PLEASE NOTE: I am not sponsored by Remarkable 2, Milligram, JB HI FI, Lamy or any of the other companies contained within the blog article, this is purely my own thoughts and opinions and are not shaded by any thing else.
Pre-text
If you know me you would know that I love using pen and paper for most of the things I do on the daily and that's just a fact of life for what I do, that's generally why you will find that I will have a traveler company notebook in my pocket and a A5 Folio in my bag, Bellroy is my A5 Folio of choice, I opted for that one over the Orbitkey One at this point in time.
There are some reasons to switch to the remarkable and then there's some reasons not to switch as well, but we will cover these in extensive details.
The biggest issue I have is the marker plus, there needs to be a TABLET only version available across the counter at JB HI-FI the marker plus is too slim and is quite cumbersome for long extended periods of writing and that's a lot of what I do to be honest with you, and that's just a fact of life.
Like I use the remarkable for my shopping and meal prep requirements as well to keep everything across the spectrum of what I usually use a notebook for and that's not a bad thing if anything I think that's good cause it's better for the environment if you're using something like the remarkable 2 to be honest with you.
The Pricing:
PLEASE NOTE: PRICING IS THE PRICING FOR SOURCING DIRECT FROM JB HI FI ONLY.
The pricing isn't going to be for everyone and I will link the different bundles here and explain their breakdown and what I would do differently in a later concept.
Remarkable 2 with Marker Plus and Leather Folio (Black) - this is the bundle I have.
Remarkable 2 with marker plus - Tablet and Marker Plus only, no cover.
Remarkable 2 with Marker Plus and Polymer Weave Folio Cover - Polymer weave cover might be the golden answer.
In terms of pricing it's on par with what we are use to buying from Remarkable directly though, with JB there will always be some wiggle room across the counter with the sales team at your local Jb Hi Fi.
The Accessories - Genuine.
Leather Folio Covers, Keyboard Covers, and folio's.
All these accessories are way overpriced and in my mind aren't exactly worth the premium price tag you're paying like seriously I feel like you're paying a premium price because they are the apple of writing tablets, but the actual quality doesn't hold up. I will explain this further on, in all honesty.
The genuine accessories are well thought out but are lacking in quality and value for money in my honest opinion with you, that's just how the dice seem to roll and that's something that is a little bit depressing and annoying.
There's plenty of nice accessories on Amazon though. I would like to see someone like Bellroy take the concept for a cover to the next level, however I don't think the Remarkable 2 is main stream enough for Bellroy to tackle, this is based on my interactions with people that don't even know what the tablet is, and the fact that is it not widely recognized as a kick ass solution yet!
I think that's kind of the problem like Remarkable, has the market cornered with the dynamic of the their accessories to the point where Amazon has some third party solutions that kind of work the job well too.
Like don't get me wrong I love the cover I have on my remarkable 2 but it doesn't hold up as well as it should in my mind and what I would most like do is look at investing in a Toyko Folio 12.9" from Bellroy and using it as a life admin solution for travelling and keeping the remarkable in that in my bag, though the cover is stored directly behind my laptop compartment in the seedy bar so it's not like it's been getting a rough treatment.
The Software:
People have reported the software being buggy, I have noticed some minor tweaks especially in left-handed mode but that's nothing too major I wouldn't say the software is buggy as such.
I would say that Remarkable are pushing out software updates often enough for the Remarkable 2 to fix and correct most bugs as they appear and it's a smooth process with Remarkable.
In the short time I have owned the Remarkable 2, they have pushed four or five updates to the Remarkable with all improvements and I haven't noticed any bugs with the software either.
Battery Life & Charging:
The battery life for the Remarkable 2 is fairly decent. I tend to think writing, I do around 20 - 40 minutes a day and I never turn the Remarkable 2 off, and it sits on my desk or in my desk draw and I charge it maybe once every 3 weeks as a guess.
It's charges from a USB C and any standard USB-C cable and wall plug will work just fine to charge it. This means it's not another additional charge you have to carry if you're on the daily commute or travelling and that's definitely a strong bonus.
Conception:
The conception of the device is to replace your every day notebook that is around a A5/A4 size, the remarkable was never designed to replace your field notes, or passport size notebook or A6 pocket book size, and that's purely based and backed Soley on size.
Remarkable 2 isn't something you can carry in your pocket, so it definitely hasn't replaced my traveller's company pocket notebook, and that's because I can't carry the
I think the Remarkable 2 is very well executed for it's size and that's just a simple fact of life, right there.
The genuine accessories are a major letdown at least the one I have the hands on experience with any way, and once again, that's just my first hand knowledge, I have found my self still occasionally reached for a A5 notebook, but I haven't been travelling with one, I have been travelling with the Remarkable 2 paper tablet.
The device is well executed, and the software is nicely polished however the accessories are were the let downs are at, but do I think the Remarkable 2 is a good piece of tech? Most definitely to be honest and that's a fact of life.
Sadly, you can’t force something that doesn’t come naturally to us, and I’m sorry I’m corrupted by Midori and fountain pens and that’s what I have gone back to.