Digital note-taking is something that is trending nowadays. Ease of use, better management, best of both worlds i.e the physical pen and paper note-taking and the digital storage of them along with other benefits. The trend skyrocketed with many YouTubers like Ali Abdaal showing the potential benefits of digital note-taking and many products came into the market. One of them is reMarkable and also its successor, the reMarkable 2 is part of this revolution. reMarkable is a digital note-taking tablet using e-ink technology similar to Kindle and uses a very low-latency E-ink writing. The device can be used to write as you would on a pen and paper, and annotate PDFs and the screen has a matte finish that gives the feel of writing on a paper. Let’s learn about Remarkable 2 alternatives.
How does it work?
The pen that comes separately lets you write on the screen similar to what you would do on a notebook and it also allows layers like Photoshop. This is the reason why you might want to get a reMarkable and it does it extensively well. While writing, it also makes the same noises you could’ve heard if you were writing on paper.
The screen is a 10-3 inch display with a monochrome CANVAS and 226 DPI of resolution and due to this monochrome display, the battery lasts for around 2 weeks depending on your usage.
With all of these amazing features of reMarkable 2, one might wonder why would anyone consider an alternative to this?
The reasons are many and are as follows:
Black and White screen:
The reMarkable comes with an e-ink that can only be seen in monochrome. Even though it’s the reMarkable selling point, for its price point, some can find a better tablet with a color screen and much more utility.
Limited utility:
If limited utility is something you crave for productivity, then this product is for you. But for many people, the limited use of reMarkable can be something that puts them off from buying it when tablets of similar price can do so much more.
Subscription and low storage:
The storage on the reMarkable 2 is abysmally low. Only 6.41 GB of onboard storage and you need to get a subscription of $7.99 per month to have the ability to transfer files from and to cloud storage like Dropbox, Google Drive, and others.
Limited Format Support:
reMarkable 2 supports very limited formats.
Lack of a back-light:
reMarkable 2 lacks a back-light preventing it to be used in any environment other than a well-lit one.
Proprietary app:
To get any document from and to reMarkable. You would need the reMarkable app on Windows, iOS, Android, or macOS and it supports one reMarkable at a time.
High latency:
0 reMarkable 2 has a 21 ms latency which is not much but compared to the 9 ms latency of iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab, it feels laggier.
High price:
Considering the price-to-features ratio, the reMarkable along with its pen and folio which are separate purchases offers a pretty low value compared to an iPad.
So there are many reasons, as listed above. Now let’s talk about the alternatives that you can consider if you want a tablet or device for note-taking as a student along with having PDF textbooks.
iPad
Apple starting in 2018 made a budget edition of the iPad with actual Apple Pencil support made for college students and people who want to get the benefits of the iPad at a reasonable cost.
The latest iPad (as of writing this article) costs $329(64 GB model) and Apple Pencil costs $99. Together the package costs around the same price as a reMarkable 2 with all of its accessories but the iPad comes with more features than the reMarkable.
Instead of an e-ink display, it comes with a vibrant display spanning 10” which can be used for colored textbooks, comic books, and other purposes such as Netflix(which the reMarkable doesn’t support at all). With the Apple Pencil, you can also use it as a digital notebook paired with an app like GoodNotes or Notion(which come at a one-time fee).
Unlike the reMarkable 2, the device comes with lots of storage and also you don’t need a separate subscription service using cloud storage.
iPad can also have lots of utility, far more than a reMarkable 2. Like entertainment i.e. Netflix, YouTube, web browsing, and many others.
The budget iPad is sufficient for most people but if you want you can get a more expensive variant like the iPad Air(which comes with USB-C and Magic Keyboard support) or the iPad Pro. Along with that, you can buy an iPhone and Apple Watch to complete the Apple ecosystem.
Kobo Elipsa
Kobo is a company that has been in the e-book business for over ten years posing as a direct rival to Amazon Kindle. Kobo Elipsa is their venture into e-ink note-taking technology. The device costs $399, has a 10.3” screen similar to the reMarkable tablet, 32GB storage, and comes with the stylus included, unlike the reMarkable 2 tablets. The feature set is similar to reMarkable 2 along with its price.
Samsung Galaxy Tab
The Samsung Galaxy tab paired with an S Pen(sold separately) can also be an alternative to a reMarkable tablet. The features are similar to an iPad, better and more vivid screen along with the plethora of apps that come with the Google Play store. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 has an 11” display, 13MP rear camera, and Android 12.
Along with that it also has Samsung DeX, which you can use to connect a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse to have a PC-like experience along with an amazing front camera that can be used for video conference and online classes.
Actual pen-and-paper
Pen and paper have the least amount of features out of all the options on this list. but it’s the cheapest option out of all of them and is still the most popular method of notetaking.
Conclusion
So even though reMarkable 2 is a remarkable device(pun intended), there are a lot more alternatives to consider in the market if you’re looking for a note-taking device.