The Battle of the $400 Digital Notebooks: Meet the Winner

The latest novelty Kindle Scribe, the Amazon e-reader that has digital notebook The features and a larger screen, promised in 2025, have finally arrived.

THE Kindle Scribe without front light ($430) was announced last year, but is available starting today. In the past, Amazon has released only one version of the Kindle Scribe at a time. But the third generation Kindle Scribe ($500) came with two variations: the colorful Kindle Scribe Colorsoft ($630) that launched last yearand the new version without front lighting. It’s a surprise to see a new version that specifically lacks a feature, including one as useful as a front light. But that puts the new Kindle Scribe in a similar price range and with similar battery life as the new one. Pure remarkable paper ($399) which was launched last month. Amazon may be looking to better compete with the ReMarkable line by releasing more versions of its own digital laptops with similar price ranges, as the Colorsoft Kindle is priced similarly to the Colorful one. Remarkable Paper Pro.

However, the oldest Second-generation Kindle Scribe ($400) is still available for a little cheaper and with front lighting, but without a few other features (mainly AI and connectivity, so nothing major to reduce the overall capabilities of the device). This gives you a surprising number of options if you’re looking to spend less and get some of the best digital notebook software available. A Kindle Scribe is my choice for a quick note or brainstorming session, while ReMarkable’s digital laptops have more powerful tools and connectivity to use as a work tool without staring at a bright screen. All three gadgets have their merits, but I had to find out: which one was best?

Maybe I’m biased, but the old $400 Kindle Scribe always came out on top for me. Here’s why.

Front Light Winner: Kindle Scribe (2nd Generation)

There’s a lot to discuss between all of these laptops, but one of the biggest feature changes you’ll notice on a daily basis is the lack of a front light. A front light brightens the screen of an e-reader or digital laptop so you can use it in darker rooms, and the option of having a warm-colored light is popular on more expensive models like the Kindle Paperwhite compared to budget devices.

These days, modern e-readers typically include a front light, but with digital laptops this is becoming a more premium feature. THE Pure remarkable paper the one launched last month doesn’t have it (which is true for the ReMarkable 2 it replaced, so it’s not a huge surprise), and now the new Kindle Scribe is only differentiated by this lack of front lighting. Removing this light drops the price by $70 compared to the Kindle Scribe Standard (3rd Generation)and it also extends battery life to 16 weeks of reading or three weeks of note-taking. Kindle basically priced $70 on a front light.

In the meantime, the old Kindle Scribe is still available and still contains a front light. Not only that, but it’s cheaper than the new version without light. That’s because it doesn’t have the same software features, like AI reading and summarizing, and connecting to Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. However, I think front lighting is crucial, even more so than AI features that promise to summarize my books for me. I read for a reason! The lack of a front light means I’ll put down my device and pick up my phone at night to read or jot down an idea (or, more likely, fall into a catastrophic scrolling pit when I wanted to read), and it means it will be harder to use in dark classrooms or on a plane. Personally, I would choose the second generation Kindle Scribe over these three purely for the included light.

These three digital notebooks are all quite similar in size. The new Kindle Scribe is the largest, with an 11-inch screen, while the old Kindle Scribe and the ReMarkable Paper Pure are almost the same size (the old Scribe has a 10.2-inch screen, while the Paper Pure has a 10.3-inch screen). It’s funny how Kindle and ReMarkable took opposite approaches to border design: Kindle removed the thicker side, while ReMarkable added it, making the new ReMarkable and the old Kindle incredibly similar.

This thicker side, however, makes these gadgets more comfortable to hold. The ReMarkable is by far the lightest at just 0.79 pounds, while the Kindle Scribes weigh 0.88 pounds for the new one and 0.95 pounds for the old one. But the old Kindle initially feels lighter than the new model, because my thumb can reach farther to the side, thanks to the thicker bezel, and my fingers naturally extend further underneath in that position; my hand made a similar movement on the ReMarkable Paper Pure.

In terms of comfort, the ReMarkable Paper Pure is the most comfortable to hold thanks to its lighter weight and thicker bezel. The new Kindle proved the hardest to lift, but only slightly more so than the other two, especially since it’s so close in weight to the other model. However, I prefer digital notebooks with that thicker side to hold while I read or write, so the newer Kindle Scribe lags behind the other two overall.

Writing Winner: Kindle Scribe (2nd Generation)

All three devices use a black and white e-paper screen designed to look like paper when you write. The ReMarkable Paper Pure has a screen integrating E 1300 ink cartridgewhile Amazon has not confirmed the display base of the Kindle Scribe. Both look and feel similar to paper, but one more than the other.

The ReMarkable Paper Pure has a little more resistance when you place the pen on the screen, giving it more of that scratch-on-paper feel. It’s still smooth, don’t get me wrong, but it easily feels the most realistic to write on paper compared to the competition. However, I still really like the feel of a Kindle Scribe stylus. Both the new and old had a smoother, springier feel to writing on the screen, and I felt like my writing was a bit smoother as well (while the ReMarkable was more precise to my strokes, for better or worse). The eraser also has a nice bounce that feels more like a pencil eraser, while the ReMarkable’s Marker Plus costs extra to add a stiff eraser tip to the back of the pen. The new Scribe pen is thicker and shorter, while the older second-generation model is longer and thinner. I found the thinner one a bit more comfortable to hold.

