Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2022
Although this is pretty long, please read until the end for more helpful items i found to use with your SCRIBE or even other devices, ive mentioned extra protection and the perks of using 360 degree rotating magnetic charging cords and heads in ALL your devices! This review will go over regular tablets and 2 other brands of eink note taking devices. I touch on storage, pens, the paper templates, DRAWING...its a lot but def worth looking over. Might as well scroll down to the see more for my review and pull it all up now before you continue any further lol...i really hope this helps somebody on one of the things i mention.
Ok I'm going to hit a few topics that I've noticed nobody has really hit on yet, and its something I had tried to find out myself before I bought mine, and I couldn't get that info so I just bought it! I should start by saying I currently have these other devices as well: 10in Samsung tablet, 10in IPad, fire tablet, almost every paperwhite, likebook ares eink tablet, onyx boox nova color eink tablet....and now the wonderful Kindle scribe! Now, let's talk business.
I love to read, and the paperwhite has been my go to device all the time hands down for my reading...waterproof, lots of storage at 32 GB and great battery life! Reading comics however is a pain. To small, have to pinch and zoom....just to much hassle. It's the same thing on my other two eink devices, there is still no glare on these other 2 (likebook and boox), you get the min storage but can add micro SD cards, and those are not waterproof and the batteries run down so quickly even when in airplane mode. Now let's talk actual tablets (Samsung, Ipad, fire, etc)... obviously bigger screens, bright vivid colors. Have to install kindle app to read your books (except for on fire tablets), and now you can no longer purchase any new books on these devices unless you are using an actual Amazon brand device when buying them! Comics are much easier to read...and again in color. You won't be able to read on your screens outside though, the sun will just bounce off device making it more useful for a mirror!! All of these devices will let you surf the web, shop, play games, listen to music or books, read...you name it. Books won't eat up too much of your storage since it's just words but comics sure will. And I don't know about you all, but my batteries on these devices drain faster then say a paperwhite.
Here's what I wanted to know-
Not only do I read a lot, but I'm an artist. I love to just be able to pull something out of my bag and draw if the mood hits. I noticed people only touched on the "note taking" abilities on the scribe...but I wanted to know MORE!! I wanted to see the pen line thickness for each option, see if when you did the highlighter over the pen if the black would fade, what other pens could be used on it, if we could install more paper options for free directly into notebook paper options!!
Let's talk tablets first for drawing and doodling. Fire tablets don't offer to many great drawing apps for people who like to draw. There's sketch guru and sketchbook abd a few just bare min basic apps. But I'm not overly impressed with how they run on these devices and what they offer. Samsung which is android has a bunch due to playstore (I'd list them all but I'd be here all day) art rage, sketch guru, ibis paint, sketch book...a lot. And Ipad, do I even have to say it lol, one word... Procreate! The great things about creating art on these tablets is that you have unlimited color options, shading abilities, tools like shapes and rulers, layer of pages, pens, pencils and brushes etc. I however, and this is me personally lol, don't like drawing on them ( I have, but not since I got my first eink reader and note device) my lines are all over the place, if I have to pick my pen up it's time consuming to get back on the same line I left off its just a flat out pain and it annoyed me! To some they found tricks and have mastered it...not me though lol...give me pen and paper and some color and im good!
