reMarkable 2 Review – Reinventing Digital Note Taking By Bridging Analog And Digital Experiences

Norway-based reMarkable is on a mission to make digital devices replicate the natural, frictionless feel of writing on paper while adding the benefits of being digital – easy organization, sharing and editing.

Launched in 2017 after 4 years in development, the reMarkable tablet was billed "paper for the 21st century" for its E Ink display tuned to feel like writing on paper. The second-generation reMarkable 2 launched in 2020 promises an even smoother, lag-free writing experience thanks to a slew of hardware upgrades and software optimizations.

But does it deliver? As someone who has extensively used tablets for note-taking, sketching and document annotation for over 10 years, I tested whether the reMarkable 2 matches its promise. I evaluated critical aspects like:

• Writing responsiveness, palm rejection, surface friction to assess the feel gap vs traditional paper
• Document organization, cloud sync, connected apps for the digital component
• Associated accessories like the Marker stylus, Folio case
• Hardware and software issues reported by users, recent improvements
• Company policies including warranty, returns based on user reviews

Here is my detailed long-term review that analyzes both the capabilities and limitations to help you decide if this niche tablet is suited for your needs.

Overview – What Makes reMarkable Stand Out?

Unlike general purpose tablets, reMarkable is specifically designed focused on providing a paper-like writing, sketching and document reading experience. With their custom CANVAS display and latency reduction algorithms, the aim is to reproduce the almost tactile feel of pen scraping on textured paper.

Some standout aspects:

Very natural writing feel: The clear Marker tip + CANVAS display generates friction closely matching pen on paper with excellent palm rejection allowing you to comfortably rest your palm even while writing fast.

Easy document organization: Flexible folder structure coupled with point-and-tap navigation allows effortless organization of notes and quick access to handwritten or imported reference PDFs.

Lag-free experience: Optimized hardware and software tweaks like pre-rendering reduce input lag for distraction-free sketching or note taking. Gradual improvements have made big strides in minimizing lag compared to early device units.

Simple sharing and sync: Direct PDF export by email coupled with cross-platform desktop/mobile apps enables easy cloud backup and sharing notes across devices.

Premium build: With its sleek aluminium body and customized premium Marker styluses, reMarkable also oozes quality in design terms on par with Apple products.

But paper-like focus also brings some downsides…

Reflective display: Lack of backlight necessitates investing in a dedicated book light for comfortable ebook reading especially at night.

Closed ecosystem: Focus on proprietary software with no third-party app store limits avenues to enhance functionality. Custom hacks help…but break warranty.

Niche appeal: Premium pricing coupled with its unabashed focus on long form writing/ sketching makes it less suitable for casual note taking/media consumption compared to versatile tablets like the iPad.

So does the reMarkable bridge analog and digital experiences successfully? Let‘s analyze further.

Detailed Evaluation Of reMarkable 2 Capabilities

Here is an in-depth assessment across key parameters:

Writing Responsiveness And Palm Rejection

The reMarkable 2 display and Marker Plus stylus combine impressively to offer a responsive, lag-free writing experience very close to pen on paper. There is very little friction allowing you to glide through writing smoothly while also providing that subtle texture as ink flows from the Marker.

Palm rejection is best in class allowing you to comfortably rest your hand on the screen even when writing very fast. No accidental touch inputs register ensuring you face no hindrance to writing speed. Even sketching at sharp angles elicits precise strokes with steady, tapering lines.

However, the responsiveness is still not 100% perfect. Push the limits with very fast strokes or complex brush textures and occasional lag shows up as stunted strokes, abrupt stops or skipped lines. The issue is intermittent though – for normal writing speeds, its on par with pen and paper friction. Some units also seem to face more lag than others especially when resuming from sleep indicating minor hardware optimization scope.

But barring extreme boundary use cases, reMarkable 2 offers the best responsiveness in portable tablets today – better than both the Quaderno and Sony DPT-CP1 devices. The natural feel is unlike any backlit LCD tablet and closer to specialized graphic tablets used by professional artists.

Easy Organization And Navigation Of Documents

While the lag-free writing steals the limelight, I was also highly impressed by the flexible options available to organize documents and access relevant reference pages with barely 2-3 taps.

