A Minimalist Dream or Overpriced Mistake? reMarkable Paper Pro Move Review

🔷 Intro

The reMarkable Paper Pro Move is essentially the smaller 7.3-inch sibling of the Paper Pro. At first glance, it feels almost identical to the larger model — the display, stylus experience, software, and overall front design all feel like the Paper Pro, just shrunk down. If you already love the original, that’s a good thing.

However, the smaller screen and different aspect ratio introduce a few challenges that the reMarkable team hasn’t fully solved. In this review, I’ll cover everything from tech specs, build quality, and design, to writing and reading experiences, battery life, and overall performance. I’ll also compare it side by side with the Paper Pro, and answer one key question: how well do your notes and book annotations scale between the Move and the Paper Pro?

🔷 Quick Overview

In a nutshell, the Move is a minimalistic, premium-looking paper tablet, designed to be a portable, carry-everywhere notepad.

For writing, it really shines. The smaller Gallery 3 display feels surprisingly close to real paper, and the stylus experience is smooth, responsive, and genuinely fun. If note-taking is your main use case, the Move delivers one of the best experiences in the e-ink world.

Reading, however, is a mixed bag. EPUB files work fine, though margins can feel cramped. PDFs are more problematic — in portrait mode, much of the content becomes hard to read, and landscape only partially solves the issue. Zoom controls can get in the way, and the zoom level doesn’t always stay locked when turning pages. These are software limitations that could be fixed, but for now, they’re frustrating.

Performance feels sluggish compared to other modern e-ink devices, and battery life is underwhelming, lasting roughly two days with medium use. Considering the $600 / €629 price tag for the Move with the premium stylus and leather cover, it doesn’t quite feel like the top-tier experience the branding promises.

That said, the Move makes sense if you already own a Paper Pro and want something smaller and more portable, or if your focus is distraction-free note-taking on the go. But if you’re looking for a primary reading device or your first e-ink tablet, you might be better off exploring alternatives like the Boox Go 7 Color Gen 2, Viwoods Ai Paper Mini, or Kobo Libra Colour.

🔷 Design & Build Quality

The reMarkable Paper Pro Move feels impressive in hand, with a solid sense of quality from the moment you pick it up. The device combines a metal frame with a textured glass screen, instantly giving it a premium touch.

On the back, you’ll find four rubberized feet, which help the device sit firmly on a table. These feet are magnetized, allowing the Folio case to snap on perfectly. A subtle ridge along the side adds a touch of elegance, while the power button sits neatly at the top. The stylus attaches magnetically to the side and charges wirelessly, with a strong magnet that keeps it securely in place. At the bottom, there’s a USB-C port, though it lacks a charging indicator light — a minor inconvenience.

Paired with the premium leather Folio, the Move looks stylish, smart, and truly portable. For one-handed use, I found it manageable — the metal edges can feel slightly slippery, but the wider “chin” at the bottom in landscape mode offers a good resting point for your thumb.

There are a few notable differences compared to the Paper Pro. First, the Move’s back is plastic, which feels less premium than the anodized aluminum of the Paper Pro, though it reduces weight. Second, the Move lacks pogo pins, so it cannot connect to a keyboard, and there’s no Bluetooth support either. This is a missed opportunity for anyone hoping to type directly on the device, though it may have been a conscious design choice due to the smaller size.

🔷 Display

The Move features a 7.3-inch Gallery 3 color panel with a resolution of 1696 x 954, giving a pixel density of 264 PPI — slightly denser than the larger Paper Pro. In daily use, the difference is subtle, and most users won’t notice it while reading or writing.

The Gallery 3 display supports up to 20,000 colors, which look impressive for an e-ink screen. While not as vibrant as an LED display, the colors add depth when highlighting, sketching, or organizing notes. When writing in color, you may notice a small refresh after lifting the pen — normal behavior for color e-ink. Black ink, however, remains perfectly smooth.

The Move also includes a front light similar to the Paper Pro, which can be boosted for dim environments. This makes reading more comfortable and reduces eye strain. Unlike the larger Paper Pro, the Move’s screen does not have a yellowish tint, offering a cleaner white tone.

