The ReMarkable Pro is the company's first real hardware revision in five years, and the only thing it really cares about is writing. The new Canvas display is the first color e-paper writing surface. The writing latency is the lowest on any e-ink device we have tried. The paper texture under the Marker stylus is genuinely close to pencil on paper, which is the kind of detail you ignore on a spec sheet and notice five minutes in.
ReMarkable Pro review summary
The ReMarkable Pro is an 11.8-inch color e-paper writing tablet running ReMarkable's custom Codex Linux operating system. The Canvas display is the first color e-paper writing surface (the previous generations were black-and-white). Storage is 64 GB. Battery life is approximately two weeks of active writing. The device ships without a stylus (sold separately for $79 for the Marker 2 or $129 for the Marker Plus with an eraser tip). Price starts at $579 for the tablet alone, with the optional ReMarkable Connect subscription at $3/month unlocking unlimited cloud sync and additional features.
Is the ReMarkable Pro worth it?
If writing is the primary use case, yes. The writing experience is the best on any e-ink device, the new color display adds real utility for sketching and color-coded note-taking, and the focused single-purpose nature of the device is exactly what serious note-takers value. If reading is the primary use case, no. The Pro is not a reading device, and the friction of sideloading PDFs and EPUBs through the desktop sync app is the main reason people return it.
ReMarkable Pro vs Kindle Scribe
ReMarkable Pro wins on writing. The latency is lower, the paper feel is closer to pencil on paper, and the notebook software has more templates, better organization, and better handwriting-to-text conversion. The Scribe wins on reading. It is a real Kindle: native Kindle Store, Whispersync, Audible, Libby through the Kindle app. ReMarkable has none of that and requires sideloading. If you primarily want to write, get ReMarkable. If you want one device for reading and writing equally, get the Scribe.
ReMarkable Pro vs Kobo Elipsa 2E
The Elipsa is Kobo's 10.3-inch writing tablet at around $400, considerably cheaper than the Pro. The Elipsa supports native EPUB reading, Libby integration, and stylus note-taking. The writing experience is good but not as polished as ReMarkable. For someone who wants a writing tablet that also reads ebooks well, the Elipsa is the better balance. For someone who wants the best writing experience available on e-ink, the ReMarkable Pro is the answer.
ReMarkable Pro vs iPad with Apple Pencil
An iPad is faster, sharper, in color, and runs everything. It also has notifications, a backlit LCD that fatigues your eyes after an hour, a battery that lasts about a day, and the constant tug of every other app on the device. The ReMarkable Pro is purpose-built for writing without distraction. If you find yourself opening Instagram every time you pick up your iPad to take notes, the ReMarkable Pro is the better device. If you want one device that does everything including notes, the iPad still wins.
The Canvas color display
The new Canvas color display is the biggest hardware upgrade in the Pro versus the ReMarkable 2. The colors are muted and printlike, similar to Kaleido 3 but with a writing-optimized refresh rate. Sketching in color, color-coded note-taking (red for action items, blue for questions, green for completed), and color highlights in PDFs all work well. Comics and magazines are not the point and would not be ideal here anyway.
The writing experience
The headline feature of any ReMarkable device is the writing feel, and the Pro pushes it forward. The texture under the Marker stylus is closer to pencil on paper than glass on glass. Latency is the lowest on any e-ink device available. The 11.8-inch screen gives you room to write in normal handwriting size for an entire page without cramping. Long meeting notes, technical diagrams, marked-up PDFs, sketches: all of these work the way you would want them to.
Handwriting recognition and text conversion
ReMarkable has the best handwriting recognition of any e-ink device. Print and cursive English are reliably converted. Math notation is roughly 70 percent accurate. Non-English alphabets vary by language. The conversion happens on-device with optional cloud-side improvement. Converted text can be exported as PDF, Word, or sent via email directly from the device.
ReMarkable Connect subscription
ReMarkable Connect is the $3/month optional subscription that unlocks unlimited cloud sync, screen-share, the mobile app's full feature set, and the desktop app's full feature set. Without Connect you get a basic local-only experience. For serious users, Connect is worth the $3/month. For casual users, the basic local experience is enough.
Who should buy the ReMarkable Pro
Buy it if your priority is notes and PDFs, with reading as a secondary use case. If you take meeting notes long-form, annotate scientific papers, mark up architectural drawings, or sketch as part of your work, the ReMarkable Pro is the best device available. The handwriting recognition is excellent. The cloud sync is reliable. The folio is the best premium accessory in the category.
Who should look elsewhere
If you primarily want to read ebooks, get a Kindle or Kobo. If you want one device that does reading and writing equally well, get the Scribe or the Elipsa. If you want a more affordable writing tablet, the ReMarkable 2 (the predecessor) is still available at a lower price and is still excellent for writing.
Final verdict
Five stars if you primarily want to write, four stars if you want one device for reading and writing equally. For most readers the Kindle Scribe or Kobo Elipsa 2E is the better balanced choice. For people who consider writing a craft, the ReMarkable Pro is the device worth saving for.