As I own both, I think it would be interesting to compare the two for anyone thinking of buying one. These are the clear leaders in the E-Ink notebook market (at least until the Kindle Scribe gets enough upgrades) and I think most people choose one of these when they are looking to get into the space.

Quick Pros and Cons:

reMarkable

Pros:

• Super minimal and distraction free

• Gorgeous hardware

• Less feature-heavy, but very focused.

• Fantastic Built-In Templates

• Great battery

• Super easy to use

Cons:

• Expensive hardware and accessories

• Subscription is required for some features (like additional templates or cloud syncing for some of your documents)

• Lacking features that would be very helpful (no ability to hyperlink to different pages of a notebook on-device, no spell-check when writing documents with the keyboard, can send emails but they don’t come from your personal email address so they may go to spam)

• Can’t read Kindle books.

Supernote (both Nomad and Manta)

Pros:

• Software has a lot more organizing features built in.

• Really clever shortcuts that saves time (two fingers on device while drawing to lasso, as an example)

• Modular hardware that’s easy to repair and upgrade

• Pen nibs don’t breakdown like they do on the reMarkable or other devices so you don’t have to ever replace it.

• Great selection of pens, including the ability to create your own using whatever pen shell you have.

• Can side-load apps if desired since it runs a locked-down version of Android.

Cons:

• Much more of a learning curve than the reMarkable. Lots of features but it can feel intimidating.

• Pens don’t stick to the side magnetically like they do on the reMarkable.

• Company is based entirely in China and you can’t buy it in-person.

• Has Kindle app built-in which works good, but reading ePubs outside of the app is not a great experience. Margins can sometimes be cut-off with no fault of the user.

Writing Feel

The reMarkable feels a lot like pencil and paper, while the Supernote screen feels like pen on paper. The reMarkable is a lot more “scratchy” and audible, while the Supernote feels like a ballpoint pen gliding on paper. They both feel really good, just different.

I personally like the feel of the Supernote screen more because I typically use pens the most when I do have to use real paper, but I don’t think either screen is objectively better than the other.

One thing to note is that the Supernote screen had to be broken in. I was initially disappointed when I got it because the screen felt so…sticky? It felt really odd and not great, but after using it for a couple hours the stickiness wore off and it feels fantastic now.

Overall

The reMarkable is a much more focused device that is really easy to learn how to use. The even more expensive Paper Pro is the only one that does color and has a built-in light to see the screen in the dark, so if that’s important to you, that might be your only option.

The Supernote devices have a lot more features and a very transparent development cycle (you can see a list of all upcoming features, community suggestions, and development notes here). The company also gives the consumer lots of control, with the ability to buy parts to DIY accessories or repairs, customize the software by side-loading, and offering lots of different accessories.

The reMarkable feels more like an Apple product where it is intentionally limited, which has its pros and cons. It’s nice that it is such a focused device and what it can do it does really well. Just don’t expect a ton of transparency on updates. The optional Connect subscription also feels very anti-consumer for such an expensive device, even if most people don’t need it.

Both are great devices and you’ll probably be happy with either. I think the Supernote works better for my needs but there’s definitely a learning curve to get me to that point. The reMarkable I was able to much more quickly adapt to my workflow but I wished it could do just a tiny bit more.