I’ve always been a legal-pad-and-ink-pen person. In grad school and working almost full time, I write constantly, and I rely on notes to keep my head above water. The system mostly works — until a note ends up on the wrong page and I just…never see it again. That frustration was what made me curious about the reMarkable Paper Pro Move. I wasn’t expecting it to replace my trusty pad, but after a week, I think it has.
The packaging set the tone right away. Sleek but textured, easy to open, with simple instructions, and the first thing you see is the tablet itself. My first impression was that it looked like an older iPod touch -just bigger, with a warmer, more luminous screen that didn’t have the harsh “blue light” feel of a normal tablet. The marker felt different too, almost like a sugar cane straw. It’s a small detail, but it makes the whole device feel tactile and intentional.
Setup took just minutes. I connected to Wi-Fi, watched the update crawl across a progress bar, and paired it to my account on myremarkable.com. Signing in with Google and entering a quick verification code was painless. Even snapping it into the case felt well thought out – the four dots on the back nestling right into the four dimples with a satisfying click.
When I started writing, I understood why people rave about this tablet. I’m also an artist, and the sensitivity of the marker on the writing surface was unlike anything I’d tried. I could rest my hand on the screen without messing it up. The e-ink appears black for a moment before shifting into whatever color I’d chosen—blue, magenta, or whatever color you choose. It’s a small but delightful by-product of the unique e-ink technology.
The sketching impressed me even more. The pressure sensitivity gave my lines instant depth. I kept thinking how useful it would’ve been back in my anatomy classes. The lasso eraser is another favorite — you circle something and it disappears — and by drawing and holding, the shape tool makes perfect circles, squares, and triangles on command. It’s like carrying both a notebook and a drafting toolkit.
It’s not perfect. Sometimes there’s the tiniest lag, like the device is pausing to catch its breath before responding. It just means you have to be a little patient, especially right after a touch.
Still, I took it outside in the morning, afternoon, and evening while walking my dog, and the screen was perfectly visible in all lights. And I noticed my own preferences shifting: short notes and single words feel fine in portrait, but for full sentences and longer phrases, landscape mode is more natural. It flows like real handwriting.
The portability surprised me most. While it is a highly advertised aspect of the product, I hadn’t expected to like it this much! The Move slipped into my sweatshirt pocket on the walk home—something no legal pad has ever done. I brought it to my aunt and uncle’s house, showed it to my cousins (they’re into graphic design), and everyone loved the paper-like feel. My aunt was so impressed with the ink effect that she said she might get one herself. At work, I passed it around and watched people light up. Several told me they’d never used anything like it and wanted to look into buying one.
After a week of replacing my legal pad with the Move, I think it’s staying. The portability and, dare I say, the fun of using it outweigh the bulk and unwieldiness of my old setup. It keeps my notes in one place instead of scattered across pages I forget to revisit, and it fits my day without getting in the way. I never thought I’d say this, but I think I’ve been won over. The reMarkable Move isn’t just another gadget — it’s become something I actually see sticking with me long term. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to expand their tech repertoire with a little mini e-notebook that still feels like paper but makes everyday note-taking and sketching easier.
