The Scanmarker reader is a scanner but for your books. This pen-shaped object scans text off a page and inputs it into your device. It is called a Reader because it can also read the text aloud. You can even export the text into a word processor!! Sounds like an amazing device for notetaking High School Seniors and a great device for Seniors who want something read to them right? Right? Well not exactly. This device is marketed towards people with Dyslexia to help them read the text in their books.
The Scanmarker come presented to me in a box with a plastic bookmark that has ridges in it to help aid in scanning. This helps you pick a line of text and keeps the scanner straight bot better scanning. It also comes packaged with a Bluetooth dongle for beaming the text to PCs without Bluetooth support, a Micro USB cable for wired transfer and charging, a carrying pouch, and a bunch of papers and manuals.
In order to set up the device you must create a Scanmarker account. Unfortunately, you cannot just pair and go, meaning you cannot use an external word processor, only Scanmarkers online one (Android, Windows, Mac) or their mobile application (IOS).
On Windows, all you have to do is pick if you want to pair via USB or Bluetooth. On Android, you only get the choice of Bluetooth. After pairing (turning the pen on requires a 3 sec click then you will see onscreen instructions) you will be greeted with a white page. This is where your scanned text will go. On top, there is a dictionary button (you can scan a word and get a definition), translate text, read as you scan button, and a read the entire page button. On the side, there are different options for exporting, though you cannot create a new document.
I tested the Scanmarker on a book, two magazines, and a flyer. When you use the bookmark, I would say it does fairly well. It can get the text between the curves of a book decently (It missed a hyphen) and it can copy any text that can fit inside of its blue bookmark. Any text larger than that, and it had problems. Without the bookmark it is ok but it is hard to keep it in a straight line.
The Scnmarker impressed me by being able to accurately transfer the quotation marks and periods etc. in a sentence. However, text in an image or that is 'cut out' in a solid block it has a hard time getting right. And handwritten text...FORGET IT!! It cannot copy any handwritten text print OR cursive text although its main competitor can...
...Cellphones!!! When I scanned the same handwritten text into Google Lens it got it 100% correct. Also, Google Lens can scan entire paragraphs of text, translate it, define words, and read them aloud literally everything this pen can do. So for 200 dollars why would anyone choose this over the built-in OCR in their phone? Well, it could be because of the target market of people with reading disabilities.
A user may choose the Scanmarker if they do not want to use a phone (or are in school), but Scanmarker sells a cheaper non-Bluetooth model for that. This scanner, I guess can keep you more focused, by not letting you use a phone or more immersed in the text by reading it aloud for you...but the scan (and read) is not instantaneous.
The software and scanner are geared toward people with dyslexia, but the read-aloud voice is not that special and the software is kind of slow. However, it does have an embedded dictionary which the other Scanmarkers do not have. Also, the large text allows books to be easier to read and the tactileness of the Scanmarker can make it more useful than a phone. I wish it had an offline version and an Android application for more accessibility.
God Bless and Tech Talk To You Later!!!
Please make the comments constructive, and vulgarity will not be tolerated!