Onyx Boox Word Air 4C Evaluation

November 23, 2024

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Onyx Boox has a brand new color e-paper e-notebook that’s now out there to order, the Onyx Boox Word Air 4C. This machine is designed for note-taking and likewise studying in full color. The central promoting level is the ten.3-inch Carta 1200 color e-paper show with Android 13 and full entry to the Google Play Retailer. Coming to cost, the brand new Word Air4C is at present out there to order for $499.99.

{Hardware}

Onyx Boox launched the brand new Word Air4 C with an I10.3-inch E Ink Carta 1200 show with a Kaleido 3 panel. The decision is a stunning 2480 x 1860 with 300 PPI when viewing B/W content material however will get halved to 1240 x 930 or 150 PPI for color content material. When viewing PDF recordsdata, journals, comics or internet content material, all of this may be considered with 4,096 colors. The display screen is flush with the bezel and guarded by a layer of glass. Studying at evening is feasible, because of the nice and cozy and funky lights.

Additional, with the onboard Boox Tremendous Refresh or BSR tech, you’ve ultra-clear shows and quick web page refresh instances. There are zero remnants of earlier shows to mar the viewing expertise. The accompanying stylus, which Onyx refers to because the Pen Plus, gives a pure paper-like writing really feel. The Pen Plus is right for expressing creativity in notes, annotations, or drawings. The capacitive pen sensitively helps 4,096 ranges of stress.

Beneath the hood is an Octa-core processor, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of inside storage. It has an SD card slot able to 1TB of additional storage in case you want additional storage. There are twin microphones for audio dictation or voice communication apps. Twin audio system are good for audiobooks, podcasts, music or audio playback, however they’ve Bluetooth 5.1 for wi-fi earbuds or headphones. WIFI is out there to put in apps and entry the web. A USB-C port can be utilized as an audio jack and has OTG, additionally used for charging. A 3,700mAh Li-ion Polymer battery powers it. The scale are 226 x 193 x 5.8 mm (8.9″ x 7.6″ x 0.23″) and weighs approx. 420 g (14.8 oz)

The economic design is much like the Outstanding two or Kindle Scribe 2. It’s black alongside the bezels however has a darkish gray ledger on the left. The again of the machine can be black. The facility button with a fingerprint sensor is on the high. The audio system, USB port, and Micro SD slot are on the underside.

Software program

The Boox Word Air 4C runs Google Android 13, which makes it one of many few e-notes or e-readers available on the market with such a latest model of Android. This contains not solely efficiency will increase but additionally main safety updates. Onyx is without doubt one of the few corporations that embody Google Play and Play Providers on all its gadgets. Bigme is one other model that does this.

Customers can signal into their account and begin downloading apps which have already been downloaded or bought on different Android telephones or tablets. Onyx runs Boox OS, a personalized launcher that optimizes e-paper e-readers, e-notes, and tablets. The corporate always pushes out firmware updates to refine the studying, writing and normal efficiency. They do that each few months, which is appropriate for customers who can put money into the Onyx platform, figuring out that will probably be supported for not less than 5 years.

That is the quickest Onyx product now we have ever reviewed. In the event you launch an app, it mechanically opens. Navigating round Google Play is immediate; even animations play accurately. Searching the UI and settings menu is lightning-fast. This is identical as the usual pace mannequin. I don’t know what Onyx did beneath the hood on a software program stage, however in comparison with the Leaf 2 with Carta 1200 or the Nova Air 2, this blows them out of the water with efficiency.

A yr in the past, Onyx revised its person interface to make it extra user-friendly. The navigation bar is on the backside, and the UI components change relying on what you’ve open, such because the Word taking app, studying app, Google Play, or the web browser. The house display screen offers shortcuts to the library, note-taking app, file browser, and settings. You possibly can click on on issues to launch particular components that assist gesture management. In the event you swipe upwards from the underside of the Extremely, beneath the icons, you’ll mechanically go to the house display screen. In the event you swipe down from the highest, you get the standard Android notifications. Swipe downward to the place the WIFI is and click on the image, and you’ll launch the principle settings drop-down menu. In the event you lengthy press on the principle house display screen, now you can add widgets, which is thrilling. There are a number of inventory ones, comparable to calendar, climate and clock, however you may obtain further ones from Google Play.

