It’s greater than an e-reader

If you happen to’ve been ready for a compact e-reader or pill with a full-color E Ink show, your wait is over. The brand new Onyx Boox Tab Mini C is a tool that runs Android-based apps and advantages from a color, 7.8-inch touchscreen show for when black and white E Ink simply is not reducing it.

From an idea standpoint, the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C affords a whole lot of potential. Nevertheless, after a number of weeks testing it, I additionally observed some fairly main drawbacks that have been tough to miss or work round. Total, this must be thought of extra of a very highly effective e-reader and digital notepad, versus a totally purposeful pill that its Android working system may counsel – however maintain studying for my full evaluation.

Design

The Onyx Boox Tab Mini C may be very very like a Kindle Paperwhite, however with primary, tablet-like options. It is skinny, light-weight, and makes use of an E Ink show. It measures 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.33 inches, has a easy plastic casing, and weighs simply 10.9 ounces (310g). This makes it comfy to carry in your arms for prolonged intervals.

You additionally get a full-colour show, which is one thing Amazon has not but integrated into any of its Kindle gadgets. That mentioned, because of the display kind, the colors displayed are recognisable, however lack sharpness and sometimes look reasonably uninteresting.

The Qualcomm Superior Octa-core CPU is used to run Android 11, alongside 4GB RAM and 64GB of inner storage. There’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on-board right here, whereas on the underside of the gadget is a single USB Kind-C port for charging, with twin (stereo) audio system built-in and a microphone.

It comes with a Boox Magnetic Pen Plus stylus, which may connect to the aspect of the pill through magnets when not getting used. A magnetic protecting case can also be included when the pill is bought from Onyx’s website.

It is necessary to level out that in contrast to lots of the Amazon Kindle e-readers, the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C shouldn’t be waterproof and even waterproof. There’s additionally no reminiscence card slot both, so inner storage cannot be upgraded.

Show

The 7.8-inch touchscreen show (with a entrance mild) has a decision of 1,404 x 1,872 pixels (300ppi) in monochrome, which makes textual content look sharp and simply readable. When color is utilised, the show can showcase 4,096 colours, however decision drops down to simply 702 x 936 pixels (150ppi).

Onyx refers back to the accessible color palette as Kaleodop 3 ePaper Colors. This makes graphics and pictures usually look pixelated and missing intimately. Sure, you can view pictures and video content material on this gadget, however resulting from its sluggishness, lack of picture high quality, and sometimes muted or inaccurate colours, you in all probability will not wish to. I did not get pleasure from these experiences in any respect.

For sure functions, like creating handwritten notes utilizing the stylus, annotating text-based PDF recordsdata, studying e-books, or listening to audiobooks, the show constructed into the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C is greater than satisfactory. For these functions, there’s little have to view extraordinarily detailed or vibrant and correct colors. Black, and even coloured textual content (or textual content with digital highlighting), constantly appears sharp and simply readable, even when displayed utilizing tiny font sizes.

One perk to the E Ink show is that it does a pleasant job eliminating undesirable glare, so it may be utilized in direct daylight or in a darkish room. I discovered that something displayed in color appears a lot better in a dimly lit room, versus outside, the place daylight washes out the colors much more.

Two of the principle points I had with the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C are the sluggishness of the working system and the show. You do have entry to 4 completely different refresh modes and a brightness management slider, however for viewing something however textual content and primary graphics, I discovered this to be inadequate – particularly since you should buy an Apple iPad or one other, extra established Android-based pill for about the identical worth.

At any time when utilizing the e-reader, by tapping on the Settings icon usually seen on the backside of the display inside the dock (as a part of the Android OS), sliders seem to regulate Darkish Color Enhancement, Vividness Enhancement, and Color Brightness.

The refresh mode may be switched between HD, Balanced, Quick, Ultrafast and Regal with a single faucet too. By tapping on the Extra Settings choice, it is then attainable to regulate the show’s refresh charge to chop down (however by no means get rid of) flickering.

I discovered it essential to tinker with these settings approach too usually, every time I switched between completely different functions so as to obtain optimum viewing. That is one thing I not often, if ever, have to do when utilizing an Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab pill, for instance.

On the plus aspect, the E Ink show integrated into the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C may be very straightforward on the eyes, just about eliminating eye pressure and permitting the unit’s battery to final for a very long time between costs.

Pre-installed and third-party functions

This pill comes preloaded with proprietary notetaking, net browser, calendar, music, gallery, and e-reader apps, amongst others. Nevertheless, I shortly discovered virtually all of those lack important options and supply a gradual, unintuitive, and quirky person interface.

What saves this gadget and makes it viable for some customers is its entry to the Google Play Retailer, which means you’ve gotten the power to run third-party Android-based cell apps.

As soon as I put in a group of third-party apps I usually use with a pill, like Kindle, Microsoft OneNote, Google Chrome, Outlook, Fb, Instagram, and Audible, the capabilities of the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C expanded reasonably dramatically.

