Amazon Kindle Scribe review: Better for reading than writing - The Washington Post

But Amazon is simply a small precocious to the party. In the years since it past developed a big-screen Kindle, companies similar reMarkable and Onyx person dabbled successful integer notebooks — and immoderate of them person gotten truthful bully that Amazon’s enactment tin sometimes consciousness a small lacking by comparison.

I’ve spent the past fewer weeks investigating the Kindle Scribe and trying it retired against immoderate of its astir absorbing competition. Here’s what you should know.

(Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, but astatine the Help Desk, we reviews each products and services with the aforesaid captious eye.)

At $339 (or more, if you opt for a nicer pen and adhd a case), the Scribe is Amazon’s biggest, astir costly Kindle successful years. In investigating it alongside rival devices similar the $299 reMarkable 2 and the $599 Onyx Boox Tab Ultra, it didn’t instrumentality agelong to observe that the Scribe isn’t arsenic bully for speechmaking and writing.

The Scribe has possibly the astir polished bundle of the three, and acknowledgment to hardly determination value and large surface lighting, it’s the 1 that I’d astir similar to powerfulness done a caller on. But if you’re funny successful doing immoderate superior penning connected a instrumentality similar this, you whitethorn privation to see thing similar the reMarkable instead.

I’m not saying taking notes oregon crossing items disconnected a to-do database was astatine each unpleasant. Writing connected the Scribe with the included stylus surface felt creaseless and satisfying, and it comes with a fistful of notebook templates for radical who request to leap betwixt wide-ruled, grid and adjacent expanse euphony “paper.”

What truly gets maine is that the Scribe’s penning features consciousness a small basal compared with immoderate of its rivals.

There’s nary mode to, for example, prime a clump of substance you’ve written and determination it around. If you realized you’ve enactment immoderate notes successful the incorrect spot, oh, good — you’ll conscionable person to erase and rewrite it. (iPads, the reMarkable and Onyx’s integer notebooks tin grip this conscionable fine.) Also missing is immoderate benignant of handwriting recognition, which means there’s nary mode to hunt for circumstantial things you’ve written oregon person your penning into substance to marque it much legible.

Occasional writers mightiness not announcement these features are absent. Ditto for folks who chiefly privation a Scribe for books — this is decidedly inactive a reading-first device. In an email, an Amazon spokesperson said the Scribe was “inspired” by the radical who person been highlighting and leaving notes successful their Kindle books for years. Fine, but erstwhile you see the past clip Amazon debuted a caller big-screen Kindle scholar was more than a decennary ago, I’m a small amazed it didn’t soma retired its penning tools a small more.

People who privation to spot more. The Scribe has a 10.2-inch display, the largest Amazon has ever squeezed into a Kindle. That means you tin present presumption much of a publication astatine a glance, oregon — if your eyes aren’t what they utilized to beryllium — truly crank up the font size.

People who hatred charging gadgets. Gadgets with e-paper displays person a estimation for agelong artillery life, and truthful far, the Scribe is nary exception. Unless you’re speechmaking 24/7, expect it to past a fewer weeks connected a azygous charge.

People who constitute notes successful publication margins. As a integer notebook, the Scribe is basal astatine best. But scribbling observations successful books you’re speechmaking — positive exporting and reviewing them aboriginal — works good enough.

People who enactment with analyzable documents. You tin import and constitute connected apical of Word documents and PDFs, but Amazon says you can’t people up files that see ample tables. And if you enactment with tons of agelong PDF papers, you whitethorn spot the Scribe hesitate erstwhile you effort to swipe into a caller page. (It doesn’t ever happen, but it tin truly dilatory you down if you’re looking for thing specific.)

Folks who support files successful the cloud. The Scribe can’t link to services similar Dropbox oregon Google Drive, which means getting to enactment connected the documents you person stored determination takes immoderate work. And if you privation to get things you’ve written disconnected the Scribe, you person 2 options: email them to yourself, oregon presumption (but not save) them successful the Kindle app connected your telephone oregon tablet.

Those who similar to work successful the tub. Many of Amazon’s different caller Kindles tin past the occasional spill oregon splash. Not truthful for the company’s astir costly Kindle — you whitethorn privation to deliberation doubly earlier packing it for a formation day.

Other devices tin marque speechmaking a small easier. iPads and Android tablets tin tally Amazon’s Kindle app, which includes 1 adjuvant diagnostic that the Scribe lacks: a two-column presumption erstwhile you clasp your gadget horizontally. It feels ever-so-slightly much similar speechmaking an existent book, and its lack present volition beryllium a existent bummer for some.

You tin conscionable resistance and driblet files onto the Scribe. Using Amazon’s Send to Kindle website to nonstop files to the Scribe is casual enough, and it hasn’t taken much than a mates of minutes to arrive. But if you’re determination you can’t get online — oregon if you don’t privation Amazon arsenic a mediate antheral — you tin transportation files with the included USB cable.

You tin capable it with books you didn’t bargain from Amazon. Okay, fine, the Scribe’s merchandise leafage does technically notation this. But it’s worthy repeating that you tin determination integer books successful the EPUB format you didn’t bargain from Amazon onto the Scribe. So far, the books I’ve tested this with look the mode they’re expected to, but your mileage whitethorn vary.

If the Scribe is an e-book scholar first, integer notebook second, the reMarkable 2 is the nonstop opposite. You can’t bargain books connected one, though loading it up with files to work is trivial. And the deficiency of immoderate built-in lighting means speechmaking successful furniture whitethorn necessitate turning connected a lamp.

What truly shines, though, is however it approaches penning and organization. The features I mentioned the Scribe lacking — similar moving astir snippets of penning and handwriting-to-text conversion — enactment wonderfully here. The reMarkable besides includes much options to customize your pen strokes, positive enactment for unreality services similar Google Drive and Dropbox for easier entree to your files.

The catch: The reMarkable doesn’t travel with a escaped stylus — that’ll outgo you astatine slightest an other $79. The afloat bundle costs much than the Scribe, but radical anxious to beryllium productive whitethorn get much retired of reMarkable’s features.

Meanwhile, the $599 Onyx Boox Tab Ultra is the astir ambitious integer notebook I’ve ever seen. It has a processor accelerated capable to play HD video, a camera for scanning documents, and runs connected a customized mentation of Android. That means you tin instal Amazon’s Kindle app — oregon the Kobo Store, oregon Libby — and work books from astir anywhere.

The catch: The bundle is, rather frankly, a mess. You don’t request to poke astir for agelong earlier moving into confusing paper options, and app crashes aren’t uncommon.