I ran some basic reflectivity and contrast tests using a lux meter under consistent conditions. Here’s what I found:

• The screen reflects about 74% of the light compared to regular white A4 paper, making it slightly dimmer than paper. Whites appear softer and muted, giving a magazine-like feel rather than the crispness of plain paper.

• Michelson contrast measures around 29.7%, or roughly a 1.84:1 ratio. This is solid, though lower than the 2:1 ratio seen on the best black-and-white e-ink screens like the Kindle Paperwhite or Viwoods AI Paper.

Compared to other color e-ink devices, the Move performs very well — it’s brighter and higher contrast than Bigme’s Kaleido 3 panel, and slightly brighter than the larger Paper Pro, possibly due to improved assembly or coatings.

As with all color e-ink, the trade-off is less sharpness and brightness compared to monochrome screens. If your priority is the most paper-like reading experience, high-end monochrome devices like the AINOTE 2 or Viwoods AiPaper still outperform the Move. But for anyone looking for color e-ink with a solid overall performance, the Move delivers impressively.

🔷 Marker / Stylus

The reMarkable Marker comes in two versions: the standard Marker and the Marker Plus. The Marker Plus is the premium option — it’s black, has a slightly more textured finish, and features a built-in eraser on the back. The standard version is smoother but contains the same 60 mAh battery. The price difference? About $50 or €50.

Is the upgrade worth it? Personally, I enjoy the eraser on the back and the slightly improved grip of the Plus, but whether that’s worth the extra cost depends on how much you value those small improvements.

Both Markers charge wirelessly when attached to the side of the device. The nice part is that the same Marker works across both the Paper Pro and the Move. The downside? They don’t work with other brands, so you’re locked into the reMarkable ecosystem.

🔷 Interface

The Paper Pro Move interface is minimalistic and very easy to learn. Within minutes, you can navigate comfortably. The main menu displays all your folders and files, with quick filters for notebooks, PDFs, or EPUBs. You can also favorite documents, add tags, and later filter or search using those tags.

A newer feature, Handwriting Search, allows you to search your handwritten notes — but there’s a catch: it requires the Connect subscription, which costs about three dollars per month. Along with search, the subscription offers cloud storage and an extended warranty.

The menus are simple, clean, and intentional. You won’t find a bookstore, social media, apps, or email. This is by design: reMarkable aims for a distraction-free experience. Coming from tablets or phones, it can feel almost too simplistic — but that simplicity is exactly the point.

🔷 Performance

Overall, the Move delivers solid performance, with writing being its strongest feature. Writing is smooth and responsive, particularly on the Gallery 3 display, making note-taking a pleasure.

That said, some minor issues remain. Screen flickering can appear when navigating menus, which is normal for Gallery 3 technology. It’s not hugely distracting but noticeable compared to newer e-ink devices with faster refresh rates.

Other points to consider:

• Large libraries: Loading book thumbnails can take time, though things run fine once loaded.

• EPUB navigation: Swiping through files is smooth, but changing font settings — size, type, or margins — is slower and takes a few seconds to apply. This aspect hasn’t improved from the original Paper Pro, so it still feels a bit clunky.

In short, while writing excels, the interface and general performance can feel a little dated compared to newer competitors.

🔷 Features

The reMarkable Paper Pro Move includes several features that make it stand out in the e-ink tablet space.

One of the most useful is handwriting-to-text conversion. It works particularly well in English, and I appreciate that the converted text is pasted onto a new page, leaving your original handwritten notes untouched. The main limitation is that you can only convert one page at a time, which can be tedious for longer notebooks.

Integration with Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive is another highlight. This makes it simple to move documents between devices, export notebooks, or share drawings with a laptop or phone — a very practical addition for anyone who works across multiple platforms.

Gestures also enhance the experience. A few examples:

• Tap two fingers once to undo

• Tap three fingers to redo

• Swipe two fingers down from the top to open the Recent and Favorites drawer

After a little practice, these gestures make navigating and editing feel faster and more intuitive, adding to the overall enjoyment of the device.

🔷 Battery

The Move comes with a 2,334 mAh battery, which unfortunately doesn’t last as long as one might hope. In my daily use, combining writing and reading with minimal front light, the device typically lasts about two days.

I ran some tests to better understand battery drain:

• Low-impact scenario: Front light off, airplane mode on. Battery drained about 2% every 5.5 minutes of writing, roughly 22% per hour.

