I do not want my Kindle anymore

I am all the time looking out for e-ink tablets and e-readers, and that search introduced me to the Onyx Boox Go Color 7. The Onyx Boox Go Colour 7 is a premium shade e-reader that doubles as an Android tablet. It includes a 7-inch show that makes use of shade e-ink with an adjustable refresh price and bodily web page flip buttons.

Boox despatched me the Go Colour 7 to evaluate, and I’ve spent the previous two weeks testing it. In that point, it is turn out to be my every day driver for studying books, information articles, comics, PDFs, audiobooks, and podcasts. I’ve used a number of tablets and e-readers through the years, however the Go Colour 7 is nice sufficient that it’d turn out to be my foremost system.

Worth, specs, and availability

The Boox Go Colour 7 was launched in June 2024 following Boox’s fashionable Note Air 3 and Air 3 C tablets. The e-reader suits into the center of Boox’s line, costing $250. You should buy it directly from Boox or you should purchase one from main retailers reminiscent of Amazon, B&H, and Greatest Purchase.

At $250, the Boox Go Colour 7 is a premium e-reader, however it does not break the financial institution. It is solely $100 costlier than the 16GB mannequin of the Kindle Paperwhite. Nevertheless, that further $100 goes a good distance, with the Go Colour 7 that includes coloured e-ink, audio, bodily web page flip buttons, Android 12 performance, and 64GB of flash reminiscence.

The Boox Go Colour 7 includes a 7-inch touchscreen and weighs simply 6.8oz (roughly 195g). It is extremely light-weight however feels sturdy. I do not fear about throwing the Go Colour 7 right into a bag for my commute, and the display is designed to resist minor liquid spills and drops.

What I preferred in regards to the Onyx Boox Go Colour 7

Spectacular battery life, Android 12 assist, and open-ended compatibility

Utilizing the Boox Go Colour 7 for about two weeks straight, the battery barely dropped. Regardless that it has a comparatively small 2,300 mAh battery, I discovered the battery life among the many greatest in its class of e-readers. I used to be in a position to learn a number of e-books, take heed to hours of podcasts and audiobooks, and browse information apps with barely any decline in battery life.

Even whereas testing Android apps on the Go Colour 7, I used to be in a position to take a look at for hours on finish with little change in battery life. By the top of practically two weeks utilizing the Go Colour 7, I had 15% battery life, which I used to be in a position to cost again as much as full in beneath two hours due to USB-C charging.

Android 12 assist on the Boox Go Colour 7 means you might have entry to a number of apps for studying. You may obtain your app of alternative, whether or not it is Kindle, Libby, Viz Manga, or Koreader, amongst others. With practically open-ended compatibility for textual content codecs, the Go Colour 7 helps the whole lot from comedian books to textbooks to plain EPUB novels. For testing functions, I used to be in a position to swap between studying Loss of life Word to an educational textual content with ease.

Whereas the display dimension is smaller than the typical printing normal for comics, I did not have any points studying each comics or manga with the Go Colour 7, except for slight shade washing and a slight lack of distinction in black-and-white photographs in comparison with black-and-white solely e-readers reminiscent of Boox’s Note Air 3. It ought to be famous, although, that you’ll want to utilize the pinch zoom characteristic to learn comics or manga with the Go Colour 7, which is usually a distracting expertise for those who aren’t used to studying comics on a smaller-sized system already.

Whereas I in all probability will not be utilizing the Go Colour 7 for audiobooks or podcasts typically, as I favor utilizing my telephone for these functions whereas working errands, it is good to see audio assist and built-in Bluetooth assist on the Go Colour 7. The built-in audio system aren’t one of the best, however they get the job accomplished, particularly for those who want pronunciation assist in an e-book with the Go Colour 7’s text-to-speech characteristic, which may learn a sentence or a paragraph aloud to you. Boox has included a built-in file sharing app referred to as BooxDrop with the Go Colour 7. It operates the identical method as DropBox would, and you may sync a number of file-sharing apps to it for simple entry to your entire e-books.

