The Amazon Kindle Scribe was clearly a first-generation device when it launched in late 2022, with flawed hardware and limited productivity software. Over the next year, Amazon applied patches with useful fixes, but the fundamental problem remained. Now, Kindle Scribe 2024 fixes almost all the complaints I had with the previous model.
Amazon announced four new Kindles on Wednesday, including its first color e-ink Kindle. But the second-generation Scribe stands out to me because of one feature: Active Canvas. Essentially, you can now write directly into your e-book and keep your notes pasted into the text, even if you change the font size or change the layout.
In our review of Kindle Scribe (2022), we complained that the only way to annotate an e-book is to tap next to a word to create a small footnote icon and write notes in a pop-out box. These notes had to be zoomed in to be visible and covered half the screen.
It felt very limited compared to underlining and marking the margins of school textbooks and novels. At the time, I wished Amazon could lock e-books to PDF format and enable notes.
It turns out that Amazon took this criticism and introduced a more sensible solution using Active Canvas. As you can see in the photo above, if you create a note that reflows the text of the book itself and changes size as you change the font size, the note will always be stuck to that part of the text.
You can also use a pen to underline and highlight text for the first time. This is a simple necessity for me. On any page, you can open collapsible margin columns to take full-size notes, or hide columns. It’s not as natural as writing in the margins, but it also gives you more space, so I’m not complaining.
Amazon wants Kindle Scribe to be a note-taking tablet for students and professionals. The second-generation Kindle Scribe is “powered by AI” and can “quickly summarize pages of notes into concise bullet points with script fonts that can be easily shared directly within the notes tab.” Masu.
I personally prefer a standard Android tablet for taking notes. Instead of exporting my notes, I like to work directly in an app suite like Google Drive or Microsoft Office. But either way, Amazon’s smart makeover is welcome. I was frustrated with the first generation of Scribe’s “slow response times” for most tasks, but with this AI enhancement, I’m hoping the next version will be a bit faster.
Additionally, the design of Kindle Scribe 2024 looks more attractive. I complained about the “giant bezel” of the first Scribe, but this design shrinks it down to a more manageable size, making it easier to grip, and adding a new white border along the edges. It gives it a different look than other Kindles.
It has the same 300 ppi display and 16 GB to 64 GB of storage, but it comes with a premium pen by default, and Scribe has new fun color options to give it more personality. Unfortunately, the price is higher than the original Scribe, at over $399.99, but that’s how I feel now. earn That high price tag.
On Prime Day, I learned that my fiance had stolen my Kindle Scribe and couldn’t read e-books on a larger screen, and that I wanted to buy a new Kindle Scribe for myself even though it was broken. I wrote about what I thought. Well, I returned that Scribe and am ready to pay the full price when the Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024) arrives on December 4th. This could very well be one of the best e-ink tablets we’ve ever seen.
Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024)
take notes freely
Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024) features a 10.2-inch glare-free, 300 ppi front-lit display and comes with a premium pen that feels like sketching with a pencil without the need for charging. Now you can annotate your entire library. Record your thoughts for upcoming tests and meetings with Kindle eBooks.
