Boox Tab Mini C - A Second Look
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- This is a follow-up to the first video which was more of an unboxing. Here we see the device in action and compared to the Boox Nova Air C. Topics include:
0:00 Intro to Part 2
3:00 UI
6:48 Kobo
10:38 Google News
14:36 Kindle
19:40 Reddit
21:30 Notetaking Colors
24:16 Front Lighting
26:27 Taking It All Home!
As always, please subscribe and like if you enjoy this video. I hope to do more!
Quick note: for reasons that escape me, I set the Nova Air C to the ‘A2’ refresh rate for all the examples. I should have used ‘Normal’ mode instead. The result was a lot more ghosting than otherwise would have been the case. My bad - it’s been a long week. However, knowing this, I think the comparison becomes even more notable in some respects.
I'll upload a quick Part 3 to compare the screens with the more proper refresh modes in a few days. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
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Thanks for such a great comparison! I appreciate you going through the pages and pointing out the colour differences you saw.
Thanks for this! As of right now, you are the only hands-on review that can be found online of this device and it's very helpful.
Much appreciated. While I offer my own opinions along the way, I really try to keep the devices front and center and let folks make their own conclusions. It's always nice to hear that I'm helping shed some light on the devices I cover.
Awesome video. I’m subscribed! Hope you do more of these! Answered so much of my questions!
That's awesome! Thank you for sharing that.
Thanks for your video, it seems that the Nova Air C still holds its own quite good.
Yeah, that surprised me a bit. I'm posting a third video now, and I think the gap between the devices seems a bit larger to me now, but the Nova Air still looks solid overall.
Thank you for your honest review, I was really torn between the two devices
Well done! I can't wait to get my Boox Tab Mini C...
Thank you.
Aye cheers for that Transformers regeneration one inclusion, I can compare it with my paperback copy! The mini C's colors are definitely a fair bit closer than the Air C, though the colors are a bit washed out compared to the paperback. I'm wondering if a ePaper tablet would perhaps not be best for things like comics, which are usually printed on a glossy material and that perhaps are better seen on a LCD screen to really bring out the colors but that's still not really ideal if you like to read them before going to bed, due to the electronic glow. I hope that as this technology continues to improve we get to see more improvement to the vibrancy of the color display to make them the ultimate device for night time digital reading, regardless of the format. Thanks for the videos!
in the minute 17:37, more details are seen in the starry sky of the Nova Air. However, the overall image is better on the Tab Mini, although it tends to darken to generate better contrast and remove some details.
It would be interesting to compare the battery life on both computers, to assess the impact of the GPU
I'm posting a follow up video now that includes an estimate of battery stand-by time, but tracking battery life during usage will take longer. I expect we will start hearing about user experiences in that area fairly soon.
Thanks!
I have the Nova Air C and it's great
Hi! Thanks for this review! The Navy Blue and Chartreuse issue is a bit concerning. Could it possibly be because of the Vividness settings? At 6:00 in the video, I saw that the Vividness on the Mini was set to 0 while the Vividness on the Air was set to 100. I'm hoping that's the only reason those colors are messed up!
I figured it out and it was 'user error' on my part. I just had the darkness setting a bit high. Putting that to 0, the colors look just fine. I'm posting a third video to show that in action.
@@jeffreymoss Good to know! Thanks for the update
Coming from a Poke2 color, mini or the 10 inch tab color? Mostly technical books where the color screenshots are of significant value and often too small on the like Poke2 color. Leaning towards the 10 inch, but lots of money involved. Also many books are PDF which may give the larger tab the edge.
If you are heavy on PDFs, then I wouldn't mess with anything smaller than a 10" screen. You can make a smaller screen work, but with a lot of fuss and frustration.
I wish you had taken the time to show what differences the eink center makes to pages. Those adjustments alone could be a deal maker or breaker. I also wish you had shown text on the Kindle app. I had the TabC Ultra and the text ghosting on the Kindle app was pretty annoying.
Can you compare the screen to the nova air2, or nova air, or something that has Carta 1200? I would like to see the difference in the "whiteness" of the background and contrast of those.
