Kindle Scribe (2022 release) - 64 GB, the first Kindle and digital notebook, all in one, with a 10.2" 300 ppi Paperwhite display, with built-in notebook summarisation. Includes Premium Pen

The screen is so crisp and clear that reading on it is a joy. It is the closest I've come to reading a physical book on a screen so far, especially in two-column view on landscape mode. I find the black and white screen less distracting than colour. I can switch all my electronic distractions off and simply read and take notes. I am surprised by how good the experience is writing on this. Even on a slanted awkward keyboard table, it doesn't slip and allows almost a better writing experience than a notebook especially when trying to get into flow for morning pages of freewriting. I'm also very pleased that there is a simple way to delete; morning pages don't always look sane when the hand is flying trying to keep up with the brain. I like the pen. It is solid in the hand, not too heavy, and not bad to grip and write with. The ridge where the magnets fit is a little uncomfortable if it twists in the hand, but that's not a big deal. I'd like it to stick more firmly though. I feel that the magnet is really only useful when the scribe is in use. For storage or travel it needs a more permanent fixture, like a loop in a case. Things that I hope they'll add; like everyone else, I'd like to be able to write in the margins and between paragraphs of the book itself, just as I would if studying a physical book. The sticky notes are good, but limiting. I'd like the ability to have a book open on one half of landscape mode, and a notebook on the other to take long-form notes in at the same time as writing on the book itself. I often write a short-form note in the margin and expand on it in a notebook. I'd like the ability to draw a straight line or simple shapes without having to reach for a straight edge or stencil. I'd also like better side-opening cases at a reasonable price. I've never paid this sort of money for a a case in my life. I really like my Scribe though, and it's fast becoming my most often reached for tech gadget. If I want to read, or journal, it's the Scribe every time.

Although I’m averse to smoothing the path of Bezos I have to admit that this invention is my best purchase for a long time, and slightly addictive.As a writer I use a lot of reference texts, and find the Scribe great to organise them: Kindle books and pdfs can be grouped in Collections. Older books (e.g. Victorian era and early 1900s) can be uploaded as pdf e.g. from the Internet Archive. The ability to write notes on the source text - these help me to retrieve the relevant page quickly - is so useful.I find the Notebooks excellent for capturing ideas and journalling. I once had a fancy leather-bound notebook but was too shy to write on the beautiful paper. Now I happily create and delete all sorts of notes. The Scribe can convert a handwritten note fairly accurately to text and email it to me. I then copy and paste the text into my draft, tidy it up, and it’s good to go.I haven’t used handwriting on a tablet recently, so I can’t compare the Scribe with competitors, but I enjoy its handwriting experience - smooth and easy. I’ve adjusted the pen thickness to simulate a rollerball. There is a useful set of notebook templates - I have made myself a diary - and notebooks can be organised into folders and subfolders.For me, the screen is the perfect size; with easily adjustable lighting it’s ideal for bedtime reading. Battery life seems excellent and it recharges quickly from any USB-C cable.There are a few drawbacks:Books published prior to the development of Kindle and still within copyright may be unobtainable for the Scribe. So if working with sources from, say, the 1970s to early 1990s this device would not work for me.I find the Scribe struggles to display some large pdfs. The limit for ‘Send to Kindle’ is 200MB, but 10MB - 20 MB seems to be the limit for viewing at a reasonable speed. I find that for big pdfs an iPhone or iPad is a more agile viewer. Books on the Internet Archive that were digitised by Google are usually below 10MB and display well; if a B+W version of the pdf is there, that’s the one to choose.There seems no way to create subfolders in the Collections, which might be a simple and useful upgrade in the future.The Shopping Trolley icon enables me to instantly buy books in the Kindle Store - this could be a good or a bad thing!Reviewers have complained that the button on the Premium pen is badly sited so that it switches accidentally between modes like ‘Pen’ and ‘Highlighter’ when writing. I set the alternative mode to ‘Pen’ so that it doesn’t matter if it switches.Folders of Notebooks don’t seem linkable to Collections.The diary template doesn’t include a calendar - diary templates with calendars can be bought from third parties but are expensive. I’ve created the equivalent of a paper desk diary by using the day-per-page template, writing in the dates by hand, creating a separate notebook for each month, and saving them in a folder named ‘Diary’.The magnet that holds the pen to side of the Scribe keeps them together on my desk but is ineffective in my bag. I’ve ordered a 3rd party case that holds the pen in a small tray. I thought the official case was too expensive.The device is slim but dense so that when reading in bed its weight is noticeable. I prop it up on a pillow.The bottom line:I love it - if I were one of those publishing assistants who had to evaluate masses of manuscript submissions all the time, this is the device I would use.