You can easily create multiple notebooks, name sections within them add blank sheets, import PDFs even entire ebook chapters for annotation. Everything syncs automatically to the cloud and desktop/mobile apps wirelessly when connected to WiFi.

The tablet template also offers quick shortcut tabs on the bottom to switch between commonly used notebooks without having to go back to the main menu each time. Customizable quick swipe shortcuts are also available to map frequent actions.

Compared to writing notes across loose sheets, this level of organization brings tremendous efficiency – no more struggling to locate the right notes or reference documents. Sections make logical segmentation easy while pages can be re-ordered seamlessly just via drag-and-drop.

Responsiveness Of Mobile & Desktop Apps

The accompanying mobile app (Android & iOS) provides complementary capabilities to review, share or print notes on-the-go. You can easily export entire notebooks or specific sheets as PDFs via email or cloud storage apps.

The desktop app offers additional PDF export customization options like setting parameters such as standard page size, maintaining original formatting etc. OCR support for 156 languages also enables converting handwritten notes to editable text relatively accurately.

Syncing lag is minimal – documents and ebook imports get updated wirelessly across desktop and mobile apps within a minute of receiving the email on your reMarkable account. For prolific note takers, this proves invaluable to digitally backup or retrieve required notes without being chained to the tablet.

Accessories – Essential For Enhancing Portability

First off, to justify its premium price point, reMarkable needed accessories at par with its sleek, minimalist design. On that front, their Marker Plus stylus and Folio case offerings deliver.

The Marker Plus brings that ideal heft and grip to facilitate long writing sessions without causing fatigue. The replaceable tips ensure frictionless glide for months before needing a quick accessory swap. while the built-in eraser is handy, the lack of shortcut buttons is a miss. Even a single programmable button would have enabled some handy productivity shortcuts.

I loved using the Book Folio case as it added adequate protection on the go while also providing useful angles to prop up the tablet. The magnetic flap keeps the Marker Plus securely attached while its auto sleep/wake functionality saves battery. However, it again felt like premium features like a stylus holder were deliberately held back for the $229 Book Folio Premium.

So while the accessories justify their pricing by enhancing portability and protection, the lack of premium utilities in base Folio models for a $400 tablet leaves you wanting more.

Software Updates Over Last Year Show Gradual Maturity

Checking the reMarkable software release notes over the last couple of years reveals small but steady functionality upgrades:

v2.7 – June 2022: Added finger touch navigation for quicker page turns, UI navigation. Enables seamlessly combining stylus + touch inputs.

v2.5 – January 2022: Major update focused on adding customizable shortcuts for quick actions via touch gestures like two-finger swipe, tap with three fingers etc. Addressed lag in online conversions.

v2.3 – September 2021: Multiple stability fixes and optimizations for note sync, PDF handling. Quicker wake from sleep. Early basis for future gesture customizations.

v2.1 – March 2021: More Cloud sync stability enhancements. Improved palm rejection and slope/angle handling for edge cases. Better display optimization to reduce ghosting in fast brush strokes.

The progress shows reMarkable‘s steady focus on enhancing core capabilities based on real user feedback. Software is maturing gradually to fix multiple minor papercut irritations early adopters faced.

With a solid responsive writing foundation now established, their attention seems to be shifting to faster navigation via intuitive gestures and shortcuts. I hope future updates also focus on enhancing third-party plugin support to improve template customization and functionality expansion avenues beyond just software tweaks.

Comparison With Competitors

How does reMarkable 2 stack up against alternatives targeting the niche paper tablet space? I evaluated 2 major competitors:

Quaderno Gen 2

Launched in 2020, it offers multiple paper styles, a thicker stylus with shortcut buttons and more third party apps support.

Sony DPT-CP1

Sony‘s premium digital paper tablet focusing on enhanced PDF handling and annotation capabilities customized for business use.

