Pen Enabled Kindle Scribe

Android / Linux E Ink Devices
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Review embargo is up, and this one is fairly positive. One thing I hope he’s right about is that the screen is noticeably sharper than the Elispa that I have.

Of course perception is variable and there are important differences in the way Kobo and Amazon draw their fonts for example , but he may be basing that claim solely on the Scribe’s higher PPI and not visual reality. Something that Carnoy has been guilty of previously.

Amazon Kindle Scribe Review: This Note-Taking E Ink Tablet Strikes a Great Balance - CNET

EDIT: and a less enthusiastic Engadget review.

Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Better than pen and paper but not the competition | Engadget

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Review from the Verge:

from Chalid Raqami

Interesting how most of the reviews turn into ads for the competition.

That said, none seem to really complain of the hardware, so it should all come down to software updates/added features — things I’m hoping for:

  • chisel edge/italic line option
  • handwriting recognition
  • better synching

and of course apps — I’d love to see how Nebo.app would run on this (and Autodesk Sketchbook), and I’m now wondering who will be the first to just do a “Plus One” device which integrates OneNote and OneDrive.

Has anyone seen a head-to-head comparison of all the competitors?

  • Remarkable
  • Supernote
  • Boox Tab Ultra
  • Mobiscribe
  • Kobo

(I think that’s all the ones readily available in the U.S. — am I missing any? EDIT: forgot to add Kobo…)

Now I just need to decide how long I’ll give Amazon to add features, or when I’ll sell it and buy one of the competitors.

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Reading/watching these reviews I have to admit I wonder what, except for an e-ink screen, does the Scribe really have to offer over an iPad/Tab/Go for a much better general tablet experience, especially inking on documents as well as general note taking?

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Eink is by far the main point. For me anyway, especially for extended text reading, e-ink is considerably more comfortable/preferable. Not to mention that eink is far more readable in bright sunlight.

An additional benefit is considerably better battery life. I charge my Elipsa on average once a week, whereas my iPad gets plugged in daily.

PS: It’s a common claim that e-ink is “easier on your eyes” on the theory you aren’t looking directly at a light source, but to date I have not seen anything with actual scientific rigor that proves that. In other words, besides the niche exception of bright sunlight, it really is more down to personal preference.

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Hm, December 8 delivery now for the 32GB. And I noticed that my 20% trade-in discount now applies (from the old Kindle that wasn’t rejected). It didn’t apply back when I had a pre-order. So… $312 for the 32GB + Premium Pen. I went ahead and ordered so that the ship date won’t slip further while I read various reviews, hopefully from fellow TPCR folks too, and then decide if I want to cancel before it ships.

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I’m fondly remembering my old Kindle DX 9.7”, the updated version from 2011, so I looked it up. About the same price ($379), give or take, as the new Kindle Scribe and woefully inferior. That’s not counting inflation. That was given away to a friend in need many moons ago.

And the white Kindle Keyboard from 2009 was $396.97. Just a little perspective. :smile_cat:

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I actually still have this one in my cupboard. No, I guess I traded that one in sometime in the past. What I have is the newer black one with keyboard.

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Nope, but Voja did a comparison of the Remarkable, Supernote, and Boox Note Air after 1.5 years:

Probably as close as you’ll find given the rarity of decent e-ink reviews/reviewers.

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Personally I’d at least much rather buy this over a Boox Note Air given that (a) mine cracked just from being in a bag flush against a flat laptop, and (b) while I don’t trust Amazon all that much, I trust them more than the (current) Chinese government, which could easily pressure Boox to do their bidding.

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I mean, that is the USP.

You shouldn’t just discard it like that as of course these devices will largely come out worse if you dismiss their raison d’etre. It’s like saying other than the size of the display, what’s the benefit of an iPad over an iPhone.

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Yeah, don’t want to get into politics, but which company to trust w/ what is a definite consideration.

Hopefully the KS will be workable — it should, since I want an e-reader, and note-taking/sketching is a secondary consideration.

Other things to be curious about:

  • 3rd party support — there’s a surprising number of planners and so forth on sale on Etsy, as well as one for the Supernote on Github
  • Exact screen dimensions, and what is viewable/usable of a pixel image for drawing purposes
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It’s night and day, iPad vs Kindle Scribe:

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(Poor quality image due to it being a YouTube screenshot.)