As for the eink devices. My ares likebook was my first with the ability to write on it. Sure I download my kindle app (but I never really read on it, used paperwhite everytime for that). I was able to access Google playstore, install all the same apps I had on Samsung tablet, could surf web, and do all the stuff I could on Samsung, fire and Ipad. Drawing on apps installed from playstore was horrible on this device. It lagged and I'd have to wait for my line or what I just drew to appear to continue to even draw. Now in the notebook section though it was amazing! Just like pencil or pen to paper, and it's pressure sensitive. The likebook only has 2 pen options, a ballpoint pen and a calligraphy pen. It gives you a few thicknesses to use however the thickest option isn't even as thick as say for example, a Crayola marker tip. The eraser function has the ability to erase entire area, each individual line by just tapping a line to erase, circling an item to erase. It also has gray, red and blue scale options when using pen but those are a joke because I never even noticed a difference, it was still just well, black!! Next device was my boox nova color eink device, all the above for likebook is exactly the same except for when I was in the notebook area, the options are 100% different and better. As far as pen option, you can pick between ballpoint pen, marker, pencil, highlighter, calligraphy pen, and a paintbrush! Yeah I know awesome right?! You can convert your written notes to text, move and drag items, layer, change templates, it has shapes like circle, square, line, etc. Honestly, it does a lot and it's in COLOR!!! Mine has 18 colors. I was so excited for this BUT I'm not overly impressed. I can't shade or blend using any said brushes or any of the colors. It literally just changes to color selected and thats it. If I draw a picture say like a caricature in black and then fill it in with colors, my black Baseline just disappears, even when using the highlighter, so then I have to go back in and redraw my lines which is a pain. And yes, I know, these devices are more so for taking notes not necessarily for drawing. I get it lol, but do you realize how sweet it is to have 1 device that does it all; day or night, inside or out?! It allows me to carry a lot less in my purse just bust something out because I want draw suddenly lol! The one really neat thing about both the ares and the boox, they have several different types of paper patterns and themes to pick from pre installed but they also allow you to download other ones too and add them right to your notebook. Like budget trackers, or savings tracker, shopping list or booklist, planners, goal setting worksheets, blank comic book pages!! It's endless, you want it, you can get and get it for free!! And you can make each page a different paper in your notebook! Believe me when I say this, but that is a huge convenience!
Now onto the scribe. I enjoy reading in this which is surprising because I'm so used to the size of my paperwhite, which since getting my scribe, has been retired 😅. If you're familiar with the paperwhite then you'll notice it's pretty much the same just a much bigger screen. As far as comics go, they are incredibly clear and very easy to read without any eyestrain (you'll just have to make do with the Grayslake colors, but you'll be OK I promise)! I went for the 64GB because I plan to draw, a lot, on this bad boy. I have 32 GB on my paperwhite and have over 4,000 (closer to 5,000 with no signs of stopping) books on that and a chunk of them are comics (like the walking dead com. sets) and I haven't even used so much as half of my 32GB on that. So it didn't even put a dent in my scribe storage of 64GB! Just like all of Amazon's ereaders this is a distraction free device...no apps, no emails or games or whatnot. I'm fine with that in fact i actually prefer that. After I install any new books I tend to keep all my devices in airplane mode (stretches out my battery life even longer). Ok so let's talk about drawing on the scribe. You get one pen with 5 thicknesses to pick from, a highlighter with 5 thicknesses, and an ereaser with 5 thicknesses to pick from plus an option to erease page or an option to circle what you want to erase for it to erase. That's is folks. No extra fancy tools or other pens, no write to text or layering or dragging and moving items or resizing or copy and paste...yet. Maybe one day. You get like either 12 or 15 styles of paper to pick from, however that one notebook will be that style of paper throughout. Page 1 can be lined but then so will every other page in that notebook until you create another notebook. It's annoying, but I just pick a paper I want for a drawing like say I need gragh or dot, select do my drawing, then go in and change it to blank so the next page is blank as well as the paper under what i just drew. I do wish they had a planner (free lol), savings tracker, shopping list, a booklist...cmon at least a book wishlist its a kindle haha! I also really wish that like my other 2 note taking eink devices you could install other paper options into the notebook paper selections...but you can't. You get what you get unless you buy a planner through keys2success starting at $25 and going up to $150! Anyways, back to drawing, sorry. So this is exactly like drawing on paper!!! Unlike my other 2 eink devices it is NOT pressure