Kindle Scribe vs reMarkable 2: Which should you buy?

It is likely to be stunning to some that the e-ink pill is a rising product class, nevertheless it is sensible when you think about it. Some folks completely want — or not less than insist on — handwritten notes, and an e-ink gadget can’t solely save paper however sync with different gadgets, and allow you to learn for work or pleasure in your downtime. Maybe extra importantly, an e-ink pill is often each cheaper and lighter than one thing like an iPad.

The present leaders on this class are Amazon’s Kindle Scribe and the reMarkable 2. However which must you put your cash into, particularly in case your focus is on notetaking over studying, or vice versa?

Let’s get this one out of the way in which: neither product goes to be spectacular by way of pace. E-ink tablets are purpose-built for studying and writing, and have low-end processors and RAM to maintain costs down. On prime of that, e-ink sports activities inherently slower refresh charges than one thing like an LCD or OLED panel, so it’s important to get used to lag when scrolling or dragging and dropping.

That stated, we’d give an edge to the reMarkable 2 (above) so far as stylus enter goes. It’s extraordinarily responsive, and stress and tilt delicate. Enter for the Kindle Scribe (beneath) must be fantastic for many customers, however when you’re attempting to get as near paper as attainable, reMarkable holds the playing cards. Notice that whereas Amazon costs $40 or much less to improve to a “premium” stylus with an eraser tip and shortcut button, there’s a a lot increased value to improve reMarkable’s stylus, and the one addition is an eraser tip. On each platforms you’ll be able to nonetheless erase with out stylus-integrated tech, it’s simply much less handy.

Amazon is taking part in catch-up with reMarkable in the case of notetaking software program. The Scribe does in fact have built-in templates and annotation capabilities, together with the distinctive capability to annotate Kindle books — but when notetaking is your focus, the reMarkable 2 is just higher organized and simpler to make use of for that function. It presents OCR (optical character recognition) for looking notes, and you may even use it for reside displays, whether or not on a room show or throughout a video name. Its sketching instruments are extra highly effective too, which may tip the scales for creative consumers.

The Scribe pulls forward in the case of studying. On prime of some show benefits (extra on that beneath), the Scribe helps many extra codecs — previous Kindle information, it may well deal with TXT, PDF,  EPUB, MOBI, DOC/DOCX, HTML, RTF, JPEG, GIF, BMP, and PNG. reMarkable’s software program is restricted to PDF, EPUB, JPG, and PNG, with no connected storefront, so don’t anticipate to learn the newest New York Occasions bestsellers. reMarkable does not less than supply integration with Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox, so if you’ll find and obtain materials, you’re golden. Simply be certain to maintain books and articles separate from the notes you’re syncing. The closest Amazon involves that is assist for Phrase paperwork created in Microsoft 365.

As you would possibly anticipate the Scribe presents extra storage, with a alternative of 16, 32, or 64GB capacities. The reMarkable 2 is capped at 8GB, which might be fantastic when you’re concentrating on notetaking and/or have Wi-Fi entry. In truth reMarkable presents its personal subscription service, Join, which not solely supplies limitless cloud storage and sync, however prolonged guarantee protection as much as three years. The previous could not matter if you have already got one thing like Google Drive linked, naturally.

One final thing to say right here is that reMarkable sells a product known as the Kind Folio (above). It’s costly and provides weight, however when you repeatedly add quite a lot of textual content to your notes, there’s no equal keyboard case for the Scribe.

The Scribe is the general chief on this class. Though it has barely much less display space than the reMarkable 2, coming in at 10.2 inches versus 10.3, you’re not solely getting a sharper 300dpi decision however built-in entrance lighting. Meaning having the ability to use it no matter ambient lighting circumstances, and higher visibility total. You must deal with the reMarkable 2 such as you do actual paper — that’s, if it’s too dim to learn, it’s time to discover a lamp or a window.

Talking of paper, some folks could nonetheless choose the reMarkable 2’s show for stylus use. It offers you paper-like friction, and that’s paired with a low-latency pen that’s each tilt- and pressure-sensitive. If the tactile expertise is paramount to you, whether or not for handwriting or in any other case, the selection is apparent.

Amazon guarantees as much as 3 weeks of battery life when you embrace writing, which on the floor tops the reMarkable 2’s 2 weeks. Amazon’s declare does comes with quite a few caveats nonetheless, together with turning off Wi-Fi, utilizing a particular entrance mild degree, and writing for simply half-hour per day.

We’re unsure what requirements reMarkable goes by, however primarily based on anecdotal proof, we’re chalking up one other win for the Scribe. Customers counsel the reMarkable 2 will final lower than every week when you’re doing hours of writing (or sketching) day by day, probably beneath 3 days. That’s really fairly respectable subsequent to an iPad, however in our Scribe evaluate we discovered that we did certainly get 3 weeks in a mixture of studying, writing, and sketching. Amazon boasts which you could stretch the battery as far 12 weeks in case your utilization is restricted to half-hour of each day studying, and that’s not laborious to imagine.

The costs above are official MSRP, but additionally very misleading. In actuality the Scribe is nearly all the time promoting beneath its record value, and the 32 and 64GB variations embrace the Premium Pen by default. Amazon can afford to chop income to the bone, for the reason that final aim is to lure you into shopping for Kindle books or subscribing to Kindle Limitless.

On the flip facet, the reMarkable 2 has dropped in value since its Might 2020 launch, however its actual pricetag is increased. You must purchase a stylus individually, whether or not from reMarkable or in any other case.

Do not forget that neither product ships with a case or a USB-C charger. For those who do you a copious quantity of writing or drawing, you might also have to order substitute stylus suggestions.

Kindle Scribe vs reMarkable 2: Which must you purchase?

In case your fascinating is studying with an occasional dip into writing or sketching, go along with the Kindle Scribe. Constructed-in lighting and superior battery life are going to make a tangible distinction, to not point out entry to the Kindle library and broader format assist. You’ll even pay much less for the privilege, until maybe you go for the 64GB storage tier, which you most likely don’t want.

The reMarkable 2 remains to be the reigning champion in the case of notetaking, because of a mix of software program and stylus tech. Some folks could additional choose its integration with cloud providers like Google Drive, and its assist for display sharing, which is clearly an enormous plus for enterprise customers.

The steadiness may shift dramatically if and when a reMarkable 3 is launched. For now, although, there’s a reasonably sharp dividing line by which pill to advocate.