Isn’t it Remarkable?
When the first Remarkable Tablet launched, I was watching closely. Being someone who loves the analog feeling of notepad and pen but also someone who loves to be a digital native, it seemed like a great mix of both worlds. The design felt a little lacking in the first one and from what I heard from the early experience, it was lacking some must have functionality in the software experience (especially syncing).
During the same period, I got into the wonderful world of iPad Pro computing, a all in one multi functional machine which when you let it, can reshape your relationship with digital tools and improve the human computer experience. I originally started to use my iPad Pro as a notebook for meetings, but the weight of the device and the pure pen and paper experience was lacking, this was even present with a screen protector which gave a more paper like experience. The question I was really left with was, “Do I really need a full fledged computing experience when I am in a situation to make notes?” The answer ended up being no and that stopped me utilising my iPad Pro as a digital notebook.
A few years later the Remarkable 2 started to surface, the first impressions from the videos and pictures really sparked my interest again. Gone was the more prototype looking hardware and in was a more professional looking experience with a focus on quality materials. During the time I was switching my professional career to be more in a coaching role and I thought this is the perfect time to try out this new approach! Unfortunately, due to Corona the original release date for the device was delayed a few months, but in the end, early October 2020 I received my device.
I opted for the Device with the Folio Cover and the basic pen. The unboxing experience was really great and the first impressions was really good. As the device is e-ink I expected the user experience to be at a much slower pace but I was surprised with the overall refresh rate of the screen.
Daily Life with the Remarkable 2
Let me first lay the context of the core scenario I’m utilising the device on a daily basis. Usually my day is full of meetings, and for each meeting I write some shorthand notes and action items for myself, when I am not in meeting, I am utilising the device as a scratch pad for ideas and to roughly sketch out topics to gain better perspectives. My work Notebook is close to over 200 pages now and it’s something which I am constantly evolving how I make notes and review the days and weeks that I have noted.
The writing experience is almost comparable to pen and paper, the noise and the haptics really give you that feeling. I opted to use the Fineliner Pen on Medium Thickness as my pen of choice, as I think it really is the best pen in the box for note taking but that’s just my preference.
One of the features I was really surprised to take full advantage of is the “Live-view” feature. This enables you to live stream the interactions from the Remarkable to your computer. During these Home Office days, I’ve been using the Remarkable as a kind of remote whiteboard, I share the screen in a video conference and I sketch out processes, problems and topics for my audience to gain more insights. It’s a really cool feature when it works, but takes a little bit of time to get the moons to align and for it to work. They advertise this feature still in beta so I expect it to be a little unpolished and to be improved.
The Pens
The Pens are the primary way in which you interact with the Remarkable tablet, because of this they are a crucial element in the overall experience. Remarkable themselves offer two types of experience for this in the forms of their Standard Marker and Marker Plus. I am lucky enough to have experience both of these input devices and also have tried a third party experience in the forms of the Lamy EMR pen (with the Remarkable nib). Below are my thoughts of each of these and how my experience of the Remarkable changed with each one.
Standard Marker (59 EUR)
I original ordered just the basic pen with the package and I can compare the weight and feeling of the object to a normal basic pencil. It has a textured surface and really enables you to have a good grip. My only critic would be that I think the pen could be a little bit thicker, I understand they kept the size the way it is as it stickers to the side of the device but the general feeling is impacted from this.
One of the biggest learning experiences was that I found myself applying too much pressure when writing and I was wearing out the nibs pretty quickly, this took some training to realise that I can write a little light handed and it also improved the readability of my writing.
Marker Plus (99 EUR)
The standard pen is pretty good, but what I was longing for was the ability to quickly erase content. With the standard pen you need to click the menu icon and then the eraser and then you can erase and this was feeling too many interactions for a simple operation. This led me to purchase the Marker Plus when they were offering them to be sold separately.
Problem solved, erasing is much more fluid now and the whole writing experience was improved. The general build quality tho feels a little less than the standard pen, if I add a little bit of pressure on the grip when writing, the pen bends and makes a little clicking noise (nothing drastic) but to start with, it was a little off putting.
Lamy AL-star EMR (45 EUR)
I have never used a Lamy pen, my girlfriend is a teacher and she uses Lamy pens to mark work and to write with and always tells me about the writing experience. My inner desire to write pen on paper was triggered. After reading the B Magazine on Lamy I decided to try out their “digital pen”.
I did a small bit of research to see if anyone had used the Lamy pen on the Remarkable and luck would have it people had and learnt that the default nib with the Lamy Pen scratches the surface of the tablet and they recommended to switch out the nibs for one that comes with the Remarkable Pen. My order was placed!
I have been living with using the Lamy Pen on the Remarkable for a few days now and I must say the whole writing experience has been amplified. My hand writing is much more readable, which I note must be due to the ergonomics of the pen compared with the standard ones and I am enjoying the whole experience. You lose the ability to magnetically attach the pen to the side of the tablet but I think it is worth it. The only downside is that now, I am back to square one with the eraser pain of it being many clicks away. Right now, I am keeping the Marker Plus on the side and using it as an eraser when needed (still quicker than going through the UI) maybe this is one suggestion to Remarkable that there should be a quick one tap UI button to enable the eraser!
Mobile Magazine
Medium is my main source for article reading, I have a lot of articles in my backlog bookmarked which I load onto my Remarkable to read when I have a spare moment. As my iPad Pro is my primary computing the device, the functionality to get the articles on the device requires a few hoop hops but it works in the end so I am happy. I haven’t tried the browser plug-in they offer for such functionality as I rarely use my MacBook Pro and thus these feature would not fit into how I compute.
The Conclusion
The biggest question is:
“Is the Device worth the premium price tag attached to it?”
That is a tough question, it really depends on a number of factors on your side. For me I would say it was worth every penny. When I think about the number of moleskin notebooks I have purchased in the past years and the investment in pens and tooling around that it is not far away from the cost of this device. The improvement in my ability to take notes, have actions and draw problems and solutions has improved ten-fold and enables me to be much more efficient at my job. This is something I cannot really put a specific price on but I can factor part of my professional success in the past months to this.
I would really love to use this device also as an ebook reader but the lack of any ebook store integration means you have to jump through many hoops to get anything like that on the device (a lot of the time I give up as you require many software tools and conversions and its not worth the hassle) and when you get the book on the device you have no tools to scale the font or anything like that so it feels like a feature which is needing a lot more love and attention. If this is solved it would really make me highly recommend this device to people!
This device shows us a glimpse of the future when e-ink technology lowers in costs and becomes more mainstream and I must admit I really enjoy thinking about that time and what new experiences it will enable. Of course one of the downsides is you are purely in a black, grey and white world and no colour but I think for note taking, journaling and white boarding its note a huge deal. My bag now contains and iPad Pro and a Remarkable 2 with a Lamy Pen, I am pretty set-up for whatever the world throws at me!
