Amazon Kindle Scribe (2nd Gen) Review: Room for More

Amazon’s Kindle Scribe entered a saturated digital notebook market in 2022, competing with the likes of Kobo, ReMarkable, and Boox. But the first-gen Scribe had one leg over everyone else: It was also a Kindle. Its biggest flaw? You couldn’t annotate directly on ebooks, a standard feature most people would expect on a digital e-paper notebook.

This has been rectified on the second-generation Kindle Scribe, and there are a couple of other additions like generative artificial intelligence features and a slightly redesigned Premium Pen stylus, which is now included. But the rest of the Scribe remains mostly the same. It’s a great digital notebook for anyone who likes jotting stuff down on paper, and since it pulls double duty as an e-reader, you don’t have to carry another Kindle.

Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

Unfortunately, the price has jumped to $400, a $60 bump (technically, a $30 bump if you compare it directly to the original Scribe with the Premium Pen). But there’s a big fact you ought to know: The first-gen Scribe can access all the new capabilities of the second-gen model via a software update (you can manually download it or wait for an over-the-air update). It’s nice that existing customers don’t have to upgrade, but it leaves little incentive to spend more on the latest.

Smooth and Supreme

The Scribe has the same chassis as its predecessor. The back is a mix of recycled aluminum and post-consumer recycled plastics, yet it feels luxe. It’s still not waterproof like the Kindle Paperwhite and Colorsoft, which is strange for a productivity device that will inevitably be placed next to a coffee mug.

The front is home to a 10.2-inch E Ink screen with 300 pixels per inch (94 nits of max brightness). It can automatically adjust the brightness depending on the environment, and there’s even adjustable warm lighting, which makes it a little easier on the eyes in low light. I enjoy using the latter while journaling on the Scribe before bed. There’s a dark mode too, which turns the background black and the font white (also useful at night).

Photograph: Brenda Stolyar