What is better to read on, the Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Scribe?

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is the most popular e-reader in the world. It has a large 6.8-inch screen with 300 PPI resolution, so the text is razor sharp. It usually retails for around $119, and there is also the Signature Edition, which has more storage, an ambient light sensor and fast charging. The Amazon Kindle Scribe features a giant screen, 10.2 inches and 300 PPI. What makes the Scribe different is its stylus, which can be used to freehand draw and edit PDF files and Kindle Books.  The Scribe is much more expensive; it retails for $429.99, and the price increases depending on if you want the introductory or premium pen or different storage configurations.  What is the better e-reader, the Paperwhite or the Scribe?

Kindle Paperwhite

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 11th generation features a 6.8 inch E INK Carta 1200 touchscreen display with a resolution of 1236 x 1648 and 300 PPI. There is a front-lit display and warm lighting system with 17 white and amber LED lights. A new system-wide Dark Mode can be pulled from the drop-down arrow above the search bar. It inverts the black-and-white e-paper display, so the background and fonts are black. You can use white and warm lighting to customize the screen’s brightness.

Underneath the hood are an MT8113 SOC 1 GHZ processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB or 16GB of internal storage. You can connect it to your MAC or PC via USB-C to charge or transfer digital content. Amazon has decided not to provide cellular options for this generation, so there are no LTE/4G variants for purchase. Likely the company realized that this was nothing but trouble. US and international carriers will be sunsetting their 3G networks later this year. Amazon does not plan on offering any cellular models in the future.

One of the big draws of the Kindle Paperwhite 5 is purchasing Audible audiobooks right on the e-reader and connecting a pair of wireless headphones.  This is because it is running Bluetooth 5.0. The sound quality is excellent, but it entirely depends on the quality of Bluetooth accessories. It is rated IPX8 to protect against accidental immersion in up to two meters of freshwater for up to 60 minutes and up to 0.25 meters of seawater for up to 3 minutes. This is useful if you read in the bathtub or spill something on the Kindle; you can run it under tap water to clean it without worrying about damaging it. What is interesting about the USB-C port is that it has moisture detection. If the device is wet, a notification will appear on the screen, and you cannot charge your Kindle until it is dry. Amazon says you can still use your Kindle after getting a liquid detection notice, but you just won’t be able to charge it. The battery will last around ten weeks, which is solid for an e-reader. It is powered by a 1700 mAh battery, and the dimensions are 124.6 x 174.2 x 8.1 mm and weighs 205g.

The Kindle Paperwhite 11th Generation came out in 2022, which is very new. This model sure has respectable hardware specs, but it is much more accessible to the average person who wants an e-reader that can buy audiobooks, books, manga, magazines and other digital content. It frequently goes on sale for around $99.99, which makes it an impulse purchase.  It is pocket friendly and easily fits in a bag or purse, whereas the Scribe is huge and not very portable.

Amazon Kindle Scribe

The Amazon Kindle Scribe has two major selling points. It is the first digital note taking device that Amazon has ever released and out of the box it has tremendous functionality in this regard. The second, is a large screen e-reader that is capable of reading books, comics, magazines, manga, newspapers and all sorts of other digital content. This is due to the 10-inch display that has 300 PPI, so text and images will be of the highest quality. This is actually the only 10-inch E INK product in the world that has a 300 PPI screen, let that sink in.

The Scribe is known as an e-note. This is a dedicated writing slate that has a WACOM screen and is meant to be interacted with via a stylus. Amazon has two different styluses that are available and magnetically attach to the side of the Scribe. The Basic pen you get for free and it is very barebones, it has a programmable side button, which is recommended you map it to be an eraser. The premium stylus has an eraser on the top, which is better to make quick edits. It also has a programmable side button to launch various things. Due to having official WACOM certification, it is compatible with virtually ever other major stylus on the market, such as the Remarkable Marker Plus or the iReader X-Pen 3rd Generation. Having freedom to bring your own stylus is very important, however most people will likely stick to the Amazon offerings.

In terms of the pure note taking functionality there are a few different ways you can go about it. There is Notes, that allows you to freehand draw, and it has a number of pen/highlighter types that can be selected, in addition to different thickness settings. The Amazon stylus does not have very good pressure sensitivity out of the box, so you might have to rely on the software driven thin/thickness. You can view and edit PDF files, which is ideal for professionals or students. Finally, you can write inside Kindle books that are sideloaded on the Scribe or purchased from the Amazon Store. Instead of writing directly on the book, you have a popup screen, which Amazon calls Sticky Notes. You write inside of this popup and all content is automatically saved when you are done writing. Any books you write inside are automatically synced to the Amazon Cloud. However, you can’t view sticky notes or freehand drawings on Kindle e-readers, Kindle app or any of the Kindle for PC/MAC programs.

The Amazon Kindle Scribe will feature an 10.2-inch E INK Carta 1200 e-paper display panel with a WACOM layer and has a resolution of 300 PPI. It is using a higher resolution TFT. This is a new TFT offering from E Ink, with Amazon having exclusivity with it for a period of time.

The screen is flush with the bezel and protected by a layer of glass. It features the same asymmetrical design as the Kindle Oasis, which a big chunk on one side. This is designed for you to be able to easily hold it with one hand. The device itself is made out of recycled aluminum. There is a front-lit display and color temperature system with a combination of white and amber LED lights. There are 35 total LED lights, which is the most ever found on a Kindle and provides amazing illumination.

Underneath the hood is an 1GHz MediaTek MT8113 processor and 1GB of RAM. There will be multiple storage versions available, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB variants. It will have USB-C for charging the device, in addition to transferring documents and PDF documents to the Scribe, in order to annotate them. There is WIFI internet for accessing the Kindle or Audible Store for listening to audiobooks or reading.  Amazon is including their experimental web-browser, so you can visit most popular websites. There is Bluetooth, this will allow users to pair wireless headphones to listen to said audiobooks. For reading, a single charge lasts up to 12 weeks based on a half hour of reading per day, with wireless off and the light setting at 13. For writing, a single charge lasts up to 3 weeks based on a half hour period of writing per day, with wireless off and the light setting at 13. Battery life will vary and may be reduced based on usage and other factors such as Audible audiobook streaming and annotating content. The dimensions are 7.7” x 9.0 x .22 (196 x 230 x 5.8mm excluding feet) and weighs 15.3oz (433g device only).

What one should you buy?

In the ideal world, you should buy both. The Paperwhite makes an ideal e-reader that is very portable and is easily read while commuting to work, sitting in a waiting room or sitting outside in the sun. The Scribe is better in the home or at work, since it is primarily a productivity machine. If you had to make the decision to buy one or the other, I would recommend the Paperwhite to people who are new to reading on an E INK screen, and want to make the transition away from reading on a phone or tablet, since E INK is really easy on the eyes. The Scribe has a giant screen, I would recommend as a pure e-reader for people who need the extra screen real estate to read bigger fonts or fit more text on a single page. If you have vision disorders, the Scribe is larger than a typical paperback or hardcover novel. Even if you don’t want to use the note taking functionality, the Scribe is a deadly e-reader. You really can’t beat 300 PPI on a 10-inch Kindle.