The principle drop-down is named Management Centre. That is the place you may set up a WIFI community and Bluetooth connection, entry the E INK Management Centre, rotate, screencast, mute notifications, activate/off the touchscreen, break up display screen view, display screen recording, Boox Drop, Screenshot, Do Not Disturb mode and display screen refresh. You can too alter the quantity of the 2 stereo audio system or in case you are utilizing Bluetooth headphones. The entrance mild and color temperature system can be modified right here. A tiny gear setting additionally permits you to activate or off any choices on the Management Centre.

E INK Management Centre is helpful. You possibly can management the darkish and lightweight ranges of all the machine. This helps with distinction. I choose the icons and textual content barely darker than the default setting. You can too increase the sunshine and darkish values per app. So, you downloaded the Kindle app however discovered the UI and textual content a bit darkish. You possibly can entry the Management Centre and alter the darker values; they’ll at all times be there everytime you launch the app.

Onyx Boox has the refreshed expertise they point out on all their premium gadgets. This technique is designed to make the e-paper show perform extra like an Android pill. You possibly can entry this from the drop-down menu or the settings menu. HD, the default commonplace, and Balanced offers you a pleasant mix of elevated efficiency with slight picture degradation. Quick gives kick the Extremely into overdrive, making it even faster. On the identical time, Ultrafast is right for watching streaming movies or listening to audio from sources comparable to YouTube or Spotify.

Onyx has additionally modified the settings menu. The principle navigation bar is now on the proper aspect, and all knowledge from the fields is now on the proper aspect. This provides you an ordinary Android interface. A few of the most notable features listed below are controlling the brand new gesture controls and the way you gesture to do particular issues. You possibly can swipe specifically methods to refresh the display screen, which helps get rid of the ghosting from the sooner pace modes. Desktop settings help you add your display screen saver or energy off photographs. The show is the place you may change the system fonts and textual content sizes. Brightness, display screen timeout, and auto sleep are additionally useful. Onyx has added a brand new function referred to as whole refresh frequency. That is managed by tapping the display screen with the stylus or your finger. The default worth is 5, however you may change it to no matter you need; I like 3. So in case you shortly faucet the display screen thrice, irrespective of the place you might be on the machine, the online will refresh.

Our private lives are totally of color. Our eyes can see color all over the place we glance. Pc displays, smartphones and iPad tablets show billions of colors however have dangerous blue mild, and a few folks have sensitivity points. That is the place the Word Air 4C is available in; no mild is shining into your eyes however evenly distributed throughout the display screen. All the apps you put in are in full color and the identical, with icons everywhere in the display screen.

Studying

The Word Air 4C makes an ideal e-reader for studying books, comics, manga, PDF recordsdata, and different digital content material. It is because it has a ten.3-inch and tons of actual property for all textual content to suit evenly throughout the display screen. Flipping pages is ultra-fast and even sooner in case you interact in any pace modes from the E INK Management Centre. The picture high quality may be very pronounced, so in case you are on the lookout for a multipurpose pill to learn, this one’s for you.

The e-reading expertise begins with the inventory app Neoreader, the place you may side-load all of your content material with many choices for font sizes, font kind, alignment, line spacing and margins. It helps PRC, RTF, Doc, Textual content, DJVU, PDF, Mobi, FB2, EPUB, CBR and CBZ. CBZ and CBR assist is great for sideloading Manga recordsdata since that is the preferred on-line format. Nonetheless, Amazon delivers manga in AZW3 and Kobo/Google by way of EPUB. You don’t want to fret about types in case you set up apps comparable to VIZ or manga apps.

This machine excels at studying PDF recordsdata, whether or not replicas from a newspaper, Dungeons and Dragons supply materials and even studying workplace paperwork. You possibly can shortly signal your tax returns or contract paperwork with a flourish of the stylus or use your fingers for handwriting. You possibly can shortly fill in packing containers and write in fields. Manga can be glorious. Nonetheless, your mileage would possibly differ relying on whether or not you utilize a devoted app or side-load your content material.

The Word Air 4C shines whenever you entry Google Play and obtain your favorite apps. This provides you great flexibility and freedom to make use of no matter studying or information apps you normally use in your smartphone or pill. I do know many individuals at all times set up Libby to learn eBooks or take heed to audiobooks borrowed from the general public library. The Kindle studying app is the preferred because it was initially developed for smartphones and tablets. The web page flip animation at all times appears good and fairly, however it struggles on E INK gadgets as a result of refresh situation. Because of this Onyx made enhancements to the app on a system stage to get rid of animated web page turns, so it’s seamless and sturdy whenever you flip a web page. Through the years, they’ve optimized many different apps however are inclined to give attention to the writing expertise on their in depth line of e-notes. The corporate has additionally made enhancements to a number of productiveness apps.

