My hand is cramping. It’s not carpal tunnel or another doubtful purpose that’s inflicting the ache. It’s an analog ache that’s oddly satisfying in a nostalgic means. In the previous couple of days, I’ve held a pen and written extra phrases for a for much longer time than I’ve ever completed in years. As I pushed myself to handwrite massive components of this assessment to spend extra time with the 2024 Kindle Scribe’s stylus and note-taking instruments, I began to really feel a sensation I hadn’t remembered since my teenagers.
I typically really feel the urge to jot down ideas and lists, however I by no means actually wished to spend longer than quarter-hour writing. And but, Amazon’s new AI options for the Kindle Scribe appear to cater extra to those that labor over essays or missives that they in the end must share with others. The Summarize and Refine instruments to your notebooks, for instance, can shorten and neaten up your scrawl so, I suppose, you’ll be able to ship it to a different particular person to learn. That’s it, actually. The opposite enhancements to the Scribe’s writing expertise are for scribbling on books, which I’ll get to in a bit.
Replace, February 11 2025: Since this assessment was revealed in December, Amazon released new software in February 2025 that brings collapsible margins to the Kindle Scribe. Now that I've been capable of consider that characteristic, in addition to spend extra time with the Scribe 2 and its rivals just like the reMarkable Paper Professional, I’m able to assign a rating, which you'll see under.
For essentially the most half, the brand new collapsible margins don't drastically have an effect on my expertise with the Kindle Scribe 2. As somebody who largely reads fiction and self-help books, I don't typically discover myself itching to scribble within the columns of a web page. Within the months since I revealed the assessment, the Scribe 2 has served me nicely as a common ereader that could be a completely useful pocket book. I really discovered the characteristic that converts my handwriting into legible textual content extra helpful than I believed it could be, since I ceaselessly write down my crew's priorities and sending a cleaned-up model is extra skilled than passing alongside my scrawl. It additionally saves me a while as I don't must retype each phrase.
I do must level out, although, that now that I’ve a reMarkable Paper Professional in for testing, it's clear the latter is the superior product for writing. reMarkable's software program accommodates each handwritten and typed writing in the identical doc, and its app enables you to edit these notes out of your cellphone. It's every little thing I wished the Scribe to do, and performs nicely sufficient that I’m tempted to shell out the $3 a month to maintain utilizing it. In fact, if you happen to’re extra of a reader who sometimes desires to mark up books,s ketch out some floorplans or make to-do lists, the Scribe 2 is best, due to Amazon’s big library of titles.
The remainder of my authentic assessment follows under.
What’s modified on the brand new Kindle Scribe
As I mentioned earlier, most of what’s new on the Kindle Scribe is inside. On the skin, Amazon did tweak the bezels not in precise dimension however in colours, in order that there’s a white rectangle surrounding the display, inside a teal inexperienced column on the facet. In case you opted for the “tungsten” model, then as an alternative of teal inexperienced you’ll see darkish grey. I really like the brand new colour, however it’s a bit complicated and makes me assume the grippable space is narrower than earlier than when in truth, it’s about the identical. Nonetheless, this can be a small criticism, if that, and one that’s largely mitigated by how contemporary the brand new model appears.
The opposite foremost change is on the Premium Pen, which now has a rubberized prime for its fake eraser. I’ve at all times appreciated how straightforward this was to make use of on the unique Kindle Scribe, and I’m completely happy to report that the up to date texture doesn’t get in the way in which of responsiveness. It actually feels sufficient like erasers of my youth that every so often I discover myself subconsciously swiping away phantom mud. I’ll level out, although, that I needed to remind myself to make use of the eraser on a couple of events, since I used to be extra accustomed to easily placing out a mistake with the pen. The brand new Premium Pen additionally has a customizable shortcut button so long-pressing it could actually activate the highlighter, pen, marker, pencil, eraser, canvas or sticky word.
Drawing on books on the brand new Kindle Scribe
Lastly, along with the 2 AI-related instruments I already talked about, Amazon additionally up to date how one can write on ebooks. As I described in my hands-on in October, the brand new Energetic Canvas characteristic makes it so that after you set your pen on the web page, a field will seem to include your writing. In comparison with the clunky implementation on the older mannequin, which required you to first go to the floating toolbar on the left of each web page, choose the sticky word characteristic after which write in it, this appeared an enormous enchancment.
In my testing up to now, although, this was much less spectacular. The software program was buggy in my expertise. On one event, I drew a spiral over the phrases “We had a great yarn about outdated occasions” in an Agatha Christie novel. A translucent field appeared, containing my drawing in a layer above the textual content, with a verify mark and cross on the prime. You’re alleged to faucet the verify, which can trigger the field to totally solidify and the remainder of the web page’s phrases will rearrange themselves to make room. Nonetheless, after I hit X by chance, the field didn’t go away, and I used to be capable of proceed so as to add doodles all around the display. After I flipped to a distinct a part of the e-book and got here again, although, it disappeared, solely to reappear later after I was making an attempt to underline one thing.
