Onyx Boox Note Air 2 Plus review

The sport is afoot with e-ink tablets tumbling onto the scene these final couple of years, and the newest to land at Tech Advisor for evaluate is the Boox Notice Air 2 Plus from Onyx. 

Removed from launching in isolation, the Notice Air 2 sequence’s greatest competitors proper now comes from the elegantly easy ReMarkable 2, the trendy but hamstrung Huawei MatePad Paper, and most not too long ago, Amazon’s barely clunky on-launch Kindle Scribe.

There’s one thing of a spectrum in relation to e-ink tablets; from easy to good, and the Notice Air 2 Plus is the neatest of all of them. It runs full-blown Android apps, even when some look clumsy on its e-ink show tech, has unadulterated Google Play Retailer entry, and packs probably the most customisable display screen of any e-ink system we’ve examined.

Extra than simply intelligent, it’s additionally trendy, with a slim profile, steel building, and enjoyable pops of color to provide its classical design some aptitude. With a stylus pen within the field, Onyx doesn’t overlook about notetakers, and with a set of software program that will help you get off the bottom, from a Notes app to a digital bookstore, it undoubtedly needs to be the do-it-all e-ink slate.

Design & Show

• Fashionable, glossy design
• 5.8mm skinny profile
• Glorious entrance lit e-ink show

Strong and glossy, they’re probably the most putting qualities the Notice Air 2 Plus hit house after I first received my mitts on it.

The pill’s 10.3in e-ink Carta show is on the correct facet of the fascia, and on the left is an space to grip it. Framed by a average bezel, the display screen isn’t as border-free as that of the Huawei MatePad Paper. Nonetheless, the design frames it properly, stopping the border from making the slate really feel dated.

The entire thing can also be extremely skinny at 5.8mm, once more, preserving the bundle feeling trendy. Barely thicker than the USB-C port used to cost it, the Notice Air 2 Plus has a unibody steel again and sides.

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

There are not any ports or buttons on the highest, backside or proper sides of the pill, whereas the left facet sports activities the ability button and USB-C port, in addition to the loudspeaker. That is the one actual niggle I had with the Notice Air sequence’s design, the USB-C port is roofed when the tab is in a folio case. Not like the ReMarkable 2 and Kindle Scribe, due to this fact, you possibly can’t cost it whereas it’s protected which is irritating.

At 445g, regardless of being skinny, Onyx has made a well-weighted pill that feels strong. There are a selection of folio circumstances out there for it, and I examined it with the Magnetic Case in orange (pictured).

As for the display screen, it’s a two-part story: {hardware} and software program. Beginning with {hardware}, and the monochrome e-ink shows textual content crisply with its 227ppi show. Bested solely by the Kindle Scribe in relation to sharpness, I haven’t received any complaints in relation to the Notice Air 2 Plus’s display screen high quality.

Its matte end diffuses gentle so is readable in nearly all environments, and when the lights drop, you possibly can manipulate each the nice and cozy and funky entrance gentle.

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

The explanation the software program performs such an enormous half within the Notice Air 2 Plus’s show versus the competitors, is you can select a spread of refresh types. These embrace Regal, Velocity, A2 and X, which vary from gradual and sharp (Regal – finest for books) to quick and unafraid of ghosting (X – finest for video). 

There are even wonderful app-specific customizations that the Notice Air 2 helps. You may force-bold titles, for instance, which helps create a clearer visible hierarchy, which is typically lacking when there’s no color on-screen.

Equipment

• Pen included with the pill
• Magnetic pen and folio factors
• Folio case out there individually

The primary technology Notice Air suffered from a really weak magnet to safe the pen in place on its proper facet. Its optionally available circumstances additionally missed out on magnets, as a substitute that includes adhesive pads to stay the tab to it – extra arts and crafts than premium slate. 

Fortunately, for its second-generation Notice Air pill, Onyx has improved each the pen magnet and case adhesion by including magnets to the again – an enormous enchancment on each counts.

This brings the e-ink slate’s equipment extra consistent with the competitors, although the pen isn’t probably the most multi-functional on the block. Within the field, you get a typical stylus – no button and no eraser on the again. In the meantime, the Kindle Scribe has a customizable button, very like that of Samsung’s S Pen, giving it a slight edge.

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

The pen physique is textured with striated grooves that run from finish to finish, giving it an honest quantity of grip. The construct is extra hole and plastic-feeling than Amazon and ReMarkable’s pens, and it’s a bit of shorter too. Nonetheless, in isolation, it does the job, and writing on the Notice Air 2 Plus’s show delivers a large amount of friction, mirroring scratchy paper very properly.

As for circumstances, the Magnetic Case proven right here doesn’t come within the field however the bundle out there on the official retailer on the time of writing does throw it in.

What’s cool concerning the Notice Air 2 Plus is that it really works with a spread of Bluetooth units, so you possibly can pair headphones, audio system, or perhaps a keyboard, taking the battle to ReMarkable and its new, dear folio keyboard case. Actually, with entry to apps like Google Docs and Microsoft Phrase, I’d go as far as to say Onyx’s pill sequence is the most suitable choice for anybody on the hunt for typing on an e-ink show.

Specs & Efficiency

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 646 energy
• 64GB storage and 4GB RAM
• USB-C port for knowledge and charging

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 646 preserving the Notice Air 2 Plus ticking is hardly a powerhouse processor, but when all you want is an eBook studying, doc opening, informal notetaking pill, efficiency is simply high quality. Even hefty PDF paperwork clocking in at 150MB opened with out slowdown within the native Boox Reader app.

Actually, it would probably be the e-ink display screen expertise and its perceived low refresh fee that’ll make the entire expertise really feel gradual in comparison with conventional tablets. 

