Until now, the Kindle did not exceed 7 inches diagonal screen. With its Kindle Scribe, Amazon is going back on this state of affairs by offering a 10.2-inch product, while promising a display as thin as that of the Kindle Paperwithe. The American takes the opportunity to draw inspiration from the competition such as the Remarkable 2 or the Kobo Elipsa, readers capable of acting as a digital notebook.
Thus, the Amazon Scribe comes with a stylus and therefore allows you to take notes, draw or sketch in electronic ink, then consult or share them as you wish. Is it really a good reader? Are we really going to give up our paper notebooks? The answers to his questions are in this test which, given the tester’s fly-like writing, will not be displayed in manuscript…
Amazon Kindle ScribeDesign and grip: finesse in the key word
Amazon offers us an exemplary product here, with a Kindle Scribe with a design inspired by the excellent Kindle Oasis. The lines are very smooth and we have a very wide left border for a more comfortable grip.
The Scribe is very similar to the Oasis, apart from the format and the absence of navigation buttons // Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid
With dimensions of 23 x 19.6 x 5.8 cm for 433 g, this reader is as thin as it is light. However, if the display surface is its strength, it is also one of its main weaknesses when you transport it. Investing in a cover or case to ensure its durability and your peace of mind is more than advisable.
Unlike the competition, which tends to favor plastic for its larger products, the Kindle Scribe is made of recycled aluminum and glass. The finish is impeccable, but unlike the Kindle Oasis, the Scribe is not IP68 certified. If you are used to reading in your bath, be all the more careful. We really liked the four small rubber pads on the back of the product. They ensure its stability when we take notes on the e-reader placed on a table.
The Scribe has only one button, interaction with the reader is done via the screen // Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid
We have a single button on the left edge and it is used to exit from standby. Just below we have the USB3-C port. As for the stylus, it has dimensions of 16.2 x 0.88 x 0.88 cm for 14 g. It is as light as it offers a good grip and displays a single button about 3 cm from the tip. Finally, it attaches magnetically to the right spine.
Amazon Kindle ScribeScreen: very fine display and readable in any situation
The E-Ink screen displays a diagonal of 10.2 inches in 2480 x 1860 pixels, or 300 DPI. Which makes it the large e-reader with the greatest display finesse. It is already very appreciable for text and becomes even more so when reading a manga or a comic strip.
Reading a manga on the Scribe is a real pleasure for the eyes // Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid
The screen benefits from powerful and above all very uniform front lighting (35 LEDs compared to 24 for the Paperwhite). This ensures comfortable reading, both in broad daylight and in the dark. The Kindle Scribe also offers a dark mode for night reading without too aggressive and tiring eyes.
Classic display mode // Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Night mode // Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
This Kindle can also automatically adapt the brightness according to your light environment and it must be admitted that the result is often in good taste.
The display is really very thin // Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid
Even reading very closely // Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid
It is possible to play on the color temperature, from warm sepia to a much colder bluish via a pre-selection of 24 shades.
The touch screen is very responsive, the Kindle Scribe has a 2 GHz MediaTek processor which allows it to remain fluid in all uses.
Amazon Kindle ScribeErgonomics and reading: pleasant, but we miss the navigation buttons
We find everything that makes the pleasure of using a Kindle // Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid
For anyone familiar with the Kindle ecosystem, they will be on familiar ground. It must be admitted that Amazon offers a very clear and easy to understand interface. We are entitled to a whole series of parameters to personalize the display and obtain the best reading comfort. Margin, line spacing, font size… everything can be adjusted quite finely. Amazon even offers a font dedicated to dyslexics!
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
The reading comfort is really optimal and the widest border allows a comfortable and natural grip. However, the 433 g can be felt after a good half hour. It is then enough to return it, the display will switch automatically, to change hands. However, two-handed use remains more appropriate for long reading sessions. Some will have noticed that there are no more buttons to change pages, you have to interact with the screen for that. An ergonomic step back that is difficult to explain.
The Kindle interface is enriched with a new Notebooks tab // Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid
The Kindle home page shows your library of eBooks, direct access to the Amazon Kindle catalog, and a new Notebooks tab. To read e-books from other sources, you will need to use conversion software like Calibre.
Finally, note that the autonomy is around 22 weeks, which we could not test.
Amazon Kindle ScribeNote taking: natural, effective, but incomplete
Finally, let’s get to the heart of the matter, taking notes. First of all, the stylus is very precise and pleasant contact with the screen. It’s not like writing in a paper notebook yet, but it’s starting to get closer. Especially since you can play on the type of tip (pen, fountain pen, marker and pencil), with, for each, five line thicknesses. Ditto for the Marker and Eraser parts, five different thicknesses are available. Let’s start by annotating a book.
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
As soon as you open a book, you will notice an icon on the left. It provides access to note taking settings. To highlight, just keep the stylus pressed on the screen, in front of the target word or phrase and underline the targeted portion of text. In case of error, it is possible to correct the shooting.
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
At the end of the selection, you will be asked if you want to highlight or create a note. The latter will be identified on the page by a small note icon just in front of the annotated text section.
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Practical and efficient, but to annotate documents, the most natural thing is to write directly on them. What the Kindle Scribe allows, but only on eBook files that don’t have too aggressive DRM. Something you won’t be able to know before buying a book. However, you can do this on your own documents, press articles or PDF, unless the latter is protected. Be aware that out of our entire modest Kindle library (mostly novels), none of the books could be directly annotated.
Not all documents allow direct interaction // Yazid Amer – Frandroid
You can also create a whole library of notes by accessing the Notebooks tab on the home screen. The note you create will be a document that you can modify at any time.
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid Source: Yazid Amer – Frandroid
A valuable tool for those who multiply notes in all directions and which allows them to be organized effectively. In use, it must be admitted that it is pleasant on a daily basis. However, you also have to accept having a large product instead of the small notebook that slips into a jacket pocket.
So technically, the Scribe and stylus couple works wonderfully. We can only regret major shortcomings. The least important being that although sufficient, the choice of tips and their variants is not that important. The most annoying thing is that the system is closed. Unable to send our notes to a tool like Evernote or Microsoft OneNotes.
You can only share them by email and only in PDF form… Another missing point: character recognition. Amazon promises to soon be able to share its notes with Microsoft Office, but nothing on the horizon more than four months after the product’s release.
Amazon Kindle ScribePrices and availability
The Kindle Scribe is available in gray. It is sold at a price of 369.99 euros at Amazon and from partner resellers.
Where to buy
Amazon Kindle Scribe at the best price?