Not very remarkable, still note-worthy

Stylus assist and note-taking have been a very long time approaching Amazon’s common Kindle e-reader line-up. They’re lastly right here on the Kindle Scribe, together with the biggest e-ink show within the sequence but. The Kindle Scribe guarantees to be a superb e-book reader but additionally a helpful digital notepad and sketchpad. Does it reside as much as its potential? I spent one month studying books, sketching, jotting down ideas, and fixing math issues, to reply that query. So let’s see the decision in Android Authority‘s Amazon Kindle Scribe evaluate.

• Amazon Kindle Scribe (16GB, with Primary Pen): $339.99 / €329.99 / £369.99
• Amazon Kindle Scribe (16GB, with Premium Pen): $369.99 / €359.99 / £399.99
• Amazon Kindle Scribe (32GB, with Premium Pen): $389.99 / €379.99 / £419.99
• Amazon Kindle Scribe (64GB, with Premium Pen): $419.99 / €409.99 / £449.99

The brand new Amazon Kindle Scribe touts the largest show of any Kindle but. At 10.2 inches with a 1,860 x 2,480 decision (300ppi), the e-ink panel shouldn’t be solely massive sufficient to accommodate books, comics, magazines, and PDFs, however it additionally serves as a superb canvas for your whole sketching and note-taking wants. It’s flanked on one aspect with a bigger bezel for higher ergonomics, and you’ll rotate the show for right- and left-handed use.

The facility button and USB-C port sit on the aspect, a seemingly awkward place at first, however one which is sensible as you employ the Kindle Scribe for longer durations of time. Having the USB-C cable come out of the aspect means you may nonetheless relaxation the reader in your lap and browse or write whereas it’s charging, with out twisting or bending the cable. It nonetheless seems funky, although.

Amazon is providing two stylus choices with the Kindle Scribe; each of them connect magnetically to the aspect, include three additional nubs within the field, and don’t require any pairing or charging. They will let you take standalone notes, annotate instantly on high of PDFs, and take handwritten sticky notes in common e-books. The Primary Pen does one factor solely: write. The Premium Pen introduces a pressure-based eraser on the other finish and a customizable button on the aspect.

That is the highest-end Kindle e-reader obtainable as we speak and the value displays it. It’s $90 costlier than the earlier flagship Oasis (2019) and $200 greater than the Kindle Paperwhite (2021). You should purchase it instantly from Amazon, clearly, but additionally from Greatest Purchase within the US. The one shade obtainable is tungsten black.

The star of the present with the Kindle Scribe is its 10.2-inch e-ink glare-free show. It’s simple to learn open air in direct daylight, and the 35 LED lights make it suited to indoor use too. Just like the Oasis (2019) and Paperwhite (2021), the Scribe can adapt its show’s brightness mechanically and schedule its heat adjustments to observe the native dawn and sundown. It switches from a cooler tone through the day to a hotter shade at night time.

The show’s greatest asset, although, is its bodily dimension. It has the approximate dimensions of an A5 sheet of paper, making it best for note-taking and sketching with out being too unwieldy. Comedian books, magazines, and PDFs are simpler to parse on it than on any 6- or 7-inch Kindle.

In my month testing the Kindle Scribe, that is the function I appreciated essentially the most. I had beforehand tried and did not learn comedian books, paperwork, and research books on different Kindle fashions. The shows have been too small, textual content was painful to parse, and zooming in/out each two seconds was a irritating expertise. The Scribe is the primary time I used to be in a position to really learn these books on a Kindle.

Writing on the Amazon Kindle Scribe is a pleasing expertise, just like the Huawei MatePad Paper. It’s as shut as a digital show and stylus can get to the acquainted pen-and-paper really feel. Latency is unnoticeable; you instantly see each stroke.

The Premium Pen is value the additional $30 if just for the eraser performance. It’s tremendous intuitive to flip it round to delete errors or bits you now not want. The additional aspect button will be programmed to behave as a highlighter, pen, eraser, or so as to add a sticky observe in books. I like to recommend you set it as much as spotlight if you happen to plan on finding out or studying vital documentation on the Scribe; it’s as if you happen to had a secret Sharpie in your hand.

Like each different e-reader, the Kindle Scribe boasts wonderful battery life. I solely wanted to high it up after three weeks of very lively use (studying 4 full books, and taking many notes and sketches).

