Amazon Kindle Scribe (16 GB) - Now write directly on books and documents. With built-in notebook summarization. A Kindle and notebook, all in one. Includes Basic Pen

I struggled with the decision to purchase the new Kindle Scribe. I have had several kindles (going all the way back to the Kindle with a keyboard) and a few Kindle Fires. I currently have a Kindle Paperwhite and Fire 8 plus. I have always valued the reading experience on kindles along with the ability to have access to a library of books, obtain samples of books, and a convenient way to highlight and add sticky notes. I was initially excited to see the Scribe come out, but the price and some negative reviews really gave me pause. At the urging of my spouse as a Christmas present and convincing myself that I would return it if it didn’t meet my expectations I decided to take the plunge. I am so glad I did. It has exceeded my expectations in all three of my must haves. I decided to write this review in hopes of helping others going back and forth about whether to purchase it now or wait for a future update.As a little background, I am in academia. I decided that I would purchase and keep the Kindle Scribe if it did an excellent job with The following.1) Able to read textbooks and technical books with tables, charts, graphs, and math.2) Able to read pdfs.3) Able to write notes (lecture notes, answer keys, personal research notes, etc.)Based upon the previous reviews, I was not confident that the Scribe would do a great job with all three of the above must haves. However, it does. I’ll take each one separately with my pros/cons and fixes.1) With my previous kindles (including my current paperwhite and Fire), I was never able to have that wonderful reading experience when it came to textbooks and/or more technical books which included tables, charts, graphs, and math. The physical size of the previous kindles simply was never going to work well with these types of books, even with the zoom feature. The size, and perfection of the screen, of the Scribe makes reading these types of books just as enjoyable as reading a book of fiction. The technical stuff comes across wonderfully and there’s no funky formatting that the previous kindles would have when it comes to tables, charts, etc. So, the Scribe passed with flying colors when it come to this must have. In response to some other reviews, I will say that I’m actually glad that I cannot write (make notes, underline, circle) on the books themselves. I like writing a sticky note and highlighting because it keeps the pages less cluttered. Looking back at physical books that I’ve had to read many times over the years, I have written so many notes in the margins, underlined, etc. that it makes reading them again a pain. I hope that Amazon will always keep the option of sticky notes even if one day it allows writing directly on the book. Given the price, did I need the Scribe? No. I could’ve just continued to read these types of books as physical books. But, I am so glad that I can do it on the Scribe and have the wonderful kindle reading experience. My only complaint is that a few books purchased in the past don’t recognize the pen. This might just be an issue of needing to reformat all books and hopefully it will be fixed in the future. Even with those few books, I can still type sticky notes and highlight as before so it hasn’t bee a big deal.2) Given the size of previous Kindles, sending a pdf and reading it just was never going to work well. The Scribe does a near perfect job. Now, having read some reviews, I was really worried about this must have. I read lots of pdfs from my laptop for my job, and as I sit reading look over to my Paperwhite and wish that I could use it instead (the E-ink is just so much better). Here’s my take on pdfs, if the pdf is nicely formatted to begin with then it comes across on the Scribe perfectly. Yes, you can write on it which is nice (kind of wish I could use sticky notes instead though) and easily export it to your email address. On the other hand, if the pdf is not nicely formatted and/or the text is a bit blurry to begin with, then it doesn’t come to the Scribe perfectly either of course. I have played around with preparing these troublesome pdfs by cropping or simply changing the margin size before sending and it seems to help, but the text is not as crisp. Still though, I can read the pdfs on the Scribe just as easily as reading them on my laptop. So, overall, the Scribe exceeded my expectations here. One strange thing I’ve come across is that when initially opening a pdf, it opens to a cover page so you have to actually go to the beginning by opening up the toolbar at the top then you can flip the pages. This is an example of needing to play around a bit with the Scribe to figure out some of the features. The entire focus on the “cover” thing in pdfs and notes seemed to be a big thing with the tech folks, might be a privacy issue they have in mind. I realize that some folks, myself included, use Google drive and other web-based options to store documents, but Amazon has done an excellent job of allowing the user to drag and drop a document into the Send to Kindle page/app (and, I make sure to choose the option to send only to my Scribe rather than clutter up all my devices). I have only tried one Word document so far but it came across perfectly on the Scribe. If you have a book pdf, you can simply write Chapter 1, 2, etc. on the page of each chapter then go to the notes to easily move to where you want to go. So, I have been extremely happy with this