Was I writing with pen and paper, or a stylus on a tablet? It’s getting more difficult than ever to tell.

The Remarkable Paper Pure is a follow-up to 2020’s Remarkable 2 and a couple of premium color E Ink tablets. As with Remarkable’s first two digital notepads, the Paper Pure features a black-and-white E Ink screen that sacrifices lighting for writing. The screen’s textured finish feels more like writing on actual paper than a tablet with a smooth glass screen. Without lighting, you can’t use it everywhere. But that tradeoff is important. Every stroke seems directly connected to the tip of the Marker as a result, making it feel more like you’re using an actual pen on a piece of paper rather than a stylus on a screen. It’s better than anything I’ve tested so far.

So how about that pen? The Pure comes with a basic battery-powered stylus called the Marker, but I tested the more expensive Marker Plus that adds a dedicated eraser button and is available as part of a more expensive $449 bundle that also includes a new Sleeve Folio case. Its latency is the same as the Remarkable 2’s stylus and not as responsive as the Apple Pencil Pro, but I think the writing experience with Remarkable’s tablets remains unmatched. It’s nice that the stylus can wirelessly charge when attached to the side of the tablet, like the iPad Pro and Air. It’s no thicker than the Remarkable 2’s stylus and attaches more securely than before.

There are some other upgrades. The Paper Pure has a faster dual-core processor, a bump from 1GB of RAM to 2GB, and a storage increase from 8GB to 32GB. Comparing the two tablets side by side, the Paper Pure is faster when it comes to navigating the UI and opening documents, but not significantly. While large ebooks and PDFs opened about half a second faster on the Paper Pure, the speed improvements were less than that for other documents, including its native notebooks.

Remarkable says the Paper Pure’s new third-generation Canvas screen — a customized 10.3-inch version of E Ink’s Carta 1300 panel that’s already in use in many e-readers — offers 20 percent more contrast and a brighter appearance than the Remarkable 2’s second-gen display. There’s a subtle difference between the two, but it’s really only noticeable with both tablets sitting right next to each other.

The upgraded screen contributes to the Paper Pure’s slightly snappier UI performance, but it carries forward the Remarkable 2’s 1,872 x 1,404 resolution and 226PPI, which is less than what you’ll find on many other modern tablets this size, including Remarkable’s color screen devices. Small text still looks crisp and legible, just not as crisp as it would on the latest Kobo and Kindle 300PPI e-readers.

What I like most about the Paper Pure is a new design that feels even more durable. I treated the original Remarkable like a paper notebook that I could toss around and cram in my backpack, and it’s survived years of abuse. The Remarkable 2 was more durable with a stiffer design, but the Paper Pure now has a back panel made entirely of plastic that I’m even more confident will easily survive regular use and abuse. It’s a little bit thicker than the Remarkable 2 as a result, but at 44 grams lighter it’s easier to carry.

The only disappointing design change is that the Paper Pure doesn’t carry forward the contact pads on the edge of the Remarkable 2 that it uses to connect to the company’s excellent Type Folio keyboard case. The change doesn’t entirely rule out a similar accessory for the Paper Pure, but it will have to connect in a different way.

The Paper Pure’s software experience is identical to the Remarkable 2’s that’s been regularly updated over the years, but the company is introducing some new features that its older tablets will also get. Webpages saved through Remarkable’s Chrome extension or mobile apps and other imported documents can be converted to editable notebooks, allowing their content to be reorganized or reformatted before sharing with others.

The tablets are also getting Google and Microsoft Outlook calendar connectivity for a new meeting notes feature that automatically populates a notebook with details about the agenda pulled from the invite. Additional notes taken during the meeting can be summarized using AI that will highlight important details or action items before sharing.

And while the Paper Pure can be used to read ebooks and PDFs with an adequate amount of formatting options, it still lacks the expanded functionality of other E Ink devices. Amazon’s $429.99 Kindle Scribe (if Amazon ever releases the version without a screen light) doubles as a more capable e-reader with access to a large bookstore, while Boox offers several E Ink tablets under $500 that run Android with access to the Google Play Store, further expanding how you can use them.

If your priority is finding a digital replacement to stacks of notebooks, sticky notes, and wherever else you jot down your thoughts, the Remarkable Paper Pure is as close as you’ll get to a pen-on-paper experience minus the cluttered stacks of paper. The Paper Pro and Paper Pro Move might be tempting with their excellent color screens, but the Paper Pure is the better option. However, if you’re already a happy Remarkable 2 user, aside from a slightly larger battery there are few compelling reasons to upgrade given the company’s strong commitment to making new features available on its existing devices.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge