Trapped underneath its personal weight

I’m a large fan of Onyx merchandise. I exploit my Onyx Boox Go 10.3 day by day for note-taking and scanning PDFs. It’s a improbable productiveness gadget that highlights what Onyx does finest: offering the pliability of Android with the charms and advantages of an E Ink show. Sadly, that successful formulation cannot be duplicated in any respect value ranges, and the Onyx Boox Go 6 suffers from making an attempt to do an excessive amount of.

I like elements of the Boox Go 6, however the whole package deal doesn’t supply a greater choice than a lot of the competitors — particularly for $149. Let’s have a look at what I preferred (and didn’t) in my time utilizing the Onyx Boox Go 6.

Value, availability, and specs

The Onyx Boox Go 6 is offered by means of Onyx for $150. It has 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a MicroSD card slot for additional content material. As normal, Onyx provides a Go 6 Magnetic Case for an extra $40. It’s well-made with eco-leather and powerful magnets, and it protects your Boox Go 6 from harm.

What’s good concerning the Onyx Boox Go 6?

Show and construct high quality

Regardless of my different opinions on the Boox Go 6, the show is just good. It’s a 6-inch E Ink monochrome Carta 1300 panel with a decision of 1448×1072 and 300ppi. Outside viewing is great, with sharp textual content and improbable distinction. Phrases look printed on the show, which was a pleasure to learn. The Boox Go 6’s entrance lighting system additionally works nicely, providing full management over brightness and coloration temperature. So, you may have a cooler, clear tone all through the day and a hotter, eye-friendly hue in the course of the night. Darkish mode is offered, though I discovered it tougher to search out the advantages on an E Ink show.

I nonetheless want monochrome shows for e-readers. Shade is a welcome choice, however except you want it for one thing particular, black and white is greater than enough, particularly when it is as crisp as on the Boox Go 6. Onyx included its granular show management choices on the Boox Go 6, permitting us to tweak refresh charges and DPI settings. It additionally supplied pre-optimized settings for fashionable Android apps, like Kindle and Libby. In the event you personal one other Onyx gadget, you may obtain your app settings by means of the cloud, assuaging the typically tedious work of dialing apps into the show.

Software program continues to be a powerful level of the Boox Go 6, even when the efficiency isn’t as much as the duty. I like Onyx’s app suite, from Calendar Memo, my favourite paper planner substitute, to NeoBrowser, a nifty net shopping app optimized for an E Ink show. Onyx makes transferring recordsdata backwards and forwards out of your PC simple, and you may even add web page notes and PDFs between your desktop and different Onyx tablets if wanted. Onyx’s NaviBall is the easiest way to navigate your Boox Go 6, offering fast entry to display refreshing and multitasking.

I just like the Boox Go 6’s design, as Onyx saved it comparatively skinny and light-weight. It’s an all-plastic design, however that has advantages, because the Boox Go 6 ideas the scales at solely 146g. Its 6-inch show leads to a compact gadget, and I discovered it match completely into the again pocket of my denims (simply don’t sit on it). Even with the magnetic case, the Boox Go 6 doesn’t take up a lot house and is gentle sufficient to throw right into a backpack or messenger bag with out contemplating whether or not you’ll want it at your vacation spot.

The Boox Go 6 doesn’t embrace a 3.5mm headphone jack, however it does help Bluetooth 5.0, which permits for connecting a wi-fi headset for audiobook wants.

What’s dangerous concerning the Onyx Boox Go 6?

Efficiency, or lack thereof

Sadly, the Boox Go 6’s positives are inhibited by its dreadful efficiency. It’s powered by a 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon chipset with 2GB of RAM, however it can not ship sufficient horsepower for a easy Android expertise. Studying books and PDF recordsdata natively by means of the Onyx reader is an honest expertise, as is the Calendar Memo and different system apps.

Nevertheless, with no correct retailer, you’ll depend on Android apps like Kindle, Kobo, Libby, and others to your books and audiobooks — every expertise rife with slowdowns and crashes, making studying deeply disagreeable. The Amazon Kindle app was painful to make use of. Opening the app could be a battle, and navigation is sluggish. I additionally skilled a number of crashes and delays registering my inputs.

My Kobo app expertise was barely higher, however the efficiency nonetheless couldn’t match my Kobo Clara Color. Libby suffered related slowdowns; mainly, something from the Play Retailer was a tough expertise. I imagine Onyx went with Android 11 for the Boox Go 6 as an alternative of 12 as a result of the corporate felt it would tax the chipset much less, however with 2GB of RAM, it is an uphill battle regardless. There’s inadequate reminiscence to cache full Android apps and the system UI successfully, resulting in uneven efficiency, particularly if you ask the chipset to open and shut apps continuously.

The Boox Go 6 does appear to “heat up” the extra you utilize it, however I feel that’s a byproduct of utilizing cached system apps. For instance, studying a file from an SD card is a easy expertise, as goes by means of the Onyx calendar app. Nevertheless, issues begin to get uneven exterior of that. It’s like placing an elephant on a tricycle and questioning why it’s not transferring; the Boox Go 6 can’t get out from underneath its personal weight.

I used to be additionally disillusioned with the Boox Go 6’s battery life. Due to the additional Android performance, I’ve at all times anticipated that Onyx units would have worse battery life than a typical e-reader. Nonetheless, the Boox Go 6 drained sooner than I’d take into account regular, and also you’ll must high off as soon as every single day or two when you’re utilizing Android apps closely. It’s a decent battery measurement (1,500mAh) for a 6-inch e-reader, however Android and an overworked chipset lead to poor efficiency.

Must you purchase it?

Higher choices for a similar cash

The Boox Go 6 tries to be the most effective of each worlds at a cheaper price level than its Onyx siblings, however it’s not polished sufficient to suggest shopping for. Too many different finances Android tablets can be found that present a a lot better app and UI expertise for a similar (or much less) cash. Equally, e-readers just like the Kobo Clara BW price much less and nonetheless embrace a Carta 1300 E Ink show. Plus, its fundamental software program is supposed for specialised duties, that means it doesn’t have the heavy overhead of full Android bogging it down.

I nonetheless love Onyx e-readers and sit up for the corporate’s latest releases; not each mannequin at all times scores. Whereas I respect Onyx for eager to launch a flexible gadget in a finances class, typically Mercedes simply shouldn’t compete with Kia in the identical market.