reMarkable Paper Pro 11.8" RM81C-1000NW Gray 2024

The reMarkable Paper Pro is a distraction-free digital notebook with an 11.8" color E Ink screen and a writing feel that's eerily close to real paper. It's ideal for focused note-takers who can stomach the $599 price and don't need apps or heavy PDF editing. For everyone else, an iPad or Surface Pro is more versatile at a similar cost.

If you've been eyeing digital notebooks to replace a stack of legal pads, the reMarkable Paper Pro is one of the few devices that actually feels like writing on paper. This 11.8" color E Ink tablet strips away notifications, social media, and basically anything that isn't a blank page, and that laser focus is exactly why it keeps showing up in our top-10 lists. With 64GB of built-in storage, a bundled Marker Plus stylus, and a starting price of $599, it's positioned as a premium note-taker for people who want their handwriting to feel right.

reMarkable didn't try to build an iPad competitor. The Paper Pro runs a custom Linux OS that does notes, PDF annotation, and basic file browsing, period. There's no app store, no browser, no video playback. That sounds limiting, but for writers, editors, and anyone who gets distracted by notifications, that simplicity is the whole point. The 2160x1620 resolution color E Ink display is sharp enough for crisp text and subtle color highlighting, though the reds lean a bit orange in person.

At 35.3 out of 100 in our overall composite, this tablet sits in a strange spot. It nails the things its tiny audience cares about—writing feel, eye comfort, focus—and bombs everything else. The hardware specs are weak by tablet standards, but that didn't stop the cult following. With over 1,900 reviews averaging 4.5 stars, people who buy it tend to love it, even if they wish the battery lasted longer.

Power comes from a 1.8 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 chip and 64GB of eMMC storage. Those are the guts of a budget phone from five years ago, and it shows in our percentile rankings: the CPU lands in the 37th percentile among devices we track, and storage is down at the 29th. In practice, flipping through notebooks and scribbling notes stays responsive, but importing a large PDF or scrolling through a hundred-page document can introduce noticeable stutter.

The 3000mAh battery is a genuine pain point. It ranks in the 2nd percentile, one of the absolute worst we've seen in this category. Real-world use backs that up; you can get through a day or two of light note-taking, but anyone hoping for the week-long battery life of older E Ink readers will be disappointed. The screen itself is pleasant, scoring in the 69th percentile, with a pixel density that makes fine handwriting look clean even if the color palette is a bit muted compared to an LCD tablet.

Pricing is all over the map, literally. The reMarkable Paper Pro shows up anywhere from $599 to an eye-watering $144,999 (we're going to assume that's a listing error). The real street price at stores like Best Buy is $599, which puts it squarely against entry-level iPads and a slew of Android tablets that can do ten times more. You're paying a premium for the paper-like screen and the focused experience, not raw specs. If the thought of a clutter-free writing tool makes you smile, the cost feels justified. If you just need a tablet that can do notes on the side, almost anything else gives you more for the money.

This is where the reMarkable's niche gets stark. Stack it against an Apple iPad Pro M5 or a Microsoft Surface Pro ZID-00001, and you're comparing a scalpel to a Swiss Army knife. The iPad and Surface run full desktop-class operating systems, support every app you can think of, and handle video, gaming, and heavy PDF review with ease. They also cost a lot more when you spec them out, but even an older iPad Air often beats the Paper Pro on versatility. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro similarly offer stunning screens and stylus support along with multitasking power.

What none of those can do is feel like a real notepad. ReMarkable's textured surface and stylus latency are in another league entirely. The competition simply doesn't mimic the friction and give of actual paper, and that's the one thing this device exists for. So the comparison comes down to this: if you absolutely need that tactile writing sensation above all else, go reMarkable. If you want a device that can also browse the web, watch Netflix, or edit a spreadsheet, its screen is a dealbreaker, and the Surface or iPad are the smarter buys.

Skip the Paper Pro if you need a true tablet for browsing, media, or heavy productivity tasks. Anyone who expects to run apps, edit complex PDFs, or get all-day battery life will be frustrated. At $599, you're better off with an iPad and Apple Pencil if note-taking is just one of many uses. Students juggling research, videos, and class notes should look at a Surface Go or a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE instead; they'll cost about the same and do vastly more. This tablet is strictly for those who want a paper replacement and nothing else.

The reMarkable Paper Pro is a terrible general-purpose tablet and an almost magical digital notebook. We can't recommend it to anyone who expects a laptop replacement or a streaming device, but for that small corner of people who write, focus, and edit documents all day, it's a joy to use. The build quality, the feel of the Marker Plus, and the way it disappears into a pile of papers is something no iPad can replicate.

If you're already sold on the paper-tablet concept and just want the best writing experience, buy this. The price stings, and you'll want to keep a charger handy, but the daily writing workflow it enables is unlike anything else. For everyone else—especially folks who just want to dip a toe into digital note-taking—a base iPad with an Apple Pencil will give you vastly more for the same money.