Boox Note Air 4C
Xin Ben
Shenzhen-based Onyx is back with a new e-ink tablet that’s lighter than before and has a more powerful processor. This tablet, called the Boox Note Air 4C, does what it’s advertised as: offering an e-ink display that’s less stressful on our eyes, and tactile friction on the screen that makes the glass feel more like paper than a typical iPad screen . It also has a long battery life – the tablet can last over 10 days on a single charge and only needs to be charged every two weeks or so.
But at $499 it’s still more expensive than I’d like, and the problem is made worse by the fact that Huawei has released several traditional tablets with screens that double as e-ink screens. Sure, the Huawei tablet is more expensive, but it also has more features.
design
Boox Note Air 4C
Xin Ben
Boox Note Air 4C
Xin Ben
Compared to traditional tablets, the Note Air 4C is a very lightweight device, weighing in at 420 grams (approximately 0.9 pounds). At 5.8 mm (approximately 0.23 inches) thick, it’s also quite thin. The tablet is well built, with an aluminum body and a silky black finish. There are two speaker grilles, a USB-C port, and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner.
Of course, the star of the show is the 10.3-inch color e-ink display with a resolution of 2480 x 1860 in monochrome mode and 1240 x 930 in color mode. In black and white mode, the screen looks sharp and text looks clean with no jagged edges. In color mode, however, the visuals are a bit soft and the colors are quite muted, but that’s normal for a color e-ink display, which is designed to be healthier for our eyes due to the lack of backlight.
Boox Note Air 4C’s e-ink display
Xin Ben
Color e-ink screen.
Xin Ben
The Onyx package comes with a stylus and a folio case. The stylus is great—it’s comfortable to hold, and the tablet can withstand pressure up to 4,000 degrees. The screen texture also feels paper-like, much better than a typical iPad screen. However, as mentioned before, Huawei has developed technology that allows its tablets to offer a similar tactile feel.
Still, sketching or taking notes on the Note Air 4C is a joy, giving it the feel of pencil on paper.
Use Note Air 4C to sketch.
Xin Ben
One problem that plagues e-ink screens is the frequent signs of ghosting – a faint shadow of whatever was displayed on the previous screen briefly remaining on the screen. It’s noticeable here too, but much better than on older generation Boox tablets or many other e-ink tablets (including the Kindle). This is because the Note Air 4C uses a dynamic refresh rate to adapt to the action.
All of this is handled by an octa-core processor. While this processor is powerful for an e-ink tablet, it’s worth mentioning that it’s still very weak for a traditional tablet. This isn’t noticeable if you’re using e-ink for things like reading or taking notes, but if you try to do anything more, you’ll experience lag.
software
The Note Air 4C runs Android 13 (yes, it’s an older version), so technically you can install any Android app there. This is mostly good news because I can access my Gmail, Google Docs, and even scroll through Instagram. But as mentioned before, the processor isn’t powerful enough to handle these graphics-intensive applications smoothly, so when you open Gmail, expect it to take a few seconds to load before you see your emails. In Instagram, you can watch Reels, but the animation is a bit stuttery, not to mention the muted colors.
Of course, I’m being picky and you really shouldn’t use an e-ink tablet to browse Instagram. If you’re performing other productivity tasks, such as reading Word documents or signing digital contracts, this tablet will work just fine.
anti-glare display
Xin Ben
Boox designed its own UI, which includes some first-party applications for running basic documents such as PDF and Word documents. There is also an e-book app that allows you to import e-book files for reading. Of course, you can also directly download the Amazon Kindle app.
The pencil feels really good on paper.
Xin Ben
in conclusion
Overall, the Boox Note Air 4C is a good-looking, comfortable e-ink tablet that’s more than just an e-ink reader. In a vacuum, I can see those with sensitive vision or avid note-takers or readers would want one, but unfortunately with the presence of Huawei tablets, it can convincingly double as an e-ink tablet , which makes this tablet’s tablet appeal limited. At $499, it’s a bit of a hard sell, I wish the price was $375.