I'm posting a third video where I compare the screens to a white piece of paper and to the screen on the Supernote A5X. That should show up in a few hours.
Thanks for the video. I am interested in color only for reading., not note-taking. if I take notes in black and white and shades of gray, the resolution of notes and sketches is 300 dpi or 150? If it is 300, is it noticeably hindered by the color layer? Also, does the lower contrast prevents using the device without front light? Thanks
I'm with you, as my primary use of this device is reading. I prefer to take notes on a 10" screen. I actually don't notice the resolution difference when taking notes. I think that impact is best seen in photos. I don't think the sharpness of the text is impacted by the color layer at all. However, yes, the darker layer does require the use of front lighting indoors in more situations than with a B&W only Eink screen.
@@jeffreymoss I purchased Tab Ultra C and returned it, Kaleido 3 screen is too dark for me even outdoors on a sunny day. In reality, it looks darker than in the videos
@@liborarndt9916 Sorry it didn't work out for you. Hopefully you have an easy return process. Some people are really bothered by the screen background while others don't mind it at all. I tried to convey how it was in my videos by normally not using front lighting, so my apologies if that did not come across.
@@jeffreymoss no need for the apology. It's really a matter of personal preferences. I wear glasses and simply it was too dark for me. I only wrote it for other people who might also be sensitive to the darker background. I am looking forward for kaleido 4 though :)
tks for the video. is it possible to run twitter, youtube and instagram? is it possible to download other note taking apps from google play? i´d rather to take my notes in a more cross-devices app in case I quit boox in the future, i can recover my notes in another device. tks
You can run youtube. If you look at my video comparing the Inknote+ to the Tab Ultra C, you can get a sense of what the performance looks like as the Mini is essentially a smaller version of the Ultra C. Twitter and Instagram should run fine, but I don't have personal experience with that. However I will note that apps with a light background will show less ghosting that one with a black background. I looked at Discord with a dark theme and the ghosting was crazy (albeit the app was still usable). A light theme made it look at lot better.
Great comparo! Thank you. How about drawing and writing? Any difference there?
I can't speak to drawing because that's something I don't do, but the writing experience seems pretty much the same to me, which is to say not bad. I tend to not want to write on 8" or less screens, preferring the space on a 10", and this device hasn't changed my opinion. It's not the best writing experience, but it's solid.
Great review video! Just a quick question - is google books available on this device? Or, is google play store available & I can install g-books from there? It's good that Kindle app is available but for some local publishers (where I live) the catalog is better on g-books than on amazon..
Yes it is. The device runs Android and the Google Play store, so pretty much any reading app there will work on the device. Not all apps work well with Eink devices, but I've never had any problems with a reading app, and that includes Google Books.
@@jeffreymoss Awesome, thanks!
Hi there, great comparison. Do we have better B/W text clarity on Tab Mini C. I have Nova Air C, and there is grainy/shimmer in the background than makes the screen not paper-like at all.
Is it improved in Tab Mini C?
I gave away my NAC about three weeks ago, so I'm going to have to go on memory on this one. I recall that black lines looked better in images with the Mini C, and I can tell you text looks fantastic to my eyes. But I don't recall the issue you are describing with the NAC, so I'm not sure if that particular aspect improved or not. For example, it could have been there and I just didn't discern it. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
@@jeffreymoss thank you for your answer!
Do you know if there is a setting to use the older UI format on the mini?
I don't see anything like that. I have heard of folks jailbreaking Boox devices with a custom launcher before, but that's not something I have any experience in. You may want to go to Reddit, into the Onyx_Boox page, and search for that.
Hi thank you for the great demo. How is reading you hand writing in PDF and Trasncribe. And how the search of document when you use to create with your hand writing.
This isn't an area where I am well versed, but I played around with a PDF a bit just to get an impression. There is an AI setting to allow for transcription of written comments, and I found it worked fairly well but certainly not flawless. I did have to double tap on each word, so it's not nearly as powerful as with note notes app that can do whole pages or notebooks at a time. The OCR function seemed focused on the document itself and not my handwriting. I also didn't see search working on handwriting, again with it seeming to focus on the PDF document itself. That's my impression, but I may have missed something.