That’s clearly only a bug, and when executed as meant, Energetic Canvas does work. You may resize the field, and features will proceed to reflow to make room or snap again into place. The containers will keep the place you left them, as an alternative of disappearing beneath a bit of tag the way in which they did with the unique Scribe. It’s a slight enchancment, and although I can’t but think about how I’d use it in actual life, it’s good to comprehend it’s there.
I do must level out a few caveats, although. This doesn’t work on samples — you’ll be able to inform whether or not the Energetic Canvas is supported by checking if the floating toolbox is current. The opposite situation, which is a much bigger one, is that Energetic Canvas can generally be triggered even whenever you’re simply making an attempt to underline one thing. Drawing traces beneath or on textual content will generate underlines, which can be listed by Amazon the identical means highlights are, so you’ll be able to simply discover them once more in a while.
It’s fairly annoying whenever you’re making an attempt to underline some textual content and the phrases leap away to make room for a field you by no means wished to look. It will get much more irritating when, as a result of lag, you need to look forward to seconds for the field to go away after you faucet the X on prime of it. Worse, that bug I discussed earlier brought about the spiral and different doodles I had drawn to indicate up the place I used to be making an attempt to underline phrases. Fortunately, I used to be capable of delete that when it reappeared and had no extra phantom containers.
These little hiccups can be much less of an issue if Amazon weren’t already behind its rivals. Comparable merchandise from firms like Kobo already provide higher assist for writing on books, the place you’ll be able to circle particular phrases and the drawing will keep in place (although that is wonky if you happen to resize the textual content afterwards). I perceive that Amazon has to handle the resizability of its content material, to assist individuals who typically change up font sizes whereas studying. There must be a greater means.
One is likely to be coming. On the Kindle’s launch occasion, the corporate did preview a collapsible margins characteristic, which helps you to scribble within the column on both facet of each e-book. Importantly, you’ll be capable of resize these columns and the house in them can scroll vertically, providing you with loads of room to cram in your musings. Sadly, this characteristic is barely going to be obtainable in early 2025, so I wasn’t capable of try it out. It’s additionally price noting that the unique Kindle Scribe, which continues to retail for $340, can be getting the Energetic Canvas and generative AI options, in addition to the collapsible margin when that arrives.
Generative AI options on the brand new Kindle Scribe
The place issues really feel extra completed is in Notebooks, the place Amazon has needed to take care of fewer limitations. This part incorporates your lists, jotpads and artworks. Like you might on the unique, you’ll be able to choose from quite a lot of backgrounds like traces, a dot grid and even planner or calendar views.
It’s right here that you simply’ll discover the brand new Summarize and Refine instruments, by tapping on the sparkles icon on the highest menu bar. Choosing both “Summarize” or “Refine writing” will carry up the choice to work Amazon’s magic on the web page you’re on or all the pocket book. After you resolve, the Kindle will get to work, utilizing cloud-based processing to generate both a abstract of your phrases or a tidied up model of your hen scratch. This normally took about 10 to fifteen seconds, relying on the size of the supply materials. As soon as a result’s returned, you’ll additionally get the choice to customise the font and line spacing, in addition to the flexibility so as to add it to the top or starting of your pocket book.
I used to be shocked to see the Scribe make sense of a disorganized plan I made for critiques protection that concerned some lists with three in a row up prime, two on the backside and three lining the suitable facet. The Refine device precisely laid them out in sequential order, giving me a listing of lists beginning with the one I had within the prime left place and ending with the tiny one titled “OSes” that I had squeezed in under “iPads” on the backside proper.
The abstract it returned for this instance was additionally first rate, and in all the opposite notes I examined I noticed largely correct outcomes. Any mistake the system made felt affordable, since I’ve horrible handwriting. It’s not likely the Scribe’s fault that it thought I wrote “Addly” when actually I simply had an especially malformed “n” and a barely legible “g” on the finish of “Including.”
After I did make an effort to put in writing extra neatly, the Scribe was extra correct, however that nearly feels prefer it defeats the aim. If I’m going to attempt to write higher for the AI so it could actually make my handwriting neater for others to learn, then how is that completely different from making a better effort for people?
As competent because the generative AI options right here have been, I nonetheless stay hesitant to name them helpful. I’m not the form of individual that likes writing lengthy sufficient to wish AI summarization (to that finish, you’ll must have at the very least 25 phrases on a web page to qualify for Summarize). I additionally don’t usually share my handwritten ideas with different individuals, although on the extraordinarily uncommon event that I do, I might see Refine being a great begin.
The issue is that Refine isn’t at all times correct, and its generated consequence isn’t editable. If I might go in and proper “Addly,” then I won’t thoughts sending that doc to my crew. Or if that have been the one mistake within the refined writing, I might share the word and inform my pals to disregard the one error. However I’d have to put in writing a complete new appendix simply to make clear the errors, at which level I would as nicely sort up my authentic ideas.
