I think this was fair. I just got mine a couple days now. I'm using it for policy related work and academic activities. Still getting the hang of it but its definitely helping with my research and work flow. I've seen all your videos related to e ink alongside others in the TH-cam community. Thank you for the effort in releasing these. It certainly helped me!
Excellent 4-part series, Jeffrey. My last two BOOX devices have been the NA1 and Max Lumi 2. I have some curiosity about the Note Max, but I’m leaning most towards the NA4C. I like the idea of color as I do like to read some of my news apps.
Jeffrey, An excellent series of videos and an excellent Final Verdict, I think this gives a lot of potential users a good sense of direction depending on their user requirements well done.
Wow. An amazing review. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You really punch above your subscriber numbers. I guess it is because in the world of iPad Pro M4 tablets, there is just less of an audience for e-ink tablets.
I completely agree on neoreder! The interface being different from the notes app and the functionality of the tools is annoying and disorienting. I want the notes app toolbars to have the looks of neoreader and neoreader to have the functionality of the notes app tools. For instance the notes app doesn’t have a button to zoom back out. Neoreader doesn’t have the same shape tools - they end up looking different. I’m torn on which app i want to stick with for my pdf planner/journal. I’m also struggling to get the refresh/color settings to my liking in both apps. There’s such a stark difference in color profile between hd and balanced etc.
Hi Jeff. Thanks for the review. I own both the Go 10.3 and the NA4C because of everything you've said. I want the black and white for its long battery life and clarity, but sometimes want a front light, BSR and colour. The only problem I have is the syncing between the devices. All my page numbers from my highlights have been lost in neoreader on the 3.5 devices the line spacing and other settings aren't compatible. In the notebook pen strokes sync weirdly. Unfortunately, I think I will have to wait for all my devices to get 4.0 and then I will turn off automatic updates
@jeffreymoss reading text 100% agree. I've been reading on the 1st kindle paperwhite and it's ok for me now since then. Writing it's a deeper doubt, because I've been using one note and Obsidian whit Android Tablet. Change kindle and the tablet for this e-ink Boox 4C, freaking me out. I'm not sure about it.
Great job. You are a great asset to the youtube community. I have a question about the Boox Note Air 4C: has the speed of searching for words in handwritten notes improved with the 4.0 firmware? A big problem with the Boox software (for example compared to Supernote) is that searching for words in handwritten notes is very slow.
That's a good question. It's hard for me to say, because I only have a small amount of notes on the device. I suspect this is still an issue, as I did notice that with the 3C, and I haven't heard anyone comment on improvements in this area.
Thank you for the comparison with SuperNote. I have the A6X2 and love it, but need a bigger screen. I would love to see a video showing a side-by-side illustration of the differences in notetaking between the 2 devices. I am trying to decide if the file management and notetaking differences are significant enough to be a deal breaker for me. I am also curious if the Air4C populates notifications... for example, a reminder notification for a "to do" list.
When the A5X2 comes out, I'll do a full review and then beyond that, focus on differences between the two devices in terms of notetaking. I think file management is something Supernote does better, so I'm hoping to illustrate that. I'm not aware of any notifications for to-dos, and the calendar app does not allow you to create events that might come with reminders.
@ thank you for the info on the to do’s/notifications. I know the purpose of eink tablets is to minimize distractions however, those of us over 40 can make an argument for the occasional reminder 😆
interesting to hear your comments vs supernote on note taking. I have no context having only just bought the boox go 10.3 (didn’t want to wait longer for A5X2) but I find it pretty much gives me all the features I want, and the UI is plenty usable - I’d guess most people don’t use two different devices enough to understand the nuances between them. Do you find that the TOC feature and the new ability to use full hyperlinked PDFs in v4.0 at least brings boox to a level of feature parity that is close to supernote? (usability/nuance in approach notwithstanding)?
To be clear, I think both note taking apps are excellent. I think, for a lot of people, Boox will be great for them. For me, I use the Supernote as my daily driver at work, and the functions I make the most use of are two-finger erase, star-marking, and file management (e.g. quick links). I think Supernote is better than Boox for these things. Some folks note that Boox has similar functionality, but I find the Supernote's offerings better and more aligned to the flow of notetaking. For example, one feature folks point to Boox as being similar to the Supernote is that you can create symbols like a star, but can also use other symbols such as triangles, asterisks, and more. The problem with Boox's implementation is two-fold. First, it relies on handwriting search which may or may not recognize the icon you draw. Second, it only allows for search on those items within a notebook. Supernote only has one icon, the star, but it registers to let you know the system recognizes it once you draw it, and you can search across notebooks quickly and accurately. So that's a good example of what I mean.
