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, but it surely is smart when you take into account it. Some individuals completely want — or at the least insist on — handwritten notes, and an e-ink gadget cannot solely save paper however sync with different units, and let you learn for work or pleasure in your downtime. Perhaps 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. But which should 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 best way: 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 you should get used to lag when scrolling or dragging and dropping.

That mentioned, 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. Input for the Kindle Scribe (under) should be nice for many customers, but when you’re attempting to get as near paper as potential, reMarkable holds the playing cards. Note 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 can nonetheless erase with out stylus-integrated tech, it’s simply much less handy.

Amazon is enjoying catch-up with reMarkable in terms of notetaking software program. The Scribe does after all have built-in templates and annotation capabilities, together with the distinctive capacity 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 provides OCR (optical character recognition) for looking out notes, and you may even use it for stay 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 terms of studying. On prime of some show benefits (extra on that under), the Scribe helps many extra codecs — previous Kindle information, it might 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 hooked up storefront, so don’t count on to learn the most recent New York Times bestsellers. reMarkable does at the least supply integration with Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox, so if you can discover and obtain materials, you’re golden. Just make certain to maintain books and articles separate from the notes you’re syncing. The closest Amazon involves that is assist for Word paperwork created in Microsoft 365.

As you may count on the Scribe provides extra storage, with a alternative of 16, 32, or 64GB capacities. The reMarkable 2 is capped at 8GB, which might be nice if you’re concentrating on notetaking and/or have Wi-Fi entry. In reality reMarkable provides its personal subscription service, Connect, which not solely offers limitless cloud storage and sync, however prolonged guarantee protection as much as three years. The former could not matter if you have already got one thing like Google Drive linked, naturally.

One very last thing to say right here is that reMarkable sells a product known as the Type Folio (above). It’s costly and provides weight, but when you commonly add loads of textual content to your notes, there’s no equal keyboard case for the Scribe.

The Scribe is the general chief on this class. Although 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. That means having the ability to use it no matter ambient lighting situations, and higher visibility general. You should deal with the reMarkable 2 like you do actual paper — that’s, if it’s too dim to learn, it’s time to discover a lamp or a window.

Speaking of paper, some individuals could however choose the reMarkable 2’s show for stylus use. It provides 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 if you embody writing, which on the floor tops the reMarkable 2’s 2 weeks. Amazon’s declare does comes with various caveats nonetheless, together with turning off Wi-Fi, utilizing a particular entrance gentle stage, 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. Users recommend the reMarkable 2 will final lower than every week if you’re doing hours of writing (or sketching) every single day, presumably under 3 days. That’s truly fairly respectable subsequent to an iPad, however in our Scribe overview we discovered that we did certainly get 3 weeks in a mixture of studying, writing, and sketching. Amazon boasts that you can 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 consider.

The costs above are official MSRP, but in addition very misleading. In actuality the Scribe is nearly all the time promoting under its listing value, and the 32 and 64GB variations embody 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 Unlimited.

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

Remember that neither product ships with a case or a USB-C charger. If you do you a copious quantity of writing or drawing, you may additionally have to order alternative stylus suggestions.

Kindle Scribe vs reMarkable 2: Which should you purchase?

If your fascinating is studying with an occasional dip into writing or sketching, go together with the Kindle Scribe. Built-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, except maybe you go for the 64GB storage tier, which you most likely don’t want.

The reMarkable 2 continues to be the reigning champion in terms of notetaking, due to a mix of software program and stylus tech. Some individuals could additional choose its integration with cloud companies 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 through which pill to advocate.