing on paper.

• Colour done better

The Pro uses the less popular Gallery display tech. Colours are much richer and clearer than the more popular Kaleido but suffer from a much slower colour refresh.

Remarkable got around this with clever software fixes. Colour gets inked in black first (or another colour) before updating to the right colour over 1-2 seconds.

Overall, it is very cleverly done, and the colour is simply gorgeous compared to the Boox Air 3C tablet using Kaleido tech.

• Better writing experience

The team further refined the pen-to-paper experience, reducing latency with a new active stylus that charges wirelessly like the Apple Pencil 2.

The Pro uses a new textured glass display that feels startlingly like writing with a pencil on paper while also reducing glare.

Switching between the Pro and the Remarkable 2, I'll say that the latter doesn't feel worse. It's just that the Pro somehow feels better.

Same, but different

When I first heard of the Remarkable Pro, it seemed like the be-all and end-all of e-ink writing tablets. And in so many ways, it is clearly superior.

Yet it does come with various downsides:

• Screen is not as "white" as the Remarkable 2*.
• Other EMR-based styluses will no longer work.
• Front light is faint; helps only in dimly lit rooms.

*To be clear, the new colour e-ink screen is a marvel and far whiter than my Boox Air 3C.

And one thing I couldn't explain - my handwriting turns out better on the Remarkable 2 than the Pro.

My conclusion?

The Remarkable 2 and the Pro are exceptional writing tablets with differing strengths. If you are looking for the absolute best, the choice boils down to individual preferences.

Would you get the Pro?