Early Verdict
An affordable alternative to ReMarkable for those that want a Kindle for note-taking as well as reading. The AI features are intriguing and could make this device even more useful for writers.
Pros
- +
More responsive
- +
AI enhanced
- +
Upgraded pen
Cons
- -
No color display
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When the original Kindle Scribe debuted last year, it was the first of Amazon's ereaders with pen support, turning what was a device for consuming into one that could be used for creation.
The 2024 Kindle Scribe — introduced along with three other new Kindle tablets — has refined that original design, with a newer, more responsive interface, a more pen-like writing experience, and some AI-enhanced features to make more sense of your handwriting. It looks to supplant the ReMarkable as the best e-reader for writers; I had a chance to go hands-on with the new tablet to see how it could compare.
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Kindle Scribe 2024 hands-on: Price and availability
The Kindle Scribe will go on sale on December 4, 2024, for $399 for a model with 16GB of storage (32GB and 64GB versions will also be available). It will be available in two colors: black and a metallic teal, which really pops when you see it in person. The tablet will also come with a color-matching pen, which attaches magnetically to the side of the device.
That's a bit of an increase from the original Scribe, which cost $339 with 16GB of storage and came with a Basic Pen. Amazon also offered the original Scribe in 32GB and 64GB capacities for $389 and $419, respectively.
You can pre-order the Kindle Scribe now on Amazon.
Amazon Kindle Scribe 2024: Design
Like the original, the second-gen Kindle Scribe (9 x 7.7 x 0.22 inches) is roughly the size of a piece of paper, with a bezel that's slightly thicker along one of the long sides, so you can grip it while you're writing. Its screen is 10.2 inches diagonally, the same as the previous generation
Unlike the ReMarkable tablet and the new Kindle Colorsoft, the Scribe is a black-and-white affair, with a 300 ppi resolution.
Overall, the tablet, which weighs 15.3 ounces, felt very comfortable to hold, and its display was incredibly easy to view, even in direct sunlight.
The Premium Pen has gained a bit of heft since the original, but also was very easy to use. Amazon modified both the tip of the Pen and the screen on the Scribe to give it a more pen-like writing experience; even the eraser on the end of the Pen has been updated, and feels more rubbery, so that when you go to erase something, it's as if you were using an old Ticonderoga #2.
Amazon Kindle Scribe 2024: AI features
While we wait for Enhanced Alexa, Amazon is introducing AI into its tablets. While a much more limited form, the AI capabilities on the Kindle Scribe look to be very useful for writers who have chickenscratch for handwriting or take copious notes.
Within the Notebook app are two AI-powered features. The first, called Refined Writing, will analyze all of your handwritten notes, and convert them into something more legible.
The second feature, called Summarize, will also look at all of your writing, and then distill it into a one-page summary of all the key points.
In my hands-on time with these features, they seemed to work well, though it took anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds for the notes to be analyzed and results returned. For both features to work, the Scribe has to be connected to the Internet, as your notes are uploaded to the cloud to be analyzed — it's not done on the device itself. However, Amazon said that your notes are encrypted.
Amazon Kindle Scribe: Note-taking
Note-taking looks to be much improved on the second-gen Scribe, as the notes and annotations you make within a book are much less disruptive overall, and are kept in the proper context.
As you're reading a book, you can simply start writing overtop a sentence or paragraph, and the Scribe will create a small box with your handwritten note, and then automatically flow the text of the book around it. Moreover, your note will remain attached to that particular paragraph, so that it will retain its context if you resize the text of the book.
You can also now write notes in the margins of your books too; just tap a small icon on the right (or left) side, and a blank column the length of the screen appears, allowing you to write freely. As with the other notes, this too will be pinned to the spot in the book where you started writing it, so you won't lose its context if the book changes.
Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024): Outlook
For those looking for an alternative to an iPad for note-taking, the Kindle Scribe could be what writers are looking for. At $399, it's $100 less than the just-announced iPad mini, and $180 less than the ReMarkable tablet.
What I'm most interested in checking out more fully is the Scribe's AI-powered features; if it can reliably convert my truly awful handwriting into something that's legible — and then summarize those notes well — then the Scribe could become something more than a glorified notebook. We're hoping to get our review unit soon, so stay tuned.
