Amazon Kindle Scribe Review: It’s All Write

Worth When Reviewed

$339.99

Finest Costs As we speak: Amazon Kindle Scribe

$369.99

Amazon is credited with popularising the eReader with its first Kindle in 2007, however the firm has been sluggish to embrace change throughout the line-up.

Most Kindles are iterations on older fashions, with the most recent variations merely being smaller and lighter gadgets designed to solely learn books purchased direct from Amazon.

However e-ink expertise can be utilized for lots extra. There are a number of profitable note-taking e-ink tablets from firms like reMarkable, which introduce a Wacom layer underneath the display to allow pen enter for notetaking. Goodbye, paper pocket book.

I’m shocked it has taken Amazon till 2022 to launch its first notetaking Kindle, the Kindle Scribe. I’m additionally a bit dissatisfied with the product – given Amazon’s dominance within the eReader market I really feel the Scribe is half-baked, with annoying software program and a few baffling restrictions.

It looks like the results of Amazon’s monopoly. If you’re the undisputed eReader chief, possibly you don’t must strive that onerous.

The Kindle Scribe is an effective product, however it’s not an ideal one. The very fact it’s a greater eReader than notetaking pill can be fairly damning.

Design

Whereas Amazon’s different Kindles typically look to shrink the eReader to the smallest doable measurement, the Scribe goes in the other way. This can be a luxuriously giant design that manages to pack in an enormous display into a skinny and comparatively gentle physique.

The machine is just 5.8mm thick and 433g, comprised of 100% recycled aluminium. It’s a stunning feeling factor, although you will want two palms to comfortably maintain it to learn on for any size of time.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

It’s asymmetrical with a thicker bezel on the left or proper relying which manner up you maintain it, because the software program can inform and flips the orientation for you. It appears a bit like a bigger Kindle Oasis, although the Oasis has web page flip buttons on its bigger edge – the Scribe doesn’t. The Scribe can be one thickness whereas the Oasis is a wedge form.

That massive display is there for use with the brand new pen, which could be very fortunately included with all fashions in any respect costs. You may both get the fundamental pen with the 16GB model or the premium one I used to be despatched for evaluation with 32GB or 64GB. The premium pen has an assignable shortcut button on the facet and an eraser nub on the highest.

The pen is properly matt and grippy and by no means wants charging. It will possibly clip magnetically to the skinny bezel fringe of the Scribe when not in use, although you may also purchase a case for the Scribe which has a pen loop on it for safer storage.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Bought individually, the case is near a obligatory buy. It protects the display, stows the pen, and may prop up the machine for writing or studying due to the folding design. The Scribe attaches magnetically to it, and you will get it in material or leather-based.

There’s only one button on the Scribe, an influence/wake button, subsequent to a USB-C port for charging. Fortunately Amazon has deserted the traditional microUSB port.

Show

The design all revolves round a stunning massive 10.2in display. If you need a bigger eReader, look no additional.

This can be a excellent e-ink show with 300 pixels per inch – that’s excessive definition for the expertise, and phrases look simply as sharp right here as they do on any smaller Kindle or Kobo eReader accessible.

As there are not any web page flip buttons, you need to faucet the display to show pages, simply as you need to to work together with it to make use of the on display keyboard, scroll by way of menus, or faucet into books or notebooks. It’s responsive and fends off fingerprints due to its matt end.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

I devoured a novel in a day once I first bought maintain of the Scribe such is its inviting, word-filled canvas. Should you’ve ever thought eReaders have been too small and also you need to get much more phrases on the web page, the Scribe is for you.

On the flip facet you may need impaired imaginative and prescient, so the big display is perhaps welcome as you’ll be able to regulate the font measurement a lot bigger. With a show this massive you’ll be able to nonetheless match a good variety of traces onto it.

The Scribe additionally advantages from 35 LED entrance lights, probably the most on any Kindle ever (the present most cost-effective Kindle solely has 4). This implies you’ll be able to learn or write at the hours of darkness, and there’s an auto-brightness operate so that you don’t must hold adjusting the degrees. You may as well set the sunshine to a hotter tone for much less harsh blue gentle.

Studying expertise

Studying books on the Kindle Scribe is a pleasure. Modify the font measurement to your liking and away you go – the gorgeous simplicity of the eReader stays, even in a Kindle this huge.