For the comics, does it zoom out all the time for every page? Or is that just a setting? And can we transfer our own comics to these reader in CBR and CBZ formats?
I was reading comics on the Kindle where it goes from cell to cell and does not normally zoom out to the full page before going to the next page/cell. So you can either go from cell to cell, or go page to page. At least that's been my experience. It was a touch awkward in the video because I had to reach forward and interact with the devices at an unusual angle. However, when holding the device normally, I don't have any issues with navigation. CBR and CBZ files are supported according to the Boox website.
@jeffreymoss Ok thanks for the info :) I been wanting a color reader for a while now so I'm researching the latest ones available. Might go with the Ultra C or the Mini C
Where is green/red difference coming from in background of "2312" at 8:27?
That's a great question! I remember noticing that when I was filming. I think that's some random factor from the app itself, but that's just a guess on my part.
Hi, is the Mini C identical to the Ultra C, except for the size?
Thanks 🙏
Essentially, yes. Both devices have similar internals including a dedicated GPU.
I was expecting to see a much bigger difference between 150 dpi and 100 dpi for color images. Do you notice it perhaps in photographs only?
It's been a while since I had my Kaleido Plus device, so my memory is a bit hazy. However, I don't recall a large difference.
Как раз это сравнение я искал, но видео по tab mini пока мало. Спасибо
I filmed in 1080, so you should be able to zoom in and still see good detail.
Does switching on really takes this only second ? Cuz kindle takes edges compared to that
Yeah. Maybe a second and a half, but it wakes up quickly regardless.
@@jeffreymoss thanks that’s pretty helpful, still not sure if its worth it for €450. but i guess it’s the only option since paperwhite was hanging all time.
I guess 7.8 still bigger than paperwhite 2023 which i do not like
I remember the Air C feeling overall more saturated (to the point there was a mildly warmer tint by default to the screen, at least to my eyes). This extra saturation seems to have not carried over to the Mini, and that may explain some of the mild color variances we can see here.
I'm honestly a little disappointed at how miniscule the upgrade in graphics looks for the comics. I guess there's only so much more detailing that extra 50 ppi can really pick up, but while there's a bit better color gradation with K3, there's also a few dark spots where the darks hide the details a bit. Unicron's shadowed lower half is an example. Although how much that's down to settings I'm not sure.
Anyway, thanks for the comparisons!
I was surprised how bright and clear the Tab Mini C is without Front light. My Kindle Signature is really dark with no brightness setting.
I go back and forth regarding that background. Outdoors it isn't an issue for me at all. Inside, I find myself needing front lighting a lot. The battery drain doesn't really bother me, as I find myself happy with the longevity overall. But then there are times when I don't want to use front lighting while indoors, just for the aesthetic, and that's when I would prefer a lighter background. Overall though, I remain happy with Kaleido 3 screens.
@@jeffreymoss Thanks for your response. I am researching the Tab Mini C extensively as I am unable to view it in person due to it not being available in store here in Australia. That is why I was so curious about the screen as using the front light is the main drain on battery. As one reviewer said, if you think of it as a tablet the battery is great but not if you think of it as an ereader.
What about battery 🔋 usage ?Which is better ?
Since filming this video, I've done a lot of battery tests on devices, including the Tab Mini C. You can see the most up to date version of that grid in my Bigme S6+ lite Part 3 video. The battery results are chaptered, so you can get to that quickly. Unfortunately, I did this work after giving my Nova 3 Color away, so I don't have any stats to share on that.
I did subscribe. 😬 thanks for this video. I’m watching more of your reviews about Mini C before I buy it or the Ultra Tab C.
I’m not a fan of the logo on the side and camera of the Ultra Tab C and not to mention the price which is about 800 Canadian dollars (no shipping yet). For that price I could get a mini iPad which I’m also considering because of portability but my priority is to take care of my eyes and read more. Reading is my favourite hobby of all time. Little did I know it’s going to be expensive if one is not mindful. 😅
Do you think it’s worthwhile to also get the extra nibs for the stylus pen? I watched your unboxing video and found there’s no extra nibs.
