Find out the top must-knows before you buy a scan marker like the Scanmarker Air and what alternatives you can use.

Must knows before you buy a scan marker

Scanner pens are some of the most useful tools for students, commuters, and people with dyslexia and reading difficulties. They can perform many tasks, from digitizing physical documents to reading text aloud for better comprehension.

And when it comes to scanning pens, Scanmarker is one of the top trending manufacturers in the industry. Its pens cater to diverse customer bases and offer many perks.

What is the Scanmarker pen?

The Scanmarker digital highlighter is a pen scanner with impressive functionality. The device offers an easy solution for people who need to scan lines of text from printed media and transpose them into a digital format.

Users can drag the Scanmarker pen across notebooks, magazines, textbooks, business cards, and other documents to digitize the writing. Purportedly, it can digitize documents up to 30 times faster than typing.

However, that’s not all it does. Due to its ability to scan text and upload it to various devices, the Scanmarker digital highlighter can assist those with reading and learning difficulties. It can also help students take notes or copy borrowed textbooks and other materials.

The pen comes with text to speech technology. The combination of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and text to speech enables users to quickly scan and translate physical writing in over 40 languages.

What you need to know about the Scanmarker

Here are details you should know as a first-time Scanmarker Air user.

Design

The Scanmarker has a smooth design with an intuitive button layout. It’s also easy to grip, which can make it a better choice for people with mobility or motor difficulties.

The Scanmarker comes with two LED indicators. A blue LED shows a working Bluetooth connection, while the other lights up when the highlighter is low on battery power.

Connectivity

Users can rely on two types of connections. You can plug a Micro USB cable into the scanning pen to connect it to a laptop or computer, upload files, and charge the battery. Additionally, the pen connects to mobile devices via Bluetooth.

Note that the Scanmarker Air has built-in support for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows operating systems. However, it doesn’t have native support for Linux systems.

How it works

Scanning text with the Scanmarker Air is a straightforward process. You can use the gadget’s plastic guide to center lines of text on a page and slide the device from left to right. Unlike using a highlighter, the Scanmarker works best when you slide it quickly across a page.

For the most part, the device can scan a complete line in a second. Swift hand movements yield the best and most accurate scans.

Additional features

At first glance, the Scanmarker Air looks like every other scanning pen. However, it does much more than digitize physical text documents. The Scanmarker Air has built-in text to speech technology and can read text aloud.

The device can read and translate text in multiple languages.

Font size range

It’s also worth noting that this reading pen works with fonts between 6 point and 22 point in size. So you can scan two lines of standard text simultaneously.

Of course, it all depends on the type of document you want to scan, the line spacing, font style, and other factors.

Ease of use

This is one of the easiest pen readers to use. It only requires installing the app on your favorite device, establishing a Bluetooth connection, and sliding the scanner over lines of text.

You can upload files to your local disk drive or Google Drive and other cloud services or use the pen’s internal buffer to read aloud about half a page.

Scanmarker – The pros and cons

The Scanmarker pros include the following.

• Bluetooth connectivity
• Compatible with desktop and mobile devices
• Ambidextrous design
• Easy to use
• Supports 40 languages
• Wide font size range
• Fast scanning action

Naturally, the Scanmarker also has some downsides.

• Not a standalone scanner
• May struggle with non-Latin letters and characters
• No Wi-Fi connectivity
• Dependent on mobile devices or computers

Speechify – The text to speech app to complement your Scanmarker pen

Although the Scanmarker Air is a solid scanning pen, it has limited functionality regarding text to speech applications. Users with dyslexia and similar reading difficulties may need more well-rounded assistive technology.

Speechify is an excellent alternative. The app is a text to speech (TTS) e-reader with OCR technology. It can read text aloud from digital files like Microsoft Word documents, Gmail emails, social media posts, and other sources. Moreover, it can scan text from images, hard-copy documents, and other physical media.

Due to its multilingual support, Speechify can generate human-like speech in different languages and accents. And unlike the Scanmarker, it can narrate entire documents, articles, and study materials. Speechify is compatible with Apple iPads and iPhones as well as Android devices, thanks to its dedicated mobile apps. It also works with MacBook and Windows computers.

You can use Speechify to study, learn a new language, decipher complex paragraphs, and read alongside narrations with a dyslexia-friendly font. Try Speechify for free to see its full range of features.

FAQ

Does Scanmarker work with handwriting?

The Scanmarker can scan handwriting and help digitize handwritten notes but can’t read the text aloud.

Does Scanmarker read out loud?

The Scanmarker offers real-time reading aloud but can’t store a lot of text in its internal memory. That’s why Speechify is a more reliable text to speech reader.

What is the size of Scanmarker?

The Scanmarker Air is five inches long and weighs around 2.1 ounces.

How much does Scanmarker cost?

The Scanmarker Air costs $149 on Amazon and most other online marketplaces.

How long does a Scanmarker battery last?

The Scanmarker battery life depends on how long you use it continuously. However, it should last around 20 hours on a full charge.

What are the benefits of using a Scanmarker?

One of the biggest perks is taking advantage of a fast scanning speed to digitize physical documents. You can save a lot of time and perform scans on the fly, provided you have access to a mobile device or computer.