Technologies

Best E Ink Tablets for 2023: Amazon’s Kindle Scribe Is Here

Amazon joins our list of the best E ink tablets with the inclusion of its new Kindle Scribe. Here’s how it stacks up against the competition.

If you love to write notes by hand, an E Ink tablet could be a good fit. Not only do they provide an excellent reading and writing experience, they also boast a long battery life, while letting you save paper. An E Ink tablet combines the distraction-free and easy-reading environment of a Kindle-style e-reader with the digital handwriting and note-taking ability of a traditional tablet. They eschew the bright LCD displays and superfast processors of Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Amazon tablets, favoring the efficient gray scale tech.

These devices aren’t going to replace an iPad, though, as they’re mostly just meant for reading and writing. While you won’t be able to stream your favorite show or watch the latest TikTok video on these tablets, you will be able to take them into the classroom without disturbing the professor or your classmates.

I’ve recently spent time with the newest E Ink tablet on the market, the Amazon Kindle Scribe. Like other E Ink tablets on this list, the Kindle Scribe comes with a stylus and offers note-taking and annotation support for PDFs. Additionally, you can take handwritten notes on Kindle titles via a sticky-note application that pins your note to the text. In keeping with Amazon tradition, the Scribe will not directly support ePub files, which means you’ll need to send them to your Kindle via Amazon’s Whispersync service for conversion. The Scribe features a 300-dpi touchscreen and starts at $340 for the 16GB model, though it also comes in 32GB and 64GB versions and is available now.

So how does the new Kindle Scribe compare to other E Ink tablets? Let’s break it down.

How we test E Ink tablets

Every E Ink tablet undergoes extensive hands-on testing. In this case, each tablet was used for one week of rehearsal in a professional theatrical production. This involved evaluating the set-up process, loading PDFs and books onto the devices, and using both the device and included stylus as a script during full six-hour days of rehearsal. Tasks included highlighting, taking notes in the margins, and creating and taking detailed notes in notebooks. We also downloaded ebooks onto the device and used it as a recreational e-reader.

Anecdotally, we considered the hardware design and features, stylus capabilities, overall ease of use, effective UI layouts, notebook settings, E Ink settings, PDF markup capabilities, e-reading settings and format compatibility, app support and performance, and the overall speed and reliability of the system.

E Ink tablet FAQ

Technologies

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Technologies

The Apple Watch Series 11 Brings High Blood Pressure Alerts

Apple’s newest flagship watch can detect possible signs of hypertension.

The Apple Watch Series 11 made its debut at Apple’s «awe dropping» event in Cupertino, California, on Tuesday, vying for a spot on your wrist with a mix of fresh updates including new hypertension notifications, sleep score analysis, 5G connectivity and increased battery life.

With a decade of upgrades and refinements, the Series 11 represents a big move for Apple as it leans further into its health and fitness features across its Apple Watch lineup. Alongside the Series 11, Apple also unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3, along with the new iPhone 17 lineup (including the brand new iPhone Air), and the latest generation of AirPods (Pro 3).

Both the Series 11 and the new Ultra 3 will ship with WatchOS 26, which Apple previewed at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The update brings a cleaner «liquid glass» UI, live translation for text messages, a redesigned Notes app for your wrist and Workout Buddy; Apple’s new AI-powered companion that offers real-time motivation based on your personal metrics during certain workouts.

Pricing and availability

The Apple Watch Series 11 is available for preorder now and will hit stores on September 19. Pricing starts at $399 (£369, AU$679) for the 42mm aluminum Wi-Fi model, while the LTE version of the same watch runs $499. The titanium LTE version of the 42mm model is priced at $699.

New health features

The biggest addition is a feature that can notify you when you’re showing signs of hypertension or high blood pressure. The Apple Watch will send alerts if it notices consistent patterns over a 30-day period that could warrant a follow-up with a doctor, and then allow users to log their blood pressure on the Health app (from a cuff) to confirm.

Another health upgrade is the new Sleep Score, which grades your sleep session on a scale of 1 to 100 or low to excellent. The watch doesn’t just hand you a number with no context; it breaks down your score and shows you factors that may be contributing like bedtime, sleep interruptions and duration, highlighting specific factors that may have impacted your sleep.

Design updates

Visually, the Series 11 looks much like the Series 10, with the same thin profile and edge-to-edge display. But there’s a subtle, practical upgrade: the aluminum model now uses stronger, more scratch-resistant glass, making it more durable for everyday wear.

Connectivity and battery

For the first time, the LTE model of the Series 11 supports 5G connectivity, which Apple says is not only faster but also more efficient at conserving battery life when in use.

Battery life has also received a bump. The Series 11 now promises up to 24 hours on a charge, compared to the 18 hours of the Series 10. Apple tends to be conservative with its battery claims. In real-world use, we may see it stretch beyond the official promise as I’ve consistently been able to stretch out the Series 10 claim to almost 30 hours.

This is a developing story. Follow all of CNET’s 2025 Apple Event coverage for live updates, hands-on impressions, and more announcements as they’re revealed.