The Kindle Scribe is one of the best Kindles that Amazon has ever released, but it doesn’t get the same level of appreciation as other Kindles.
On Amazon’s website the Kindle Scribe has a 4.1-star rating as of this writing, which makes it the lowest-rated Kindle in the current lineup. All other models have either a 4.6 or 4.7-star rating based on customer reviews.
Early on the Scribe had a 3.6-star rating, then it edged up to 3.8, and now it’s a respectable 4.1, but I still think that’s way too low, especially considering how much less the Kindle Scribe sells for compared to similar 10-inch E Ink eNotes.
I have the Kindle Scribe at #4 on my list ranking all Kindles from worst to best all time, but at this point I would probably put it at #2 behind the Kindle Voyage for my personal list (the Kindle Voyage had a 4.2-star rating at Amazon so it didn’t exactly have a high rating either).
The Kindle Scribe started off on shaky ground because it had a very basic Notebook app when it first launched, but after three software updates the Notebook app has a lot more going for it now.
Even if the Kindle Scribe didn’t support stylus writing at all, I think it would still be one of the best Kindles simply because it’s only the second large-screen Kindle that Amazon has released, and it’s miles ahead of the old Kindle DX.
Not everyone needs a 10-inch reading device, but after you use one for a while the larger screen really starts to grow on you. I’ve been saying for years that 10-inch E Ink ereaders are majorly underrated. That’s really a great screen size if you don’t rate portability high on your scale of needs.
The more I use other eNotes the more I like the Kindle Scribe. It’s not as advanced as Onyx’s devices, but the overall reading experience is better on Kindles than with Android apps that aren’t designed for E Ink screens, and screen refreshing is a lot smoother and faster overall, with much less ghosting. The design is actually really nice too; it feels nicer in-hand than most other devices.
There are still a number of things Amazon could do to improve reading and writing on the Kindle Scribe, so it’s far from perfect, but they’re off to a good start with three software updates in six months. Hopefully the negative reviews and lower sales volume won’t dissuade Amazon from continuing to develop it.
The best Kindle for reading yet. Twice as many words per page so only half as much time wasted on page turns. INSANE battery life. Best Kindle purchase yet.
Agree on battery life. Screen is great too…very scratch resistant.
It’s too heavy to read in bed, in my opinion. Also I feel kind of silly reading on the train/walking around with such an enormous tablet. Kindle Oasis for me!
Weight is purely subjective so I can’t comment on that. As to feeling silly, since absolutely nobody on the train or walking around matters in the least there is nothing to feel silly about. In fact, they very well might think look at that person who was smart enough to get the new Kindle. I still have my Oasis and won’t part with it unless they offer at least twice as much for trade-in if/when the next must have device comes along. The benefits of the Scribe as a much closer to perfect reading device greatly outweigh any potential drawbacks for me. YMMV (But lose that feeling silly thing as nothing/nobody should make you feel that)
I’ve resisted getting one because I often read in bed on my side and fear it would be too heavy. If they made a 7.8 version, could me in.
Do you think it’s possible that the Scribe is getting so many updates because Amazon is preparing to launch a new Kindle Oasis, advertising a reliable notetaking experience with a more consolidated software?
No, I don’t think that at all.
My country hasn’t had a sale yet, so as a multi year Prime member, I’m playing hard to get. Plus, Lenovo is sloooooowly releasing their Smart Paper tablet across the world and it looks quite good – like a Remarkable 2.5.
Hard to justify spending $200+ on an ereader when my Voyage still works perfectly fine.
I also remain unconvinced a 10” size is actually better for pure reading, at least for me personally. I’ve tested various book formatting on an iPad and have struggled to find one that I truly prefer to what I’m used to on a 6” screen. There’s either too much text on the page (my eyes have a bad habit of jumping ahead if that’s the case), or the text is too large (wasting the extra screen size). On the smaller Kindle, it’s easier for me to focus on the 1-2 paragraphs at a time, at least as far as reading speed and absorption is concerned. This is probably just a me problem.
I don’t care about the pen stuff, and I also don’t mind more page turns on a smaller device. /shrug
I would not want to read on a 10” device. Too big, too heavy and too unwieldy, even when reading on a sofa at home (yes, I almost never bought hardcovers either for the same reason). 7-8” is perfect for me. Not tempted by those 10-12” devices at all.
I respect your opinions, Nathan, but I cannot get excited about the Scribe. It is on the large side for me, and it lacks buttons. My perfect every-day e-reader would have an 8-inch screen and physical buttons. A stylus would nice but not required because I am only reading fiction on an e-reader.
The Scribe was marketed more as as e-note device, so it makes more sense to compare it to other such devises rather than other Kindles.
You are describing the Kobo Sage here.
I love mine. I use it for note taking and doodles and reading PDF’s – especially A5 ones. I also use it when giving talks, lecturing or presenting (which I always prefers e-ink for). It has replaced my convertible HP Spectre 13 for a lot of these tasks. And it is great for academic ebooks in my kindle library. The sort of books in paper form you would read on a desk than in the hand.
I do wish it was waterproofed, and a bit quicker with PDF’s. Although compressing larger ones or splitting A4 PDFs on to two A5 pages can help – but this is all extra work.
But basically it is now my general tablet – with the Spectre available to do power things. Android is great but not fantastic for tablets or e-readers. It still lacks the full power of the Chrome Browser..
Now if someone came out with an e-reader that ran ChromeOS I would give that a go.
Still waiting for Amazon to start selling them here in Mexico. I would certainly find use for the scribe, for using it with my lesson plans that I can send to it directly from MS Word, to reading textbooks. I would trust it is snappy. At least a lot faster than my Likebook P10, which requires a lot of patience. Also, the way to transfer files to it is not that trouble free, I use MS one drive to download files to it. It tends to crash a lot. On the bright side of having to wait is that hopefully it will have most of the bugs fixed and good features added to it by the time I get mine.
For me, the size has never been an issue. Up to 10 inches is acceptable for me and I’d be happy to carry it around.
However, the scribes screen is quite grainy. The coating which you can actually see when the light shines on the screen (like tiny grainy dots) really takes away from the pleasure of reading.
I’d probably regard it as the worst kindle yet for reading.