Yes, the Remarkable 2 is popping up on my radar again, as this device can be seen with some clients, and if you follow tech news or reviews of new gadgets, you will certainly have heard of the Remarkable, an e-ink writing tablet that promises “better thinking” and an end to the pile of legal pads and pens you keep on your desk. One of SoHo's clients seeking a paper-free, clean desk policy asked us to evaluate the tablet as a corporate device and see how well the product integrates with the M365 office suite.

There are plenty of reviews and videos of the Remarkable device; the short is that it does exactly what it promises. See below:

Remarkable Reviews

This Remarkable 2 tablet does (almost) nothing

reMarkable 2 tablet review: worth it in 2023

How I've Been Using the reMarkable 2 (2023) for 3 Months

It is thinner than your average notebook, with a beautiful screen and a writing experience that feels like you are writing directly on paper. The refresh time on the E-ink screen is quick, and taking notes is instantaneous. I read PDFs and Epub books on it, and they looked great on the 10.3-inch screen. You can take notes on any document and sync back to the Remarkable app on the computer within a few seconds. There is even a screen-sharing function that allows you to show the device screen through the PC app. I did not notice a lag, which makes it great for digital whiteboarding during meetings.  

The syncing is ultimately where this device fails as a corporate tablet. They advertise connections to Onedrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive. I tested with our corporate OneDrive. Once your admin approves the device, you can import OneDrive documents. They are stored locally until you export them back to OneDrive, which is not automatic. Any documents you import are stored locally on the device and synced to the Remarkable cloud service. Exporting documents back to OneDrive saves them in the root of your OneDrive folder, with no way to choose a different folder.

Note: This is an export, not sync

The Remarkable Cloud service has MFA and Google or Apple account registration but does not support SAML login, or Microsoft Intune.

Any business with GRC concerns will see this as a new risk their IT department needs to manage. The Remarkable cannot be enrolled in MDM services or wiped remotely if lost or stolen. A benefit is that there does not seem to be a way to access the local memory directly over USB, but the password protection is a 4-digit PIN code that does not feel very secure.  

As a personal tablet, the Remarkable is a distraction-free writing device that looks and feels “remarkable.” However, I would not recommend it to any corporation with compliance concerns. Several Remarkable competitors, including the iPad and Microsoft Surface, support MDM services. A writing tablet running Android, iOS, or Windows would also help the Microsoft OneNote app, enhancing the experience with access to a premier digital notebook. 

If you do not have compliance concerns and are looking for a distraction-free note-taking experience, a notebook and a collection of excellent ink pens are great alternatives. 

It really does feel like writing on paper rather than glass, without a battery icon or menu to distract you. Pens are universal, so if you happen to misplace yours, you will be able to borrow one and get right back to writing.  

If you are an executive or gadget person who wants to be seen with the latest Apple Watch and shows off your expensive, neutered device in meetings, the Remarkable is a conversation starter that does one promised thing well and shows that you have cool tools to your coworkers.

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