Review: Kindle learns to eRead and write with Scribe
Amazon has arrived late behind its rivals but its entry into the eReading and writing space is impressive.
Amazon has finally made a play in the e-reading and writing market, coming out with a device some 18 months after rival Kobo.
The Kindle Scribe, released on the Australian market on Wednesday, is a 10.2 inch dive into the space where e-readers become digital notepads as well devices that can mark up documents and be used to draw on.
The device sports a 300 pixel per inch (PPI) screen and is just 5.8mm thick, weighing 433g.
Amazon’s first entry is leaps and bounds ahead of rival Kobo’s first device that works with a stylus, the Kobo Sage ($439.95).
The Kindle Scribe, which begins at $549 for the 16GB model with a basic pen, or $599 with a premium pen (button and eraser), has a nice feel to it when writing, rivalling that of the reMarkable 2 with a paper-like feel.
One of the main differences between the reMarkable 2 and the Kindle Scribe is that Amazon’s device is backlit.
This, while helpful at evening, doesn’t quite emulate the reMarkable 2’s ability to make a user feel disconnected.
Where the Scribe beats the reMarkable is, of course, in the eBook space. Kindle has access to more than 13 million titles via its eBook store – about three million of which are available through Kindle Unlimited at $13.99 per month.
For now, the main writing rivals are the Microsoft Surface Pro 9, iPad, the Kobo Elipsa and Sage, and the reMarkable 2.
For those who want the feel of paper, the Kindle Scribe and reMarkable 2 are the best options. The resistance is notable and there’s even some noise when writing, much like a pencil on paper.
The reMarkable is the louder of the two while the Scribe has a little more of a modern feel, being slightly quieter and with a backlight.
For those who want to write without any kind of friction, the iPad with the Apple Pencil 2 and the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 with the Slim Pen 2 are the best options.
The Kobo Sage was the most gimmicky of all in this case, with a pen that has a moving nib. It also runs on single-use battery.
While testing, The Australian found the Kobo did not function well in its charging case on top of metal cabinets where it automatically went to sleep.
Much like Apple’s second generation pencil, there’s no pairing process with the Scribe and the pen worked straight out of the box.
The Scribe’s pen does not require charging. Instead it works with Wacom electromagnetic resistance (EMR) technology.
When it comes to transferring writing, while the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and Apple iPad don’t require a transfer, the Scribe allows the user to email themselves a PDF of their notes.
The Kobo works with Dropbox, and reMarkable has a cloud-based system.
One thing we enjoyed about the Kobo was the smart writing feature that turns handwritten notes into typed notes.
The verdict? For those who love to read and write, the Scribe might just be a must.
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