What I did not like in regards to the Boox Go Colour 7

Lack of distinction, refresh points, and enter lag

A few of Boox’s e-readers and tablets embody their BSR (Boox Super Refresh) expertise. The Go Colour 7 just isn’t one among these e-readers, so you will discover a little bit of ghosting if you pinch and zoom on an e-book. That is regular for e-ink e-readers, and I did not discover it too distracting, however I exploit quite a lot of e-readers every day, so I am accustomed to e-ink ghosting. Nevertheless, BSR on different Boox units is understood to be a big drain on battery life, which might be why, even with a small 2,300 mAh cell, the Go Colour 7 options spectacular battery life.

Whereas the Go Colour 7 does not characteristic BSR, you may select between three e-ink refresh charges to show down ghosting. In my very own testing, these pre-sets helped flip down unclear textual content in comics, however ghosting nonetheless remained an issue. Picture ghosting is a typical concern with e-ink units, and the Go Colour 7’s ghosting isn’tt the worst I’ve ever seen. Nevertheless, it is positively noticeable.

Whereas Boox consists of its personal “Retailer” on the system, it is solely crammed with public area e-books. Whereas it is a nice characteristic for studying classics, you will completely must obtain your individual e-reading app of alternative by means of the Android retailer. This could be initially deceptive for some customers. Nonetheless, with Android 12 assist, it is simple to obtain any e-reading app, which was a delight coming from the locked-down Kindle ecosystem.

Whereas shopping the Google Play Retailer, I observed a couple of situations of enter lag between the contact keyboard and what was occurring on display. This is not a dealbreaker for me, however it did trigger a couple of short-lived moments of frustration whereas working the Go Colour 7 and is one thing to be aware of.

Whereas the discharge of the Go Colour 7 is marked by points associated to Android 12 and the included Boox software program suite, many of those issues had already been fastened by the point I obtained my unit. Software program points are persistent on any pill, however it’s an amazing signal that Boox has labored shortly to patch these glitches. Nonetheless, try to be conscious that there are some bugs, largely associated to web page refreshing points.

Associated

Do you care about color e-readers?

Kobo has launched two shade e-readers, together with the Kobo Libra Color and Kobo Clara Color, including a splash of vibrancy to the usually grayscale world of digital ebook readers. The hues are muted, however they nonetheless look nice, permitting you so as to add colourful notes, doodles, and luxuriate in ebook covers in all their coloured glory. Nonetheless, this makes the units costlier, and quite a lot of e-reader customers won’t care about shade of their books and notes. Amazon nonetheless hasn’t launched its tackle a shade e-reader, although the tech large is rumored to be engaged on a number of units. With all of this in thoughts, do you care about shade e-readers? Or is it an addition you want you did not must pay for?

Do you have to purchase the Onyx Boox Go Colour 7?

A premium e-reader with a excessive diploma of performance

The Onyx Boox Go Colour 7 is a good first e-reader and a strong different to the Kindle for those who’re in search of a tool with the next diploma of performance and compatibility. In case you’ve been annoyed with the shortage of shade e-ink and codecs obtainable from Amazon’s Kindle, then I would suggest the Onyx Boox Go Colour 7, so long as you’re prepared to spend the additional $100. I favor e-readers for his or her lack of distractions and lengthy battery lives, and the Boox Go Colour 7 hit my most desired factors in an e-reader. Android performance can be nice, though that is an e-reader with pill performance, not a pill that doubles as an e-reader.

I would not suggest the Boox Go Colour 7 to anybody that has a extra premium e-reader, nevertheless. That is an entry-level premium e-reader from Onyx, and for those who already personal a Word Air from Boox or a latest Kobo, it won’t be price it, because it’s technically a downgrade. Nevertheless, for many who are contemplating their first e-reader, and desire a coloured e-ink display, I can not suggest the Onyx Boox Go Colour 7 sufficient.

This system was offered to Pocket-lint by Boox.

Advisable

Boox Go Colour 7