It’s a sensible choice should you do most of your studying at house or sitting down for lengthy intervals as you’ll be able to maintain it with each palms or cradled in your lap. Should you learn rather a lot in your commute, you would possibly want a smaller machine to be held in a single hand or simply positioned in a jacket pocket.

So far as studying books purchased from the Kindle Retailer goes, this is similar expertise as you’ll get on another Kindle, simply bigger! Although most individuals can be served high quality sufficient by the most affordable Kindle or the Kindle Paperwhite, so you actually will need to be taking notes to justify the spend on the Scribe.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Writing expertise

The actual variations are relating to writing, because the Scribe is the one Kindle with a pen. The pen has wonderful latency, which implies the traces are drawn shortly with out delays onto the display.

The thought is you’ll be able to write notes in books you’re studying or individually create notebooks by which to make notes on no matter you need. The underside line is you are able to do this, however neither expertise could be very effectively optimised.

A significant situation is you can’t notate straight onto books (although you’ll be able to straight onto imported PDFs). On rival merchandise just like the Kobo Sage, you’ll be able to write with a pen straight onto e-books such as you would possibly onto the web page of an actual e book. On Kobo, your notes are saved even in case you have rented a library e-book, and can seem in your copy if you find yourself shopping for that e book.

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Not so with Kindle Scribe. If you wish to make a remark in a e book you’ve purchased, you need to faucet on a phrase or spotlight a passage after which faucet on the hand icon that’s completely on the display and choose the be aware icon. You may then write within the pop-up sticky be aware which then attaches to the spotlight you’ve made.

I discovered this method clunky. If scrolling by way of a e book it’s simple to overlook the place you’ve made a be aware because the icon that seems within the passage is tiny. It’d be a lot clearer should you may write onto the e book over phrases or within the margins. Having to focus on and faucet a number of instances to make sticky notes is a jarring factor to do and takes the stream out of notations.

You may’t even add sticky notes to purchased comedian books or magazines, an enormous oversight in my view.

Higher is the pocket book operate, which Amazon has added as a tab to the Kindle’s house display software program. You may create notebooks and choose considered one of many alternative lined templates to write down away to your coronary heart’s content material.

Because of the matt display and matt pen nib, it feels as near as writing on paper as digital expertise will get and is miles nicer than utilizing an Apple Pencil on a easy iPad display.

With good palm rejection I discovered I may write for a number of minutes straight with no points. There are 5 pen thicknesses to select from and a highlighter, however no pencil choice. With the premium pen you’ll be able to flip it round and use the highest as an eraser, which works very effectively.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

However the software program help for the writing a part of the Scribe is missing. There’s no handwriting conversion software program, one thing discovered on the reMarkable 2 that works effectively. You can also’t draw straight traces in notebooks, and whilst you can create pocket book folders, you’ll be able to’t put folders inside folders like you’ll be able to on the reMarkable.

This massively put me off making the Scribe my every day pocket book machine as a result of as soon as the notebooks begin piling up, the submitting system will get very messy as you’ll be able to’t organise it effectively. You can also’t insert pages halfway by way of notebooks, one other primary characteristic on different e-ink noting merchandise that Amazon hasn’t thought of.

It means writing on the Scribe feels someway each releasing within the reality it may be finished, but in addition very restrictive within the stuff you think about it ought to have the ability to do however can not.

I got here to consider the Scribe as a Kindle with a pocket book in-built – I barely ever used it to write down notes in books.

Amazon can be lagging relating to be aware syncing. With reMarkable there’s a elegant smartphone app for viewing your notes in your cellphone or pill, and early performance to make notes on these gadgets that then sync with the notes on the pill.

All notes made on the Scribe can solely be edited on the Scribe. You may view your notes through the Kindle app on smartphone or pill, however you’ll be able to’t edit them – you view them as a picture file. You may e mail notebooks to your self from the Scribe too, however there have to be a greater system than this.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Specs & efficiency

The Scribe has wonderful efficiency with rapid response to web page turns in books, and it strikes by way of menus as fast because the page-refresh nature of e-ink permits.