Here‘s an overview of how they fare across key aspects:

Parameters	reMarkable 2	Quaderno Gen 2	Sony DPT-CP1
Display	10.3" monochrome CANVAS display, 1872×1404 resolution, 226 DPI	10.3” monochrome display, 1404×1872 resolution, 226 PPI	10.3” monochrome display, 1404×1872 resolution, 227 PPI
Storage	8 GB onboard, unlimited cloud storage	32 GB onboard + micro SD expansion	16 GB onboard, expandable
Stylus & Writing Feel	Marker/Marker Plus stylus, superb palm rejection, smooth writing	Gen Pen stylus with eraser and 2 shortcut buttons, acrylic screen with rough paper feel	Sony style pen included, hard plastic screen with feedback
Lag	Very minor lag only in extreme use cases	Noticeable lag in brush strokes and while sketching shapes	Almost no lag even in very fast writing/sketching
Templates & Navigation	Decent built-in templates for notebooks, sheets etc. Shortcuts provide quick navigation	More advanced templates for checklists, music sheets etc. Third party plug-ins further expand capabilities	First-party document editor. Restricted customization avenues for third party plugins
Document Handling	Smooth writing experience tailored for note-taking and sketching	Focus on broader functionality – annotations, shape tools, audio notes etc.	Specialized for business use – editing PDFs, digital signatures, document approval routing etc.
Mobile/Desktop App	Simple annotation and document transfer	Advanced third party mobile apps enable complex sketching workflows	Sony Digital Paper App provides additional PDF editing features
Accessories	Range of styluses, cases, screen protectors	More options for styli & cases	Restricted to Sony first party ecosystem
Price	$399 tablet only; $479 including Marker Plus, Folio case and 1 year Connect plan subscription	$379 including pen and case	$700 tablet only

Final Recommendation By User Profile

Based on the detailed evaluation, here is my recommendation depending on your needs:

For journalism, law or literature students – The reMarkable 2 offers the closest feel to paper notepads you‘ve used for years in a device that additionally allows easy digitization of your drafts for archival or print needs. Before perfect content goes to an external word processor, the reMarkable 2 is perfect for writing first drafts, marking reference documents comfortably without eyestrain or distractions.

I‘ll still suggest a book light accessory for reading back those unstructured draft notes or marking piled up PDFs for easier reference.

For architects, fashion or industrial design sketch artists – While excellent for note taking, fast paced sketch workflows will be better handled by a responsive iPad Pro 11 paired with the low latency Apple Pencil 2 that offers more precision, lower input lag and support for advanced apps like Procreate.

Unless most of your work involves slower speed wireframing or concept sketching requiring an A4 size viewport, the software and accessory limitations have to be accounted for in the reMarkable 2.

For managers or executives handling extensive document review and annotations – The Sony DPT CP-1 gives you best in class responsiveness combined with superior PDF capabilities tuned for document heavy enterprise roles – signing, stamping, collaborating via cloud services.

If your role centres heavily around contracts, financial reports or confidential information review, the Sony device aligned to strict security guidelines proves a better fit despite the higher price tag.

Conclusion – Delivers Convincing Paper-Like Simplicity But At A Cost

The reMarkable 2 manages to bridge digital conveniences and analog familiarity successfully in an accessible consumer device. For those still clinging on to the focused simplicity of pen on paper, it opens up easier collaboration avenues without forcing drastic workflow changes.

Its E Ink display and ultra low latency deliver an unmatched natural writing experience – the very premise that sets it apart from multipurpose tablets. Gradually maturing software shows steady functional improvements while accessories like the Marker Plus stylus and Folio case enhance portability considerably.

However, Delivering this simplified paper experience does come with trade-offs. Reflective display without backlight, proprietary software ecosystem, premium pricing for accessories – all these force some adaptability from users along with the benefits.

As competition catches up, reMarkable needs to double down on hardware durability while expanding third party plugin avenues to help power users customize their experience better aligned to specific needs. Software updates should build in more predictive smarts tailoring configs by observing usage context and patterns automatically to minimize user effort.

At ~$400, the reMarkable 2 squarely targets those still clinging on to the nostalgia and emotional draw of paper rather than purely cost conscious buyers. For that demographic seeking the frictionless feel of doodling or note taking just like younger days, it delivers a purpose built product that elegantly merges paper feel with digital organization.