The reMarkable Paper Pro is officially my favorite tool for focused writing

Despite my love of tech, I’m an old-fashioned pen-and-paper person at heart. I handwrite everything from outlines and grocery lists to “love notes” for my partner (a.k.a. post-its reminding him to take out the trash). I keep pens in every color, partly for organization, but mostly for the ritual. That’s perhaps why, of all the premium E-Ink readers I’ve tested, the color-displayed reMarkable Paper Pro has become an instant favorite. After using it for the past couple of weeks, I’ve found myself reaching for it more and more, and I have an excessive amount of notes to show for it.

The reMarkable Paper Pro looks like a fancy portfolio piece. It’s clean and understated with an aluminum build and matte finish, and I found it incredibly thin and lightweight, which makes it portable despite its large display. Oversized compared to other E-Ink tablets, it’s reminiscent of a spiral notebook but without the annoying wire coil. I paired mine with one of the brand’s upscale covers for a refined look that wouldn’t feel out of place in a professional setting.

Powered on, the 11.8-inch E-Ink display is the same low-power, glare-free kind of screen I love in e-readers, but now with color. The hues are not bright or saturated like a tablet, and that’s the point. The Paper Pro’s color adds nuance, not noise, offering more functionality and simultaneously filling the creative gap of some other E-Ink notebooks. I’ve used the feature to highlight edits, underline key passages, and color-code ideas and topics in my own notes. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Even before delving into the rainbow, the Paper Pro offers the best writing experience I’ve found so far, and I’ve tried a fair share of alternatives. The updated front lighting makes it easy to scribble notes in any condition. I tested the device with the premium Marker Plus stylus rather than the free one, but according to the company, each offers a more precise feel than those of the ReMarkable 2, which are, unfortunately, not compatible with this device. Both active styluses, the base model and Marker Plus, each charge magnetically and come with six replacement tips.

In my testing, the Marker Plus is highly responsive, balanced, and genuinely pleasant to use, and in theory, I appreciate the built-in eraser, which you don’t get on the base model. The ability to simply flip my stylus like a real pencil is efficient. However, I don’t like the eraser itself as much as that of the Kindle Scribe. It’s not rubberized for that squishy new eraser feel, but instead, it feels like it’s going to scratch the screen (thankfully, it doesn’t). It reminds me of grade school when you’d find yourself with a brittle, pink eraser on your favorite pencil. More than anything, I wish it didn’t incur a $50 upcharge at checkout (or a significant $129 extra when bought standalone), as the device is already quite pricey.

Meanwhile, the screen itself offers an experience that feels remarkably close to putting pen to paper. There’s just enough texture to ground my strokes and very minimal lag (though a tiny bit). I am genuinely obsessed with the smart shape support for perfectly straight lines and there are nine different pen styles to keep me busy. As mentioned, there are also now nine color options including three neutrals; black, gray, and white. The device also packs a huge selection of templates to put the pen to all kinds of use.

For longer-form writing, the device also pairs with the brand’s Type Folio, which, price tag aside, I genuinely love. It’s slim, folds up cleanly like a journal, and adds barely any bulk, keeping the whole setup elegant and portable. The keyboard itself is surprisingly comfortable to type on for its size and adds considerable functionality.

During this review period, I used it for everything from taking notes during product briefings to drafting a eulogy. I’m no novelist but I imagine this would be the perfect device for anyone writing a book or jotting down a lot of words. All in all, it’s an excellent addition, and I gravitated toward using it more often than the stylus. With that said, it only works with the Paper Pro, and at $299, it’s a steep add-on. You cannot pair a third-party Bluetooth keyboard.

Still, with or without the keyboard, the Paper Pro offers a unique writing environment: the lack of notifications, pop-ups, or tempting apps makes it perfect for focused work. There’s something refreshing about drafting in a space that feels purpose-built without split-screen distractions or social media rabbit holes, and it’s rare to find a device that supports both handwriting and typing without pulling you into multitasking. Unlike my laptop or tablet, I won’t catch myself mindlessly opening my chess app, answering group text messages, or doomscrolling. For me, that’s where the Paper Pro sets itself apart.

I also appreciate how easy it is to organize everything into folders or tag individual pages, notebooks, and files. The tagging system makes it simple to filter and find what you need later, and it syncs across mobile and desktop apps like a digital filing cabinet. You can export your own notes or documents off the device and sync everything to the cloud using Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, or just email files to yourself directly. Notes export cleanly as PDFs or text files, and you can even screen share directly from the device if you need to present.

When needed, handwriting conversion is also very accurate. In my test above, the Paper Pro was able to decipher even my left-handed writing and nailed punctuation marks despite the fact that my question mark and exclamation point are nearly identical. You can also combine typed and handwritten writing on the same page.

Overall, the reMarkable Paper Pro is officially my favorite tool for focused writing, with an experience that closely mimics paper and colorful pens. It facilitates a distraction-free environment that may not make you the next Mark Twain, but will certainly give you the space to try. Yet, while the color display and front lighting elevate the experience, the device’s high price tag remains a major deterrent. You’d have to burn through a lot of paper notebooks to justify the ~$600 price, before even adding accessories.

What sets the reMarkable Paper Pro apart is its focus. It doesn’t try to be everything. It simply excels at being a digital notebook. If you’re looking for an E-Ink tablet that supports note-taking but is more centered on the reading experience, a device like the Kindle Scribe ($419.99 at Amazon) is a better bet thanks to its deep integration with Amazon’s ecosystem, greater support for long-form reading, and a smaller price tag. The Paper Pro can handle PDFs and ePubs just fine, and the color display adds visual flair, but it’s clearly built for writing first and reading second.

And if you’re budget can’t stretch to the Paper Pro, the reMarkable 2 ($429 at Amazon) is still a favorite with digital note-takers for a reason. It drops the color display for a smaller, grayscale panel, has no backlight, and the stylus support has higher latency, but it’s almost $200 less when bought as a bundle with the Marker Plus pen.