@@jeffreymossit's so frustrating to me that the Nomad was "almost there" as far as I was concerned. missing shape generation and the ability to use text boxes killed their notes app for me but I really loved the idea of being able to be more organized with the kind of linking/star/to-do features you're talking about.
I'm glad you asked this question, I have the SN A6X2 but have not used a Boox product. I love the SN - the writing feel is amazing and it is easy to navigate. I just find myself wanting a few more features - a bigger screen to start. I would also like to have some color to differentiate notes. I'd also like to have an option for notifications since I use my SN for work and would like reminders on "to do" items.
@@melissafox6826 unfortunately I think it's gonna be quite a while before Ratta dips their toes into the color world; I don't think they think color e-ink is "there yet," and while I sort of agree with them I can understand your frustration.
@@0xKruzragree, on the color - it’s not quite where I would want it on eink devices but as is, it’s not a dealbreaker. I also appreciate that Boox has fingerprint access - that is one big flaw to my SN is the lag when tapping on the onscreen keyboard. I’m tempted to give the Boox a go, as the A5X2 seems to be so far out.
I'm considering na4 for obsidian notetaking app and I think it would work well using a keyboard. What I don't know is the quality of the handrwriting or drawing experience with Excalidraw. The latency seems to be bad in a3c and I was expecting an improvement in a4c. Could you give me any addvice on this?
Unfortunately, I'm not an Obsidian user. But my initial reaction is that if it didn't work well on the NA3C, then I'd be doubtful that that has changed. However I do know there are quite a few Obsidian users on the Onyx_Boox subreddit and you can check there to see if anyone has tried it yet. Usually folks are pretty responsive there.
Do you find that the handwriting recognition on the Supernote is better than on the NA4c? I’ve tried both, and the one on the Boox seems much better to me. Additionally, I think that the ability to correct misinterpreted words without having to delete and rewrite them is a crucial feature, especially for those who want to search through their handwritten notes.
They are both pretty good for me. The critical issue for Boox, which I think Supernote does better, is that the more notes you have, the longer it takes to do a handwriting search across all notes. I remember with the original Note Air, I would mark to-dos with 'XX' and then do a search to collect them. I would come in and start up my computer, do the search, and go get a coffee. I'd come back with the computer ready to go, but the search still taking a while. But then again, I had a lot of notebooks.
Hi, I used to have the Hisense A5 Pro Cc, and the 7. Both color e-ink telephones from several years ago. I also have purchased and returned the Onyx Note Air 3. I wanted to use a brain game for health, called Neuro Nation. But the Air 3 did not perform anywhere near how I recall the Hisense telephones from several years ago. Those old e-ink telephones were more functional, especially in the fast refresh mode. Do you understand anything about why that may be and would you share, please? Also, can this thing play the Neuro Nation brain exercise game? The game is in extremely low-demanding. A huge amount less than video, but it performed poorly on the previous model. Optimization of applications is something I hear mentioned, in general, if something doesn't work well. Thank you.
I did a quick trial of NeuroNation and it seemed to work fine. I just did a 3-part test. Ghosting was present, but didn't get in the way of the experience. Why it would have worked better on the various devices you noted, I'm not sure. If anything, refresh speed of eink screens have been getting better over time, so I'd expect newer devices to generally perform better.
@jeffreymoss Sorry, I sent this reply a few times. Your name kept disappearing. I appreciate it. The main thing for me was that even though it worked on the Air 3, it did not show the core of the game. Like the colors or movement versus a regular device. I did not try it on the Hisense devices. But, in general, everything worked nicer than the Air 3. The e-ink screen clarity is much higher now. But, the “fluid” movement of any and every action was nicer on the much older Hisense devices. Different topic, but still sort of the same. When the first version of Android was out a very long time ago, there were many different technologies on the market. All, much more capable than e-ink, and they all played video with no backlight in the sun perfectly. Like fifteen years ago. Someone bought up the market. Because, every last one of those companies disappeared and now we are all stuck with this barely capable e-ink. Thank you, for testing that for me. Best wishes.
i received this product. And I tried it. But its screen often is stuck. I am frustraited. Is it the way as it is? Or my product has some problems. I have been fed up for powering off and power on again and again to release its stuckness.
That shouldn't happen. It's not too unusual to have a few of those incidents when getting a new device, but with firmware updates and a restart or two, I'd expect that issue to go away. Make sure you are on the latest firmware, and if not, correct that. Then restart it one time. At that point, I'd expect freezing to be a very unusual occurance.
