Onyx Boox Go 10.3 review: Minimalist bliss

I’m old enough to remember when good tablets weren’t designed for watching movies or binging your favorite Netflix series. Long before the Apple iPad, we had pen-based computers, essentially laptops without a keyboard, which used an attached stylus for input. They weighed several pounds and cost thousands of dollars, but the time and paper saved made them worth the investment. Instead of filling out a physical form for an expense report or sales order, you entered it on the pad, making it easy to upload and tabulate when you returned to the home office.

I think of the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 much the same way. It’s a pure productivity tablet with a minimalist design and fantastic display. Like the Onyx Note Air 3C I reviewed, finding the value is a bit of a build-your-own adventure. However, if you have a use for it, the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 is one of the best tablets you can buy for notetaking.

Price and availability

The Boox Go 10.3 is available through Onyx and Amazon for $380. It comes in one configuration with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It’s also available in only one color, an aesthetically pleasing silver and ivory combination. Thankfully, Onyx included a couple of accessories: the company’s Pen Plus stylus and a magnetic cover case. The stylus is essential to the experience, so I’m pleased that Onyx included one with the Boox Go 10.3.

What I like about the Onyx Boox Go 10.3

Fantastic display with a great design

The Boox Go is incredibly thin and well-made. It’s 4.6mm thick, and while it’s a bit hefty at 375g, it’s solidly engineered. I’ve used a few Onyx products, and each has been well-designed, but the Boox Go is on another level. I love the feel of the eco-leather on the back of the tablet. Onyx claims it will remind you of a textured notebook, and while I’ll leave that for you to decide, I appreciate the grip it adds.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better display on an E ink device than the 10.3-inch HD Carta 1200 monochrome panel on the Boox Go. With its 2480×1860 resolution and 300ppi, text is incredibly readable. Onyx displays are typically high-quality, but the excellent reflectivity and contrast ratio on the Boox Go provide an altogether different experience. Content appeared printed on the panel, and when I was writing notes, my brain had difficulty convincing myself that those weren’t Sharpie marks on the page.

Typically, I’d mention the lack of front lighting as a negative, but I didn’t miss it on the Boox Go. The display is so highly reflective that even the softest ambient lighting was enough to read content. I wouldn’t recommend using the Boox Go in darkened environments often unless you want to frequent your eye doctor, but it’s possible to use it in situations where other non-lit displays would be useless.

Moreover, Onyx nailed the touch-sensitive layers of the display. The capacitive touch layer is pretty standard — it’s responsive and does a fine job aiding gesture navigation, but the stylus touch layer is where the Boox Go comes alive. Pen input feels natural, with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, capturing the nuance of your handwriting. If you’re an artist, brush strokes look detailed, making the Boox Go an ideal sketchpad. All told, it’s a fantastic display and the main reason you’d consider buying a Boox Go 10.3.

Software is also a strong point of the Boox Go, as Onyx has made changes to improve the user experience. In addition to streamlining the UI by simplifying the menus, Onyx helps make customizing your Boox Go more straightforward. Granular control of refresh rates in individual apps has long been a highlight of Onyx’s software, but it could be tedious and overwhelming. To make things easier, the company includes pre-optimized refresh rate settings for its suite of apps and more popular Android apps, saving much of the guesswork for the user.

It’s no secret how much I enjoy Onyx’s native apps. NeoBrowser is snappy and a great way to peruse the internet on an E ink device. The company’s Notes app continues to be one of the best ways to replace paper in your life. It’s ideal for notes, sketches, and even calendar and scheduling functions. PushRead is a well-designed RSS reader, and BooxDrop is handy for transferring files and syncing across several Boox devices (more on that later).

Onyx jumped on the AI bandwagon by adding an AI Assistant. It’s nothing more than a portal to a ChatGPT 3 dialog box, but it’s still handy on the home screen, and it was ideal for answering quick questions on the fly. And while Android 12 might seem a bit dated, Onyx users will know the company uses a heavily modified version, so you’ll never feel restricted.

With a low-powered octa-core processor and no front lighting, the Boox Go’s 3,700mAh battery lasts as long as expected. You can go a week or more on a single charge, but if you use the speakers more heavily, you might need to refuel more often.

The Boox Go features a built-in microphone and dual speakers for music and audiobooks. The microphone was surprisingly clear, and playback from the bottom-firing speakers was above average. If you want better quality, you can connect to your favorite Bluetooth headset or wired headphones through a USB-C audio jack adapter.

What I don’t like about the Onyx Boox Go 10.3

Shocked at no MicroSD card slot

I was surprised by the Onyx Boox Go 10.3’s lack of a MicroSD card slot. I assumed a device aimed at productivity would include a way to carry around PDF files and eBooks without needing the cloud. While BooxDrop is a great way to shift files back and forth, it does require an internet connection, and you’re still limited by the Boox Go’s 64GB of internal storage. It’s an odd omission, and I’d like to see Onyx consider adding one in future generations.

I’ve harped on this before, but I would still like to see Onyx develop a better store solution that is more than just a collection of public domain works. Libby is a great alternative and works well on the Boox Go, and I understand other apps are available that make purchasing content possible on the device. However, I would still welcome a native solution from the company similar to the Rakuten store on the Kobo Clara Colour .

Should you buy it?

I mentioned earlier that finding value in Onyx tablets is not always easy because they aren’t typical e-readers. If you can use the extra functionality and versatility, the Boox Go 10.3 is a wonderfully designed notetaking and productivity machine, with everything you need and nothing you don’t.

It’s pricey at $380, but you get what you pay for, and if you can appreciate a tablet designed as a throwback to the pen pads of yesteryear, you’ll never doubt it’s worth it.