• High-impact scenario: Front light at maximum, extra bright enabled, Wi-Fi on. Battery drained about 3% every 5.5 minutes, or around 33% per hour.

These are among the highest battery drains I’ve observed on any e-ink device I’ve tested. With a relatively small battery, it’s clear the Move won’t deliver the week-long usage that many e-ink tablets promise.

In short, the battery performance is underwhelming. For heavy daily use, you’ll likely need to charge it every two days, or even daily if using maximum brightness and Wi-Fi. For occasional users, this isn’t as critical, but it’s something to keep in mind if you want a truly portable, always-ready device.

🔷 Writing Experience

Writing on the Paper Pro Move with the stylus is a pleasure. The sound of the tip against the glass closely mimics writing on heavy paper, enhancing the tactile feel.

One of the most impressive aspects is how notebooks scale between the Move and the Paper Pro. If you create a notebook on the Move and open it on the Paper Pro, everything scales nicely. You may notice some extra margins due to the different aspect ratios, but nothing problematic.

Going the other way — from the Paper Pro to the Move — is more interesting. Pages zoom out to fit the smaller screen. How much depends on how widely you wrote on the Paper Pro: narrow writing transfers well, but full-width content can shrink to 0.5x or 0.4x. Landscape mode improves this, scaling content to fit the width effectively. Overall, reMarkable has handled this adaptation very well, given the screen differences.

Templates also align perfectly between devices. Grid layouts, for example, maintain the same spacing, which is excellent for consistency.

That said, there are minor software issues. When a notebook is zoomed in, the zoom icon remains on the page, covering text, instead of disappearing. Additionally, if you zoom on one page and swipe to the next, the zoom resets — it would be better if it remained consistent across pages. Small annoyances, but worth noting.

🔷 Reading Experience

Reading EPUBs on the Move is generally comfortable. The device is light, easy to hold, and works in both portrait and landscape orientations. However, a bug affects page margins: some settings push text off-screen, so only one margin option works correctly. This issue is shared with the Paper Pro, as settings sync across devices, and hopefully will be fixed in a software update.

Changing fonts, margins, or sizes is also slow, taking a few seconds to apply, which feels clunky. While highlighting and drawing on text works fine, the Move lacks features found in competitor devices, such as dictionaries, split-screen reading, notes on highlights, or reading time estimates.

PDFs are where the Move struggles most. Due to the small screen and aspect ratio, dense documents or research papers are difficult to read. Landscape mode helps slightly, but zooming introduces two problems: the zoom icon remains on-screen, and the zoom resets with each page turn. Ideally, PDF reflow would solve this, but the hardware likely cannot handle it. If PDFs are central to your workflow, the Move may not be the best fit.

Annotations are handled well across formats. Notes and highlights in EPUBs scale properly between the Move and Paper Pro. Extra margins on the Pro transform into hidden side spaces on the Move, accessible with a two-finger swipe — a clever solution. PDF annotations remain fixed in place and transfer accurately between devices.

One caveat for EPUB users: changing font size removes all annotations. reMarkable recommends using PDFs for annotations, but this sacrifices text customization — a compromise you need to consider.

🔷 Conclusion

The reMarkable Paper Pro Move is a premium, portable note-taking device that delivers an excellent writing experience, but comes with some trade-offs. Its stylus and Gallery 3 display make writing smooth, responsive, and enjoyable, while features like handwriting-to-text conversion, cloud integration, and gestures enhance productivity.

Reading experiences are mixed. EPUBs are generally comfortable, though margin bugs and slow font adjustments can be frustrating. PDFs, especially dense documents, are less practical due to the smaller screen and limited zoom handling. Battery life is another drawback, with heavy use requiring daily or every-other-day charging.

Ultimately, the Move shines as a companion device for those who already own a Paper Pro or for users whose primary focus is note-taking on the go. If you want a portable, distraction-free, premium digital notepad, it’s a strong choice.

For those who prioritize reading PDFs, longer battery life, or a more cost-effective color e-ink option, alternatives like the Boox Go 7 Color Gen 2 or the Boox Palma 2 may be better suited.

If you own a Move, it’s worth experimenting with your workflow to find the best use case, whether that’s quick note-taking, sketching, or integrating with your cloud storage.

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