Thanks for the excellent review of the product. I have a question. Does this device has the functionality to switch between color screen and black and white screen according to my preferences, which would eventually give a longer battery life?
My experience is that it's terrible. The wifi connection is very unstable. Screen is so dark that front light needs to be at 100% to look decent. Battery performance is terrible and same as my Samsung Tab with oled screen, basically negating the reason to buy it. Lastly, I think performance terrible, it keeps freezing , I had to turn sleep function off. Ghosting is so bad you need to turn up the refresh rate. Software is full of bugs. I hate it. I wish I could return it.
I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, the tech is not for everyone and sometimes someone just don't know that until one can get hands on time with these types of devices which is, in itself, difficult to do. Maybe you can sell it on ebay?
@@jeffreymoss I purchased the Viwoods AI paper as a comparison and I have the opposite experience. It's light, responsive, battery lasts for a long time, wifi and Bluetooth are stable and work great, and finally the screen is awesome. I think what I hate the most about Note Air 4c are 4 things: Screen, weight(it's heavy), unstable wifi performance and buggy software.
@@jeffreymoss I applied for return of the device to Boox. I will eat the restocking charges. Depending on the customer service, I will decide if I buy from them in the future.
![Method Writing: The First Four Concepts - Jack Grapes [FULL INTERVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ba9jAVzADY0/mqdefault.jpg)
I think this was fair. I just got mine a couple days now. I'm using it for policy related work and academic activities. Still getting the hang of it but its definitely helping with my research and work flow. I've seen all your videos related to e ink alongside others in the TH-cam community. Thank you for the effort in releasing these. It certainly helped me!
Thank you for saying that. My hope is to help people to find the device that is best for them, so it's good to hear that in action!
Good review as usual. In terms of content, I think your reviews are the standard in e-ink at this point
I appreciate that!
Thank a lot for the 4 part review. It helps a lot. This is one of the best guides I saw. Thnx!
Excellent 4-part series, Jeffrey. My last two BOOX devices have been the NA1 and Max Lumi 2. I have some curiosity about the Note Max, but I’m leaning most towards the NA4C. I like the idea of color as I do like to read some of my news apps.
Jeffrey, An excellent series of videos and an excellent Final Verdict, I think this gives a lot of potential users a good sense of direction depending on their user requirements well done.
Thank you so very much for undertaking such a clear, diligent, honest, user-friendly review. Much appreciated.
Wow. An amazing review. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You really punch above your subscriber numbers. I guess it is because in the world of iPad Pro M4 tablets, there is just less of an audience for e-ink tablets.
Thank you, I appreciate that a lot.
I completely agree on neoreder! The interface being different from the notes app and the functionality of the tools is annoying and disorienting. I want the notes app toolbars to have the looks of neoreader and neoreader to have the functionality of the notes app tools. For instance the notes app doesn’t have a button to zoom back out. Neoreader doesn’t have the same shape tools - they end up looking different. I’m torn on which app i want to stick with for my pdf planner/journal.
I’m also struggling to get the refresh/color settings to my liking in both apps. There’s such a stark difference in color profile between hd and balanced etc.
thank you , this was very helpful and I have decided to go with the Air4C
Hi Jeff. Thanks for the review. I own both the Go 10.3 and the NA4C because of everything you've said. I want the black and white for its long battery life and clarity, but sometimes want a front light, BSR and colour.
The only problem I have is the syncing between the devices. All my page numbers from my highlights have been lost in neoreader on the 3.5 devices the line spacing and other settings aren't compatible. In the notebook pen strokes sync weirdly. Unfortunately, I think I will have to wait for all my devices to get 4.0 and then I will turn off automatic updates
Great analogy on the keyboard!!
Why this e-ink or others with lag and high latency as usual, instead of a Android tablet? Only for a paper viewer similarity?
It's due to the screen tech. Eink is not as good as LCD screens for many things, but in my opinion, it's perfect for reading text and writing.
@jeffreymoss reading text 100% agree. I've been reading on the 1st kindle paperwhite and it's ok for me now since then. Writing it's a deeper doubt, because I've been using one note and Obsidian whit Android Tablet. Change kindle and the tablet for this e-ink Boox 4C, freaking me out. I'm not sure about it.
Great job. You are a great asset to the youtube community.
I have a question about the Boox Note Air 4C: has the speed of searching for words in handwritten notes improved with the 4.0 firmware?
