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 Coloration 7 is a premium colour e-reader that doubles as an Android tablet. It includes a 7-inch show that makes use of colour e-ink with an adjustable refresh price and bodily web page flip buttons.

Boox despatched me the Go Coloration 7 to assessment, and I’ve spent the previous two weeks testing it. In that point, it is turn into 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 Coloration 7 is nice sufficient that it’d turn into my primary machine.

Worth, specs, and availability

The Boox Go Coloration 7 was launched in June 2024 following Boox’s common Note Air 3 and Air 3 C tablets. The e-reader suits into the center of Boox’s line, costing $250. You should purchase 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 Coloration 7 is a premium e-reader, but it surely does not break the financial institution. It is solely $100 costlier than the 16GB mannequin of the Kindle Paperwhite. Nevertheless, that additional $100 goes a great distance, with the Go Coloration 7 that includes coloured e-ink, audio, bodily web page flip buttons, Android 12 performance, and 64GB of flash reminiscence.

The Boox Go Coloration 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 Coloration 7 right into a bag for my commute, and the display screen is designed to face up to minor liquid spills and drops.

What I appreciated in regards to the Onyx Boox Go Coloration 7

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

Utilizing the Boox Go Coloration 7 for about two weeks straight, the battery barely dropped. Despite the fact that it has a comparatively small 2,300 mAh battery, I discovered the battery life among the many finest 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 Coloration 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 tip of practically two weeks utilizing the Go Coloration 7, I had 15% battery life, which I used to be in a position to cost again as much as full in underneath two hours because of USB-C charging.

Android 12 help on the Boox Go Coloration 7 means you’ve entry to a number of apps for studying. You possibly can 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 Coloration 7 helps all the things from comedian books to textbooks to straightforward EPUB novels. For testing functions, I used to be in a position to change between studying Dying Notice to a tutorial textual content with ease.

Whereas the display screen dimension is smaller than the common printing normal for comics, I did not have any points studying each comics or manga with the Go Coloration 7, except for slight colour 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 must be famous, although, that you will want to utilize the pinch zoom characteristic to learn comics or manga with the Go Coloration 7, which could be a distracting expertise when you aren’t used to studying comics on a smaller-sized machine already.

Whereas I most likely will not be utilizing the Go Coloration 7 for audiobooks or podcasts usually, as I desire utilizing my telephone for these functions whereas operating errands, it is good to see audio help and built-in Bluetooth help on the Go Coloration 7. The built-in audio system aren’t the most effective, however they get the job carried out, particularly when you want pronunciation assist in an e-book with the Go Coloration 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 known as BooxDrop with the Go Coloration 7. It operates the identical approach as DropBox would, and you’ll sync a number of file-sharing apps to it for simple entry to your whole e-books.

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

Lack of distinction, refresh points, and enter lag

A few of Boox’s e-readers and tablets embody their BSR (Boox Super Refresh) know-how. The Go Coloration 7 isn’t one among these e-readers, so you will discover a little bit of ghosting once 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 lots of e-readers every day, so I am accustomed to e-ink ghosting. Nevertheless, BSR on different Boox gadgets is understood to be a big drain on battery life, which might be why, even with a small 2,300 mAh cell, the Go Coloration 7 options spectacular battery life.

Whereas the Go Coloration 7 does not characteristic BSR, you possibly can 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 gadgets, and the Go Coloration 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 machine, it is solely crammed with public area e-books. Whereas it is a nice characteristic for studying classics, you will completely have to obtain your individual e-reading app of alternative by the Android retailer. This may be initially deceptive for some customers. Nonetheless, with Android 12 help, it is easy to obtain any e-reading app, which was a delight coming from the locked-down Kindle ecosystem.

Whereas searching the Google Play Retailer, I observed a couple of cases of enter lag between the contact keyboard and what was taking place on display screen. This is not a dealbreaker for me, but it surely did trigger a couple of short-lived moments of frustration whereas working the Go Coloration 7 and is one thing to be aware of.

Whereas the discharge of the Go Coloration 7 is marked by points associated to Android 12 and the included Boox software program suite, many of those issues had already been mounted by the point I obtained my unit. Software program points are persistent on any pill, but it surely’s a terrific 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 colour e-readers, together with the Kobo Libra Color and Kobo Clara Color, including a touch of vibrancy to the sometimes 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 gadgets costlier, and lots of e-reader customers may not care about colour of their books and notes. Amazon nonetheless hasn’t launched its tackle a colour e-reader, although the tech big is rumored to be engaged on a number of gadgets. With all of this in thoughts, do you care about colour e-readers? Or is it an addition you would like you did not have to pay for?

Must you purchase the Onyx Boox Go Coloration 7?

A premium e-reader with a excessive diploma of performance

The Onyx Boox Go Coloration 7 is a superb first e-reader and a stable various to the Kindle when you’re searching for a tool with a better diploma of performance and compatibility. When you’ve been pissed off with the dearth of colour e-ink and codecs obtainable from Amazon’s Kindle, then I would suggest the Onyx Boox Go Coloration 7, so long as you’re prepared to spend the additional $100. I desire e-readers for his or her lack of distractions and lengthy battery lives, and the Boox Go Coloration 7 hit my most desired factors in an e-reader. Android performance can also 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 Coloration 7 to anybody that has a extra premium e-reader, nonetheless. That is an entry-level premium e-reader from Onyx, and when you already personal a Notice Air from Boox or a latest Kobo, it may not 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 screen, I can not suggest the Onyx Boox Go Coloration 7 sufficient.

This machine was supplied to Pocket-lint by Boox.

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Boox Go Coloration 7