Amazon's new Kindle Scribe is an e-reader you can write on
Today, Amazon announced a number of new products, including four new Echo devices, an updated Fire TV Cube, and a bedside sleep tracker.
One of the most exciting announcements, however, is Kindle Scribe, a new e-reader with a 10.2in 300ppi Paperwhite glare-free display that you can write on using a supplied stylus. This isn’t the first such tablet -- the reMarkable 2, for example, has plenty of fans -- but it’s the first such device from Amazon.
While Scribe is, like all other previous Kindles, great for reading on (I love my Paperwhite), it also lets you make notes and add sketches. For the first time you can add handwritten digital sticky notes to your books.
The device supports PDF markup and can display web pages and other file formats. Thanks to an agreement with Microsoft it’s even possible to export a Word document into the Scribe (or it will be -- this feature is expected to arrive early next year).
Battery life tends to be exceptional on Kindles, and Amazon says you can expect Kindle Scribe to last 12 weeks, based on half an hour of reading a day, although this drops significantly to three weeks if that 30 minutes a day is spent writing or drawing on the device.
There’s all of the features you’d expect to see on a Kindle e-reader, including an adjustable warm light, auto-adjusting front light, and USB-C charging.
Kindle Scribe comes with a free, four-month Kindle Unlimited membership with access to over 3 million ebooks.
"Kindle Scribe is the best Kindle we’ve ever built, creating a reading and writing experience that feels like real paper," said Kevin Keith, vice president of Amazon Devices. "It's inspired by the Kindle customers who have added billions of notes and highlights to books over the years, and it’s also ideal for reviewing and marking up documents, managing your to-do list, or doodling over a big idea. Plus, it offers all the Kindle benefits customers know and love -- millions of books on demand, adjustable fonts, premium reading features, and weeks and weeks of battery life -- with the benefit of a beautiful, large display.
Priced at $339, the Kindle Scribe is 5.8mm thick and weighs 430g, and is available in Tungsten with options for 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB of storage. You can preorder today and Amazon says it will ship in time for the holidays.
Kindle Scribe comes with a battery-free Basic Pen or Premium Pen. The latter costs $30 more and includes an eraser and customizable shortcut button. The pens attach to the side of the tablet.
New leather, premium leather, and fabric covers, will be available in a variety of colors.