Earlier this week, I participated in the Amazon fall hardware event, where the company revealed the newest additions to its Kindle series — the all-new Kindle Scribe and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft. In addition to these e-readers, Amazon also rolled out new Echo devices, Fire TV products, and Blink and Ring security cameras.
As a passionate reader (I have a collection of books and currently possess the Kindle Paperwhite), I was excited to test the new Kindles, which follow in the footsteps of the original Kindle Scribe. The Scribe marked the introduction of a stylus for Kindle users, enabling note-taking, doodling in book margins, and passage highlighting.
The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft introduces color to the device, though it comes with a steep price of $629.99. There is no release date yet (the Amazon product page mentions “Coming Soon!”), but I anticipate it will be ready just in time for Christmas gift lists.
What’s the new e-reader experience like up close? See for yourself:
New Kindle Scribe and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft: My initial thoughts
To be frank: The original Kindle Scribe was a tough sell, barely finding a place in our guide to the best Kindles. I expect a similar outcome for the newer models, which carry an even higher price tag. However, this isn’t a complete review.
During the launch event, Amazon executives asserted that the new Kindle Scribe would operate 40 percent faster thanks to a new custom chip. (In our review of last year’s Kindle Scribe, we noted its sluggish performance, and we weren’t the only ones.) They mentioned it would react instantly to the stylus, and that was indeed the case during my short experience with the device. The stylus and touchscreen provided a seamless, lag-free drawing experience, reminiscent of writing in a notebook, which is the primary aim.
I was also taken aback by the refreshed design. The new Kindle Scribes are incredibly thin and lightweight, and they appear quite elegant in hand.
Amazon has reengineered the Kindle Scribe with a precision-machined aluminum chassis, measuring just 5.4mm thick. The color e-reader looks fantastic, and the stylus feels pleasant to grasp.
Amazon representatives also presented some exciting new features, such as an overhauled home screen for your library, notes, and files. Notably, you can now import and export files to your Kindle directly from Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive. There’s also a Quick Notes feature for quickly jotting down notes, which I often use as a writer.
There’s one additional feature I want to emphasize. On Prime Video, you can obtain AI-generated summaries of series and movies you’re watching. Therefore, if you pause a series midway and come back months later, the “Story so far” tool will provide a personalized summary of the major plot points and characters. This capability is now being integrated into Kindle, and I believe readers will appreciate it. It’s an intelligent application of AI.
Until our reviewers can take the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft home and evaluate it beyond a demo setting, I’ll hold off on making a judgment.
Nonetheless, it’s clear that the refreshed e-reader boasts a significantly enhanced design. It almost resembles the type of e-reader Apple might create.