Kindle scribe (2024) Review: Nothing To Write Home About

My precocious schoolhouse English coach drilled into my caput that location was a owed measurement to publication a book: “If you’ve publication a book without taking notes, you’ve not publication it astatine all.” She had a constituent — taking notes helps maine prosecute pinch nan worldly successful a overmuch deeper measurement than conscionable reading.

Nowadays, I americium incapable of reference point without penning down my thoughts, and my Notes app is simply a cluttered disaster arsenic a result. But it’s distracting to propulsion up a abstracted app each clip I want to jot down a connection and difficult to find those notes later. The Kindle Scribe promises to spread that pinch its note-taking capabilities, making it easy to scribble successful nan margins for illustration I do connected paper.

The original Kindle Scribe, from 2022, missed nan group for me. Here, finally, was a Kindle you could return notes with, yet you couldn’t represent consecutive connected ebook pages. Instead, you could only annotate disappearing sticky notes — and only connected immoderate Kindle titles. I quickly gave up connected nan Scribe, and for nan past twelvemonth aliases truthful I’ve chiefly utilized nan Kobo Elipsa 2E instead.

Since then, nan Kindle Scribe has recreation a agelong way. Now pinch nan second-generation e-reader, you tin yet jot notes consecutive onto a wider scope of Kindle ebook pages, personification handwriting to text, and moreover summarize notes successful its built-in notebooks.

But nan Scribe has overmuch and amended title than ever. And pinch a worth bump, it needs to nail these caller features to make it worthy $399.99. That’s peculiarly existent fixed nan original Kindle Scribe is still disposable for $60 less, and you tin download each of these features onto it via Amazon’s latest package update.

The latest Kindle Scribe is almost identical to its predecessor prevention for a less cosmetic differences. It now arrives successful a beautiful caller Metallic Jade colorway, and it has even, paper-like achromatic trim alternatively of nan asymmetric achromatic bezels connected nan original model. 

Otherwise, nan Scribe is still very overmuch a larger type of nan Kindle Paperwhite astatine heart, and it shares galore of nan aforesaid strengths and weaknesses arsenic its smaller sibling. It’s still exceptionally easy to bargain and publication Kindle books and overmuch analyzable to publication extracurricular of nan Amazon ecosystem. It isn’t waterproof aliases arsenic snappy arsenic nan Paperwhite, but it’s accelerated tin pinch an adjustable lukewarm ray and nan same, crisp 300ppi show resolution. That’s sharper than nan $399.99 Kobo Elipsa 2E, and connected par pinch nan $379.99 Onyx Boox Go 10.3, which lacks a ray altogether. 

Granted, it’s not easy lugging astir a 10.2-inch e-reader, peculiarly 1 made from slippery aluminum, and you can’t clasp it comfortably pinch 1 hand. But connected nan flip side, nan different aboveground existent spot makes it easier to publication and return notes. The tablet weighs somewhat small than a pound, which helps pinch portability.

But nan Kindle Scribe’s cardinal trading constituent is that you tin return notes connected it, and successful that respect, I personification mixed feelings. The wide handwriting acquisition is excellent. As before, there’s nary lag, and it really does consciousness arsenic if you’re consecutive penning connected paper. It comes bundled pinch Amazon’s Premium Pen, a mini greenish stylus that comes pinch a caller rubber soft-tipped eraser that reminds maine of an existent pencil. I loved utilizing it, peculiarly since it doesn’t require charging and comes pinch a customizable shortcut fastener conscionable for illustration its predecessor. (The Premium Pen is now standard, alternatively of being a $30 upgrade option, which partially accounts for nan worth summation from nan original Scribe.)

While I enjoyed penning pinch nan pen, nan Scribe’s caller note-taking capabilities still autumn short of nan competition. With nan caller Active Canvas tool, nan institution yet addresses 1 of my main complaints pinch nan Scribe: you tin now represent notes that enactment visible consecutive connected ebook pages, alternatively than connected sticky notes that vanish into an icon successful nan margins (Amazon still offers nan sticky notes characteristic if you for illustration those). The package characteristic adds a resizable matter instrumentality astir your handwritten note, past reflows nan remainder of nan page astir it. It too useful bully connected different reflowable documents, including PDFs and Word files. Amazon will too beryllium releasing an expandable margins characteristic successful early 2025, too, allowing you to scribble notes successful a broadside expanse you tin past hide, though that’s not yet disposable to test. 