I also like that the Kindle Scribe has a button that switches to highlight mode, which is especially handy as a reader if you want to easily switch from underlining or taking notes to highlighting a passage. While the ReMarkable is more precise and has an awesome paper feel, I actually think either Scribe model is a bit more comfortable and convenient to use, especially since you don’t need to pay extra for the eraser tip. But the thinner, second-generation Scribe is slightly more comfortable to write on, at least for my hands.

Reading Winner: Both Kindle Scribes

If you’re looking at these devices more as a reader and less as a note-taker, then you’ll want to choose a Kindle Scribe. Although you can read books on any ReMarkable device, whether it’s the Paper Pure or another model, you must manually download the files to your ReMarkable via the ReMarkable desktop or mobile app. This means that you must have the PDF or ePUB version of that book or reading material to download.

Kindles, on the other hand, are primarily designed for reading. The Kindle Scribes both work the same way as a regular Kindle, allowing you to purchase books through the Kindle Store, download library books through the Libby app, download files to the built-in internet browser, and manually download files also via USB cable and software. like Caliber.

Software Winner: ReMarkable Paper Pure

If you want the most impressive range of software capabilities (beyond reading software, of course), then ReMarkable is the one to turn to. Although the Paper Pure has no front lighting and fewer accessories, it has the same software capabilities as ReMarkable’s Pro line. You can edit and annotate a range of documents, convert notes to a typed format, connect to services like Google Drive and Microsoft for your documents, search all your notes with an AI that learns to read your handwriting, and much more. New software features also launched with the ReMarkable Paper Pure this year, including calendar-based notes and sharing your documents with non-ReMarkable users. However, you will need a Connect subscription ($3 per month) to get the most out of ReMarkable’s features.

Kindles have handy software features, but these features differ between Kindle Scribe models. The old Kindle can edit PDFs and documents you upload to it, but the new Kindle Scribe can connect to Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive to retrieve your documents and annotate them. You can also use an AI-powered notebook search on the new Kindle Scribe, something you can’t do on the older model. I don’t think AI is a big need, but the ability to connect to other services could be a deal-breaker for you, depending on what you want to use this digital notebook for.

When it comes to software, there are also storage options to consider for each of them. The new, cheaper Kindle Scribe only has a single 16GB storage option; you have to upgrade to the more expensive third-generation Kindle Scribe to get 32 ​​or 64 GB. The ReMarkable Paper Pure costs less but also starts at 32 GB of storage, and the older Kindle Scribe starts at 16 GB and has a 64 GB option for $50 more. (There used to be a 32GB storage option, but it’s sold out and probably won’t come back as Amazon has new models instead.) The Paper Pure has the best initial storage for the price, giving it another point in the software category.

Battery Boon: Kindle Scribe without front lighting

Do you know the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? So is the battery life of these three devices: one has incredibly long battery life; another, much shorter battery life; and we place ourselves well between the two.

However, you might be surprised which is which. Just on features alone, I would guess that the two without front lighting would have longer batteries, while the single model with constant lighting would have a shorter one. But it’s the ReMarkable that has the shortest battery life, up to three weeks. It’s a big improvement over ReMarkable’s other models, which last more than a week, but it still feels tiny compared to the Kindle.

My old favorite Kindle Scribe offers an impressive 12 weeks of reading time, while the new Kindle Scribe without a front light has even more, with up to 16 weeks of reading time. Reading is a clear distinction, as Amazon also notes that the Kindle Scribe without a front light has three weeks of battery life in digital laptop mode. But even when untouched, I’ve found that my ReMarkable is likely to run out of battery over the allotted time of a few weeks, while the Kindle Scribes will happily turn on whenever I reach for them. In the year I’ve owned the old Kindle Scribe, I think I’ve charged it twice. The new model has the downside is battery life, but I’m curious to test if it will also last when left alone, as older Kindles usually do.

Which one should you buy?

The old Kindle Scribe is just ahead of the ReMarkable Paper Pure in my comparisons. The reading experience, front lighting, and smooth writing feel put me first, but you may also prefer the more “real” writing experience, without worrying about the firmer eraser, and like the ReMarkable a little more. I think it depends on whether you intend to use it for reading or for taking detailed notes that you want to access on your other devices, or even share with other people.

The Kindle Scribe without a front light is a good device overall, but its best claim to fame is its long battery life. Otherwise, I’d recommend paying $70 more for the third-generation model (or waiting until it goes on sale; Amazon Prime Day is just around the corner, after all) which includes front lighting and the same AI features and service connections as that version, or going cheaper with the older version which also includes front lighting. Still, it’s a good model if you’re sure you’ll never need to use it in the dark.

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