GADGET GURU’S MAGIC BOX

There are occasional perks to being Guru. Here’s one: the good folks at ReMarkable reached out to offer GaGu (who is apparently an ‘influencer’) a ReMarkable 2 (£399), and he gladly accepted. That, though, is where the perks ran out. The precise femtosecond the super-thin e-ink tablet landed on the doorstep of Guru Towers, it was snaffled away.

First the kids grabbed it and began using the array of monochrome pens to write rude notes to Guru and draw unflattering pictures, before working out how to email them directly to Guru so he could not possibly miss them. This tickled them no end, though it served to highlight the relative softness of the pen tips included with the ReMarkable Marker. They mashed those suckers right up.

GaGu then showed the ReMarkable 2 to Mrs Guru who, unlike certain members of the household, has a proper job that requires her to make and refer to copious notes. She was even less willing to give it back than the kids. Having everything on hand, having the ability to convert hastily scribbled notes to plain text; it slots in nicely to that niche. As painful as it is, she’ll probably get to keep it.

For Guru? Eh, not so much. Look, the ReMarkable 2 is really cool. It executes every piece of its limited functionality beautifully well, with an incredibly responsive pressure-sensitive pen, a long battery, fantastic contrast on the screen. But it’s missing a lot; there’s no illumination on that screen, for instance, and no way that GaGu can see to expand on its functionality. For the right person, like Mrs Guru, this is a perfect tool, and one which will save a lot of trees. But if you want a thin tablet and you’re willing to spend this much, an iPad might be better...