If you’re in the market for an eNote with a color E Ink screen, Woot has a deal on the Remarkable Paper Pro that looks interesting, and it’s cheaper than the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, despite using a supposedly “superior” color screen technology.
The Woot deal is for refurbished units so that’s why they’re cheaper than normal, and the deal is for a bundle package that includes a stylus and a leather cover. The bundle packages are selling for $559.99. That’s $240 less than buying the same bundle new on Amazon right now.
The Woot deal is confusing because it says the deal is ending today on their homepage, but the product page says it’s available for the next 13 days or until sold out. Go figure.
The Remarkable Paper Pro is one of the main competitors to the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft being an 11″ eNote with a color E Ink screen. But the Remarkable uses a different type of E Ink screen that has actual colored micropixels, whereas the Kindle Scribe uses a Kaleido 3 E Ink screen, which is basically a black and white screen with a color filter layer over the top, like all the other color eNotes on the market.
I haven’t compared the two screens directly so I won’t comment on that, but there’s probably a good reason why other companies aren’t jumping on the bandwagon to use these alternative color screens too. For one, the refresh rate is pretty slow, and with a mix of colors there’s no true black ink.
I will say that Remarkable tablets are terrible ereaders so definitely don’t get one for that. Remarkables are good notetaking devices, that’s what they’re famous for, but the reading software is woefully underdeveloped. It’s not even serviceable, really, unless your use-case is super basic. Kindles get a lot of hate, but their reading software is light years ahead.
There is a version of KOReader for reMarkable. I imagine it will work on this model, but I don’t know for sure how it will perform because I don’t have a device from that brand. It could be a good solution for the shortcomings of the reading programme. A potential buyer should look into this option.
I’m more concerned about the issue of pure black for the text. As I haven’t seen it myself, I can’t comment on it, but I have read some negative reports about it. In the end, I opted for Kaleido 3 because it’s closer to what I’m looking for in terms of colour (modifying parts of the text in the books I read), but it all depends on what you want the e-reader for (note-taking, reading, comics, PDFs, etc.). If I ever find a good deal in my country, I might decide to buy a device from this brand.