One of the first e-ink note takers that I took a closer look at during my quest for finding an e-ink note taker where some products from the Onyx Boox series. Onyx offers a wide range of e-ink note taking devices and readers, starting its business in already 2006.

Onyx Book Nova 3 Color

The first product from the Boox series that I took a look at was the Nova 3 Color. It is an Android-powered tablet that comes with an included Stylus pen. Compared to the other note-taking devices it clearly stands out because of its 7.8 inch coloured display which is capable of displaying 4096 colors. While this does not really benefit my usecase, the reviews were quite positive about it. With a price of about 420-460€ it is definitely in a higher segment.

According to the PCMag Review the Stylus Pen works very well for all apps that are included in the Onxy Suite. This also allows for editing PDFs, which is part one of my most important usecases. The notes can also be exported to a variety of formats. As you can enable the Play Store and download Android apps, there are apps available to allow for syncing files via SFTP for uploading to my Cloud Storage (e.g. FolderSync) and mirroring the screen to my Mac (e.g. X-Mirage).

The review on Android central rates the support for note taking as a great experience that feels like writing on paper. The pen supports 4096 levels of pressure and is said to being comparable to the Remarkable 2 pen. The Book Nova 3 Color is described as lighter than most tablets. Telling from the review, especially when using Android apps the note taker is laggy despite its 3GB of RAM.

One common criticism from the reviews is that for apps with frequent screen changes like youtube videos or games ghosting appears (which means that some fragments of the screen are not properly updated). This also seemed to be the case sometimes when reading PDFs.

Summary

In summary, the Onxy Book Nova 3 Color seems to meet all requirements for my use cases although being quite pricey and its main selling point, the color display, being of very little importance to my needs. Ghosting also seems to be a minor problem, but should not affect me that much. The great writing experience and the high-quality pen is definitely a plus.

  • 🧰Use cases: supported, screen mirroring and file syncing via Android apps
  • 💰Price: ~460 €
  • 🔋Battery time: 40 days of standby time, 4 to 5 days of moderate use

Onxy Note Book 2

The Onyx Note Book 2 is also a note taking device powered by Android. Unlike the Nova 3 Color, it does not have a color display. With its 10.3 inch display it is significantly larger than other e-ink note takers. The available software allows for editing PDFs and sketching functionality. The Onyx Note Book 2 supports PDF and Epubs and is also capable of playing MP3s. It comes with a Wacom stylus pen and protective slip case. According to the specifications the battery time is up to 4 weeks in standby mode. It is about 500€.

According to Techradar one big plus is the paper-like screen which results in a incredibly natural feeling for writing and editing. The Boox software allows for exporting the notes to PDF and PNG files. Despite its large screen, the note taker only weighs 420g. Regarding battery time the review states that with Wifi on and the device in heavy use, it ran out of power after a week. The Wacom stylus pen does not have to be recharged. Drawbacks mentioned are the weak magnet of the Stylus pen and that sometimes there is a ghosting effect. And the high price, of course :-) The verdict is that this tablet is ideal for note taking and editing DIN-A4 sized documents.

Summary

The Onyx Note Book 2 meets all my requirements and looks a like a perfect fit because of its great writing and reading experience (if you believe the reviews). Compared to to the Nova Color 3 it is even slightly pricier and lacks a color display. On the other hand it has the benefit of a bigger screen, which makes it perfekt for working with DIN-A4 sized documents editing and it has a longer battery runtime. This makes it more favourable for me given my needs.

  • 🧰Use cases: supported, screen mirroring and file syncing via Android apps
  • 💰Price: ~500 €
  • 🔋Battery time: Up to 4 weeks standby time, one week of heavy usage

Onyx Book Nova Air

Last but not least I took a closer look at the Onyx Book Nova Air. Like the other tablets mentioned in this post it is also powered by Android. It has a 7.8 inch screen which makes it remarkably smaller than the other devices mentioned before. It supports various file format, taking notes and editing PDFs. Like the other devices, it has a stylus included. As the name suggests, the tablet is very light (only 235 grams) and also very thin, which makes it very portable and handy. At a cost of about 340€ it is the cheapest one of the three discussed note-taking devices.

The reviews for the device are twofold. Let’s start with the critical one on Input. The overall message is that it is “pretty good for reading books, meh for most other tasks and comes with a steep learning courve all around”. The review mentions that the modified version of Android 10 that is the UI sometimes uses very abstract symbols and results in an non-intuitive navigation. As mentioned in other reviews, ghosting appears from time to time especially when playing videos. Regarding the note talking capabilities, the writing is described as feeling suprisingly paper-like, but the screen being a little bit too small for serious note talking sessions. In summary the the tablet is described as a good reader, passable note-taking device and a bad tablet.

The review on Techradar is somewhat more positive, but has the same verdict. The Nova Air offers a fast and smooth experience for note taking, but is definitely too small for working with A4-sized documents. In addition it mentions that it offers a great experience when reading at night or long haul flights due to its adjustable front light.

Summary

Although the device supports all my usescases, it seems to do this in a non-optimal way. Especially the negative review about the note talking ability and the screen being to small for working with DIN-A4 sized documents are big negative points. For me the advantages of being very lightweight and cheaper price compared to the other devices do not make up for the drawbacks mentioned.

  • 🧰Use cases: supported, screen mirroring and file syncing via Android apps. Quite small for editing DIN-A4 sized documents, passable for note-taking.
  • 💰Price: ~340 €
  • 🔋Battery time: Up to two weeks of light use