Can you also do a size comparison of the Tab Mini C and Ultra Tab C.
Thanks. Keep it up. I prefer your setup and presentation. Simple, concise, and clear. Make the video longer or shorter however you see fit.
You’ll never know your channel could lead to somewhere unexpected. Keep enjoying reading and making videos! 😊 🇨🇦
Thank you very much! In terms of nibs, it really depends on how you use your stylus. If you sketch a lot, you will need to buy more nibs. But I don't do that. In fact, I like to use a pen setting with my preferred ink flow that does not depend on how much pressure I put on the stylus. Because of that, I barely put any wear on my nibs. So if you are in a similar boat, you may not need to buy nibs at all. Still, I'd recommend having one or two in reserve in case you need it (e.g. drop the stylus and it breaks the nib). You can buy them for pretty cheap on Amazon, but I'm not sure which ones are good to buy so be sure to go through the review to check compatibility and value.
I think the biggest upgrade we might see if the Tab Ultra C is removing the camera bump. Everyone complains about that and for good reason. It's baffling and actually ruins the experience of writing on the device when outside of the case. It's manageable, I don't want to overstate it, but why is it an issue at all?
The Mini measures a little over 7.5" in height and not quite 5.5" wide. The Tab Ultra is almost 9" in height and 7.25" wide. However, if you have the keyboard case, then that adds to both the width and especially the height.
@@jeffreymoss thanks for the nib tips and where to buy it. I do hope that removing the camera will lower the price of Ultra Tab C and I don’t have a use for a camera in an ereader (others might have use for it though).
Thanks for the dimensions. I have a Kobo Libra 2 (5.7” x 6.3”) that I can compare to. When I first got it, I was shocked how small it is in person as I mostly read and watch on iPad Pro 12.9. I get used to the size of Kobo Libra 2 now and appreciate its portability. I’m still looking for an affordable stylus pen that will work on it.
I definitely love the colour on Tab Mini C and wouldn’t mind not having physical page button like what Kobo Libra 2 has.
Kudos! Till your next video.
Also YT has been playing a lot of ads on your videos. I hope they will allow monetization regardless of number of subscribers. It’s the quality that counts for me. And also the personality of the TH-camr. Have a great weekend! 🌞
I can't monetize until I hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 viewing hours which I'm far from getting. Although having said that, there are some other monetization schemes I don't fully understand yet, but I don't qualify for any of those either. All that money is going straight to Google!
That's what I do on all my boox e-readers is add the floating refresh button
What are magazines like 😀
I'll do a future video with a magazine app.
@@jeffreymoss thx how is it reading comic & magazines from ultra c 😀
It's good. I am happy with the comics in Kindle. A bit of ghosting, especially on black bars, but light in the images when present. Magazines are fine as well, but I prefer to read those on the Tab Ultra C with the bigger screen. But certainly you can do it on the Mini, just with more pinch and zooming.
@@jeffreymoss ahhhh ok thx u think ultra c 2 be out soon as may wait as feel that will have what mini has now with gpu what u think & thx u 😀
I don't get it why the price is so high ...it's almost as expensive as ipad mini
Yes, Eink devices tend to be expensive. I think it's worth it but that's clearly a barrier to greater adoption. The main reason to choose an Eink device vs a tablet is because of the screen itself. For some, the screen reduces eye strain, especially after looking at LCDs all day. For others, including myself, there is actually a preference to read on these screens as it offers a more pleasant experience.
Mine is the other way around. I don't get why the iPad mini's price is so high.
I would love to see how Twitter looks on Kaleido 3.
I don't have a twitter account, unfortunately.
Just don’t understand why color is important in the eInk category.
I can understand that perspective, and I think a lot of folks feel that way as well. I really enjoy the added color but a solid case remains for B&W devices.
Color is very important in eink. Reading technical Manuels, comics, magazines etc are better in color.
Just add a floating refresh button
I remember doing that! I eventually got rid of it because I didn't like the clutter on the screen. But it was a nice shortcut to the refresh button.
For me setting one of the gestures as refresh was a good solution. I think it was swipe up from bottom left screen, but you can choose :)