Amazon Kindle Scribe Unboxing & Setup

It’s finally arrived!

Click here for my full review of the Kindle Scribe.

This article will describe the unboxing and initial configuration and a few of my fledgling thoughts.

The Box

The Kindle Scribe is presented in a light blue cardboard box with a flap at the top to remove the device. The packaging felt a bit cheap compared to other E-ink tablets I’ve unboxed (such as the reMarkable), but it’s what’s inside that matters 🙂

Inside the box

Inside the box is a cardboard mount, which displays the Kindle Scribe. Below is a box containing a USB-C cable, the stylus and spare nibs.

Behind the tablet are two documentation booklets.

The Stylus

The stylus is almost cylindrical but has one flat edge to stop it from rolling too far. The flat edge also snaps magnetically to the side of the Kindle; however, you need to be precise to get it to snap into the right place.

This is the Premium Pen, so it has an eraser at the top end and a configurable button on the shaft.

Five spare stylus tips are included (they wear down over time), and a tool to remove them.

The Tablet

The rear of the tablet is made of a metal alloy, and four small rubber pads on each corner grip the surface. The front bezel on the tablet is flush with the screen and thicker on the left-hand side. The thicker side also houses the USB-C port and the power button.

Initial configuration

After selecting your language, you select a geographical region, and the Kindle begins its initial setup.

It is taking longer than expected to register your Kindle

After about a minute, I encountered a message saying:

It is taking longer than expected to register your Kindle. Please wait whilst we finish registration in the background.

I clicked Continue and waited for about 10 minutes before I decided something had gone wrong. So, I held down the power button to restart the tablet.

NOTE: I’d be interested to hear if anyone else ran into this problem whilst setting up their new KIndle Scribe.

Kindle setup

After rebooting the tablet, I was given the option to either set up the Kindle manually or use my phone to automate the process.

I opted to use the Kindle app on my phone to configure the Kindle Scribe

After this, the Kindle updated the software and there were a couple of reboots. It took about three minutes.

I was then asked if I wanted a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, which I declined.

A first look at the User Interface

The Home Screen displays your recent books and audiobooks. There are also pages for your Kindle Library, Notebooks and More (which includes a web browser).

Initial thoughts

I wasn’t too impressed with the setup freezing, resulting in me having to reboot the tablet, but apart from that, the initial configuration was quick and simple – I particularly liked being able to use the Kindle app on my phone to automatically configure the WiFi and Amazon account settings.

I wasn’t surprised that Amazon marketed their Kindle Unlimited subscription to me; however, they could have done this with a notice in the Kindle app, rather than during setup.

The metal casing makes the device heavier than I expected, and I wonder how long I can hold it before my arm muscles start to feel the strain.

I like that the stylus snaps magnetically to the case, but it is a bit fiddly – only the right side of the tablet is magnetised, and you have to get it dead centre for it to stick. But once snapped on, it is very secure and does not fall off easily.

Now I’m looking forward to spending some time with the device and seeing what it is capable of. Look out for my full review of the Scribe coming soon…

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Kindle Scribe Specs