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Wonder how it would be with a BT keyboard and Word?

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That would be the Boox Tab Ultra.

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Looks like I outsmarted myself. My Kindle Scribe is already preparing to ship and can no longer be canceled. :astonished: Even though it still shows December 8 delivery. :vb-headscratch:

I can return it after it gets here, of course…

Edit: it’s probably getting my account info preloaded and that’s why they won’t allow cancellation. I bet it’ll sit in the queue for shipping at the fulfillment center till Tuesday night.

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Another video review:

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Wow, 50 minutes of impressions! Just looking at the beginning, unfortunately it looks like Amazon decided to use a ‘premium casing’, meaning slick metallic. Gone is the grippy Kindle material. Too bad, that’s one of the selling points of older Kindles: no protective casing needed.

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Given that my Paperwhite has the grippy rubbery coating wearing off at the corners w/ just a couple of years of very light use, I find the aluminum a much better choice (my Samsung Galaxy Book 12 which I’ve had much longer and use much more than my Paperwhite is still about pristine (discounting the rather worn and frayed keyboard case — wish I’d thought to buy a spare).

There are already a couple of 3rd party case options, including a rubbery one.

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So my Scribe showed up late in the day, delivered directly via Amazon, which was a first as previously everything I ordered was delivered either through UPS or US mail.

Regardless, I’ve only had a very short amount of time with it, but I’ve discovered two of the same issues that this reviewer mentions.

The first is that it mostly definitely freezes up with documents that have many and/or large tables in them which is pretty much all of our user manuals for our custom devices. Notably (pun intended) the Elipsa handles those same docs with out issue.

The second issue is to me an obvious oversight, which is that there is no obvious way to have a two page view when the Scribe is in landscape mode. Something that is standard with the Kindle App on the iPad or Android. My Elipsa also does the horizontal two page view automatically.

Other initial impressions are that the overall build quality is very good, on the level of the Oasis, and a couple of notches above the paperwhite. It’s also surprisingly light, given that the size leads you to expect something like an iPad weight and feel.

As to text quality, it’s an excellent display, and it is noticeably sharper than my Elipsa with most text, especially with smaller font sizes. OTOH the contrast seems to be higher on my Elipsa. It’s not a huge difference but is noticeable when compared side to side with the Elipsa. I suspect that this is down to differences in the anti-glare coatings which gives the Scribe superior viewability in harsh sunlight like in our office courtyard.

I haven’t done much with the pen yet, other than to verify it works. Initial impression is that is well made, but feels significantly lighter in hand than either of my usual pens, the Surface Pen 2 or Apple Pencil.

More impressions to come, but I wanted to also point out this review which articulates an idea that I hadn’t thought about which is that this as well as the Boox etc. might be better classified as “digital notebook” versus a more general-purpose device like the iPad.

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That makes more sense than to compare to the iPad or Samsung tablets. I notice that the Washington Post writer points out correctly that the Scribe is primarily an ereader which has added notes functionality. A lot of the reviewers are putting it head-to-head with Boox or ReMarkable devices, which are dedicated note takers which can also be used to read ebooks. Different focus & purpose.

The only true comparison IMO is with the Kobo Elipsa, as you’ve done. The two are dedicated ereaders for their respective ebook stores first and foremost, note takers as a bonus. I think people won’t get as worked up about things if they get that into their heads. The Scribe is not nor intended to be anything like a ReMarkable “killer” (which it fails to be, as some of the the clickbait screams).

My take, FWIW.

Also, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at reviewers who bemoan the Scribe’s inability to allow margin annotations in ebooks. I guess most people never think about the limitations that come with text that reflows as text size, margins, line spacing, and device screen size changes. Attaching a note following a specific word, as the Kindles do, is the only way to do it.

PDFs are a different animal.

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One update as I play with the pen this morning. The Scribe seems to have the best friction feel of the pen on the screen, compared to the overly slippery feel of the iPad or Surface Pro. “Responsiveness” seems to be in the middle between the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro. i.e. not quite as immediate as the iPad, but less lag than the Surface Pro with larger pen movements.

BTW: Between this, the Elipsa, the iPad and the Surface Pro, I wish/hope that they come to some kind of consensus on common gestures as keeping track in your head of how each pen functions could get annoying quickly.

My thoughts as well, though I think most people buying this would already make that distinction, though the Boox makes the choice a bit blurrier.

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