A big problem with the Boox software (for example compared to Supernote) is that searching for words in handwritten notes is very slow.
That's a good question. It's hard for me to say, because I only have a small amount of notes on the device. I suspect this is still an issue, as I did notice that with the 3C, and I haven't heard anyone comment on improvements in this area.
Thank you for the comparison with SuperNote. I have the A6X2 and love it, but need a bigger screen. I would love to see a video showing a side-by-side illustration of the differences in notetaking between the 2 devices. I am trying to decide if the file management and notetaking differences are significant enough to be a deal breaker for me. I am also curious if the Air4C populates notifications... for example, a reminder notification for a "to do" list.
When the A5X2 comes out, I'll do a full review and then beyond that, focus on differences between the two devices in terms of notetaking. I think file management is something Supernote does better, so I'm hoping to illustrate that. I'm not aware of any notifications for to-dos, and the calendar app does not allow you to create events that might come with reminders.
@ thank you for the info on the to do’s/notifications. I know the purpose of eink tablets is to minimize distractions however, those of us over 40 can make an argument for the occasional reminder 😆
Hi there, I have a tab ultra c pro. Am I better off with that to getting a N4C. Great video, thanks.
I think you are good with what you've got. Is the NA4C better, probably, but not in a material way.
Excellent review! Personally, I think I'll wait for the Boox Note Air 5C - maybe next month??
Well played.
Will that have a larger screen?
@@ronsiegel1084 I was actually joking. Sorry.
interesting to hear your comments vs supernote on note taking. I have no context having only just bought the boox go 10.3 (didn’t want to wait longer for A5X2) but I find it pretty much gives me all the features I want, and the UI is plenty usable - I’d guess most people don’t use two different devices enough to understand the nuances between them. Do you find that the TOC feature and the new ability to use full hyperlinked PDFs in v4.0 at least brings boox to a level of feature parity that is close to supernote? (usability/nuance in approach notwithstanding)?
To be clear, I think both note taking apps are excellent. I think, for a lot of people, Boox will be great for them. For me, I use the Supernote as my daily driver at work, and the functions I make the most use of are two-finger erase, star-marking, and file management (e.g. quick links). I think Supernote is better than Boox for these things. Some folks note that Boox has similar functionality, but I find the Supernote's offerings better and more aligned to the flow of notetaking. For example, one feature folks point to Boox as being similar to the Supernote is that you can create symbols like a star, but can also use other symbols such as triangles, asterisks, and more. The problem with Boox's implementation is two-fold. First, it relies on handwriting search which may or may not recognize the icon you draw. Second, it only allows for search on those items within a notebook. Supernote only has one icon, the star, but it registers to let you know the system recognizes it once you draw it, and you can search across notebooks quickly and accurately. So that's a good example of what I mean.
@@jeffreymossit's so frustrating to me that the Nomad was "almost there" as far as I was concerned. missing shape generation and the ability to use text boxes killed their notes app for me but I really loved the idea of being able to be more organized with the kind of linking/star/to-do features you're talking about.
I'm glad you asked this question, I have the SN A6X2 but have not used a Boox product. I love the SN - the writing feel is amazing and it is easy to navigate. I just find myself wanting a few more features - a bigger screen to start. I would also like to have some color to differentiate notes. I'd also like to have an option for notifications since I use my SN for work and would like reminders on "to do" items.
@@melissafox6826 unfortunately I think it's gonna be quite a while before Ratta dips their toes into the color world; I don't think they think color e-ink is "there yet," and while I sort of agree with them I can understand your frustration.
@@0xKruzragree, on the color - it’s not quite where I would want it on eink devices but as is, it’s not a dealbreaker. I also appreciate that Boox has fingerprint access - that is one big flaw to my SN is the lag when tapping on the onscreen keyboard. I’m tempted to give the Boox a go, as the A5X2 seems to be so far out.
Why does everyone glaze the supernote
I'm considering na4 for obsidian notetaking app and I think it would work well using a keyboard. What I don't know is the quality of the handrwriting or drawing experience with Excalidraw. The latency seems to be bad in a3c and I was expecting an improvement in a4c. Could you give me any addvice on this?
Unfortunately, I'm not an Obsidian user. But my initial reaction is that if it didn't work well on the NA3C, then I'd be doubtful that that has changed. However I do know there are quite a few Obsidian users on the Onyx_Boox subreddit and you can check there to see if anyone has tried it yet. Usually folks are pretty responsive there.
