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The ReMarkable 2 ($399) is one of the best e-readers for taking notes thanks to its 10.3-inch E Ink screen that supports stylus input, though it faces stiff competition from the Amazon Kindle Scribe ($339.99). However, the ReMarkable 2 now has something the Scribe doesn’t, in the form of a keyboard. The ReMarkable Type Folio is a protective case that props the e-reader up and enables an excellent typing experience, notably expanding its capabilities—though doing so at a steep $199.
Clever Cover Construction
The Type Folio feeds into the ReMarkable 2’s strengths. It provides a focused typing experience without the app-based distractions you get with a regular tablet or notebook. This writing-only approach is similar to more specific—and more expensive—devices such as the Astrohaus Freewrite ($649) and the Freewrite Traveler(Opens in a new window) ($499), but is much more forgiving to users who need to jump all over the page while they type.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
Available in black or brown, the Type Folio looks like a standard flip-open tablet or e-reader cover and is slightly larger in area than the tablet itself at 9.6 by 7.8 inches (HW). The cover is a slim 0.6 inches with the ReMarkable 2 inside it, making the whole package easy to slip into any bag. The outer material is a fairly stiff and thin faux leather that looks nice but feels slightly plasticky.
The ReMarkable 2 attaches to the inside of the Type Folio magnetically, connecting to the keyboard through the copper contacts in the lower left corner. When opened like a book, the ReMarkable 2 sits on the left page and the keyboard sits on the right page. Lifting the right side of the tablet pulls it up and forward—a movement that takes a bit of getting used to compared with simple flip-down keyboard folios for tablets. This setup, however, keeps the keyboard protected from accidental presses when not in use.
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The magnetic rest for the bottom edge of the ReMarkable 2 holds the e-reader securely at a fixed, comfortable angle. The reader stayed in place even as I typed rapidly and firmly in testing. Many other keyboard folios I’ve tested have disconnected and fallen over with similar levels of input.
Cozy, Not Cramped
You have to temper your performance expectations given the limited space of this type of accessory. The Type Folio manages the room it has fairly well, with full-sized QWERTY letter keys and a space bar. The number/function row above is shorter, however.
The Type Folio makes some other compromises. For example, there’s no delete key at all, only a narrow backspace button. The 0 and minus keys pull double duty, and the +/= characters are only accessible via the Alt Opt key to the right of the space bar. The tilde key has been relocated above the Enter key, and is oddly wider than the semicolon and apostrophe keys, which are wedged between L and Enter. The arrow keys are tiny, but at least they’re present and allow for backtracking and making corrections in whatever you’re writing, which is something the Astrohaus Freewrite lacks completely.
The keys are the same flat chiclets you’ll find on most tablet keyboard folios. They’re springy, with shallow travel (1.3mm) compared with a desktop keyboard (2mm).
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
While I overwhelmingly prefer mechanical keyboards, the Type Folio is reliable and fairly comfortable to use. Typing this review I had a small number of wrong presses and dropped keystrokes, but perhaps fewer than 10 for the entire document. It was more consistent than my laptop’s built-in keyboard, which drops keystrokes much more often.
Easy Integration
The ReMarkable 2 requires a firmware update to work properly with the Type Folio. Insert the tablet, turn it on, and it will prompt you to set up the keyboard. This involves selecting your keyboard language and whether you want to use PC (Ctrl) or Mac (Option) shortcuts while typing.
The Type Folio doesn’t make any wild changes to the ReMarkable 2’s interface. Pulling the tablet up to use the keyboard automatically switches the screen to landscape orientation. The Text tool is smart enough to recognize the attached physical keyboard and leave the on-screen keyboard hidden. You can use the ReMarkable 2 as an e-reader or for hand-written note-taking by opening the cover and leaving the keyboard stowed.
E Ink displays have low refresh rates compared with LCDs and OLEDs, which is their biggest weakness. That said, the ReMarkable 2’s screen is fast enough to keep up with my typing at most speeds. When I do get ahead of it by a few letters, it catches up almost immediately once I pause. When moving the cursor via the arrow keys it responds almost instantly, which makes fixing typos easy. The screen flickered black with a full display reset every few minutes, but that’s to be expected; it’s something many e-readers do every time you turn a page due to the way E Ink refreshes.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
Text-Only Export
There are only two options when you want to move what you type off of the tablet: You can export your notebook as a PDF or as plain text. The PDF version puts line breaks after every line, which makes any sort of editing in that format after the fact a nightmare. Fortunately, the plain text I exported of this review pasted properly into Google Docs and integrated smoothly into my workflow.
It’s a shame that the ReMarkable 2 doesn’t support exporting notebooks in RTF or Microsoft Word for consistent editable file management, though you can paste plain text as easily into it as you can in Google Docs.
A Clever Keyboard With Caveats
The ReMarkable Type Folio connects securely to the ReMarkable 2, stays completely out of the way when not in use, and most importantly, feels good to type on. It enables a focused writing experience with the ReMarkable 2 that you simply don’t get with the Kindle Scribe. Though pricey at $199, if you already own a ReMarkable 2 and want to use it for more than taking notes, the Type Folio is well worth considering.
3.5
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The ReMarkable Type Folio turns the ReMarkable 2 e-reader into a high-speed note-taking device at considerable expense.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/remarkable-type-folio