Neither Refine nor Summarize are groundbreaking new options in generative AI and even note-taking, both. Apple presents a model of Refine on the brand new iPadOS, whereas Summarize is one thing we’ve seen throughout merchandise from Google, Apple, OpenAI, Samsung and extra. Whereas I respect that Amazon has largely prevented chasing hype with its adoption of generative AI on the Kindle Scribe, I would like extra time and testing to higher perceive how helpful it is likely to be in the long term.
What I like concerning the Kindle Scribe 2 up to now
As I did with the unique, I do just like the Scribe quite a bit. It presents a clean, handy writing expertise in a svelte, comparatively gentle bundle that’s simply 0.22 inches thick and weighs 433 grams (0.95 kilos). None of these dimensions have modified within the second-gen mannequin, although the ten.2-inch display in some way appeared sharper to me, regardless of having the identical brightness and pixel density.
Studying on such a roomy canvas is a pleasure, though I want to take the Paperwhite on the go because it’s quite a bit simpler on my wrist. That expanse will be useful for these with visible impairments that may want a a lot bigger font, for instance.
I’ve additionally preferred doodling on PDFs and “write-on books.” The latter is a class of titles within the Kindle retailer which might be formatted so you’ll be able to doodle instantly on them. I borrowed a few these by way of my Kindle Limitless subscription, and had a blast fixing cryptography and Sudoku puzzles. I did see some promising books on this class, like interactive or hyperlinked planners, however the buyer critiques for these put me off.
There may be plenty of potential in that house, although, that would make the Kindle Scribe much more helpful. I simply want Amazon would make investments extra within the format and make a pocket book you’ll be able to write on that may additionally work together with your cellphone’s calendar or reminders app and seamlessly combine what you write in your planner into your digital universe.
What I don’t like concerning the Kindle Scribe 2
Alas, that isn’t a actuality. And the fact is that there are numerous issues Amazon might stand to enhance. Whereas I can perceive that discovering a method to maintain a free stylus hooked up to a pill is difficult, the magnetic edge that the Premium Pen can latch onto is only a precarious method. I used to be strolling into my condominium with the Kindle Scribe in my hand and jostled the door by chance. Two seconds later, I used to be questioning the place the stylus had gone. It was on the ground, and after I picked it up, I seen the nib was slanted.
I didn’t know if I had broken it, and although it nonetheless labored nicely, I finally noticed some scratches on the Scribe’s display that I think won’t have been there had the pen not dropped as a consequence of a lightweight knock in opposition to a doorframe. The corporate does embody some alternative nibs within the field, so fixing that is pretty straightforward.
I additionally actually want Amazon’s Notebooks have been extra versatile. They’re higher than they have been with the unique Scribe, however you continue to can’t edit them within the cell Kindle app. You may view your Notebooks there, which is good, however it’s barely annoying that they’re listed in alphabetical order as an alternative of primarily based on what’s lately been opened like they’re on the Kindle.
Amazon charges the brand new and authentic Scribes as having the identical battery life — that’s, as much as three weeks if you happen to write for about half an hour a day, and as much as 12 weeks if you happen to learn for that very same period of time. In my assessment of the older mannequin, I noticed battery numbers drop 35 p.c in a few week with a lot of writing and testing. With the brand new Kindle Scribe, the facility stage is at the moment at 21 p.c after popping out of the field at 50 p.c simply a few days in the past. I’ve been testing its AI, writing and annotating options fairly relentlessly in that point, and normally see the share fall one or two factors every time I generate an AI abstract or refinement, too.
I’ll want way more time to get a greater sense of how the brand new Kindle Scribe’s battery holds up beneath extra normalized use, but when it behaves like its predecessor, I shouldn’t must cost it greater than as soon as each couple of months.
Wrap-up
Amazon’s new Kindle Scribe has plenty of competitors from firms like Kobo, Boox and reMarkable. And with a value of $399, the brand new Scribe is a whopping $60 costlier than its predecessor, which will even get plenty of the brand new software program updates. To be truthful, the brand new Scribe comes with a Premium Pen for the value, whereas the cheaper mannequin solely features a Fundamental Pen, so that you’re partially paying extra for a greater stylus.
Whereas I do like the brand new colour possibility and barely improved annotation capabilities, I’m unsure Amazon has completed sufficient to justify the extra value right here. I’d a lot fairly see the corporate focus its efforts on enhancing its Pocket book syncing and cell enhancing software program, in addition to investing in innovating on the write-on e-book format, than chase the generative AI pattern. Regardless of how a lot restraint it’s exercised in doing so. Nonetheless, Kindles, the Scribe 2 included, stay a few of the greatest ereaders round, and are just about the obvious selection for anybody already invested in Amazon's ecosystem.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cell/tablets/kindle-scribe-2-review-in-progress-is-slightly-useful-ai-worth-the-extra-cash-140018638.html?src=rss