The Word Air 4C shouldn’t be billed as an e-reader however primarily as a substitute for paper and a note-taking machine. Nonetheless, I might dare suggest this product to not be drawn however to view all of your digital content material in full color on an E INK display screen. You gained’t get any reflections from the solar, and battery life is measured in weeks, not days.

Notes

The Word Air 4C is a devoted digital note-taking machine that permits you to draw freehand, make notes, or doodle in color. Eighteen color combos will be chosen, simply the first colors. When you’re completed drawing, it can save you the pocket book to the machine, export it as a PNG or PDF file, and duplicate it to your PC/MAC. As soon as it’s opened in your laptop, you may view the doc in all the colors you made. A complete of 4096 colors will be displayed for color content material.

While you wish to draw one thing, you should use quite a lot of pens, pencils, and different instruments, comparable to a mechanical pencil and highlighter, fountain pen, paintbrush, ballpoint pen, or textual content. You can too set the road thickness to get thinner or thicker traces, and the stylus has stress sensitivity, too.

One of many options I like is utilizing layers. This technique is much like well-liked picture enhancing software program comparable to Adobe Photoshop. As a vital function that customers regularly require, layers may help folks take notes with out ruining the templates and draw particulars whereas retaining the unique format. The built-in Notes app at present helps you in including as much as 5 layers. Because the template is the bottom layer, you may concurrently have as much as six layers. By deciding on a template as the bottom layer, you can provide your work complete format directions. You possibly can select from native house, cloud house, or customized templates in png format to present a web page a selected look.

However what else can it do? You should use screencast to attach no matter is in your Word Air 4C to your PC. That is helpful throughout conferences or to indicate folks what you’ve been engaged on reasonably than crowding across the e-reader. Onyx additionally has a companion app Android, and they’re engaged on an IOS model. That is optionally available to make use of. It permits you to sync every part on the Extremely C to your smartphone or out of your smartphone to the Word. Onyx additionally gives 10GB of cloud storage for every part of their cloud. You solely want to make use of the companion app if you’d like smartphone integration.

There are a number of important options value mentioning. Paperwork can have 500 pages on them to have in depth notes. I additionally like saving your favorite pen settings to all the UI, so you may choose each by tapping your finger on it or utilizing the stylus. For instance, Pen 1 can have a pencil with thick traces and be again. Pen 2 generally is a highlighter with RED and skinny traces; Pen 3 generally is a brush with thick traces. I additionally like how one can import photos from Dropbox or Google Drive into the notes, resize them in a message, and edit them.

You can begin drawing on PDF recordsdata as quickly as they’re loaded and save the edited file as a distinct file title or overwrite the unique. You get a distinct interface when enhancing PDF recordsdata than the usual drawing expertise on the note-taking app. Even with the Regular HD mode, I’ve by no means seen an Onyx Boox product carry out so effectively with PDF recordsdata. Web page turns are immediate, there isn’t any latency, and it’s like utilizing an iPad. Suppose you strive pinching and zooming a PDF; a small notification window pops and asks in case you ought to flip the perform on. Different Onyx fashions have this function however are buried in varied sub-menus.

The Notes app gives extra highly effective instruments with fixed firmware updates than ever. You should use handwriting recognition (AI software) to shortly remodel your handwritten notes into textual content. You can too insert recordings, photos, attachments, and hyperlinks to an inside web page or an exterior web site to make your messages look vivid.

Wrap Up

That is by far the corporate’s most ridiculous launch. It’s the fourth era—sure, you heard that accurately—of the Word Air Cline.

There are solely three variations from the earlier era Word Air 3C: You might have an up to date model of Android, which is 10 Grams lighter, and also you get 2GB of additional RAM. That’s it. Moreover, they didn’t improve the worth, uncharacteristic of the model, which baffles me, as Onyx has elevated the price of each incremental improve.

The variations are negligible: 10 G of weight financial savings is unnoticeable by the human hand, two gigs of RAM had been nearly an identical underneath just about any stress check course of we used on the unit, and the most recent model of Android solely applies to high-profile video games, and many others.