That mentioned, apps that showcase a whole lot of full-colour graphics, animations or video content material didn’t carry out nicely on this pill because of its gradual processor and the low decision of the color E Ink show. Primarily based on my expertise working numerous third-party apps, the Boox Tab Mini C performs finest as an e-reader, audiobook participant, as a digital notepad for composing handwritten notes, and to annotate text-based PDF recordsdata, for instance. Do not anticipate this to step in as a pill alternative as wel, because it merely is not as much as the duty.

Touchscreen and stylus

If you are going to buy the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C as a substitute of some other e-reader, it will in all probability be for its notetaking, annotating, and on-screen drawing capabilities utilizing the stylus. As talked about, for any of those duties, you may wish to obtain a third-party app from the Google Play Retailer, versus counting on the apps that come pre-installed on the gadget.

The Magnetic Pen Plus stylus is about the identical dimension, weight, and form as a typical ballpoint pen. It connects to the aspect of the pill utilizing magnets, so it is all the time prepared for use with any app, with no need any particular configuration.

How a lot management over the looks of what you write or draw on the display relies on the app you are utilizing. After testing a number of third-party notetaking and drawing apps, I discovered the stylus affords glorious precision. I significantly loved utilizing the pill to annotate PDF recordsdata with handwritten notes and having the ability to spotlight textual content with a digital colored highlighter.

The stylus is comfy to make use of, and made handwriting, annotating, or drawing on the display an absolute pleasure. When an app permits you to swap between digital writing devices (similar to a ballpoint pen, fountain pen, highlighter, or felt tip marker), and on the identical time select an ink color and the thickness of the ink strokes, this allowed for the best flexibility and accuracy when it got here to recreating the expertise of writing or drawing on paper.

Throughout my testing, handwriting, annotating textual content, and drawing on the display have been duties that made this pill actually shine, permitting it to function a dependable digital notepad and enhancing software – as soon as once more utilizing third-party apps.

Efficiency

When it comes to its pace and the operation of pre-installed apps, sadly, I used to be not impressed. The digital keyboard that pops up every time it is wanted is sluggish. Plus, to entry letters, numbers, and particular characters, you usually want to change between digital keyboard layouts in a approach that is by no means intuitive. That is capped off by the smaller dimension of the gadget, and by default the digital keyboard, as contact typing at a excessive pace is just about inconceivable.

So, whilst you can simply kind out a brief e mail message or to-do record merchandise, for instance, this isn’t a tool you’d use for intensive phrase processing. It is much better fitted to extra passive functions, like studying, streaming music, or annotating textual content (versus creating it from scratch).

Nevertheless, I found that when switching between screens inside the identical app, just about turning the pages of an e-book, or shifting between completely different apps, a whole lot of distracting flickering is seen.

That mentioned, studying textual content on the show was a pleasure, and in a pinch, the Boox Tab Mini C could possibly be used to watch non-video-based social media accounts. When it got here to net browsing, as soon as I put in Google Chrome (versus utilizing the pre-installed NeoBrowser), that have grew to become extra gratifying, sooner, and fewer irritating.

Utilizing the YouTube app, Netflix, or Amazon Prime Video to view video-based content material was attainable, however for the explanations I already mentioned almost about the show high quality and processor pace, the Boox Tab Mini C might barely deal with it. Streaming video high quality was completely horrendous.

Battery life

Relying on how you utilize the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C, the inner battery will final for days or perhaps weeks. In different phrases, battery life is significantly longer than a pill (which is likely to be 10 to 12 hours), however shorter than an e-reader with a monochrome E Ink show (whose battery will usually final for weeks and even months).

This pill can simply be recharged utilizing the equipped USB Kind-C cable, though no energy adapter is included for plugging the pill into {an electrical} outlet to recharge.

Verdict

Priced at $450 / £450, the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C is pricey, and too costly for what you get with it. Whereas it features brilliantly in its major guise of an e-reader, it doesn’t come near providing the capabilities of a pill, which you may anticipate with Android 11 inbuilt.

Whereas the E Ink show reduces or eliminates eye pressure, the image high quality, sharpness, brightness, refresh charge, and color accuracy you miss out on does not make this really feel like an excellent deal,

And whereas it could actually deal with net browsing, e mail administration, and different very primary duties that don’t depend on viewing detailed graphics or video, this gadget is far more of an e-reader on steroids (when used with a 3rd social gathering e-reader app) than it’s a totally purposeful pill.

For avid readers who aren’t funds aware and who’re on the lookout for a substitute for an Amazon Kindle owith a full-colour E Ink show, the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C is actually a viable choice. Earlier than deciding to buy this gadget although, be sure you plan to make use of it for duties that depend on the Tab Mini C’s strengths, so that you gained’t be annoyed by its weaknesses.