But Amazon still doesn’t really understand really group group return notes connected books aliases what would make those notes useful. While nan aged sticky notes and highlighted passages sync pinch Kindle mobile apps, you can’t position nan Active Canvas notes connected your Kindle mobile aliases browser app, aliases export them to different app — they’re only visible connected nan Scribe. You can’t adhd them to your on-device notebook, either. Plus, sometimes nan matter instrumentality size messes up nan page formatting, creating different spaces betwixt sentences. While you tin resize, there’s a lag that’ll slow you down. A less times, my notes vanished altogether, truthful I had to support adjusting nan size until it reappeared.

What’s overmuch frustrating, you can’t circle a relationship aliases building and jot down a connection correct adjacent to it. Once you represent a note, nan page automatically realigns, truthful a batch of times nan Scribe would adhd my connection to nan incorrect information of a connection aliases passage. Amazon doesn’t fto you move nan matter boxes around, and you can’t moreover necktie an arrow from a connection to your note, truthful you can’t manually anchor it to nan correct information of matter either. All successful all, it’s a frustrating, analyzable experience, peculiarly erstwhile rivals from Kobo and Onyx fto you seamlessly annotate pages pinch easy-to-find notes conscionable arsenic you would penning connected a beingness book. 

Marking up PDFs is simply a batch overmuch intuitive and free of Active Canvas’ limitations, truthful you tin return notes naturally. You tin too group up text-searchable PDFs and export them without losing nan expertise to hunt incorrect nan text. Unfortunately, you can’t hunt incorrect nan markups. You too can’t group up sideloaded PDFs; you personification to usage Amazon’s Send to Kindle feature. That said, Amazon says your documents are encrypted, immoderate while being sent, successful nan cloud, and while connected nan device. 

Amazon too made immoderate improvements to its built-in notebooks, offering a wider action of templates than erstwhile nan first Scribe launched. There’s 18 preloaded templates ranging from lined to dotted insubstantial you tin usage arsenic play planners, checklists, and more, each of which I recovered helpful. You tin too download overmuch templates from Amazon, aliases upload PDF files and dainty them arsenic templates.

The Scribe too gets 2 caller AI features for its built-in notebooks that tin summarize your notes and refine your handwriting. However, you’ll petition an nett narration to usage them and you can’t necktie notes you made successful nan built-in notebook to notes incorrect ebooks aliases PDFs whatsoever. The AI summary characteristic is still helpful, fixed it does a bully business of providing a wide overview of your notes. Meanwhile, nan “refine your handwriting” characteristic for nan astir information accurately converted my handwriting into typed text, albeit slow and onto a abstracted page you tin only adhd either to nan beforehand aliases backmost of your notebook. You can’t personification Active Canvas notes into typed text, though, which would personification been a useful addition.

Even pinch those additions, nan Scribe’s built-in notebook capabilities still aren’t arsenic rich | | arsenic its rivals. Similar tablets from Onyx tin too summarize notes and personification handwriting to text, while too letting you insert links to notes, files, websites, and attachments, grounds your voice, and hop into a split-screen feature. The 2nd lets you return notes utilizing each nan precocious built-in notebook tools, while simultaneously navigating apps downloaded from nan Google Play Store for illustration Kindle and Kobo but too nan likes of The New York Times. The Kobo Elipsa 2E’s note-taking devices aren’t arsenic precocious arsenic nan Boox and it can’t summarize notes for illustration nan Scribe, but it astatine slightest lets you quickly personification handwriting into typed matter successful nan original notebook document.

The Kindle Scribe is simply a amended e-reader for taking notes compared to erstwhile it made its debut 2 years ago. Being tin to represent consecutive connected ebook pages is simply a invited improvement, and converting handwriting to typed matter is simply a adjuvant addition. But though it’s starting to autumn overmuch successful connection pinch rivals from nan likes of Kobo and Onyx, nan Scribe’s still not nan champion action for superior note-taking. It’s still excessively difficult to annotate ebooks, and nan caller features conscionable aren’t arsenic useful compared to nan competition.

Even if you’re conscionable looking for a ample Kindle pinch basal note-taking capabilities, nan caller Scribe is simply a reliable discarded erstwhile nan original exemplary is still disposable for $60 small and too offers Active Canvas and nan generative AI features erstwhile you download nan latest package update (or clasp for nan over-the-air update successful 2025). I’d impulse skipping nan caller Scribe and sticking pinch nan last-gen model. Both are bully e-readers for reference Kindle ebooks and casual note-taking, but they’re astir indistinguishable.

Photography by Sheena Vasani / The Verge