I ditched Kindle, but Amazon could win me back with one launch

I’ve been carrying Kindles around for well over a decade, but recently, Amazon has done a pretty good job of convincing users to look elsewhere. Between the company’s restrictive ecosystem and my growing concerns about what I even own when I buy digital books, I’ve spent the past year hopping between e-reader brands. Meanwhile, competitors keep getting better. I’ve dipped into BOOX, Kobo, and reMarkable devices, and some have shown me features I wish Amazon would borrow immediately. They’ve also made me appreciate just how polished Kindles are, and how comfortable the familiar experience feels.

I want Amazon to make a lot of changes to Kindle. I’m also realistic enough to know most of them probably aren’t going to happen. But one feels both achievable and overdue: a phone-sized Kindle Scribe. I’ve been asking for a portable Scribe since 2024, and after spending time with similar devices from other brands, it’s become my single biggest Kindle wish. Amazon could keep making decisions I disagree with, and I’d still probably stick around if I could just grab a pocketable e-reader with stylus support.

At this point, I don’t think I’m asking Amazon for anything particularly radical. The BOOX Palma 2 proved there’s real demand for a phone-sized e-reader, and reMarkable’s smaller devices like the Move have shown that note-taking doesn’t require a massive display. In my mind, the ideal device would land right around the size of my smartphone, so yes, even smaller than a 6-inch basic Kindle. I want it just large enough to comfortably read books and annotate documents, but small enough to slip into the back pocket of my women’s jeans.

And yes, I already know the obvious counterargument that I should just use the Kindle app on my smartphone. I already do. But while I appreciate the app for supplementing my e-reader experience, I don’t want it to be where I primarily consume books. First, it drains my battery. Missing an important call because my phone died mid-reread of Harry Potter is embarrassing for a number of reasons. Secondly, my phone is a black hole of distraction that’s more likely to lead me down a rabbit hole of group texts or scrolling than into a book. Most importantly, though, it lacks the comfortable, paper-like experience that makes e-ink displays so uniquely suited to reading.

Then there’s the key component: note-taking. Scribbling thoughts on an e-ink display with a stylus feels natural in a way that writing on a glossy smartphone screen never could. I want to feel like a beat reporter carrying a spiral-topped reporter’s notebook, not a millennial tapping away at a phone. If taking notes on my phone were the answer, I wouldn’t still be asking Amazon for a pocket-sized Scribe.

In short: I’m begging Amazon for a truly portable device with proper stylus support and seamless syncing with my Kindle library. The standard Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite are reasonably portable, but neither supports a stylus. The Kindle Scribe supports writing, but at 10.2 inches, it’s closer to a notebook than something I’d casually slip into a pocket.

Testing the BOOX Palma 2 showed me how much I enjoy reading on a phone-sized e-ink screen. Its 6.13-inch display and pocket-friendly footprint make it one of the most portable e-readers available today. The problem is that it lacks stylus support and feels more like a very adept minimalist phone than a true Kindle alternative. The reMarkable Paper Pro Move gets much closer with its 7.3-inch display and writing-first design, but it lacks a built-in ebook library, and I’d like to see Amazon go even smaller.

The truth is, I don’t really want a BOOX device, and I don’t really want a reMarkable. I want a phone-sized Kindle. Amazon already has the parts, including a bookstore, software, note-taking tools, and a huge base of Kindle users. The company just needs to put the pieces together into a device that doesn’t feel like a commitment to walk out my door with. I’m not even asking for a color display, though I do want a front light. I just want a miniaturized version of what already exists.