sensitive. If you pick up your pen you can very easily pick up right where you left off which I always had a hard time doing on Samsung, ipad and fire. So the the thicknesses of pen options: heavy is just like using a Crayola marker, nice thick bold line. Thick is like a sharpie. Medium would be like a felt tip pen and is less bold then previous two. Then the last two would be like a ballpoint pen or a calligraphy pen, and you last option would be like a very fine tip micro pen. I use these last two pens for all my fine detail and some of my "ink shading" if you will. It works amazingly and I'm really picky about pens on these devices and how they preform. Im quite surprised since in videos i watched it seemed bare min compared to my boox. Amazon has not let me down! Pressure isn't an issue because of the sizes they offer in pen options, you just have to use them properly. The highlighter, ok, I AM IMPRESSED! If I highlight over anything I've drawn with it...my black baseline remains, I can't believe it. I'm sold lol! So yeah you won't lose any of your work when you highlight. So it has roughly the same thicknesses available it just doesn't get as fine as the pen options. Think of the thinnest highlighter you've seen and we'll that's the smallest it'll go. If you, say color in something in with the highlighter, and then say use it again in just one area you've colored already to try and make it a little darker, it won't. The eraser thickness options are just like the highlighter, you can't erase just one thing because it may wipe out a larger area but the undo and redo buttons are great for quick mess ups. I tried using the eraser at its finest tip for highlights in hair and well...that didn't work out so well, it erased big areas. Kind of wish they had a micro eraser available for that. The eraser does have the circle to erase option, so I guess you could circle say like and eye or part of the eye to erase that way. They also have an erase page option. I use the undo and redo buttons a lot lol. I really enjoy drawing on this even though I don't have all the features I have at my fingertips with boox notebook. Do I wish scribe had these features, absolutely! It'd knock those big ticket items right out of the park. I have no issues using the smaller pens to shade and detail and then use the highlighter to really pop those features in my drawings I want to stand out. I'm not gonna address the note taking other than by saying it's crisp, clear, and your letters are all connected and not cutoff and hands down the BEST note taking device I have when it comes to handwriting. The size is absolutely perfect for everything I use it for. I can't wait to see what features and pens they have on future updates for my scribe, and I really hope that they add more paper options (FREE paper options lol) to our notebooks. You can however send pdfs of different paper to your scribe, but its a pain and not convenient. It gets added to your library and its just 1 sheet when you may need several so it kind of stinks that way. And I don't know about anyone else but I want all my notes and drawings located in one spot, not mixed in with my books and in my library. That would make my Scribe the ultimate all in one tool! I'm fine without color because sadly eink color isn't quite there yet for me. I do own several EMR pens (of course lol) as well. I have the ones that came with my boox and ares, I have the lammy pen, the Norris steadlier jumbo pencil, wacom pens, the heart of metal pen (has a ceramic nib that never needs to be replaced) and the premium pen for the Scribe. Here's what I've found out, all of these pens/stylus work on the Scribe thankfully. I will not use my heart of metal on my Scribe but I'm sure it will work. I'm just nervous because the nib is hard and I don't want to scratch or ruin my screen ( if you're crazy enough to try it ha ha let me know how you make out!). And Although some of these nibs are different sizes it does not effect the size or width of the lines you draw or write with on the Scribe.
I'm sorry this review is so long. I just couldn't get this info myself when looking into to purchasing it and no one said anything about drawing on it, pens, or did side by side comparisons. I watched a lot of YouTube reviews and read all the comments and still didn't find what all I wanted to know lol so I really hope.this helps someone else.
I am obsessed with my Scribe, between reading and drawing...it's the only one I'm carrying on me at all times and using at home. My other expensive over priced eink note taking tablets are now sitting on a shelf in my room. I think with new updates they launch its just gonna get better and better and it's pretty damn awesome already. Great battery life (nothing i own can ever beat amazons paperwhite and now scribe battery life), lots of storage and I mean lots, great clear clean writing and drawing experience and EVERYTHING is crisp on the screen. If you're on the fence just jump off and buy it already, you won't beat the price and I'm honestly surprised it doesn't cost more...you won't regret your choice. And if one of the other devices I mentioned sounds better for your needs do that (boox does have non colored eink devices that have same features and everything as the colored eink device. Incase anyone wondered lol). Happy reading, drawing and writing...hope this helps someone!
