The ONYX BOOX Go 6

I’m a really well-equipped ereader family. I have already got a primary Kindle, plus an 8-inch Fireplace pill, and varied different Android and Home windows tablets. So why did I make the ONYX BOOX Go 6 my birthday current of alternative this 12 months? Now learn on.

The ONYX BOOX Go 6 is mainly a 6-inch E Ink pill working Android 11. Trying behind the numbers, that ought to instantly clarify its enchantment. The shape issue and weight is precisely similar to the low-end 6-inch Kindle – actually, the BOOX Go 6 could be very barely smaller than the 6-inch Kindle. The display screen high quality is unquestionably on a par with Amazon’s E Ink – ONYX quotes the display screen know-how as E Ink Carta Plus with 300 dpi pixel density and sooner refresh than earlier epaper screens. I gained’t break up hairs – or pixels – concerning the distinction, however I do discover in real-world studying circumstances that the BOOX Go 6 is well as comfy to learn with because the Kindle.

So what else do you get on high of an e-reading expertise of Kindle commonplace? Nicely, for one factor, the Google Play Retailer and all the opposite apps usually accessible to Android customers however not obtainable – or appropriate – for the Kindle. In precept, you may even use YouTube to play video on the BOOX Go 6, though I haven’t tried it and doubt that the expertise could be particularly grateful. You possibly can actually obtain and use most ereader apps, together with the Amazon Kindle app, so you may have your typical Kindle expertise and library, and an entire lot in addition to. The BOOX Go 6’s personal ereading app is not less than similar to most of its Android friends, and makes brief work of PDFs – all the time a stumbling block for the Kindle, in my expertise. The consumer interface supplied is primary however serviceable, however there’s no motive why customers couldn’t obtain a unique launcher from the Play Retailer.

As for the {hardware}, the BOOX Go 6 has Wifi and Bluetooth 5.0, in addition to 32 GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot, so working a big library isn’t any downside. It additionally has audio capabilities, although no speaker – audio needs to be performed by way of USB-C headphones, or Bluetooth peripherals. The USB-C socket is on the underside of the machine, whereas the facility button is on the highest, fixing a bugbear for Kindle customers who discover their gadgets switching off when positioned on a stand. There’s a display screen backlight, maybe barely inferior to the Kindle’s, however actually completely usable. Battery life is great for an Android machine – I’m getting some 2-3 days of utilization with out a cost, though admittedly with numerous ereading and fewer use of power-hungry apps. 

Be it understood, the BOOX Go 6 shouldn’t be (but) going to interchange a full Android machine. The display screen refresh remains to be sluggish in sure use circumstances, akin to taking handwritten notes – though I may not have discovered the suitable refresh setting but. A black and white E Ink display screen is lower than good for a lot of web sites and apps that lean closely into shaded multicoloured graphics, though ONYX does its greatest to help with that by way of app-specific optimization settings to suit them higher to the machine. However for text-based and word-heavy functions, it could even come near being a productiveness device. I have already got Wikipedia, the Google Hold notes app, and Google Docs put in on mine. I’ve a sense that the 2GB of RAM will begin to really feel cramped quickly, however that’s a measure of the variety of apps I’m already placing on the machine. 

There are apparent areas for enchancment within the BOOX Go 6. The machine might be sooner, particularly for display screen refresh. Android 11 remains to be an older-generation model of the OS, and I hope the corporate – or some hacker – works out the way to improve it. And E Ink know-how as an entire remains to be an space the place we hope to see enchancment. Nonetheless, the BOOX Go 6 is mainly comparable with, and priced equally to, a Kindle Paperwhite, however with far better versatility, flexibility and value. The one areas the place it feels restricted are the Android-based experiences that the Kindle can’t do in any respect. It’s hardly left my palms because it’s arrived. Type your personal conclusions based mostly on that, however I’ve actually had a really blissful birthday.