Regardless of being the most costly Kindle the Scribe is just not waterproof in any manner, which I discover disappointing. There may be additionally no choice to purchase one with a free mobile connection, one thing Amazon appears to be phasing out of the Kindle lineup. Wi-Fi should suffice.

You may go for 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB storage. Even the bottom choice can be sufficient for 1000’s of books and notebooks. A cause to get extra is should you obtain a number of audiobooks from Amazon-owned Audible as these MP3 recordsdata take up far more exhausting drive house. With no headphone jack although you’ll want to attach Bluetooth headphones.

Software program & options

Organising the Kindle is a doddle as Amazon enables you to do it through the Kindle smartphone app. This makes it rather a lot simpler to attach the Scribe to your Amazon account and get it related to a Wi-Fi community.

Probably the greatest issues about all fashions of the Scribe is that none include lock display advertisements. On different Kindles, you need to pay for fashions with out these irritating advertisements. For some cause, the Scribe escapes that destiny.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Sadly, Amazon has not ever actually improved the Kindle’s software program within the 15 years of the product line’s existence. The scale of the Scribe’s display, coupled with the brand new pocket book stuff, amplifies that.

It’s not intuitive at first, and I dislike how Amazon spams the ‘Residence’ tab with algorithmic suggestions for books, comics, and different content material.

Given there are actually notebooks to suit into the equation, it’s a faff to change between features. There needs to be a faster strategy to flick between completely different notebooks, however you need to crawl again by way of menus through a again button that may be a faucet away.

You must faucet twice simply to search out the brightness slider – this sums up the clunkiness of Kindle software program. It’s a bit simpler to disregard on less complicated Kindles however when the Scribe is supposed to take action far more, it makes every day use irritating.

Getting paperwork reminiscent of PDFs onto the Kindle can be a bit annoying utilizing Amazon’s Ship to Kindle software program. You may obtain smartphone, PC, or Mac apps for this, or use a devoted web site.

Battery life

The Scribe’s battery life is excellent, although you’d anticipate that from the scale of the factor. Amazon guarantees ‘months’ on a single cost however I can solely assume that is with Wi-Fi switched off.

I used the Scribe on daily basis for every week with Wi-Fi on and brightness pretty excessive when in use, and the battery went from 100% to 58%. That is nonetheless wonderful, however if you wish to final a number of weeks you’ll must flick airplane mode on.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Worth & availability

The Amazon Kindle Scribe prices from $339.99/£329.99 for a 16GB mannequin with the fundamental pen.

That is costly, however an inexpensive worth for an e-ink notetaking machine. The reMarkable 2 is the perfect notetaking e-ink pill available on the market, however it prices $279/£279 with no pen that prices not less than $79/£59. It additionally has no backlight, and no direct connection to an e-book retailer – it’s not designed to be an eReader.

For all of the Scribe’s software program annoyances, it’s nonetheless nice as a result of it’s a Kindle. Studying is a pleasure on it, and books are simple to return by.

The Scribe goes all the way in which as much as $419.99/£409.99 for 64GB with the premium pen.

You should buy it from Amazon US or Amazon UK.

Verdict

The Kindle Scribe feels very very similar to what it’s – a first-generation product. It’s as if Amazon knew it needed to problem different notetaking e-ink gadgets however determined to do the naked minimal.

The Scribe does what it says it will possibly do, however not in considerate or intelligent methods. It highlights how lazy Amazon has at all times been with Kindle software program, reeking of an organization that doesn’t must strive that onerous as a result of it already dominates the eReader market.

When notetaking e-ink merchandise like reMarkable exist, the following model of the Scribe should strive rather a lot more durable with easy additions like folders in folders, cross-device be aware modifying, and even the easy skill to write down straight onto books. These are issues that could possibly be added to this Scribe with a software program replace, too.

For easy notetaking and doodling, the Scribe is nice. It additionally is perhaps my favorite Kindle for studying books due to the luxuriously giant, high quality lit display and insanely good battery life.

However when judged for what it units out to do and in opposition to different merchandise, the Scribe falls brief.

Specs

• 10.2in 300ppi e-ink show
• Wacom layer for pen enter
• 35 LED entrance lights
• USB-C charging
• Wi-Fi
• 16/32/64GB storage
• Amazon Kindle Retailer
• 5.8mm thick
• 433g