Amazon can also be smart sufficient to not show lock display screen advertisements on the Scribe. On the worth, it will’ve been very sleazy to see random books on the inactive show. Nonetheless, I’d love if we may disable all of the random suggestions from the principle residence display screen too.

For a first-generation Kindle with stylus assist, the Scribe gives absolutely the naked minimal of note-taking and sketching options. First, the pen doesn’t assist variable tilt and stress sensitivities. The stroke is identical, regardless of the way you maintain it. Amazon has solely carried out pen, highlighter, and eraser features, every in 5 totally different stroke widths. You don’t get any extra instruments or brush sorts, however these are supposedly coming in a future replace.

There are additionally zero gestures or sensible functionalities related to the pen. In contrast to extra superior note-taking experiences just like the iPad and Apple Pencil or reMarkable 2, you may’t choose components of your sketches to maneuver or resize them. You possibly can’t insert traces between textual content or areas between characters, copy and paste bits round, or draw sensible shapes. If you happen to’re like me and you’ll’t draw a straight line to avoid wasting your life, the Scribe received’t straighten it for you. Overlook about rectangles or circles too. Handwriting recognition and OCR are nowhere to be discovered both.

Total, this seems like digital note-taking 1.0, circa 2010. It’s precisely the identical workflow as working with an actual paper — zero sensible advances for our fashionable digital age. Each time I picked up the pen to take notes, clear up a math downside, or sketch one thing, I knew I used to be going to make use of the undo button or eraser far more than I meant. A easy factor like transferring an merchandise down one line in a listing requires erasing all the line and writing it once more. Suffice it to say, that is far, very removed from what you are able to do with a contemporary pill or a digital notepad just like the reMarkable or Supernote.

Export choices are fairly restricted too. Principally, you may e-mail something as a PDF. Standalone notes additionally sync throughout your Kindle account and will be accessed in view-only mode by way of the Android and iOS apps — no enhancing. PDF annotations and handwritten sticky notes don’t sync to different units but. All of this hinders the usefulness of all the note-taking expertise.

However worse than which can be all of the complicated limitations round e-book codecs and what you may or can’t do. See if you happen to can observe the logic:

• You possibly can’t instantly obtain PDFs or EPUBs instantly from the Scribe’s built-in browser. Solely AZW, PRC, MOBI, or TXT extensions are supported. Different file sorts should be loaded utilizing Ship to Kindle. There’s nothing new right here in comparison with different Kindles, however it’s an arbitrary limitation that makes much less and fewer sense on a tool that thrives on ebook studying and annotation.
• You possibly can solely scribble and instantly annotate PDF paperwork. Some other format doesn’t enable this, however makes use of sticky notes as an alternative. Nevertheless, you may’t annotate PDFs loaded by way of USB-C or despatched to your Kindle earlier than 11/11/2022. One other arbitrary limitation.
• Sticky notes with typed or handwritten notes will be added to most Kindle Retailer or imported e-books in any format besides PDF. Nevertheless, Kindle Retailer mangas, comics, graphic novels, magazines, and newspapers don’t enable that for some purpose. Additionally, see if yow will discover the sticky observe icon within the above-right picture. It’s quasi-invisible.
• Since Amazon is phasing out MOBI assist, you may’t add handwritten sticky notes or direct annotations to these.

In a number of phrases: it’s a complicated mess. Throughout my first week with the Scribe, I had no thought annotations, and sticky notes have been potential as a result of I used to be studying an previous ebook within the MOBI format. It was solely after I began studying different content material that I spotted I may typically connect a sticky observe and typically instantly write on the web page. I needed to dig on-line to seek out the excellence. Amazon must make clear this on the gadget, not on a assist web page nobody will discover, and it ought to take away a few of these haphazard restrictions. A extra constant expertise can go a good distance.

The dearth of water resistance is one other very disappointing selection for the Kindle Scribe. If you happen to thought we’d moved in the direction of IP ranking by default on all however essentially the most fundamental Kindle reader, you’d be unsuitable. This $300+ mannequin can’t deal with water.

Throughout my first week with the Scribe, I didn’t learn about this downgrade; I simply wrongly assumed it was waterproof. So I positioned it on the sink’s edge whereas washing my arms and propped it up within the kitchen whereas cooking a number of instances. Nothing broke, however I’m glad I didn’t determine to take it into the bathtub or out within the wet Parisian climate. Now that I’m conscious of the limitation, I’ll child it after I’m utilizing it. It’s value preserving this in thoughts if you happen to’re searching for a pool-side or outdoor-friendly e-reader — you could be higher off with one thing else.