One more bonus side note, I have the kindle fabric case for my Scribe. I was nervous to just toss it into my purse and keep it there on a daily basis just in it's kindle case. I did a lot of searching for an additional measure of safety and found this nifty universal bag/case on Amazon. Type in FINPAC tablet case in search bar. This case is extremely useful and just excellent! It has a front pouch which I store an extra battery charger, my cords, all my stylus', my magnetic head attacents for cords (another Amazon buy...and if you don't have these kinds of cords yet you seriously should check them out. I have a combo pack so my cords are from 3 ft up to 10ft, got several sets of each kind of head...micro, c type, apple...and my cords where heads attach actually rotate 360 degrees so ny cord wont bend and break. Best of all, i leave the actual head nib in my devices and it saves all my devices charging ports because over time they tend to get loose and then your device wont charge. Its a life/device saver. Check them out, trust me lol!) and replacement nibs, a wallet, chapstick and my keys lol...just in the front pouch,the only pouch! The large tablet portion has reinforced corners so it's extra protection for your device, it has a soft velvet type material inside over a thick foam type material. The gray fabric also has a diamond type stitching, which one wouldn't think a big deal but, that actually helps to eliminate even more pressure that may be put on your device! It also comes with a shoulder strap so you can just take this as your bag and go, but the strap can also be removed. It has a handle on the back of case if you'd prefer to just carry it that way as well. Right this minute I'm using it as my actual purse since it has exactly what I want and need anyways ha ha, but if needed to I can just remove the straps and still toss it then in an actual purse and go! My Scribe still fits in this bag nice and secure with the case on and the stylus in the loop! Like I said, looked into an extra layer of protection for my device, many were going to be too big and my device would slide around which I didnt want, or else it'd be way too tight in there. Many cases I saw, the protection of padding either just has foam with mesh looking more like a sponge, or just that soft velvety lining, this one had that stitching which just helps even more to absorb any shock or to distribute pressure evenly or eliminate it all. I did see just another case, it was a case sleeve only, it was black with the inside having the padding with black small circles which would also do really well for our device (sorry forgot the name🤦♀️) but I just overall love the functionality of this particular bag/sleeve. I am soooooo pleased with this, and it does the job great. The outter material is scratch resistant, and waterproof and the zippers work and are made with great quality material. If you're looking for an extra great layer of added protection or just an easier way to take it with you, check it out. FINPAC 11in tablet case, it was a prime item, and Amazon's choice, and i got mine the very next day after ordering! I want to say it was $23.99. Great buy and a must have if you're like me and plan to take it everywhere with you!
****UPDATE ABOUT KINDLES LATEST SCRIBE BRUSHES UPDATE***
OMG!!! Amazon hit it out the park with the brushes!!! This is my ONLY let me stress this fact ***ONLY *** eink device that actually let's you use the pencil feature like a real a pencil, meaning you can even use the sides of your stylus to shade. You now even have pressure abilities as well!! The 5 pencil options are like almost going from like an h to an 8b type pencil (which is just a fancy term for hardness in lead and darkness lol for the non artist out there) but man they did such and incredible job with the pencil feature. I'm stunned!!! Wasn't expecting that! I'm also loving the fountain pen as well, it's insane. My boox color has all of these BUT for some reason when I compare them my scribe is sooooo much h better. And like I said whennit comes to the pencil none of my eink devices have the ability to use the side of the stylus of the abilities to shade as well as it does on the scribe even though they too are pressure sensitive. Amazon nailed it with the brushes on this update! Now hopefully they add some tools, shapes like lines, circles, etc.; layering, copy and paste, lasso to resize and move and image around on page, being able to change paper selections in notebooks would be HUGE too! This is truly become my all in 1 go to device and Amazon has and the kindle have become and huge part of my life and I haven't strayed...when I have I haven't been to pleased and always seem to come back lol only to place the others on a shelf to sit and collect dust. My battery is still going off of only a 2nd charge and I got at xmas and use it everyday for about 6hrs a day (I know a bit extreme ) sometimes I am on wifi but I try to keep it on airplane mode a lot to save my battery. It's a GREAT device and I am obsessed even more now with the update lmao!