feature which would’ve been a deal breaker for me.3) Others have said that writing on the Scribe feels nearly the same as writing on paper and it does. I plan to write lecture notes, answer keys, and just some notes for myself. Amazon has done a great job in allowing the notebooks to be easily sent to my email address as pdfs, and they come across on my laptop and Fire exactly has I’ve written them. I am really, really pleased with this aspect. In the past, I would scribble an answer key or some notes on a lecture (including Graphs and math) on some scrap paper then a year later when teaching the class again realize that I’d lost the notes and have to redo them. I will be doing all my writing on the Scribe and storing them for latter use. Having read some reviews, it sounded like the current software on the Scribe was not up to the competition. I have to say, however, I am very pleased with the existing software. You don’t get twenty different widths for the pen but rather five. I really don’t want to have to choose from a great many, and what they have now is just fine for my needs. It is true that you don’t have subfolders to create and a large notebook would be difficult to find things in. I get all of those issues. However, instead of writing a 100 page notebook I plan to write lecture notes in 10 notebooks of 10 pages in length saved under one folder. By using appropriate titles for each notebook I think it will actually be better than having one rather lengthy notebook. There’s not a great many templates to choose from, but I have found the ones currently available work just fine for my needs. Again, though, the Kindle Scribe exceeded my expectation for writing notes.Overall, I am thrilled with the Kindle Scribe. I really enjoy the reading and writing experience. Given the price, did I absolutely need the Scribe? Not really. I could read the physical textbooks/technical books. I could read the pdfs on my laptop. I could write notes on paper then scan them into my computer. Or, of course, I could do these things on a good tablet. However, I have always enjoyed the reading experience on a kindle and the Scribe might be the best yet. The writing experience on the Scribe is the closest digital device to paper that I have used. I am glad to have these things on one device which does not have all the distractions that come with laptops and tablets. I hope this review helps others in making their decisions. Oh, and as others have said, the battery is amazing compared to tablets and phones.

The media could not be loaded. I am a life long Kindle user going back to the first gen with onboard network at no cost and a keyboard. Still have it actually. My last Kindle is the last generation Oasis which I generally love but the battery is starting to go and the included leather battery case is starting to seriously degrade from too many pool and beach days. Additionally, I have been using the Remarkable 2 for about a year now. I love it. I have all of my note handy in any meeting. I have home and work to do lists that literally manage my life. However, all of my ebooks are consumed via Kindle and I read a lot. The Remarkable supports ePub and what not but that isn't my thing. I love the simplicity Amazon has created for me here. I don't want to download books on a laptop and then drop them into my Remarkable. Sounds trivial but it is a step. So, I was pumped and immediately ordered the Scribe when I saw it. I have been using it regularly now, side by side with my with my Remarkable, to gauge if the Scribe could be an all in one solution for me. These are my early thoughts but they are hardly complete as this is a very nuanced debate.Build: The Remarkable 2 has a better feel. Both the premium pen and the device feel just a little better constructed on the Remarkable. Both feel good but the Remarkable wins here. The Scribe's premium pen struggles to erase consistently which is irritating. That said, both feel great to write with. Further, it is clear to me that Amazon really took the writing part seriously. There is virtually zero lag on the Scribe. The Remarkable has low lag but the Kindle is clearly faster and more rewarding to write with. The Scribe is also back-lit and it is very good. That is a big win for Amazon. I give the edge in overall build to Remarkable but the Scribe has done enough in other places to make it a tough call.Processor and speed: This one isn't even a contest. I haven't looked up the processing specs and I will for my next update but I really don't need to. The Scribe is so much faster in everything it does. Page turns and searches are so much better here. Everything from menu access to flipping from one notebook to the next is better on the Scribe. It is actually painful to use my Remarkable in some ways now.Last Remarkable comparison points: The Remarkable make sharing work easier for now though it isn't seemless. The Scribe is clunky in this area. Note transcription is an area that Remarkable is clearly more refined in for instance. The thing is, while I love the idea, I don't use it that much personally but I know many do. If you are taking note, sharing them with colleagues, transcribing them to text, and using your device as a workhorse, The Scribe isn't ready for you. I think it will be but it isn't there now. Of you are like me, and like to have all your notes in one handy device, the Scribe works even if the software isn't perfect yet.As a Kindle: For me this is homerum city. The Scribe is absolutely Amazon's best Kindle for reading. It is much larger, still reasonably light, and is so much faster and more capable. You can take notes here while reading which is okay bit clunky. Do not buy this if you hope to make indepth annotations or comments on your books. Making little sticky notes comments isn't the best. Better than nothing but not a reason to buy.So, in conclusion, for me, this is a tough one. I am going 4 stars with hope for software improvements that take it to 4.5 to 5. The speed, backlight, functional note taking and customizable folders / notebooks make it enough to recommend but only if you want to really use a digital notebook. I do. I love it. Therefore, for me, having the ability to marry my Remarkable and my Kindle, even if it isn't quite perfect, is enough for me to recommend. Much more to come.