Andrew Melder

After 24 hours with the Remarkable Paper Pro Move (I’ll just refer to it as the Move from now on) eink writing tablet, I have some thoughts.

Prior background and usage

While not a natural hand writer with paper and pen, I have been a consistent writer in my SuperNote A6X (prior model to the current Nomad) over the last 3-4 years. While my writing is mainly for daily journaling, I have also increasingly used it to take notes during meetings and for brainstorming ideas prior to development.

This is just to point out that while I wouldn’t consider myself an expert in the eink tablet space, I’m absolutely not a novice either.

Key points from the first 24 hours

Writing

There’s two things that define the writing experience for the Move, and interestingly the most important part for me isn’t the screen and marker feel; but the size and dimensions.

The narrow form factor is what most attracted me to the Move in comparison to my SuperNote. While slighter taller, the Move is much narrower.

However, that narrow form factor has an impact when writing in portrait mode. If you are used to a larger A5 sized device, then it would be extremely noticeable just how quickly your hand slides off the edge while writing. Even for someone used to a smaller A6 sized eink tablet like myself, the space on the SuperNote feels downright generous in comparison to the Move.

But these are known trade offs and is pretty much the tale of this device so far. By lunchtime, I had gotten used to it and didn’t really notice it until I got home and wrote on the SuperNote again. Of course, with the accelerometer you can always use it in landscape mode to get the width similar to an A5 sized tablet; but without the height. Personally though, I prefer to keep it in portrait.

Note: Landscape mode will give you extra space to write on the sides of your note compared to portrait. If you want to keep the margins the same, zoom into 2x at the centre while in landscape mode.

In terms of the writing feel, I personally would say it’s somewhere between pencil and pen on paper. It has the pencil-like scratchiness but with more of a ballpoint hardness of the marker on the screen. I don’t hate it, and I already prefer it to the overly smooth combo I ended up with on the SuperNote; with its 1st gen FeelWrite screen and Staedtler stylus.

For me in the end, the writing feel isn’t enough to buy (or not buy) this device.

Reading

The Move is not an eReader, despite being an attractive size for it. While you could excuse the prior Remarkable’s for not having the best reading experience due to their size, the Move just seems designed for reading; from its form factor to the quite pleasant (if weak to some) front light.

Yes, technically it can read ePub files (we’ll get to that in a bit); but its main issue is the lack of eReader software with a library of books to reference and use. A partnership with Kindle would pay dividends here (or Kobo).

This is not such an issue for me as I liberated my existing Kindle purchases from Amazon before they made it more difficult to do so earlier this year. Convenient as my Paperwhite recently died, leading me to look for a replacement. Any books since have also been purchased from eBooks.com; which I can convert into ePubs for use on any device I see fit.

So, I’m the ideal candidate for using this as an eReader and the experience is just adequate. The performance is sluggish upon opening a book, or changing the eBook font settings to suit your needs. I came across a comment on a Reddit post advising the device actually converts the ePub on device to a PDF, which makes a lot of sense from a performance standpoint (although I haven’t looked into it further to confirm this is accurate).

Once loaded though, it’s a fairly nice experience. There is an occasional swipe issue which others have also noticed; but again this feels like yet another area where optimisation could very much improve the experience.

Again, overall adequate and fits what I need it for at this stage.

Battery

Things in this category are a mixed bag; however, one day of usage is not a good indicator of normal battery usage so take the below with that in mind.

In terms of standby, I was impressed. I charged it to 100% at 9pm on Monday, went to bed and woke up at 6am Tuesday to the device still at 100%. This is with it connected to my Wi-Fi and no other items changed in order to try and preserve battery in standby.

It’s in actual use that things are a little tricky. It’s fair to say given it is a new device, I probably used it a little heavier than normal. In addition to my normal morning journaling, I used it to read books on the commute to and from work (about 45 minutes each way) as well as a 30 min stint in my coffee break. I also kept it on my desk and took various notes throughout the day. By 5pm Tuesday the device was at 48% battery. And this was with the backlight off all day apart from a 10 minute stint reading on the train.

That isn’t great. Again, I’ll have to give it a few days in order to see if that levels out a bit. However, I’m hoping Remarkable has some optimisation to come in order to make the battery usage more efficient.

Portability

While I wouldn’t call it pocketable for anything smaller than a large coat pocket; the fact that it fits into my daily carry sling bag when the SuperNote can’t is a huge benefit to my ability to take it anywhere I go.

The aspect ratio and size causes compromises; but it also makes it a unique offering in the market. My decision over the next little bit is whether the trade offs for that form factor are worth it.

Next steps

The biggest area of concern for me is the battery. I can personally manage the trade offs in other areas for the size and portability. However, I’d prefer not to have yet another device to have battery anxiety about daily.

There’s also the longevity of a battery that needs to be charged more often during the week. I charge my Supernote maybe once a week with my usage, even after almost 4 years. I don’t expect that from the Remarkable, but if I can get to every second or third day, that might make the trade off worth it.