Do you find that the handwriting recognition on the Supernote is better than on the NA4c? I’ve tried both, and the one on the Boox seems much better to me. Additionally, I think that the ability to correct misinterpreted words without having to delete and rewrite them is a crucial feature, especially for those who want to search through their handwritten notes.
They are both pretty good for me. The critical issue for Boox, which I think Supernote does better, is that the more notes you have, the longer it takes to do a handwriting search across all notes. I remember with the original Note Air, I would mark to-dos with 'XX' and then do a search to collect them. I would come in and start up my computer, do the search, and go get a coffee. I'd come back with the computer ready to go, but the search still taking a while. But then again, I had a lot of notebooks.
great review - wondering on the quality of the image when reading on 10.3 Go vs NA4C? Many reviews say the 10.3 is noticeably better??
I'm in the process of posting a short video that I hope will help answer this. Let me know if the comparison helps or falls short.
Thank you
Hi, I used to have the Hisense A5 Pro Cc, and the 7. Both color e-ink telephones from several years ago.
I also have purchased and returned the Onyx Note Air 3.
I wanted to use a brain game for health, called Neuro Nation. But the Air 3 did not perform anywhere near how I recall the Hisense telephones from several years ago.
Those old e-ink telephones were more functional, especially in the fast refresh mode.
Do you understand anything about why that may be and would you share, please?
Also, can this thing play the Neuro Nation brain exercise game? The game is in extremely low-demanding. A huge amount less than video, but it performed poorly on the previous model.
Optimization of applications is something I hear mentioned, in general, if something doesn't work well.
Thank you.
I did a quick trial of NeuroNation and it seemed to work fine. I just did a 3-part test. Ghosting was present, but didn't get in the way of the experience. Why it would have worked better on the various devices you noted, I'm not sure. If anything, refresh speed of eink screens have been getting better over time, so I'd expect newer devices to generally perform better.
@jeffreymoss Sorry, I sent this reply a few times. Your name kept disappearing.
I appreciate it.
The main thing for me was that even though it worked on the Air 3, it did not show the core of the game. Like the colors or movement versus a regular device.
I did not try it on the Hisense devices. But, in general, everything worked nicer than the Air 3.
The e-ink screen clarity is much higher now. But, the “fluid” movement of any and every action was nicer on the much older Hisense devices.
Different topic, but still sort of the same.
When the first version of Android was out a very long time ago, there were many different technologies on the market. All, much more capable than e-ink, and they all played video with no backlight in the sun perfectly. Like fifteen years ago.
Someone bought up the market. Because, every last one of those companies disappeared and now we are all stuck with this barely capable e-ink.
Thank you, for testing that for me.
Best wishes.
i received this product. And I tried it. But its screen often is stuck. I am frustraited. Is it the way as it is? Or my product has some problems. I have been fed up for powering off and power on again and again to release its stuckness.
That shouldn't happen. It's not too unusual to have a few of those incidents when getting a new device, but with firmware updates and a restart or two, I'd expect that issue to go away. Make sure you are on the latest firmware, and if not, correct that. Then restart it one time. At that point, I'd expect freezing to be a very unusual occurance.
@@jeffreymoss Thanks a lot. I will do that as you instruct me.
Thanks for the excellent review of the product. I have a question. Does this device has the functionality to switch between color screen and black and white screen according to my preferences, which would eventually give a longer battery life?
No, there is no toggle to eliminate the color layer.
@@jeffreymoss that's too bad. I hope a software update can make it possible
My experience is that it's terrible. The wifi connection is very unstable. Screen is so dark that front light needs to be at 100% to look decent. Battery performance is terrible and same as my Samsung Tab with oled screen, basically negating the reason to buy it. Lastly, I think performance terrible, it keeps freezing , I had to turn sleep function off. Ghosting is so bad you need to turn up the refresh rate. Software is full of bugs. I hate it. I wish I could return it.
I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, the tech is not for everyone and sometimes someone just don't know that until one can get hands on time with these types of devices which is, in itself, difficult to do. Maybe you can sell it on ebay?
@@jeffreymoss I purchased the Viwoods AI paper as a comparison and I have the opposite experience. It's light, responsive, battery lasts for a long time, wifi and Bluetooth are stable and work great, and finally the screen is awesome. I think what I hate the most about Note Air 4c are 4 things: Screen, weight(it's heavy), unstable wifi performance and buggy software.
@@jeffreymoss I applied for return of the device to Boox. I will eat the restocking charges. Depending on the customer service, I will decide if I buy from them in the future.
Hey @jeffreymoss ! How about doing a cameo on Rants About Tech as a battery expert? 😄
One day. I'm certainly open to the idea.