***First Update*** So, week one is in the books and I was able to travel with the Scribe across the country which I find to be a great way to get to know a device like this. I don’t often have five or six hours in a day to read and write. As I write this, I am on my plane back to Detroit from LA and just got done doing some reading and then some work. I have a couple of more thoughts here. The first is that the software needs to be improved. It is not as easy as it should be to switch between reading and note taking. It goes like this: Tap the top of the screen, tap Home, then scroll to what you want to switch to, and click again. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. Some sort of carousel at the bottom or top that you could call up would be ideal. Again, the speed of the device is better than any E-Ink device I have ever used which does minimize the inconvenience, but it could be better. I also just noticed the lack of pressure sensitivity in the last few days. I never used it much with the Remarkable, but I do think it is worth noting as many likely will. I do not think I mentioned the lack of waterproofing. That is a pretty large omission for me as this is the most expensive Kindle and nearly every other now made has waterproofing for a whole lot less. Now, I need to be more careful at the pool or beach and that might force me to buy a different Kindle for those purposes. This would defeat a lot of the device reduction purpose my Scribe investment set out to achieve. I have to think that through but it may be a deal breaker for me. On the positive side, like all Kindles, the battery life is outstanding. I have barely moved the needle on this four day trip and have spent a number of hours reading and writing. Really impressive! Also, worth noting, unlike others, I find the Premium Leather Case to be a really good addition. If you are going to do buy the Scribe, I think you should really consider that investment as well. I will update as I decide if I will make this work. So far though, the Scribe is a really good reader that has some work to do as a true multi functioning work asset.***Second Update*** Okay, I had my first glitch. The panel started recognizing the pencil maybe a centimeter off of the device, meaning both that it was writing before the pencil was touching and when it was being pulled off the panel. The results were a big mess. I tried to reboot and it was still doing it. I then went to Kindle mode, opened a book, and tried to make a note. It was fine. Went back to notebook mode and it was back to working normally. I cannot get it to replicate but I will be busy with the device this week and will update if it rerurns. Strange and it has me a little spooked. Also, a software thing I really miss from Remarkable. It sounds small, but one of the options in the pencil drop down in Remarkable's menu is a little dash. When clicked, it allows you to circle things you have written and then cut or copy it for easy moving or large erasing jobs. Amazon needs to add this to the next update ASAP. Something I use often and will miss if I keep the Scribe. More to come...***Third Update***So, thanks to our friends on the web, I solved my pen problem. I had jammed the tip to far into the pencil and it thought I was pressing down on the panel even though I was a good half inch of it. I pulled it out and reinserted it. Problem solved. Today is the last day I can return the Scribe and I am keeping it. The ability to have my Kindle and my notes together is just too strong for me to go back. That said, the Scribe isn't perfect. I am absolutely banking on Amazon providing significant improvements here. I think Amazon has been clear about the mission here so I am going to go along for the ride. If you need a workhorse writing tablet right now, this isn't it. If you want the best reader ever made and like the idea of having a robust note taking partner, this is absolutely something you need to buy. I will wrap up in a couple of months, but, for me, the Scribe does enough to warrant the investment.***Fourth Update*** So, this is what I have been waiting for. Amazon has gone update crazy as of late and this device is officially a five star now. The last large update, about 6 weeks ago is huge. I won't go through it all here as it is detailed everywhere online, but Amazon has officially killed off Remarkable for me. Text conversion, searchable notes, better folder management, a better dropdown menu with the little dashes to circle and delete stuff, and so so much more is here now. I have received 3 updates in the last two months and the Scribe is better now in every way. I am moving my review from a 4 to a 5 because this is now the best e ink writing and reading tablet on the market. Keep up the great support Amazon! Buy with total confidence!