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

I particularly seen the pill take its time in a single key space, although – waking up. Whereas different e-ink tablets that run lighter interfaces are typically comparatively instant-on, as do Kindle eBook readers. The Notice Air 2 Plus, in contrast, takes a minute to get up after powering down – which it robotically does after quarter-hour.

Fortunately, I might customise these sleep and power-off settings, identical to a PC, remedying the slowdown on the expense of a bit of battery life.

The pill has 64GB storage, which doesn’t sound like rather a lot. A comparably priced Android pill has no less than double that. By its nature, although, an e-ink pill isn’t going for use for wealthy content material like video, so 64GB goes a great distance when used for paperwork and audio recordsdata.

Software program

• Android 11 with Boox customisations
• Full Google Play Retailer entry
• Native eBook and Notetaking apps

Regardless of operating a custom-made model of Android 11, the core interface appears nothing like an Android cellphone or pill. There’s a vertical record of choices on the left facet of the UI: Library, Retailer, Notes, Storage, Apps, and Settings. Pull down from the highest proper of the display screen for fast toggles, and from the left of the display screen for notifications.

The Notice Air 2 Plus’s extremely custom-made interface means you don’t see a lot Android, and that takes the sting out of the very fact the tab ships with tahe two-year-old Android model. In any case, the sensible highlights Google introduces in its newest OS variations like Materials U, wouldn’t be obvious by way of Boox’s pores and skin. 

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

The previous model of Android would possibly concern some who need the newest safety updates on their e-ink tab. In any case, operating Android apps like Gmail, there’s an excellent likelihood you’ll need your tab to have the very newest safety updates, and my Notice Air 2 Plus didn’t appear to on the time of writing.

Onyx’s notetaking software program is highly effective, with help for layers, textual content, picture attachments and even optical character recognition (OCR), although it’s much less intuitive than that of ReMarkable. 

What I anticipated would assist the pill edge forward of the competitors would have been Play Retailer entry, and it does with sure apps like Google Docs and Amazon Kindle. That mentioned, writing in third-party apps like Wacom Bamboo Paper ends in critical lag, so if you happen to can’t abide latency, the pre-installed notetaking instrument is the way in which to go.

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

Battery Life & Charging

• 3700mAh battery
• Lengthy-lasting battery life
• Problematic charging port place

When you go away the Notice Air 2 Plus in its default state, powering down totally after quarter-hour, you’ll probably get two to 4 weeks out of the tab with 30-60 minutes of use a day. Heavier use as a piece support with liberal display screen gentle energetic time, and with the power-down time prolonged, and also you’re nearer per week.

Good for a weekend away or a piece journey, I seen the principle battery drain was the entrance gentle being on, so if you happen to’re a daytime consumer, you may as well count on to eke out much more time. The battery charged up in a bit of beneath a few hours, so don’t count on notably nippy charging, however given how lengthy this factor lasts, that wasn’t a difficulty for me.

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

What was extra irksome than the precise battery lifetime of the tab was its charging port. Positioned on the left facet, when stowed in a folio case, you possibly can’t cost the tab up when protected. 

Value & Availability

• Plus variant prices $499/£499
• Expensive in comparison with conventional tablets
• Accessible by way of Amazon within the UK

The Notice Air 2 and Notice Air 2 Plus are nearly an identical, save for the very fact the Plus ships in inexperienced, not blue, and sports activities a higher-capacity battery – 3700mAh versus 3000mAh. In flip, if you happen to don’t want fairly so many days or perhaps weeks of energy, the vanilla Notice Air 2 may very well be the higher choice at $449, although seems to be unavailable within the UK.

That mentioned, the Plus is the mightiest round and is way simpler to seek out on-line, with availability on Amazon UK. Within the US, you may get it from the official retailer in addition to Amazon and BestBuy.

The Plus mannequin examined right here begins at $499/£499/€519,99 and the bundle on the shop on the time of writing consists of stylus ideas and a Magnetic Case. Alternatively, a special bundle additionally comes with the Pen2 Professional within the US and Europe at $579.98/€599.98 RRP.

That is dear in comparison with conventional tablets and certainly the ReMarkable 2, which prices £358 (with a pen), and the £329 Amazon Kindle Scribe, however the Notice Air 2 is extra versatile than each e-ink options.

Take a look at our charts of one of the best tablets and finest Android tablets for extra choices.

Basil Kronfli / Foundry

Verdict

If you need the neatest E Ink slate on the block, the Notice Air 2 Plus is it. It’ll run the Kindle app and show your eBooks and PDF recordsdata, in addition to work as an amazing digital notepad – no drawback.

But it surely additionally performs again audiobooks and music, hooks as much as a Bluetooth keyboard and works as an eye-friendly E Ink doc editor in Google Docs, and offers you most management over every part from the display screen refresh fee to the hue of the sunshine.

So if you happen to’re a self-proclaimed geek and desire a gadget that actually enables you to flex, the Notice Air 2 Plus is it. If, nonetheless, you need one thing for common media consumption, you’d be higher off with a conventional pill.

On the opposite finish of the spectrum, for an easier notetaking instrument that has a extra refined interface and fewer distraction, the ReMarkable 2 is a mighty different.

Specs

• OS: Android 11
• Show: 10.3in e-ink Carta show, entrance gentle with CTM (Heat and Chilly)
• Decision: 1404×1872, 227ppi
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 646
• Reminiscence: 4GB RAM
• Storage: 64GB storage
• Stylus: Boox Pen Plus stylus with magnets X1 (included)
• Buttons: Energy on/off
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5GHz) + Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C
• Audio: Speaker, mic
• Battery: 3700mAh, As much as five-week battery life (standby)
• Dimensions: 229x195x5.8mm
• Weight: 445g
• Waterproofing: None