Different downsides of the Kindle Scribe embody its bigger and heavier dimension, which might be annoying for longer studying classes, and its fairly fundamental interface that requires a number of faucets to change between books, notes, and the browser. There aren’t any page-turning buttons both, a beloved function for any Kindle Oasis consumer.

The Kindle Scribe represents a giant leap in Amazon’s e-reader line-up. For the primary time, we are able to learn paperwork, PDFs, and comics on a bigger, extra comfy show, whereas additionally having the choice to annotate and sketch. Save for the dearth of water resistance, the {hardware} is phenomenal too.

The software program expertise, nevertheless, is mediocre. Even when Amazon rushed the Scribe out to fulfill the 2022 vacation season, it nonetheless had years to develop a extra strong note-taking expertise. The restricted pens and brushes, the absence of digital stylus gestures or options, and the dearth of handwriting recognition are objectively inexcusable these days. Particularly when different e-ink tablets provide them. Then there are the arbitrary and convoluted restrictions across the totally different ebook and doc codecs. Amazon is promising software program updates with new options, although, and can doubtless drop the Scribe’s worth many instances over the course of the subsequent months. These would definitely make it extra interesting.

Because it stands, the Scribe is a little bit of a novel beast within the e-reader market. It’s an e-book reader before everything, with some fundamental note-taking options in tow. If that is all you want, and also you’re blissful sticking to Amazon’s software program expertise, then by all means, go for it.

However if you’d like a greater stylus expertise and you understand you’ll be jotting down notes and annotating paperwork greater than studying books, it’s best to have a look at the reMarkable 2 ($299) or Supernote (s$343). In order for you a extra open ecosystem with entry to extra Android apps, you’re higher off with the Onyx Boox Notice Air 2 Plus ($499.99) or the very high-end Onyx Boox Tab Extremely ($599) — or doubtlessly the Huawei MatePad Paper (€499 at Huawei) if you happen to don’t thoughts side-loading APKs.

Nonetheless, Amazon will in all probability promote an order of magnitude extra Kindle Scribe items than any of those different firms, and is extra prone to maintain the Scribe up to date for a number of years with new options. You get to determine what issues extra to you.

It’s humorous how an objectively irritating gadget may also be one I’m delighted to make use of daily. Throughout my month with the Kindle Scribe, I discovered myself always wishing it may do extra, as a result of what it does now, it does so nicely, and I simply love utilizing it.

My aunt, a retired math instructor, and I’ve been difficult one another with high-school-level math issues and random enigmas and riddles for a number of weeks. It’s a nerdy manner of staying in contact whereas residing in numerous international locations. Every time there’s a brand new downside, I simply seize the Scribe and begin fixing away. It helps that I can erase and re-write a number of instances and ship her a clear copy, giving her the phantasm that I solved it multi function go. Shhhhh, don’t inform her.

I additionally instinctively grabbed the Kindle Scribe when my husband and I have been debating learn how to set up the 13 Nanoleaf Canvas panels we bought on the wall. After dozens of sketches over a number of days, we settled on one design and put in it. It solely took a number of weeks, however I don’t give it some thought anymore — that is my private notepad now.

The Scribe received me over with these quite simple use instances. Certain, it’s very fundamental digital note-taking, however it works for my present use case. Any additional options Amazon provides would be the cherry on high of that cake for me. E-book annotation, although, is a mediocre expertise. The black-and-white show makes annotations barely distinguishable on high of PDFs, and the sticky-note icon is so tiny it’s not possible to identify. I’ve began highlighting textual content and including a sticky observe, simply to make it extra apparent.

Though I’ve completed 4 books on the Scribe to date, I nonetheless favor the Kindle Paperwhite for normal e-books. I solely learn one phrase at a time, so a much bigger show is pointless; the small Paperwhite can also be nicer to carry for lengthy durations of time.

The show does matter, although, after I’m opening paperwork, PDFs, or comics. The expertise is leaps and bounds forward of the smaller Kindle fashions. This does make me desire a coloured e-ink Kindle, although. We’re nonetheless removed from that, however I actually wish to see research books and comedian books in shade.